Talk:United States Marine Corps Recruit Training

Rewording and Updating

Okay, I've seen that this page needs a lot of work, so I'm going to redo things I know are wrong, however, I went through in 2003, and I know it has changed since then. Please update the page as needed, but keep the same level of detail and accuracy. Thanks! Deeter063 04:48, 12 November 2007 (UTC)

Article is still horrible. Inappropriate heading structure, convoluted topic hierarchies, random information in random subheadings. I highly recommend this article be structured parallel to the United States Army Basic Training entry.Robotempire (talk) 09:46, 24 November 2007 (UTC)

I've arranged some things and set up the intial structure for paralleling the Army basic training article. I don't have much time to work on such things any more but clearly this article needs a heavy re-write. There is far too much jargon interspersed. For boot camp graduates, when you perform rewrites, please do your best to refrain from including your personal recollections or charming details you recall from your time there (i.e. the now-deleted "Gang way, third phase" tidbit I deleted). This should be encyclopedic and educational, not a booster pamphlet used to ump up parents or future recruits.Robotempire (talk) 10:14, 24 November 2007 (UTC)

Bias

This article is incredibly biased.

Biased how? It's not biased, it's just very poorly written in a non-encyclopedic way.Robotempire 11:31, 23 July 2007 (UTC)

Hey, it's better than no article at all. I mean, we have a nice article about Army BCT, don't you think Marine boot camp deserves one too? 76.177.160.69 21:21, 20 October 2007 (UTC)

It certainly does. If you see the need for an article, or a major change to an existing article, you might want to take it upon yourself to make it happen. Just click "edit this page" at the top of the article to get started.

Equazcion • argue/improves • 21:29, 10/20/2007

Lots of Work

For an institution such as Marine Corps boot camp, this article needs a LOT of work.Robotempire 11:31, 23 July 2007 (UTC)

I've made some pretty huge changes and plan for more later, but for now I will be very protective of this page. Robotempire 13:14, 23 July 2007 (UTC)

Change, Change, Change

Upadte needed??

I wrote it out as it was in 2003, because it was how I went through, and it needed something concrete. As I said above, please, update with any actual information. This article should be as acurate as possible, as potential Marines are constantly reading it! Deeter063 07:37, 12 November 2007 (UTC)

the schedule has changed since this has been written and there's no point in changing the article now because Mike CO, 3rd BN will be using a new schedule in like a week when they pick up. Right now Parris Island is on a two week lull with no recruits coming in until the new schedule comes out and the new fiscal year starts. But i do know that the new recruits will get issued dress blues and will have a 72-hour long crucible. kinda ticked me off because I just graduated Oct 5th with Plt. 3080, if only i would have waited longer to join. Other than that i have no idea what the new schedule is. Sophion 17:17, 8 October 2007 (UTC)

I haven't heard anything about another change, but at any rate the article needs to be adjusted for a schedule (my friend who graduated Alpha on July 6th, and myself who joined Alpha on the 16th had radically different schedules.) I really hope they don't have a 72 hour Crucible, that would suck. I did hear about recruits getting issued dress blues though. Anyway, like I said the article needs a big rewrite no matter what schedule MCRD Parris Island is on now, since this is written for my friend's training schedule.66.66.227.113 —Preceding comment was added at 03:18, 22 October 2007 (UTC)

I plan to be making some updates to both the PFT information (women no longer do the flexed arm hangs) and then also the training schedule. The training schedule has been changed to now include 4 phase instead of 3. If anyone would like to talk about these changes or any others please let me know. I plan to start working on them over the next couple of days. D-doodle88 (talk) 15:47, 19 June 2019 (UTC)

Cleanup

This article is really interesting reading, but it relies a bit much on Marine Corps jargon. Readers should be able to read it in conjunction with articles on other US and foreign introductory training programs and be able to make meaningful comparisons between them. I also think the organization can be improved a bit, as it seems like the program itself is very structured (as per the training grid). I've tried my hand at the first few sections, but since I haven't gone through the program I can't be sure I didn't inadvertently misconstrue something, and I think the organization can stand to be improved. --Leifern 13:14, 25 October 2007 (UTC)

update

I wrote his version with civilians in mind. If you don't understand what I wrote, you need to look it up elseware, I can't break it down any further without losing the integrity of Recruit Training. Deeter063 07:40, 12 November 2007 (UTC)

Wake up at 0500?

waking up

I was there in 03, and it doesn't matter. Each platoon woke up at a different time. Sometimes it was 05, sometimes it was 02 (although officially we woke at 0530, in accordance with marine corps and congress' policies) Deeter063 07:42, 12 November 2007 (UTC)

When I was on depot at San Diego last year, we "officially" woke up at 0400, but the fire watch was instructed to "pound the pine" starting at 0330 and continue at 5-minute intervals until 0400 or until told to stop. Has this changed, or is it different at PI, or what? 71.95.232.228 23:29, 30 October 2007 (UTC)

Yes most of the time we woke up at 04 and firewatch pounded the senior drill instructors hatch at 0330 (depending on the duty drill instructor) and every five minutes afterwards. But as it was stated this article is in need of a serious change. -Sophion —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.129.27.3 (talk) 19:20, 8 November 2007 (UTC)

Edited out vandalism

Someone decided to discreetly make several inaccurate edits on purpose. I recommend that edits be restricted temporarily.

MichaelC88 04:48, 4 November 2008 (UTC)

Recruits killing each other?

If they are not seen as "worthy" they will be tested by being told to kill a fellow recruit that is also deemed as "not worthy", the survivor will then be placed back with their platoon and will continue with training.

As I suppose that nobody actually gets killed, could someone please clarify what's actually going on in this situation? wr 92.192.78.145 (talk) 20:46, 8 November 2008 (UTC)

By the end of First Phase, recruits can march, respond to orders, and can PT adequately. All recruits must also pass swimming qualifications at the end of Phase One. Recruits unable to pass their swimming qualifications will be dropped out in the ocean several miles away from the coast as another chance to pass the qualifications.

Somehow, I think this entire article is false. 65.102.28.180 (talk) 21:11, 8 November 2008 (UTC)

On the silly edits

Okay, who keeps vandalizing the page with statements on marines killing each other, (despite my negative opinions of the armed forces) 66.67.178.245 (talk) 00:09, 9 November 2008 (UTC)

Article title

This article should be moved to United States Marine Corps Recruit Training with the current title being redirected. While it is commonly called boot camp the correct term is recruit training. If no objections are made I'll go ahead and do it in a few days. Mikemill (talk) 05:26, 24 November 2008 (UTC)

About Edson

So someone added a note that Edson Range (at Camp Pendleton) is the only Corps range marked in meters. As a former Marine who did recruit training at Camp Pendleton, I have two questions. 1) Is this true? and 2) If so, are the recruit firing positions adjusted for this, or are they actually firing from 1640 feet (500 meters) as opposed to 1500 feet (500 yards)? Ecthelion83 (talk) 20:39, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

Merge

I've merged the content from United States Marine Crucible to here; not seeing much need for a seperate article. At best, it will be stub- or start-class, and the information fits so much better here, in the main article. bahamut0013^words_deeds 11:49, 21 May 2009 (UTC)

The following is merged from Talk:United States Marine Crucible:

“ === No header ===

-Little end getting the "shaft"

Now I certainly feel that one, since I was the last poor recruit on the little end, but I really don't think that should be in here. --Mbarry829 02:03, 3 May 2007 (UTC)

Removed it. I also removed the AT&T and "tighter" specifics. It was F'ng irritating hearing it, but it's a bit excessive detail. (Besides, they yell that at you pretty much everywhere you hump, not just the Crucible.) --Johnny (Cuervo) 07:50, 3 May 2007 (UTC)

Changes to the Crucible

At the end of the crucible, the EGA is no longer presented to the recruit(therefore not becoming a Marine for another week). He/She is instead awarded his/her MCMAP belt. The awarding of the EGA now occurs on family day, the day before graduation from boot camp. As for the hills part of the article, that of course is depending on which MCRD you go to. I'll go ahead and edit the EGA part though. Gelston 20:30, 7 July 2006 (UTC)

I made some changes to the article reflecting the fact that recruits do not become Marines at the end of the crucible anymore, but instead must complete phase three of recruit training to become a marine. I also added some challenges encountered during recruit training as well as some other small changes. My source of information is myself, as I recently completed the crucible and recruit training. I suppose results may vary and each recruit may experience a different crucible. User:Mryerse:Mryerse 09:17, 27 March 2007 (PST)

Very much so, especially between the two boot camps. Kind of funny: I was giving a private and a PFC a ride straight out of MOS school to their new unit at Pendleton (happened to be at the USO and I was headed back that way anyway). One of them was an east-coast Marine. He was telling me how sand fleas weren't that bad, and the hills were so huge out here... ;-) Anyway, I imagine they were similar at least with respect to the challenges, e.g., puzzles. Someone wanna add some info on those?

By the way, congratulations. --Johnny (Cuervo) 07:50, 3 May 2007 (UTC)

I have a book on the Crucible at home, which is unfortunatly 4 hours away from me right now. The book is several years old, but it discusses the events in the Crucible in alot more depth the my memory could ever recall. I'll see what I can do. Oh and Congrats Marine, you damned boot ;) --207.172.86.116 10:19, 3 May 2007 (UTC)

Raising the Flag

I know I'm not a credible source on this, but the EGA ceremony doesn't happen anymore on the top of the Reaper as the article would have you believe. Unfortunately I'm having trouble finding a "credible" source to back me up. Any help? Jklharris (talk) 06:34, 12 January 2009 (UTC)

”

Lay readers

I have no recollection of having lay readers assigned in bootcamp and none of the Marines I served with do either. There were never, to my knowledge, any offical prayers in the platoons so much as "evening prayers" led by a recruit. The only lay readers on the depot were recruits that would help out their chaplains or other religious leaders during church services on Sunday. The whole idea is contrary to how the US military and the Marine Corps handles religion. As this statement is not a cited addition to the article I'm going to remove it. If anyone is aware of something having changed in the platoons or has a citation please let me know. TomPointTwo (talk) 21:19, 11 June 2009 (UTC)

Sure there were. For example, my platon had a Catholic lay reader, who was in charge of getting us Catholic recruits to services on Sundays, and a Jewish lay reader, who was in charge of himself and the one other Jewish recruit for thier weekly services. And before significant events, our drill instructors would offer us a few minutes to consult with the lay readers for a prayer, such as the night before qualification day on the range. I'm pretty sure that either Jarhead or Keeping Faith (a different book than the one Wikipedia has an article for the same title) mention the narrator being an inept lay reader... I think it's the latter book. I don't see what you mean by "contrary to how the US military and the Marine Corps handles religion", because it's exactly how the military handles religion: you offer everyone the chance to practice it when feasable, and it's not mandatory. bahamut0013^words_deeds 06:36, 12 June 2009 (UTC)

That's fascinating. I guess it just goes to show that "every Company is different." We had zero religion in our platoon, not even a wiff of prayer. We had lay readers as well but they weren't appointed in the platoon, they were volunteers that were given jobs by the Chaplains on Sundays. While I don't doubt you I'd prefer some sort of citation for the inclusion esp with the "evening prayers" portion as that seems rather contrary to what I'm familiar with. Just as a side note by the previous "contrary" statement I meant that operational or training personnel wouldn't touch religion with a ten foot pole. They just made sure that they checked the "everyone gets a chance" box and let the Chaplains handle all of that noise. TomPointTwo (talk) 07:37, 12 June 2009 (UTC)

That's pretty much my point: they made sure we had the opportunity to pray, and left it at that. Being a lay reader was voluntary, as was participating in any prayers. I'm pretty sure that allowing lay readers is in the SOP, but like anything else, the drill instructors don't always hit every single wicket perfectly every single time. We can probably reference Keeping Faith; but I didn't bring the book with me and I won't be going home for some time, so it will be a while before I can look up the page number and gather the info to fill template:cite book. bahamut0013^words_deeds 08:11, 12 June 2009 (UTC)

I own the book so I'll pick it up tomorrow and see if I can't find a proper source. Thanks for the help. If you have any other ideas for a citation please let me know. TomPointTwo (talk) 08:16, 12 June 2009 (UTC)

Injuries & Rehabilitation

I'd like to put in a section on injuries and medical rehab, i.e. Medical Rehabilitation Platoon (MRP) and the Physical Conditioning Platoon. MRP is for those recruits who sustain minor injuries while in recruit training, who have a chance to heal and re-enter the training cycle with a different platoon. PCP is for those recruits who are just coming out of MRP but need additional conditioning to get back in shape before reentering training, or for those recruits who are not injured, but otherwise need extra conditioning before re-entering training. Both are a vital part of recruit training as injuries are common. Objections? (Reklawpj (talk) 18:16, 10 November 2009 (UTC))

There was already a bit on PCP. I've moved it to the "fitness and diet" section and expanded it to include medical needs. bahamut0013^words_deeds 19:37, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

Don't know if its in the article already, but don't forget BMP, Broken Marine Platoon, the Marines that are held over in boot camp for injuries received during training. Similar to med hold in the Fleet. Sephiroth storm (talk) 08:36, 28 November 2009 (UTC)

Receiving phase

Receiving phase does not include the IST. The IST is the standard used to determine a persons readiness to ship to recruit training. It is taken at the recruiting station within 30 days of the potential recruit leaving for recruit training.

The only graded physical tests during boot camp are the initial PFT and the final PFT.

The cited reference for this is CLEARLY labeled as the "MILITARY PERSONNEL ROCUREMENT MANUAL, VOLUME 2, ENLISTED PROCUREMENT"

The IST standards cited are directly followed by:

2. The above standards are the only IST standards that will be used for pre-ship screening and for physical (height/weight) waivers. 3. All shippers, male and female, requiring recruit training are required to pass the IST (within 30 days) prior to shipping to recruit training. All shippers who do not require recruit training will pass a PFT (President's Own excluded).

The second source cited is linked to the incorrect page on military.com. While it defines the IST, it does not describe when the IST is performed. The correct link would be http://www.military.com/military-fitness/marine-corps-fitness-requirements/marine-corps-basic-training This link clearly states that the IST is passed PRIOR to shipping to boot camp.

I've changed this portion of the article previously only to have it changed back to it's current incorrect state.

--159.121.96.200 (talk) 21:30, 29 April 2010 (UTC)A

Out of date

I just went through boot camp november to february. Gas camber training is during phase one. MCMAP training is done mostly done in first phase as well. There are a few others, but those are just two off of the top of my head. --AtTheAbyss (talk) 01:30, 14 May 2010 (UTC)

I went through and made changes to both Phase One and Phase Three regarding most of the changes you cited. Looks like they switched a lot of events from the end of recruit training to the beginning.Coeus24 (talk) 13:24, 8 July 2012 (UTC)

The Crucible is 54 hours in length

Here is a source for that particular information

http://www.mcrdpi.usmc.mil/training/crucible/index.asp

That is from the Paris Island website.

I don't really understand how anyone could think it is 72 hours in length. 72 hours= 3 days exactly. In other words it would start and end in the wee hours of the night. The crucible does not, and any Marine would tell you that.William 16:07, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

The website doesn't work for me (strangely enough, since I'm coming from a .mil ISP at the moment); but your logic is sound enough that I'll AGF for the conflicting sources. bahamut0013^words_deeds 18:52, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

Depot at Puget Sound

Just wanted to point out that the Recruit Depot at Puget Sound closed about June 1, 1912 - not in 1915.

Source is Annual Report of the Major Commandant of the United States Marine Corps to the Secretary of the Navy, for the fiscal year 1912.

Kempo63 (talk) 07:39, 13 February 2011 (UTC)

Is this document published somewhere, so we can verify and properly cite it? bahamut0013^words_deeds 18:14, 13 February 2011 (UTC)

M16A4 Rifle?

I was at Parris Island in early 09 and we were still being issued M16A2's. Can anyone confirm this? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.93.190.199 (talk) 03:32, 18 March 2011 (UTC)

P.S. the gas chamber and rappelling are done in phase one on the last day, not phase 3. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.93.190.199 (talk) 03:36, 18 March 2011 (UTC)

As the song says, "everything changed/nothing stays the same". I've added a ref for the transition. bahamut0013^words_deeds 12:53, 18 March 2011 (UTC)

Deleted some text from the intro

Made a change to the section on officers. Previously it said "those desiring to become officers attend Officer Candidates School, United States Naval Academy, or Reserve Officers' Training Corps." I deleted everything after "Officer Candidates School."

ALL officer candidates go through OCS -- USNA and NROTC midshipmen just have to go for less time. ROTC is not a place, it is a commissioning program, just like the Platoon Leaders Class and Officers Candidate Course.

75.177.190.226 (talk) 22:57, 19 July 2011 (UTC) Lee, 20110719 18:57

External links modified

Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just added archive links to 2 external links on United States Marine Corps Recruit Training. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add {{cbignore}} after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add {{nobots|deny=InternetArchiveBot}} to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:

• Added archive https://web.archive.org/20080403065710/http://www.mcrdpi.usmc.mil:80/training/ to http://www.mcrdpi.usmc.mil/training/
• Added archive https://web.archive.org/20080409075208/http://www.usmc.mil/news/publications/Documents/MCO%201510.32D.pdf to http://www.usmc.mil/news/publications/Documents/MCO%201510.32D.pdf

When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true to let others know.

This message was posted before February 2018. After February 2018, "External links modified" talk page sections are no longer generated or monitored by InternetArchiveBot. No special action is required regarding these talk page notices, other than regular verification using the archive tool instructions below. Editors have permission to delete these "External links modified" talk page sections if they want to de-clutter talk pages, but see the RfC before doing mass systematic removals. This message is updated dynamically through the template {{source check}} (last update: 5 June 2024).

• If you have discovered URLs which were erroneously considered dead by the bot, you can report them with this tool.
• If you found an error with any archives or the URLs themselves, you can fix them with this tool.

Cheers.—^{cyberbot II}_{Talk to my owner:Online} 04:22, 20 January 2016 (UTC)

External links modified

Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just added archive links to 5 external links on United States Marine Corps Recruit Training. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add {{cbignore}} after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add {{nobots|deny=InternetArchiveBot}} to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:

• Added archive https://web.archive.org/20080409142144/http://www.usmc.mil/news/publications/Documents/MCO%20P6100.12%20W%20CH%201.pdf to http://www.usmc.mil/news/publications/Documents/MCO%20P6100.12%20W%20CH%201.pdf
• Added archive https://web.archive.org/20111224103303/http://www.mcrdpi.usmc.mil:80/training/physical.asp to http://www.mcrdpi.usmc.mil/training/physical.asp
• Added archive https://web.archive.org/20120419051401/http://www.mcrdpi.usmc.mil:80/training/schedule.asp to http://www.mcrdpi.usmc.mil/training/schedule.asp
• Added archive https://web.archive.org/20071214102153/http://www.mcrdpi.usmc.mil:80/training/matrix/ to http://www.mcrdpi.usmc.mil/training/matrix/
• Added archive https://web.archive.org/20130731200002/http://usmcguide.com/marine-corps-rank-structure/ to http://usmcguide.com/marine-corps-rank-structure/

When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true to let others know.

This message was posted before February 2018. After February 2018, "External links modified" talk page sections are no longer generated or monitored by InternetArchiveBot. No special action is required regarding these talk page notices, other than regular verification using the archive tool instructions below. Editors have permission to delete these "External links modified" talk page sections if they want to de-clutter talk pages, but see the RfC before doing mass systematic removals. This message is updated dynamically through the template {{source check}} (last update: 5 June 2024).

• If you have discovered URLs which were erroneously considered dead by the bot, you can report them with this tool.
• If you found an error with any archives or the URLs themselves, you can fix them with this tool.

Cheers.—^{cyberbot II}_{Talk to my owner:Online} 22:37, 22 February 2016 (UTC)

Drill instructor Joseph Felix

He was convicted on 11-9-17 and sentenced on 11-10-17. Should a page similar to tother the one about the Ribbon Creek Incident be created? Ala Bahma (talk) 22:45, 10 November 2017 (UTC)

Current SOPs for recruit training

Can anyone provide access to the current SOPs for each Depot?Morletga (talk) 02:32, 8 March 2018 (UTC)morletga

information that says [citation needed]

I have been looking into the information that says citation needed in the sections drill instructor and rivalry. I was unable to find any proper documentation, however, I believe the information is important to have which must be why it is still included in the article. Without proper sources I do believe deleting this information will make it much more credible. If anyone can help find sources to back up this information please help, if not I think the information should be removed. D-doodle88 (talk) 02:40, 29 June 2019 (UTC)