Navy Bootcamp experiance and my opinions

[mac]

Consider yourself lucky. When I went through, 8 count body builders were still legal. Now I hear they brought stress cards back.

What's wrong with eight count body builders? Too much PT for you?

 

[DarkWizard12]

I went to boot camp in Great Lakes 22 years ago. Of the 6 descriptions you posted, 6 were the same then. Shocking? No one got choked, slapped, or hit. Physical violence against subordinates has been prohibited for about a hundred years or so.

Interesting. I had always heard different. I suppose it's just too keep the weak people out who shudder at mere thoughts of physical violence. :/

 

[Renae]

Sounds like a bunch of BS to me.... lots of people take a rare event and blow it out of proportion, and even clailm to have witnessed it, or particiapated in it.
Macho BS, that is all it is....

Yeah, we know, I'm full of BS and a liar. :roll:

That's what the RDC said was the goal of our "cycling" to make it "Rain". I went in late Sept through Nov, didn't take much to get enough humidity for condensation. This only occurred when were in need of a "Beat down". WE got cycled, 8 counts, push ups, crunches and all sorts of leg lifts and other PT. Did I say it happened often, no. But we did get hammered a time or two.

I'm sorry that's not real enough for you UtahBill, I frankly don't give a rats rear what you think, so carry on with your bad self sir, carry on.

 

[Renae]

Interesting. I had always heard different. I suppose it's just too keep the weak people out who shudder at mere thoughts of physical violence. :/

They told some BS stories about "beatin ya down" in the OLD Navy, but even my uncle, retired SC from about the same era as Utah Bill said there wasn't much of that physical abuse. Oh sure, out in the Fleet, did someone get... an old fashioned attitude adjustment at the hands of an old crusty Chief? According to him yeah, it happened, but that was a rare thing.

 

[UtahBill]

Yeah, we know, I'm full of BS and a liar. :roll:

That's what the RDC said was the goal of our "cycling" to make it "Rain". I went in late Sept through Nov, didn't take much to get enough humidity for condensation. This only occurred when were in need of a "Beat down". WE got cycled, 8 counts, push ups, crunches and all sorts of leg lifts and other PT. Did I say it happened often, no. But we did get hammered a time or two.

I'm sorry that's not real enough for you UtahBill, I frankly don't give a rats rear what you think, so carry on with your bad self sir, carry on.

I guess a beat down has different meaning to you than what I am thinking. First thing I asked is what you consider a beatdown. Anybody want to provide details?
Physical assualts HAVE ALWAYS been a Captain's Mast event, at the least, in some cases a court martial.
The only fight I witnessed in boot camp was between our MAA, a stocky white guy, and a Filipino that he was harassing.
Filipino kicked the MAA's ass. Chief stood by and watched, said that the MAA had been asking for it for a long time.
But that was not a beatdown in my definition. That was a 'comeuppance"...
We had a few who couldn't measure up, they got sent to "4013", which was for the misfits who needed some extra effort, but even those didn't get beat down. They got to work a lot harder and rest less, until they decided that regular boot camp wasn't so bad.

Mr. V, could you just grow up, at least for THIS THREAD? and yes, we all know you are full of it, glad you acknowledge it....

 

[Renae]

I guess a beat down has different meaning to you than what I am thinking. First thing I asked is what you consider a beatdown. Anybody want to provide details?
Physical assualts HAVE ALWAYS been a Captain's Mast event, at the least, in some cases a court martial.
The only fight I witnessed in boot camp was between our MAA, a stocky white guy, and a Filipino that he was harassing.
Filipino kicked the MAA's ass. Chief stood by and watched, said that the MAA had been asking for it for a long time.
But that was not a beatdown in my definition. That was a 'comeuppance"...
We had a few who couldn't measure up, they got sent to "4013", which was for the misfits who needed some extra effort, but even those didn't get beat down. They got to work a lot harder and rest less, until they decided that regular boot camp wasn't so bad.

Mr. V, could you just grow up, at least for THIS THREAD? and yes, we all know you are full of it, glad you acknowledge it....

Don't call me a liar

Beating someone up, that's a diff story. I know of no incident of physical altercation that didn't result in Mast for the parties involved. Well, one was a slap on the wrist but the Ensign who got decked deserved it (long story short, flag football game, guy kept talking my friend Citizen, good guy btw, and he told the dude to lay off, the guy didn't so he laid him out after like the third tackle. Citizen didn't know the dude was an Ensign he got off lightly over it thankfully.)

But as for boot, the RDC's called it a "Beat down" and it was to punish us with PT till it "rained". Don't blame me for their actions man, I'm just repeatin it.

 

[UtahBill]

Don't call me a liar

Beating someone up, that's a diff story. I know of no incident of physical altercation that didn't result in Mast for the parties involved. Well, one was a slap on the wrist but the Ensign who got decked deserved it (long story short, flag football game, guy kept talking my friend Citizen, good guy btw, and he told the dude to lay off, the guy didn't so he laid him out after like the third tackle. Citizen didn't know the dude was an Ensign he got off lightly over it thankfully.)

But as for boot, the RDC's called it a "Beat down" and it was to punish us with PT till it "rained". Don't blame me for their actions man, I'm just repeatin it.[/QUOTE]

You have a history of "just repeatin it".

 

[Slartibartfast]

Well, I just graduated a few weeks ago, from RTC great lakes.

It wasn't bad...but it wasn't good either.

As a recruit, we of course, got our dose of "beat downs", both physical and mental. But it wasn't what I expected, in fact, I rate it "under par".

As a division, we were taught well, and as a sailor, I learned what I needed to learn and became the sailor I was supposed to be, but I don't think I got as much out of it as I should have. Not because I didn't want to learn but, and I really think, because bootcamp has become soft.

Some navy vets here may not like this but, in bootcamp, as a recruit, I got

1. 8 hours of sleep each night. (not including the nights I had watch, of course)
2. 3 meals a day
3. 15 minutes, minimum, to eat food.
4. my instructors never laid a hand on me
5. an hour(30 minutes, actually, but on paper, an hour) of PT every day.
6. Our beatings(more PT) only lasted 30 minutes. And the entire division only got beat...maybe 4-5 times? the entire 8 weeks I was there.

I don't know if I have some psychological problem but, I think bootcamp was softer than expected, and I rather would have had it like in the older days when bootcamp was actual hell. I think I would have been molded into a better sailor that way. One of our instructors said that, when he joined 20 some odd years ago, on the first day he was choked into submission for almost no reason by his RDC, among other stories.

I think that is terrible but...I kinda think it would have been better for us if we went through the same experiances our parents and grandparents went through in bootcamp . Now, RDC's aren't even allowed to touch us, and everything is spoonfed so, it's almost a joke.

I was also in an All-male division. I hear that integrated divisions have it easier than that. it's a complete joke.

Anyway, that's my opinion, I'm curious, what does everyone else, especially those who have been in the navy before me, think? Is bootcamp too easy now? Or has it been the same all these years, and the stories were just to scare me? Because I really think it should have been harder than that.

Perhaps the marines would have been a better experience?

 

[Donc]

Perhaps the marines would have been a better experience?

There is still hope for him, all he has to do is qualify for a job as a corpsman, attached to a Marine unit.:2wave:

 

[Captain America]

I went thru at GLRTC too. I was in the Triple Threat Unit. It was held to a higher standard and even though it wasn't what I envision a marine boot camp to be like, it was no walk in the park either. We had to fulfill the requirements just like any other recruit but we had much, much more stacked on top of that. Heck, it took 3 weeks just to get enough recruits in the TT unit before we ever got our guidon. Due to the requirements (asbab minimum scores, abilities, etc.,) to even get in the Triple Threat unit, it took a long time to fill. By the time I put on my booger belt, the guys I rode in with were only 5 weeks from graduating.

This was our CC's last company of booters to push before retirement. We knew he wanted the "Hall of Fame" flag, even though he never came out and said it. So, on top of having to do what all the other booters had to do, we also had to do the Triple Threat drills. Add, on top of that, the committment to winning the HoF flag and you got PLENTY weight on your shoulders.

But we were a tight unit by graduation. The Navy did it's job well. And I, being the RPoC, got to hand the HoF flag to Chief Luing personally. That single moment made it all worth it for me.

I instructed all branches of our military. They each have their place and talents. The Navy's claim to fame is brains. If you wanted brawn, you shoulda went with the Marines or even the Army.

 

[WI Crippler]

WI Crippler, when were you in? I'm told by some that the Crucible made things that much more unpleasant, and from other people that it was nothing. Also, hump waiver or Hollywooder?

I was in the Marines 99-04. Went to boot out in San Diego, schooled in avionics for F/A-18s at NAS Pensacola and NAS Oceana and my fleet unit was in Beaufort, SC which is right there by sand flea ridden P.I. Glad I did boot/MCT in San Diego. Humping up a mountain at least builds ms strength and endurance. There is nothing good that comes from sand fleas.

 

[cpwill]

Sounds like a bunch of BS to me.... lots of people take a rare event and blow it out of proportion, and even clailm to have witnessed it, or particiapated in it.
Macho BS, that is all it is....

I went to boot camp in Great Lakes 22 years ago. Of the 6 descriptions you posted, 6 were the same then. Shocking? No one got choked, slapped, or hit. Physical violence against subordinates has been prohibited for about a hundred years or so.

in boot camp i saw recruits get all kinds of tortured, but actual physical violence was rare (though it existed).

at SOI (school of infantry) however, our holding platoon had 3 kids get choked out the first night. and once we hit the fleet and were boots, mild to rough physical abuse was generally common. nothing so bad that any of the us were actually physically broken, but a couple did go UA to get away from it.

for some it was stupid; pointless abuse simply for the amusement of our Senior Lances. however, for some it was also necessary. some of the kids we get are right off the street; and physical domination is what they understand; give them a finger-waving counseling sheet and they will just laugh at you. Generally speaking if your young, male, single, and accept that you won't pick up NCO, there simply isn't much that the Corps can do to really punish you without hazing.

 

[UtahBill]

in boot camp i saw recruits get all kinds of tortured, but actual physical violence was rare (though it existed).

at SOI (school of infantry) however, our holding platoon had 3 kids get choked out the first night. and once we hit the fleet and were boots, mild to rough physical abuse was generally common. nothing so bad that any of the us were actually physically broken, but a couple did go UA to get away from it.

for some it was stupid; pointless abuse simply for the amusement of our Senior Lances. however, for some it was also necessary. some of the kids we get are right off the street; and physical domination is what they understand; give them a finger-waving counseling sheet and they will just laugh at you. Generally speaking if your young, male, single, and accept that you won't pick up NCO, there simply isn't much that the Corps can do to really punish you without hazing.

I would expect army and marine boot camps to be harder than navy, or air force, or coast guard....

 

[Vader]

Welcome to the Navy.

Oh... no ... you did not just go there.

 

[Cochise]

I was in the Marines 99-04. Went to boot out in San Diego, schooled in avionics for F/A-18s at NAS Pensacola and NAS Oceana and my fleet unit was in Beaufort, SC which is right there by sand flea ridden P.I. Glad I did boot/MCT in San Diego. Humping up a mountain at least builds ms strength and endurance. There is nothing good that comes from sand fleas.

Would you agree that stepping onto the Reaper has the same quintessential symbolism of approaching this momentous journey that stepping onto those yellow footprints does?

cpwill, you're 03XX? How's that?

 

[cpwill]

i was an 0351 for my first tour. but when you reenlist as a 51, they don't really want you to stay in the mos and you are "encouraged" to lat-move. plus, it made the wife take staying in the marine corps alot easier if we got out of the grunts. so i moved on to other, more inside related things

as for 'how it is' to be infantry; on the one hand it's sort of it's own beast, on the other it's sort of the Marine Corps' Marine Corps. the best parts of it are probably better than anything else i will find; and the worst parts of it (and there were many of these) are probably worse than anything else i will ever experience. much of how to be a good grunt is simply learning to suffer well. if you want a humorous approach; www.terminallance.com is a cartoon done by an 0351, and is pretty generally true-to-life.

 

[Captain America]

Just seems like yesterday ol' CPWill was headed off to boot camp. How long has it been already? Time flies when you're having fun.

 

[cpwill]

hah, yeesh. 5 years now? dang. :lol: i've been friends with avatars and posters on the internet longer than i've been friends with most the people i hang out with on a daily basis.

 

[mac]

Interesting. I had always heard different. I suppose it's just too keep the weak people out who shudder at mere thoughts of physical violence. :/

Most people now think of the full metal jacket version of boot camp which isn't entirely accurate. The stories are often promoted by ex military members that like to embellish on how awful being in the military is.

 

[Objective Voice]

Navy boot camp, like boot camp for the other three military services, is all about striping away your individuality and "re-programming" civilians and turning them into Sailors. To that, Orion is correct:

I thought the main objective of boot camp was to make you responsive to orders, get you working in a team and have team bonding, and to familiarize you with procedures. If it's accomplishing all of that without brutality, then I don't see the problem.

I went through Navy boot camp in 1984 in Orlando, FL. IMO, it was soft even then, but I actually saw a few in my company fall apart because they couldn't handle the mental challenges that came with transitioning from being a civilian to being a disciplined, contributing member of a group.

Now, if you went through Navy boot camp thinking that it would be anything like Marine Corps or Army boot camp, I'm sorry your expectations have been dashed. You have to remember, however, that the Navy isn't a combat fighting force. So, what's required of Sailors are far as their mental and physical preparedness isn't the same as what is required for Marines or Soldiers. Still, for what it's worth, I enjoyed my 16 yrs in-service. I learned alot and still apply many of the things I learned way back then in my everyday life. I hope your time in is just as beneficial.

 

[Donc]

Navy boot camp, like boot camp for the other three military services, is all about striping away your individuality and "re-programming" civilians and turning them into Sailors. To that, Orion is correct:



I went through Navy boot camp in 1984 in Orlando, FL. IMO, it was soft even then, but I actually saw a few in my company fall apart because they couldn't handle the mental challenges that came with transitioning from being a civilian to being a disciplined, contributing member of a group.

Now, if you went through Navy boot camp thinking that it would be anything like Marine Corps or Army boot camp, I'm sorry your expectations have been dashed. You have to remember, however, that the Navy isn't a combat fighting force. So, what's required of Sailors are far as their mental and physical preparedness isn't the same as what is required for Marines or Soldiers. Still, for what it's worth, I enjoyed my 16 yrs in-service. I learned alot and still apply many of the things I learned way back then in my everyday life. I hope your time in is just as beneficial.

I saw NAVY CORPSMAN humping mile for mile, right along with me. :thumbs:

 

[Objective Voice]

Doc,

The corpsman was probably part of some special forces unit, i.e. Navy SEALS or was training to become a field medic. As such, corpsman have to go through a tougher training regimen than the average Sailor in that regard. Otherwise, their boot camp is no different than the rest of us swabbies. :mrgreen:

 

[Sidgaf]

Navy Corpsman who get to play with Uncle Sam's Misguided Children are HM8404 Field Medical Service Technician. Navy bootcamp was a joke compare to FMSS, I still remember humping my backside though chest deep ice cover Carolina swamp water in the middle of February back in the late '80s.

 

[Donc]

You belong in this DP group of Doc. :2wave:



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