Marine Combat Training

On Tuesday, November 23rd, I finally completed Marine Combat Training, graduating with Fox Company, 3rd Platoon. It was 29 days spent learning numerous infantry-related skills, including patrolling, IED recognition, small unit leadership, convoy security, day and night land navigation with a lensatic compass and map, combat hunter tactics, camoflauge, and clearing houses. I had a great time! I shot plenty of cool weapons: the M249 SAW, M240B medium machine gun, AT-4, M203, and I got to throw a live grenade. Not only that, but we were also able to utilize some neat technology, including night vision goggles, ACOG scopes, and infrared lasers. We took plenty of classes, and did numerous night-fire exercises in close quarters.

Compared to boot camp, MCT was certainly a big upgrade. First, our racks more resembeled our beds at home, complete with a comforter. Second, we were upgraded to "wall lockers", which are perfect for hanging uniforms and had more space for personal items (unlike the small foot lockers in boot camp). Another good thing is that we were allowed to have our electronics. However, we were only granted limited use; they had to be turned in, and could only be used when we were given permission (normally just during liberty). Hands down the best thing about MCT was having liberty. This meant for a certain number of hours, we could do as we pleased: use our laptops, take a long shower, call our family, visit the PX (a mini grocery store), get haircuts, go to church, or eat at some nearby resturaunts. My family visited a couple times, and even went to church with me. (The church there was great...it was very different from what I was used to; with only about 13 people there in the service, it certainly made things feel more intimate, at least compared  to the 500+ I'm used to at my normal church).

After MCT, I ended up spending a month in 52 Area Guard Duty. 

Had a great time, learned a lot, and even had time to 

pose for a picture!

Definitely the coolest week was range week. During this week, we slept in sleeping bags and hygiened with the single moist towelette that is found in each MRE (Meal-Ready-to-Eat), which we ate for every meal throughout the week. (On a side note, I LOVE MREs. Other people got sick of them, luckily I never did.) Anyway, we would wake up early every morning, and get ready for class to start. After class, we would spend a couple hours getting hands-on experience with the weapons we just learned about; we would practice clearing the weapon, disassembling and reassembling it, and performing a function check (making sure the weapon was put together properly without actually firing it). We would also spend time memorizing the nomenclature of the different parts of the weapon. I don't mean to brag, but we had a competition in our little group to see who could clear, disassemble, reassemble, and perform a function check on the M240B medium machine gun the quickest. I was the last man standing, with a final time of 41.9 seconds, which earned me some Red Bull for the next class.

After the first class of the day and "practical application", we would have another class purely on target engagement, which basically just covered the different rates of fire (sustained, rapid and cyclic), and how to engage targets at different distances. After class, we played large arcade-style video games that used electronic rifles to simulate the shooting. One thing I don't get is how they were able to make the weapons feel so realistic, but have the graphics on the game comparable to the Nintendo 64. Anyway, after that we would spend an entire afternoon on the range actually shooting the weapons with live ammunition. Being paid to shoot military-grade weapons civilians aren't allowed to use is certainly fun. Also it was just like Call of Duty, I kid you not.

The biggest things that reminded me of video games were the night vision goggles and infrared lasers. One night, we were out well into the night shooting targets at close range (less than 50 yards) with those cool toys. (A crazy thing was that because there were so many Marines shooting so close to each other, many people had hot brass burn their necks and cheeks. I was lucky and never had that happen, except the big 7.62mm rounds from the M240 I was shooting -- at least compared to the normal 5.56mm the M16A4 shoots -- roll down my arm. Even though I was wearing long-sleeved cammies, it still burned pretty bad, but not enough to burn through the material or my skin.) Range week was very fun and something I won't forget for awhile.

Finally, thank you all for reading! I'll do my best to keep you updated!

My brother trying on the gear we wore on our hikes.

Notice the M16A4 with M203 grenade attachment and ACOG scope.