Week 1
Monday is part of pick up week and they are still being taught in house procedures, forming for chow, and today they will be issued their weapons. Drill during the first weeks is a constant item being taught, the proper way to stand at attention, at ease, and rest. How to march and change directions while standing still and marching.
Training day 1 (T-1)
Interior Guard; they will be taught how to stand a guard post and what general orders are and what the special orders are for the post they are guarding. Interior guard is the guard performed inside of an installation. Like the fire guard they will do every night, or guarding a building. Exterior guard is the guard they perform in the field like an observation post or listing post in a tactical environment. This is taught with a classroom lecture and then some hands on training.
T-2
First Aid This is classroom and hands on training, they will be taught CPR, how to stop bleeding set fractured bones, and to identify heat injuries. A long day in the class room for them Drill will make up part of this day also.
T-3
Intro to Mcmaps this is the MARINE CORPS MARTIAL ARTS PROGRAM. This is the marines hand to hand fighting, mixed with some martial arts, wrestling. They will be learning how to strike and counter strike, chokes and holds. This training will continue through out boot camp and they will have to demonstrate how to do all of the things they are taught in MCMAPS, one of the graduation requirements.
T4
Marine Corps history this is the first of many classes on Marine Corps history. They will take it from Tunn Tavern where every recruit got a pint for enlisting. . They will learn of famous people like Smedley butler who won 2 medals of Honor and first introduced the bull dog as the official mascot of the Marine Corps. They will learn where the term devil dog came from, and what it means to be a US Marine. The marines have a history older than the nation, and they are very proud of.
T5
Sprints Main event for today is sprints, if you have watched foot ball training camps you know very well what this is, physical training will be done every day, and it will be different each day working on their strength, endurance, flexibility, and cardio. Every free minute that they DI's have they will be teaching them something, 12 weeks may sound like a long time but it is not with all of the training that they have to learn, and perform. So they will be busy, and they will be rushed and they will be put under the stress, and it will be hard, and it will be a challenge. But it will all be worth it for them.
Week 2
T6
Upper strikes are the main for today, Part of the MCMAPS training, again mixed in all of this is drill, they will be evaluated on drill and this is one of the events that give them a few bragging rights, with the other platoons.
T7
Pugil sticks, this is the first introduction to bayonet training, the moves used here in pugil sticks are the same ones used for the bayonet. This is also some competition between squads and each other. They will be suited up with pads and helmet, and practicing one each other. May not sound so good to the parents; but they really like it gives them some time to release some frustrations.
T8
Circuit training is more physical training, going through a course made up of stations. Might be as many as 15 of them at each station they have to do an exercise for a proscribed period of time, push up, then run to the next and do crunches. Very tiring, but really good for them… Bases are a running builder, measured distances that have to be ran at full speed. Like running the bases in baseball. Full speed to a stop; and then full speed again. Really builds the wind.
T9
Obstacle Course, again a lot of physical activity. They will be walked through each of the obstacles every recruit will go through them with the DI’s and the rest of the platoon watching, once they have done this s few time they will go through it at full speed. They may be timed and compete against each other. This works the whole body giving flexibility and agility.
T10
Mcmaps training again. This time how to counter strikes against them, all part of the marine corps hand to hand combat training.
T11
Circuit training and bases again. This will be a hard week physically for them. Don’t worry they will not have a hard time sleeping. All of this training is getting them ready for the more physically demanding training yet to come.
During all of this time they will be getting other training as well, remember they are being taught how to drill and will spend a lot of time on the parade deck learning how to move as a unit; How to perform the manual of arms correctly. At the end of the third week they will have initial drill competition, this is one of the measuring sticks for the DI’s and the platoons. To see how much they have learned and how well the DI;s have taught them.
Week 3
T12
Confidence Course 1. (Just a little side note for all you parents who might fly into San Diego if you are setting on the right side of the plane as it comes in to land you will see this confidence course, and the repel tower with Marines written on it) But I digress, the confidence course is just that it builds confidence in ones self while they are going through the course, they have high obstacles to negotiate, and low ones that require their full attention and strength. In my day as a DI I liked to go through this as well we had to demonstrate how to do the course and it was a confidence booster for us as well.
T13
Well this day says boots and utes run, this is marine speak for running in your combat boots and utility uniforms. Cammies as they call them. This their combat uniforms.
T14
They are back at it again with the pugil sticks and learning more about how to fight with a weapon with the bayonet attached to it. Again they will be competing against each other and maybe against other platoons. They will like this, I know some of you are wonder how they can like beating up on each other with sticks but they do, ask them on graduation day.
T15
Ability group runs, this is where they devide up the platoon in ability groups, these groups are based on their run times for the initial fitness test. The faster runners will really get worked out but then again they will all be worked out on this run. It is designed to help them get faster in their run time.
T16
SDI inspection. This will be the first real intro to inspections, all of their equipment will be inspected, their racks, foot lockers, wall lockers and their persons will be inspected. At the same time some of their knowledge will be test when they are asked questions about their weapons, how much does it weigh, how far can it shoot. What their general orders are, and they have to know this information off the top of their head not cheat sheets or notes for this test#61514;
T17
Initial drill. They will move onto the parade deck as a platoon with one of the DI’s in charge, the rest of the DI’s will be in the taco stand on the parade deck watching. The battalion drill master is in charge and they will be given a card with all of the movement that the platoon will have to perform and then they will set off to do them. Each movement is graded, at the end the grades will be added up and the platoon with the highest score will have some bragging rights. This competition also counts for honor platoon. Some of the SDI’s might give them phone calls if they win. Phone calls are a reward for doing something above and beyond so if you get one just know that your recruit or his platoon has done very well in the SDI’s eyes….
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