July 14, 1997 - Swim Qualification Day One

970714 - Today was pretty easy. PT (2-mile run, max pull-up (7!), max sit (82!)), drill, and a Medal of Honor class made up the morning. After noon chow we had swim qualification until evening chow. It consisted of: 25-meter swim; 10-foot plank jump; 2 min. tread water; 2 min. "dead man's float;" 1 min. floating w/ blouse as a floatation device; and another 25-meter swim. Extremely easy. Since my M.O.S. is supply, I think I'm done with the swim qual. I'm very motivated and I got 3 letters today! 46 days left.

First of all, it's a testament to how far I had come in boot camp that this extremely full and active day was called "pretty easy."

Because the Marines are in the department of the Navy and are, technically, an amphibious branch of the military (to quote Melissa McCarthy, "It's in the name."), all Marines are required to pass swim qualification. As I understand it, there are 5 levels of qualification, beginning, of course, with level 4. The levels are (or were, or I think they were) SQ-4, SQ-3, SQ-2, SQ-1, and WSQ, or Warrior Swim Qualified. I really don't know if this is correct. I do know that, years later, I did qualify at the highest level (all levels in one day, thank you very much), but I don't really know what each level gets you. I think that, the higher the level, the less frequently you needed to re-qualify, but even that might be inaccurate.

There were two notable events from that first day of swim qualification. The first is that I had never seen grown men so terrified. I watched as recruits, who were bigger than I was, would absolutely panic, flailing and screaming, as the swim instructors tried to help them to back-float in 2.5 feet of water. While being held the entire time by the swim instructors. More than anything, it made me thankful that I had been exposed to water and swimming throughout my childhood.

The second thing was girls. More specifically, female recruits. The Marines are the only branch of the military that still trains male and female recruits separately. There are some times, however, where training overlaps. One of those times for us was swim qualification. Our Drill Instructors had told us in advance that we would be on the pool deck with female recruits. We had also been told that if we even glanced at a female recruit, we would pay. Not that there was much to tempt us, as all of the swim qualification was done in full uniforms. Nonetheless, they filled me with so much fear that I was determined not to slip up. Unfortunately, just like with pugil stick training, I didn't have my glasses.

Have you ever watched someone who usually has glasses as they strain to determine the gender of the person walking towards them? I have, and the face they make looks a lot like the sort of intentionally inappropriate leer that a flasher makes as he opens up his trench coat. I was determined not to make that face, or to be caught looking at a female. Therefore, I didn't look at anyone. The entire time I was on the pool deck, I had my eyes glued to the deck. This got me in trouble once or twice, as I unwittingly walked past a Drill Instructor without giving the proper greeting. But that brief tongue-lashing was far preferable to the hell-fire we'd been promised for looking at girls.