Re: Re: Re: Re: Marine fleet band


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Posted by Leland on February 24, 2004 at 03:00:02:

In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Marine fleet band posted by Ken on February 23, 2004 at 22:42:04:

Yup, I did my MCT training at Camp Pendleton, not far at all from SOI geographically (heck, we shared the same parade deck), but worlds apart in actual activity. PI graduates go to Camp Geiger as you said.

SOI's school lasts much longer than MCT, something near two months or so. They're combat-ready when they finish, so their school is no joke. The 2-1/2 weeks I mentioned is pretty much the training cycle, where we had a sort of shakedown get-out-and-throw-some-grenades stuff right after forming up, then a week in huts with wood floors, then another few days in squad-size tents, and a few more days sleeping in bivy sacks while we had our own little war. An additional week was spent cleaning up, turning in all the gear, doing written exams, running another PFT, and graduating.

I never fired a weapon of any kind (apart from BB guns) before boot camp, and I qualified as an expert rifleman (did it again last December, too). I just did what I was instructed to do, and it all worked.

I don't think I work with anyone who isn't willing to do the grunt thing if needed. As has been made more evident the past couple of years, you never can tell when something might happen, and you'd have to get into the thick of it.


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