Re:Boot Camp

970827 - Yesterday we turned in our rifles. That's about it. Today I saw my parents and family for the first time in 3 months. We walked around some and I even rode in a car! Also C____ came with my parents so he was there. We ate at some restaurant on Parris Island. The food wasn't much better than in the mess hall but the company was. When we were touring the squad bay my father met DI Sgt. M______ and told him I thought he was my favorite DI. I wouldn't really care if M______ wasn't on duty tonight. Oh well. I only have one more night here so I don't care!!! The day before graduation is called Family Day. It's exactly what it sounds like: a chance to see your family and show them around the island. When my parents saw me marching in, my mother didn't even recognize me because I had lost so much weight. It was great to get to see them and even better that I was now one night away from leaving Parris Island for good.

970828 - Yesterday we turned in our rifles. That's about it. As we wound down toward graduation, there was less and less that needed to be done. One important detail was returning our rifles. With the return of our rifles, though, I lost the best job, and the thing that undoubtedly sustained me throughout so much of boot camp: Early Chow. With no weapons to guard, there was no longer the need to have firewatch during chow time. This meant that I actually had to eat with the rest of the platoon, like a commoner. I had to wait in line, had to sit in the main section of the chow hall (we'd always sat in small tables on the edge of the room), and had to sit with whomever I'd been near in line (i.e.: not with C___). I was not a fan. On the plus side, I only had two days to deal with it.

970826 - Today I had a dentist's appointment in the morning and paid bills in the afternoon. I came out of boot camp with $905. Not what I expected but still not too stingy. I only hope I can buy some shoes on Thursday. Anyway, 3 days left... I have heard some horror stories of the lies recruiters told people in order to get them to enlist. I once met a Marine who had been expecting his own private room in boot camp. For me, though, I have to say that my recruiter was pretty forthright. I was relatively well-prepared and had few surprises. One area in which, if not lying, he at least wasn't completely honest was the money. I knew that, as a private, I would make about $900 a month. Based on that, I figured I would get out of boot camp with around $2300 after taxes. When I asked my recruiter if that was about right, he just sort of changed the subject. There may have been a vague answer in there, but no real commitment. What he didn't tell me is that, in boot camp, nothi...

970825 - Today was a pretty boring day. We had 2 classes and then ate chow. Then we had our platoon photo, turned in all our government-issued gear (except rifles), and got haircuts. We then had graduation rehearsal and chow. Only 4 days left... There's not a whole lot to say here. We were moving closer and closer to graduation. All of our training was finished (the classes were about how transition back to "normal" life), and we were now learning about the main thing we would do once in the Fleet: wait around. Most of my time in the Marines was not unlike this last week: we sat around and trained for and waited for something to happen. Then it finally happened, and we waited some more.

Note: Because so much happened on this day, I have chosen to break up the journal entry and comment on each element, one at a time. 970824 - My last Sunday here was quite an eventful one. I went to Chapel and R.E.  which were both awesome. Every week at Chapel, there was always a group of recruits singing much louder than the rest of us. This is not because we were singing quietly, mind you. It's because they were no longer recruits at all. They were Marines. They had just completed the Crucible and were attending their final Chapel service on the island. This Sunday, that was us. It was incredible and overwhelming, similar to my first Chapel service but for a very different reason. Then we came back here and, after chow, while C___ and I were walking firewatch, we were caught talking so our liberty was secured. I was bummed but not too bummed because I deserved what I got. After chow, C___ and I were excited beyond words. We were about to have three and a half hours of free ...

970823 - Thursday at 0200 we got up and were stepping off for the crucible by 0230. After a 3-mile hump we arrived at our C-huts where we dropped off some of our gear and stepped off for our first event. Before I go on, I'll explain that the Crucible is broken up into 6 events which last 4 hours each. Our first event was the Combat Re-supply Course, a Core Values class, and several warrior stations. The CRC was a combat course in which you had to high-crawl w/ ammo cans about 200 yards through barbed wire and other obstacles. It would have been much easier but for the fact that the entire course was mud and 6" of water. The warrior stations are obstacles where the team has to work together to accomplish a mission. They were fun. Our second event consisted of a 3-mile hump to the rifle range, firing on multiple targets at multiple distances and a casualty evacuation. The casualty evacuation is when you have to take one of your teammates out of the combat zone as quickly as pos...