Advice for a future Super Trooper

| September 6, 2013

A blogger friend I know has a son who just went through MEPS. Now the kid won’t ship out until next July, so plenty of time. His Dad is obviously very proud of him, but there are tricks I think to basic training like all other things. I already told him that if the kid isn’t a total fatbody (which he isn’t) that focusing on PT is kind of silly, the Marines will do that. For me, looking back, it was the little things you can do before basic that make it easier. For instance, knowing the phonetic alphabet and shit like that. I also told him to get a copy of the Ranger handbook, and to at least read through it.

But was looking to make the kid a cheat sheet of stuff he could look through before going. So, thinking back to your days in basic, what things could you have learned before you went. Stuff like SPORTS, land nav, damn near anything.

Advice on what a kid should know before he goes?

(I also told him to show up with a haircut, wearing REALLY non-descript stuff.)

Category: Politics

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Green Thumb

See the dentist so he does (possibly) not get held up 30th AG (or USMC equivalent)due to CAT issues.

Show up PZ clean. No contraband.

No drugs (if that could be an issue) so he can pass a UA.

And I would recommend start doing a little PT. Those fish that stay in the pack usually receive “less attention”. It are those that are on the fringe that catch predatory eyes.

Just my two cents from years back.

The Ranger Handbook may be somewhat complicated for a new recruit as it has ALOT of complex information. Maybe the USMC CCT 1 and 2 (or equivalent) manuals instead?

Green Thumb

Skill level I and II.

My bad.

FatCircles0311

The best thing he can do is not over think it and about it, stay out of trouble, and enjoy his freedom.

You don’t need tricks or tips. Either you have the balls and can suck it the fuck up or you wuss out and can’t.

Green Thumb

Skill level I and II.

CTT. Or USMC equivalent.

My bad.

OIF '06-'07-'08

Actually, focusing on PT should start now. I was on delayed entry for 7 months way back then. Doing pull-ups, push-ups, sit-ups, and last but not least running.

As for the other, he should memorize the Marine Corps 11 General orders, Phonetic Alpabet, Rank Recognition, and so forth. As for the actual field skills, unless you know what you are doing and can teach him properly yourself, I would just let the MCRD take care of that for you, and yes, get him a copy of the Ranger Handbook, along with a booklet on how to write basic operation orders.

Gary Alexander

—-Find someone with an AR 15 and a 9mm Beretta and get familiar with them.

—-You can do a hell of a lot more than you think.

—-Read some friggen battle history about the Army and those who came before.

—-Focus on being a leader of your boot camp platoon… don’t be satisfied with being just one of the herd.

—-Many a colonel and even a few generals started life as a boot, but they took the challenge and made the best of the most democratic organization in the country… the US military.

Fortune favors the bold.

MAJ O

The best advice I got was to not get noticed. Made it almost 8 weeks at the Ft. Benning School for Boys before the Senior Drill Instructor asked me who the hell I was. This does have some down sides. I got selected to be a squad leader in AIT and therefore was always getting smoked for the ‘tards in my squad.

Mr Wolf

Back in the day, I’d have said learn:

1..GOOD pushup form- might be able to do a few, but, in the right way?

2. How to properly shine a shoe/boot (but no need for it anymore, like ironing and crap)

3. Learn how to fold underwear and socks into little balls

4. Learn rank- BIG TIME.

5. Even if you don’t smoke, buy some. Make some money with it. Snuff, too.

6. Learn the boroughs of NYC, what the best country songs are, and Spanish cuss words. All make better ability to communicate with all the dudes you’ll be with.

7. Did I mention to learn rank? At least the sergeant/E-5 thru E-8 ones. And BN-grade officer rank.

8. Learn how to eat without chewing.

9. Practice making your bed EVERY day. At least 3 times.

10. And might as well learn to say ‘sir’ before and after everything that comes out of your mouth.

SGT E

“See the dentist so he does (possibly) not get held up 30th AG (or USMC equivalent)due to CAT issues.” AMEN – that is GREAT advice.

The only thing I really felt unprepared for (and I REALLY tried to prepare) was holding the front leaning rest. I could knock out my push-ups, I could flutter-kick all day, I could run to Kansas just like this (all by my damn self), but I had never spent multiple minutes holding the front leaning rest, and that was our drill sergeants’ personal favorite position for us to receive a lecture from.

Smitty

i kinda take the opposite view here, i say do nothing but PT and teach him nothing before he shows up. if he is like every other 17 year old kid on the planet, he already thinks he knows everything. nothing is going to be worse for him when he gets to basic than thinking he has a step up on everyone else or thinking he knows something. send him in as a blank sheet that can do push ups from dusk till dawn. that was what my father did for me before i went in, and i think it worked out pretty well. there are advantages to both sides, but from personal experience, id say to give the drill sergeants an empty mind to fill as they see fit. you must also remember, the military he is joining today is much different than what we served in years ago. we might give him some piece of info that would be mandatory for a basic infantryman to know a decade ago, and it might get him court martialed today. who knows, SPORTS may be determined to be sexist. i mean, Slap is the first action, shouldnt we try to talk out our problems before we resort to physical violence?

OIF '06-'07-'08

@9 DI’s put us in the Dying Cockroach Position with our rifles held up with both hands.

Just an Old Dog

You can be in great shape, know some drill movements and study handouts on uniforms, regulations, rank etc,
But there really is no being prepared for the green weinie. The only thing that may be helpful is practicing getting up, getting dressed and making your rack in under 3 minutes. 2 minute showers. 1 minute each to brush your fangs and shave. Get used to taking a dump about 8 PM. There simply isn’t any time to take a dump during the day.
Do whatever your told as fast as possible and perfectly.

Ex-PH2

Do they still have mail call? Take some pre-addressed, stamped postcards and send one home each week.

Learn how to fall asleep the second your head touches the pillow.

Learn how to shine dress shoes properly.

Take lots of pictures.

Sigma66

They take everything away from you but your tennis shoes. Bring a good set of tennis shoes as if you don’t it’ll come out of your money-valuable card.

crucible

Maybe I missed it, but I didn’t see where it said what branch (USMC or Army) the kid was going into.

General orders, etc. sure enough.

But if it’s USMC, not focusing on physical fitness beforehand when he has time to get better prepared sans Parris Island is a mistake.

OldSargeUSAR

How about learning facing movements. “About Face” can be a bitch.

Country Singer

General Orders.

Anonymous

they are going to shave his head regardless of if he has a haircut or not..general orders and a few other things are good to know. dont ‘volunteer’ for anything, and if you know the general orders pretend like you dont. he’ll learn everything that he needs to know from the DI’s.

That guy

Ranks. The phoneme for the generals is ‘be my little general’.
And how to shoot. I was in ROTC and it appalled me how many fourth year cadets would come back from the qualifying range with 23/40s and think that was acceptable. Jesus tapdancing Christ.

Trapper Frank

Learn how to shut the fuck up and not to complain. Be a face in the crowd rather than THE face in the crowd.

TSO

Yes, not being out of shape when you show up, I get that, I’m just saying, the other stuff is important. I don’t think you need to show up as a stud to do basic, you just need to show up in the top 50 percentile, which this kid apparently is.

Marine basic.

General orders, check. Also maximum effective range on weaponry might be useful. Looking for things like that.

I had about a 270 PT when I went in and was 300 by the time we started doing anything. Maybe it was just the I wrestled in college, but honestly I didn’t find the PT all that hard. It is what it is I guess.

TSO

Ranks also good suggestions.

NR Pax

Don’t worry about firearms. They will teach him.

Work out regularly and stay in shape.

Get a dental check up and if there are wisdom teeth have them removed NOW.

Learn rank and the general orders.

David

@Maj O – when I was in 50th Co there was a guy in 51st who kept such a low profile, week 11 the Tacs were still reading his name tag to remember his name. Brilliant.

Work some on PT – you don’t need to be Ah-nuld but the advice about keeping up with the rest is dead on.

If he’s of average intelligence, most of the book learnin’ is pretty easy – they keep everything at least-common-denominator speed or used to.

If you don’t know how to shoot an AR, learn enough not to be dangerous. Unless already a dedicated shooter, don’t go further, let the DIs teach you their way.

Show up clean, expect some BOHICA BS, suck it up and enjoy. It will be one of the longest – and shortest (in retrospect) most memorable times of your life. Try to enjoy it.

streetsweeper

Be damn sure you write your momma at least once every other week. Drill sargeants get real cranky when yer mom is on the phone looking for her sonny boy, wanting to know why you haven’t written home yet. Keep your nose clean, wash behind them ears, comb yer toof’s, brush yer hair and what the hell would I know? I was Army… 🙂

The Mick

I wouldn’t worry about anything. I didn’t know anything at all and I was just fine. They are there to teach you their way. He won’t be shining shoes or doing any land nav in boot camp. He doesn’t need to mess around with shooting since he doesn’t need any bad habits when he gets there. As long as he can tolerate pain he will be just fine.

Ex-PH2

The DI is not funny.

Do not laugh at the DI.

FatCircles0311

Not even going to lie. Some of the suggestions posted in here are just awful.

2/17 Air Cav

Good luck and here’s my advice:

OldSargeUSAR

@28 – For example ?

Roger in Republic

My father, a retired Army Major, gave me this advice as I left for Boot Camp.
Never run when you can walk.
Never walk when you can ride.
Never ride when you can fly.
Never fly when you can avoid going at all,
And most importantly, never ever volunteer for anything!!

TopGoz

Give him the Handbook for Marine NCOs (by United States Naval Institute press; available through most bookstores). Lots of good information for any Marine; I always wished more of the Marines I served with had read it.
Show up with nothing more than the clothes on his back; even those will be taken from him and put in storage until he’s ready to leave the island.
Best advice I ever got: do what you’re told as quickly as possible and to the best of your ability.
It doesn’t matter ultimately what he does, the drill instructors are going to make his life unpleasant for the full twelve weeks; he will hate it when he’s there but afterward he’ll be glad he did it (but won’t want to do it again).

Pam

#25, good advice, but not entirely accurate. As a momma, with three sons that served, he needs to write his momma every week (time permitting) 🙂

lost_in_sauce

1. Show up in decent shape. 5 pullups, 80 crunches and 3 miles in 25 minutes or so is enough to start with, but more is always better.

2. Don’t practice with rifle or pistol. Marine rifle training is good, and he’ll only develop habits that the marksmanship instructors won’t like.

3. If he doesn’t brain good, memorizing the general orders is handy. Anyway, you have to scream them so many times that they will be impossible to forget.

4. Be able to swim 25 meters and float for (I believe) 5 minutes. Many recruits who can’t swim drop back in training until they can.

Otherwise, the drill instructors will handle everything. I found that as long as you displayed toughness, speed, volume and intensity it wasn’t too bad.

RunPatRun

Nothing to add to go with the advice already given except congrats to your blogger friend and son, and best wishes.

Ex-PH2

Do not drink liquids before you go to bed.

Hulkamaniac

Figures you would say don’t worry about PT TSO, something tells me you have never worried about pt a dayin your life.. Improving his physical conditioning should be his TOP priority, you show up to basic able to max your pt test your life will be that much easier.. Hopefully the kid knows you are a reservist and discards any advice you give him outside of how to be a chow hall ranger.

Kevin

Show up with everything on the packing list, and nothing not on the packing list. I’m told it’s best if you don’t have anything for the cadre to lock up, just throw away the clothes you wore. Or not. But sure as hell don’t show up with a suitcase full of junk.

Be in shape, shut up, listen and do what they tell you to do. The Japanese have a saying: “The nail that sticks out gets hammered.” Don’t be that nail or “that guy”.

OEF_Veteran

Just my 2 cents worth…

1) General Orders…LEARN THEM (I still know the 3 Army ones from more than 25 years ago)

2) Ranks LEARN THEM ALL (You DO NOT call your 1st Sergeant SIR like so many in my Basic unit did)

3) Proper care of your feet. (You will be marching A LOT and your feet will suffer for it)

4) PT…do some everyday and be prepared for some seriously intense PT sessions. You don’t have to shoot for max just do enough to keep yourself in decent shape and let the Army or USMC do the rest.

Otherwise just be mentally prepared for some mental mind f*ckery that most DI’s are known for. The objective for the DI’s is to break you as a civilian and remold you as a Soldier or Marine. Do not ask why just do what you are told when you are told, good luck and welcome to the brotherhood.

Jonn Lilyea

Fitness and D&C. No need for marksmanship training, the military already does that better than anyone. I got a 1-800 number for my home when my son was in basic so that he could call anytime he had a chance.

david

PT is always a good priority…probably the only priority, along with making sure he shows up with a sound mind, capable of getting along with people he’s never met before

CI Roller Dude

The best advice I got before basic: “Be able to put up with really stupid shit.”

trae

Dear Sir/Maam, If you want this kid to be a superstar and graduate a PFC vs a PVT, tell them to memorize all eleven general orders and doctrin in the PACKET GIVEN TO HIM BY THE RECRUITER Its a small task, I did it, but so many ignore it. You should want him to at least be able to run a mile and a half before the DI’s get to him. They WILL pt, our whole career is based upon this and it could make him a re-train if he shows up fat and fails the first battalion pt test he wont get picked up for training…Maybe let some one else guide this future hell raiser to stardom.

Reaperman

Don’t show up with long hair, earrings or anything else that could earn a nickname. Along the same lines, don’t cry. Be able to do a bit of cardio–training will take care of the rest but nobody wants to drop to the back of the pack on the first tough day. The people doing the training are largely paid to do the hard thinking for you–this frees trainees up to ‘switch off a bit and just go with it.’

ByrdMan

@39,

In the Marines, everyone who is not a recruit is Sir.

He should attend the poolee functions, it’ll help prepare him for the change.

He won’t need to know much about weapons, effective ranges, etc. He’ll learn that at MCT or ITB. (Depending on MOS) They might go over a little about the M16A4 during range week.

As old dog said, he needs to learn to do things quickly and efficiently. (Speed, Volume, Intensity)

He should be PT’ing and learning basic Marine Corps knowledge. (Pull-Ups, Pull-Ups, Pull-Ups! General orders, Marine Corps history, rank structure, basic drill. Did I mention Pull-Ups?)

If he works on his PT and knowledge beforehand he’ll have a better chance at becoming the platoon Guide which may mean a meritorious promotion out of boot camp.

Ex-PH2

You guys forgot this: San Diego Pause

Mike

Terminal lance.com should just about cover it

jonp

Do PT and get in shape. Not weight lifting but be able to hold an AR at arms length for minutes on end. Do the front leaning rest for oodles of time. Far different from “look at the ton of weight on the bar” stuff.
Learn how to get out of bed in the morning ready to go. Period.
Learn how to keep your mouth shut and just do it.
Learn how not to whine about little crap.

Most of all: Learn how to live with a positive attitude. Attitude is what will get him through everything.

PJ

PT,PT and more PT. Oh and remind him that this will be one of the major milestones in his life. He will remember some parts of it to his dying day.

Club Manager

1. Don’t question the TI when he tells you to shave even though your face is smoother than a baby’s butt.
2. When the range NCO shouts cease fire when a herd of deer cross the target area, cease fire especially if you are firing a BAR and still have a full clip left.
3. Stay away from the river walk and the Mexican honies on New Years Eve, especially if their brothers are around.
4. When put on grass cutting detail in hot weather, a friendly rock will disable your mower and you get to sit out the rest of the day.
5. When the DI says who wants to go to Mexico for ten bucks each, sign up. It will be the best ten bucks you have ever spent, the honies only cost $2 a pop (in 58′) and the VD was free. Now I understand what the border guy meant when he asked (with a grin) what did you guys bring back with you?