Wow! I'm Back!

It has been at least 6 years since I first dreamed of becoming a Marine, almost one full year since enlisting in the Delayed Entry Program, and more than three long months since I've last posted on here. Today, I can finally call myself a United States Marine; a title that will stay with me for the rest of my life and can never be taken away.

First, I'd like to thank you all for reading my blog. I know my dad put a ton of work into it! It certainly means a lot to have others read and comment.

Before I talk about my experiences, I would just like to say how comfortable I am; it is pouring rain outside, and the peace and quiet of my empty home is occasionally broken by the sounds of distant thunder. I'm lying back in our recliner, typing away on my new laptop. I dreamed of doing all of this throughout training, and especially during the Crucible when I was outside in this kind of weather. I'm definitely more appreciative of having a roof over my head when we had to march around in the rain and sleep in sleeping bags on the dirt.

Of course, boot camp really did suck at times. For the first month, I really had a hard time buying-in to what I was doing. I knew before that I was going to learn how to kill. What was hard for me was that everything we did was geared towards combat. Everything we did was to train us for war. I've never been deployed, but the way I was trained certainly made me realize the harsh realities of war. Now after graduating, I'm glad that we were trained the way we were; I'm fully confident in my abilities to perform at a basic level in combat. I'm confident in my shooting abilities, and I know that if and when the time comes, I can rely on my training to help me in war.

Speaking of shooting, I did meet one of my pre-boot camp goals: qualifying as an expert rifleman. Even with a full day less of practicing than most recruits, I still managed to do well. (We were supposed to qualify on a Friday, but because of labor day, and thus our coaches being on liberty, we got one less day and had to qualify on Thursday.) A little over half of my platoon did qualify as expert; however, we did have two recruits fail, or UNQ (un-qualify). (They were able to have a second attempt; both qualified, but even though one would have qualified as a sharpshooter, they were only marked down as getting a 190 -- the bare minimum for passing. Shooting is important in the Marine Corps, as qualification levels and scores on the range count greatly towards one's next promotion.)

Another goal that I accomplished was qualifying pretty good on the combat swimming. There are four levels of qualification for swim:

Level IV: The basic level required for all Marines. The hardest part was staying afloat -- without our heads going beneath the water -- for four minutes in full cammies and combat boots. I honestly didn't think I was going to pass this, but luckily, I did. We also had to jump off a 12-foot diving board, which was scary at first, but just like some of those roller coaster rides, I wanted to jump off again as soon as I resurfaced. Every Marine with this level of qualification must re-qualify every year.

Level III: I forget the exact distances, but we basically had to swim from one side of the long pool to the other in full combat gear: boots, cammies, Kevlar, flak jacket, rifle, and backpack. We also had to jump off the diving board in all that gear and then swim to the side. The hardest part about this for me was getting the rifle's sling un-tangled from my backpack strap, arm, and neck. I wanted to fail at that point because with all that gear on and having my arms tangled, plus the fact that my heart was racing after resurfacing from the jump (I went down pretty far with all that gear!), I literally felt like I was going to drown. But, I survived. A Marine with this level of qualification must re-qualify every other year. 

Level II: This was the highest level that was offered at MCRD. This one, despite one of my drill instructors scaring us before qualifying by saying how hard it was, wasn't all that bad. All we had to do was drag a buddy through the water halfway the distance of the pool, then switch and have the other guy drag us back. Both recruits are in full gear, just like level two. The good thing is that the backpack does naturally float; only problem is is that you move very, very slow. I qualified at this level, and only have to qualify one more time before my four-year contract is over. 

Level I: I have no idea what one has to do to get this level of qualification, except that it requires a TON of distance swimming. It is only required for those with special jobs, like those in Force Recon (special forces).

Anyway, another thing that I had trouble with was the obstacle course. I messed up my fingers pretty bad during Phase I when doing the rope climb at the end. Basically, I got almost to the top, but my arms and grip got super-tired, and when I looked around and realized just how high I was, I freaked out and slid all the way down, burning my fingertips in the process. I had to go to medical, and it took about a month for my wounds to completely heal. After many nights of dreaming about the dreaded rope climb, I did get a chance to redeem myself in Phase III. However, this time we had to do the course with body armor (flak jackets) and helmets (Kevlar). Believe me, I was so pumped and motivated at the beginning of the course because I could finally face one of my boot camp fears. But of course, the drill instructors got bored, and kept sending me back to the beginning of the course, over and over, whenever I got close to the end. (This happened to a lot of others too.) What sucks is that the first few obstacles are the most tiring: having to throw your body around what is like a tall pull-up bar, as well as get over a bunch of logs. The trick is to jump as high as you can, push your hips up above the log, and throw your feet over. It is very hard, but with all the practice, it eventually became very easy. Anyway, I eventually got to the rope and made it up there. I got to the top and had to extend my arm pretty high up to slap the wood and yell, "Recruit Rice, Platoon 2106, Senior Drill Instructor Staff Sergeant Hernandez, Kill kill kill 'em all!" I quickly climbed back down, and even though I felt amazing, my hands and forearms were pretty worn out. This video has a clip of that rope climb:



Now, I can't go on without talking about the food. I have to admit, the food at recruit training is absolutely delicious. And it is very healthy too: I had a piece of watermelon, canned fruit/peaches and orange juice every morning for breakfast. I also had a salad and an apple for both lunch and dinner, complete with either milk or Powerade. Even the MREs, or Meals Ready-to-Eat in the field tasted great. The only problem: I often had to throw away some or most of my meal, because we were either too pressed for time, or because another recruit was caught with ice cream or extra dessert. Yes, they did have some desserts, like cookies, cake, or pudding. However, there would usually be one of our drill instructors standing right by where the deserts are at, or only those who dared to go against what we were taught about nutrition would attempt to get some. Yes, later on in training (Phase III) it was rare that a drill instructor would be standing by the cookies, I did get dessert a lot of times then. However, ice cream was always off limits. The ice cream was reserved for Marines only, which a lot of us got to enjoy during Marine week (the last week of training), and during the Warrior's Breakfast (the first meal after completing the Crucible and earning the title Marine). But even during Marine week, we were still discouraged from using the machines, and some new Marines still got yelled at for making poor food choices. However, at the end, no one got kicked out of the chow hall for getting ice cream, so the yelling didn't stop a lot of people. I never got ice cream, but I did get desert pretty much every meal after the Crucible. Heck, in our minds, we freaking made it, and we were going to celebrate by getting some cookies for dinner. =)

There was one thing that never really got easier throughout training: dealing with other recruits. I spent four years in marching band in high school, and I know that I learned a LOT about dealing with other people and working as a team. I am now so much more grateful for what I learned. There were plenty of recruits that tried to initiate fights with me; even though it was hard it first, it did eventually become natural to see how stupid they were being -- and how much more stupid the things were that caused them to become ill-tempered. My best response to somebody who shoved me out of their way? Simply ignore them. Some recruits even criticized me for everything I did (or didn't do)! It was easy to show them how hypocritical they were being, but that always resulted in a heated argument that eventually led to fighting. Especially after seeing how those recruits treated others the same, I just learned to let their comments go in one ear, and out the other. The way I see it, I learned a lot on how to deal with others. But of course, this is always room for improvement, especially in this area.

Now, about the Crucible. The first two full days are action-packed. From 0400 to midnight, you are constantly on the move. Throughout Edson Range, there are many different obstacles; each has a Medal of Honor citation, and the obstacle is based on what that Marine did. One of my favorite courses had us work as a team to transport ammo and supplies across a rope, which simulated a broken bridge. I forget the name, but back in Vietnam a Marine spent hours setting up explosives underneath a highly-traveled bridge, constantly going back and forward to get more supplies. It was very touching to read those citations. It definitely makes earning the title Marine that much bigger of a deal, because you remember all those who died before you. All of them were Marines who went to boot camp, then went to war, and did their job honorably. Just to be called a Marine -- and therefore bearing the same name as those who did things that seem to come straight out of Hollywood -- is very heavy on the soul. I took the most away from the two times we got to sit down and talk to our drill instructors. For the first time, we are allowed to use "I" and other first-person words on the Crucible. Also for the first time, we are able to sit down and talk to our drill instructors and ask them about their experiences in the Marines: we asked about what war was like, what the fleet is like, and so on. This only happened twice throughout the Crucible, and each session lasted under 45 minutes (I'm assuming). I loved hearing about my drill instructors, especially since hearing them talk about their lives made them seem actually human. I never saw my drill instructors eat, drink, or sleep throughout boot camp. They were up before we were, went to sleep after us, and were even out and about when I was on firewatch at 0200. I don't know how they do it. I know have the utmost respect for those who serve as drill instructors; and only a couple weeks after graduation, they go right back at it with a whole new cycle of recruits. This goes on and on for 3 years, the length of a tour.

On a side note, firewatch is a big thing in training. Each of us learned about the bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon on October 23rd, 1983. It is a date we committed to memory. Basically, 220 Marines were killed went a suicide bomber drove his vehicle -- full of explosives -- and detonated it near the barracks. This all happened because the Marine who was standing front post fell asleep. The purpose of firewatch is to preserve order, protect property, and enforce regulations (keyword P.O.P.P.E.R.). Even though there is no immediate threat on the Depot, we had to stand firewatch throughout the night to get us ready for living in a war-time environment. Marines are humans too. There has to be someone always standing guard to make sure the enemy doesn't kill them in their sleep. Every hour throughout the night, 4 recruits would stand firewatch, one of which would be "front post." The others would count bodies (so if a recruit goes missing, the drill instructors know immediately), patrol the squadbay and head (restroom), or any other tasks that were assigned. Sometimes, firewatch would be boring and uneventful. Other times, we would have so much to do, it was overwhelming. Some tasks would be marking 78 physical training shirts, marking score cards, and stapling them to all the shirts for the physical fitness test (I scored a first-class PFT, btw, another one of my goals). Or the night before an inspection, we would have to polish/re-darken our dress shoes, or fix our uniforms. Anyway, firewatch is very important, even at the cost of losing a couple hours of sleep each night.

Overall, I loved boot camp. The days truly flew by. With no calendars, watches, televisions, cell phones, newspapers, magazines, or computers, it is really easy to feel like MCRD San Diego is all that there is in the world -- nothing else exists, and all memories I had of home seemed like just a dream. Because there is no way to measure the time, except for night and day and each meal, it is easy to get lost in the recruit training world. This is good because it allows you to focus on training, and it does make each day go by fast. There were slow days, of course, but overall, it literally flew right by.

Now this entry would not be complete without some funny drill instructor quotes I wrote down throughout the cycle. Even in all the seriousness, drill instructors would still say some pretty funny things, even if it didn't always seem so at the time (some contain profanity...you have been warned):

"I'm a 4th award expert shot, a black belt instructor in MCMAP, I run a first-class PFT, and I piss excellence. I'm a sexy bitch!"
"I'm just like your football coach, but more badass."
"Yeah.....get on my quarterdeck." (Meaning you were going to be IT'd, or forced to do non-stop physical exercises until muscle failure.)
"...so just suck it the fuck up."
(When talking about camouflage) "You're gunna stick out like an adam's apple on a hooker."
"What girl?"
"Son, I'm gunna jack you up."
"Test me."
"Don't worry, I got you."
"Why wouldn't it be you."

Now, here are some videos for your viewing pleasure:





Thank you for reading!!