My Journey to Becoming a U.S. Marine

SOI…we used to run Recon screenings on guys in SOI.

We’d always explain at the presentation that the first test(usually done on a Saturday) was a PFT and they had to be able to score first class on it to continue with the rest of the screening. It never failed though, we’d lose more than half of them just on that. I shit you not, we even had guys unable to do one freaking pullup. I dunno what happened with the standards.

On the bright side though we always had a few hard dicks that made it through the pool which was the next big quitex and on through the cals and the ruck run to be accepted. There’s always the guys out there that will tough it out.

[quote]mbarret6 wrote:
Well I’ll be the first to admit that SOI really wasn’t that hard physically either. Echo Company, my training company while at SOI really only PT’d maybe one to two times a week with like a 3-4 mile run or like a CFT. Hikes weren’t really that much fun either though, they were definitely more challenging. However, there is a definite suck factor… being up till 2am and then waking at 4am for a 3 mile “speed-hike” and then a 5 hour patrol followed by the a 5 mile endurance type course and then a 12 mile march back to the barracks isn’t really fun. But again anyone that isn’t a weak bitch can deal with it.

Now as for being a fleet Marine, thats definitely something I’m not, I’m a reservist with Echo Company 4th LAR so I really couldn’t tell you much about being in the fleet. But from what I saw its not such a huge step up, I’ve seen a lot of fat out of shape Marines. However, IMO they get by almost on sheer determination and tenacity; Marines don’t let things beat them… they conquer every obstacle. So I mean what they lack in terms of physical capabilities they make up for in motivation to not be beat.

I’ve never been to combat either, my unit is currently on a workup for a deployment to Iraq and they didn’t take me on it so… I can’t really offer any advice. But, if I were to speculate, nothing can really prepare you for combat. But a good GPP platform I think is a place to start.

As for the NSCA… well I’m currently preparing to take my NSCA-CPT exam next month and let me tell you… the content covered is a stupid joke.[/quote]

So obviously, and I’ve heard this before, the most challenging thing about SOI is the running/marching. I’m not that great on long runs so I need to work on it but I won’t let something like a run or march stop me. I imagine what weight I managed to hang onto through Boot will be stripped off of me because of those marches/hikes. I have trouble accepting the fact that the thick body I am today will be changed into a much leaner form and that I will eventually be good at long distance running. I’m going to do whatever it takes to be successful in the Corps and that includes running long distances. I guess weighing 200lbs will be a thing of the past. I do look forward to the CFT because I believe I am more naturally inclined to excel at that then the PFT. Make no mistake though I plan on at minimum getting a first class PFT and CFT each time I take them so I won’t ever slack.

I assumed GPP would be best for combat as well. Once I get in the fleet and have a little more stable routine I hope to build my strength back up so I can have a good balance between strength and endurance.

Before I decided I wanted to join the Marine Corps I wanted to go to school for Kinesiology. I even bought weight training books such as the NSCA-CSCS Study Textbook and I agree the content is a little lame. It feels a lot like everything it recommends is just a blanket program for everyone doing any sort of training. Nothing to specific or intense, just 3 sets of 10 here and 3 sets of ten there.

Thanks again for the advice mbarret. Once again you remind me of what it takes to be a Marine. I must have a never fail and never lose attitude. I conquer obstacles they don’t conquer me.

[quote]amphibian wrote:
SOI…we used to run Recon screenings on guys in SOI.

We’d always explain at the presentation that the first test(usually done on a Saturday) was a PFT and they had to be able to score first class on it to continue with the rest of the screening. It never failed though, we’d lose more than half of them just on that. I shit you not, we even had guys unable to do one freaking pullup. I dunno what happened with the standards.

On the bright side though we always had a few hard dicks that made it through the pool which was the next big quitex and on through the cals and the ruck run to be accepted. There’s always the guys out there that will tough it out.[/quote]

I’ve heard the Recon Screening is pretty rough. The one I heard about was that the pool portion was first and then the remaining Marines had to complete a PFT with a first class score. I don’t know what else they had to do.

What were the PT standards for Recon Marines while you were in?
What were the standards of the Marines who passed the screening and what was their physical training like once they began Recon schooling?

I want to add a disclaimer to this. I do not want to go straight to Recon like some many poolees seem to think they can or want to do.
I am only focused on the title of United States Marine. If I get a shot at Recon I will make my decision then once I am a Marine and not now.
I will EARN my Eagle, Globe, and Anchor first and then consider my possibilities.

Feb 25
83 Days Till Boot Camp

I hate myself. I don’t live up to the expectations I have for myself.

Poolee PT

Ran 2 Miles Indian Run

Crunches x 1 min x 45 sec x 30 sec

Bear Crawl 50m x 2

Fireman Carry 50m x 2

Buddy Squat x 5

Pullups 15 10 10

at least you can fuckin’ squat 365.

Consistency is key. Keep up the good work.

[quote]draperdontplay wrote:
at least you can fuckin’ squat 365.[/quote]

That’s true.

I can squat 365lb ATG.

The real test will be when I max out on squat during my leave after Boot Camp.

The 365lb didn’t feel too bad the other night so I could have probably done around 385lb for 1.

After Boot I hope I can at least get 315lb.

Running sucks. Squats rule.

Feb 26

No PT Today

Mental Training

Finished “Lone Survivor”.

I’m going to begin “The March Up” tomorrow.

I only hope that I can honor my country and The United States Marine Corps in the way those SEALs honored America and The United States Navy fighting in the mountains of Afghanistan.

Don’t mean to sound like a cunt, but you’re running is shit, you need to get your arse in gear. You have been going between 1 mile and 3 miles for ages. You want to keep the 1.5 mile runs for flat out fast paces (below 9.30), and everything else (3 miles and up) wants to be a steady run (no jog), with sprint intervals.

Don’t mess around, get your run times up. If you’re not timing them, start doing it. Meeting and beating old times should be constant, and being slower shouldn’t happen unless, say, your leg falls off.

And a bit of advice, stop with the honour this and honour that. Stop talking, get your boots/running shoes on, and start running.

What is expected of you for when you get to boot camp? If you’re going infantry, I’d expect it’s well under 11 minutes for 1.5 miles, right? And what is expected on your 3 miles?

Also, are you accounting for any beastings? (Warm ups, punishments, etc etc).

The biggest shocker for me was always having to do an hours worth of sprinting, firemans carries, and all that stuff, before actually doing a criteria pass/fail test. Be prepared etc.

[quote]lloydk wrote:
Don’t mean to sound like a cunt, but you’re running is shit, you need to get your arse in gear. You have been going between 1 mile and 3 miles for ages. You want to keep the 1.5 mile runs for flat out fast paces (below 9.30), and everything else (3 miles and up) wants to be a steady run (no jog), with sprint intervals.

Don’t mess around, get your run times up. If you’re not timing them, start doing it. Meeting and beating old times should be constant, and being slower shouldn’t happen unless, say, your leg falls off.

And a bit of advice, stop with the honour this and honour that. Stop talking, get your boots/running shoes on, and start running.

What is expected of you for when you get to boot camp? If you’re going infantry, I’d expect it’s well under 11 minutes for 1.5 miles, right? And what is expected on your 3 miles?

Also, are you accounting for any beastings? (Warm ups, punishments, etc etc).

The biggest shocker for me was always having to do an hours worth of sprinting, firemans carries, and all that stuff, before actually doing a criteria pass/fail test. Be prepared etc.[/quote]

I fucking agree. My running sucks and I do need to stop being a dirt bag and do it.

The minimum and maximum requirements on my runs are
1.5 mile in under 13:30 for IST - I’m at 11:02

3 mile in 18min for perfect, under 28min to pass

  • I’m around 24min

880yd run in 2:45 for perfect, under 3:48 to pass
(Projected CFT scores) - Have not tested this

I’m not sure how the testing will go as in whether we will PT before we run our tests or not. I do know that basically I need to be able to run a PFT and CFT at all times just in case and do well.

Obviously in addition to my tested runs I just need to flat out be able to run so I can be affective as an Infantryman.

I won’t stop talking about Honor because that’s why I’m joining the Corps. I will make you a deal though and keep quiet about that until my run times are much better.

[quote]lloydk wrote:
Don’t mean to sound like a cunt, but you’re running is shit,

The biggest shocker for me was always having to do an hours worth of sprinting, firemans carries, and all that stuff, before actually doing a criteria pass/fail test. Be prepared etc.[/quote]

I’ll have to agree with lloydk. The most glaring problem would be the running. I think if you can jack it up and at the same time drop some fat you’ll see a domino effect ~ all your bodyweight work will improve etc. Getting you leaner seems to be one of the most important things to accomplish in the remainder of the time available.

What position did you play in your sports in school Autry?

I played middle linebacker/full back.
I ran the 400m in track.
I boxed.
I powerlifted.

I weighed around 190 for football, 170 for track, 160 when I boxed, and 215 was my heaviest during powerlifting.

My weight cycled like a fucking merry-go-round for the last 4 years and now that I’m out of High School it seems to have settled on 200lbs.

If I was around 180lbs I could probably run 3 miles in 20min easy. I also know I could do 20 pullups no problem as well.

So currently I am 200lbs and I am sitting right at 15% BF. That means I have about 30lbs of pure body fat on me. That is fucking disgusting.

haha ~ aint that the truth. Don’t get me wrong though - I’m all about getting stronger. You can still do that while cutting the body-fat off. Just means you got to be more of a beast in all aspects of your training and nutrition.

[quote]Devil Dog Autry wrote:

I fucking agree. My running sucks and I do need to stop being a dirt bag and do it.

The minimum and maximum requirements on my runs are
1.5 mile in under 13:30 for IST - I’m at 11:02

3 mile in 18min for perfect, under 28min to pass

  • I’m around 24min

880yd run in 2:45 for perfect, under 3:48 to pass
(Projected CFT scores) - Have not tested this

[/quote]

These times are easily doable and you are within reach. You’re at the slow end of the scale though, if I’m going to be honest, BUT, this is the best and easiest time to cut time down. When you’re runs are faster, you’ll find that it’s harder to cut time too, almost to the point of no progress.

If I was you, I’d try something like this;

Monday - 1.5 mile run FAST. You’re at 11:02, which can be kerushed if you pump up in the intensity. These 1.5 miles should leave you gagging at the end of them. Make sure you’ve got a watch on when you’re training, because you need to be running fast most of the way, and then sprinting the rest.

The last half mile needs to be fast. When I’m boosting my CV, I always use short runs, with high speed to boost it, I’ve found it is single most effective method. Your lungs need to be begging you to stop in this run, and I mean begging.

Tuesday - 3 mile run Interval. And let me tell you something, interval is not, sprint, walk, sprint, jog, sprint walk. How can this possibly work, if you’re lungs can recover super easy when you walk and jog?

You should work out a constant running speed that you need that will bring you in say, 24:00 (Slow mate, needs to be faster!), and you NEVER go below that speed. So then, you sprint, and when you go slower, you don’t revert to anything less than a running. Yes, it is painful, and don’t let your sprints suffer because of it, you’re the one meant to be suffering. Commitment.

Wednesday - Anything low intensity, or a rest from running.

Thursday and Friday are the same as Monday and Tuesday. Over time, you can crank up the 1.5 mile to say, 2 miles, but the idea is that this exercise is short, short, but highly intensive. You can crank up the 3 mile run a mile, or two miles at a time, but stick to the same principles, always.

I wouldn’t bother increasing the distances until you’re getting 9:30 on the 1.5 miles, and 21:00 on the 3 miles.

You also need to make sure you’re timing each of your runs, and write it down in a dairy. This way you can see clearly in front of you your progress, or lack of it. It sounds like hassle, but you’re clearly committed, so just get in done, and reap the rewards.

I actually swear by this training, because when I start doing it, my times cut down drastically.

Don’t neglect your other training. If I was you, I wouldn’t worry about being exact with press ups and that stuff.

Make sure you getting a minimum and proper workout, yes, but when you’re waiting for the kettle to boil or the TV ads are on, you should be doing press ups. You’ll look like a twat, but that’s the price we pay.

This is expected within the military, but I doubt you’ll ever have an issue with this. Once people have a solid level of fitness, it never seems to go completely.

Precisely mate. That’s the first thing that sprung to mind when I was reading this, was that you’re running times were mostly absent, and the ones you posted, in my opinion, where sub par for infantry.

I thought you was going to say you wanted to be something else, other than infantry, which is fine, but when you said that, I immediately became alarmed!

Deal mate. Anyway, try fit in what I’ve said into your training, for a week, maybe two, and if you’re not don’t keep doing it.

Edit:

Also, the body fat issue. I’ve seen guys with beer guts run 30 miles comfortably with full combat gear, and I’ve seen beer guts excel at other running sports too.

my fault if this has been covered;

Do you plan on giving updates WHILE at boot camp? You could give one of your boys your password and they could post updates. Could be interesting to see how your boot camp expierience goes when looking at it in the context of the kind preparation you put in.

Also, if you ran track you should know what kind of workouts are neccessary for a 3 mile PR right? You know what to do…so go do it, simple as that. Plenty of time.

Lloydk sounds like he obv. is a bit salty to say the least and has probably seen enough gusto and posturing by future Marines to be sick of it. Granted, a lot of poolees ooze machismo bravado, I think Lloydk has seen the real side of things: there is no glory in combat really or in the Marine Corps. Its about honoring your commitment if not to your country then to at least the contract you signed. I know plently of boot Marines that want out after really figuring out what the Marine Corps is about, but anyways that was just my little schtick… I’m not worried about something like that happening to to Autry; just remember to be a kid/civilian at this point, your time will come. You don’t need to be 100% poolee or future Marine all the time at this point, theres plenty of time to be a Marine during your contract.

IllBill22 as a freakin boot that just got out boot in August I can honestly say that Autry probably won’t have time to send updates/barely write letters. Take it from me who consistently spent 2-3 hours after lights out reading and writing home… its hard to do that, I definitely made boot a lot harder for myself by keeping in steady (daily) contact with my family. I did recieve 20-25 letters a day so that was very unusual, but Autry will be busy/tired.

If you want to know about boot… I’ll tell you in one sentence.

Ready?

Scream louder, faster, get on your face, elbows tight, left foot strikes the deck, 30 in 30 out, left face, stop scratching your freakin face, faggot, push, about face, drill, run, get in no get out, do it again, scream this time, scream for your soul, die, i hate you, recruits suck, you are failures.

Pretty much sums up boot very well in my mind: a bonafide good time. ha ha ha.

March 2
78 Days Till Boot Camp

Poolee PT

Today we were PT’d by GunnySgt Paul. He is from the Fleet and a former Drill Instructor. Lets just say he did not approve of us poolees.

Ran 1 mile with

BW Squats

Fire Team Pushups

Wheel Barrel walks

Abdominal Work

Marine Corps Pushups

Lunges

Sprints

interspersed along the way.

We would have run longer but 2 of the 5 poolees fell out and the remaining 3 including myself did not run fast enough.

Then He berated me for my weight. I needed that.

Overall it was a shitty performance by us poolees but I am glad to get a glimpse at what Fleet PT is like. I need to kick it up a notch.

Llyodk
I agree these times are within my reach. My first course of action now is to shut the fuck up and run. Up until the last few days I just figured I would go into Boot at around 200lbs. Since I started powerlifting I have seen anything under 200lbs and especially in the 160lb or below range as weak and frail.

The more I do my BW exercises and try to run the more I remember when I was 160lbs and all the things I was physically capable of. You may not believe this but I ran a mile in 5:24 seconds freshman year. What the fuck has happened to me? I have run the 400m in 57 seconds - not fast but awesome for me. I ran the 800m in 2:05. I just let lifting go to my head and my conditioning clearly suffered.

So my second course of action is to start losing some weight. I don’t want to be a 160lbs again but I don’t think 180lbs wouldn’t be so bad.

kinein
I agree. Everything depends on the intensity I put into it.

illbill22
No I doubt I will have enough time to write leaders like mbarret6 said. I know mail call is important but I’m not really the type that needs constant contact or support. I figure I’ll just write home maybe once or twice a week to my parents and that be it.

You are right about my track knowledge. I don’t have direct experience with 3 mile training but I know what to do.

mbarret6
I can only imagine what it must be like for active duty guys to see a bunch of cocky ass poolees who don’t know shit about the Corps or life in military running around banging their chests. I’ve also had a few Marines tell me the the Marine Corps is nothing like I think and that once you get in it all changes. I have no doubt of that. I also know that I do my fair share of talking about things like Honor, Courage, and Commitment. I know sometimes I go over the top and I apologize.

While it may be annoying I do think it is ok though. Those things motivate me and keep me going as well as others. I’m sure if alot of people knew the stark reality of life in the Corps there would be alot less poolees. I also have no doubt that as long as there are poolees they will be chest pounding douches. I am also sure as long as there are Marines they will think poolees are stupid kids. The cycle has to start somewhere.

Once I get in I will have to adjust to life and reality in the Marine Corps. That’s fine with me because whatever I will do I know Marines have done it before and that means so can I.

I know you and Lloydk weren’t necessarily knocking future Marines but I just thought I’d express my opinion on it.

GunnySgt Paul ,who is a former Drill Instructor, told me he didn’t think Boot Camp when he went through or now is physically that bad. He told me it really is just a mind game and a giant mind fuck.

His one piece of advice was to not go into it thinking we were invincible and that we couldn’t be broken. He said he would look for kids who look like arrogant pricks and single them out big time.

I won’t know how I’ll act till the first Drill Instructors starts yelling me so well see. I don’t think though that I’m any more arrogant than the next guy so thats good.

Lloydk,kinein,illbill22,and mbarret6
Thanks for the advice and for reading my log.

Mar 3
77 Days Till Boot Camp

Morning PT

Pullups - 15 10 5 5 5 5

DB Bench - 40x8 50x8 60x8 65x8 - Heaviest DB’s

Walked at 3.5mph for 45min

Lord I hate working out at school.

Evening PT

Swam 16 laps Breaststroke/Freestyle

Mental Training

I’m almost finished with The March Up.

Today sucked because I didn’t run.

I do have something really nasty planned for myself which will really test me tomorrow. So I’m looking forward to that.

I won’t know how I’ll act till the first Drill Instructors starts yelling me so well see. I don’t think though that I’m any more arrogant than the next guy so thats good.

Keep your eyes front and don’t react. Whatever position you’re in maintain it, but listen carefully in case you are issued an order during the rant. If issued an order obey immediately without question and without a change in expression.

Roll your eyeballs, smirk, or otherwise show attitude and you’re going to get lots of attention.