Gunslinger and other Marines or former Marines.

[Slurpee]

Silat -

Portland, Oregon huh? Im down here in Redmond near Bend, Central Oregon. Went to portland for MEPS.

[Gunslinger]

Slurp,

Your lucky your missing out on the sand fleas.  They are fricken horrible.

BUT, in return you get the hills of camp pendleton during second phase.

as far as your rights go this is the skinny on that

http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/ucmj.htm

The uniformed code of military justice.  Mainly look over the "punative articles" in section X.  These are violations.  You'll learn all about what an Art. 15 or NJP is later but you need to know art 77 through  138.  Not by heart but just a bug in the ear thing.

831 ART. 31. COMPULSORY SELF-INCRIMINATION PROHIBITED
(a) No person subject to this chapter may compel any person to incriminate himself or to answer any questions the answer to which may tend to incriminate him.
(b) No person subject to this chapter may interrogate, or request any statement from an accused or a person suspected of an offense without first informing him of the nature of the accusation and advising him that he does not have to make any statement regarding the offense of which he is accused or suspected and that any statement made by him may be used as evidence against him in a trial by court-martial.
(c) No person subject to this chapter may compel any person to make a statement or produce evidence before any military tribunal if the statement or evidence in not material to the issue and may tend to degrade him.
(d) No statement obtained from any person in violation of this article, or through the use of coercion, unlawful influence, or unlawful inducement may be received in evidence against him in a trial by court-martial.
 

Knowing this saved me from getting charged with "underage drinking" while sitting in the MP shack of camp pendleton trying not to throw up.

An MP asked me "you been drinking tonite LCpl?" knowing full well I was underaged.  He violated my rights and I knew this and clamed up and they couldnt prosicute me.

I know this sounds strange some guy telling you how to get out of trouble but it's not just this.  Young Marines get burned all the time for crap they they may or may not have done because they didn't know their rights.

You are correct about the Dep thing I was in DEP for 6 months and it took 6 months off my IRR time.  It also says in your contract. that they can keep you in the military or recall you into the military during your IRR time for the Duration of any conflict or national emergancy plus 6 months.

That's the kicker right there.

So you're gonna be a grunt huh.  Well that's good the Corps needs plenty of them.  Remember what I said about everything for a reason.  It applies even more so in the grunts.  To be honest at first you will be treated like complete dog sh#$.  There is a reason for that and it does get better/you get used to it.  As a grunt you WILL deploy and see some cool parts of the world that not many people see.  You will do ALOT of things that not to many have done.

Dont worry about base housing as of yet unless you get married.  You WILL live in the Barracks.  Barrakcs life is good/bad.  There's too many pro/cons I could say about that but I gotta run.

Make sure when they are handing out radios to people you ask for a salamander-E7 that actually works!

[Slurpee]

Hey, thanks alot for all the help. About thinken its strange you were telling me about the articles etc. Whew, No worries, like i said above, you can learn alot from people who have more expierence then you and know how to deal with stuff.

So basically, if i was caught drinking underage in the USMC (which is a possability lol) im protected under that artcle, that i do not have to say anything? See this is the hard part for me. Do you just not say anything in a case like that, or do you inform them about that article etc?

Had you not told me about these articles etc i would have never learnd about it. I appreciate it alot. Thanks again Gunslinger.

Ive noticed already at MEPS they try to weed you out pretty hardcore. You hear at least twice from every person you deal with there, all about fraudulant enlistment and how they can put you in jail, fines, etc.

[wombatt]

Do not stand out!
in other words don't let the DI's get yo know you well LOL.
Keep your trap shut and blend in.
The conversion from civilian to military is hard for some folks because they try to think in Boot or basic.

Don't think do only as told listen to the DI he is an experienced NCO as knows his chit.
I was army but my father was a DI from 1947-1960 several cycles he did.

Oh and yes it was a biotch wearing a crew cut in high school in the 70s LOL.

Good luck to you and know everything you are getting into
Gunslinger speaks the truth know your rights cause when you sign your name and raise you hand and promise to protest the USA against all enemy's foreign or domestic they OWN you butt.

[Sancho]

0300, excellent.  I was not in the Marines, but I served with them from 94-99 as a 8404 hospital corpsman.  I was at Camp Pendleton, Quantico, Hawaii, Okinawa, and did some reserve duty in Austin too.  You asked about the swim quals, so here's a good description of them: CWS

I didn't go to marine boot camp, so I won't try to tell you about that, but I did just about all the other training an 0300 marine does in the fleet.   The basic qual WS3 swim qual is pretty cheesy.  If you have any experience in the pool, I doubt you will have any difficulty with that. (Like Gunslinger said, a lot of inner-city kids really struggle with it.)  The higher level swim quals are still not too bad.  IMO, the hardest part is the 30 minute treading water part of the WSQ qual.  I saw a lot of guys fail that part because they couldn't keep their head above water and they gave up, even guys who had swam pretty well through the earlier parts.  You have to tread water vertically and you can't float on your back.  It's tougher than it looks.  The main thing is staying calm and only expending enough energy to keep your mouth and nose above water.  Stay calm and be very efficient with your treading technique and you'll be fine.

Oh, and my best advice, stay hydrated.  Drink lots of water.  Drink a little bit often, not a lot of water every once in a while.  If your tongue is getting tacky (cottonmouth) and your urine isn't clear, you not drinking enough water.  Sounds obvious, but you'll see a lot of otherwise healthy & fit marines succumb to heat injuries humping up Mt Motherfscker due to dehydration.

[Gunslinger]

Originally posted by Slurpee
Hey, thanks alot for all the help. About thinken its strange you were telling me about the articles etc. Whew, No worries, like i said above, you can learn alot from people who have more expierence then you and know how to deal with stuff.

So basically, if i was caught drinking underage in the USMC (which is a possability lol) im protected under that artcle, that i do not have to say anything? See this is the hard part for me. Do you just not say anything in a case like that, or do you inform them about that article etc?

Had you not told me about these articles etc i would have never learnd about it. I appreciate it alot. Thanks again Gunslinger.

Ive noticed already at MEPS they try to weed you out pretty hardcore. You hear at least twice from every person you deal with there, all about fraudulant enlistment and how they can put you in jail, fines, etc.

Your going to hear the whole fraud enlistment thing even in recruit training.  I'm not sure if they do it but the "moment of truth" was pretty intense for some people.


(this is more post boot camp stuff really.  DONT EVEN THINK ABOUT DOING THIS IN BOOT CAMP UNLESS YOU JUMP THE WALL OR SOMETHING)
I'm not saying do bad things and get away with them.  I am saying you have the right in the military to clam up and not say another word untill you speak to a lawyer.  Not alot of young Marines know this   On the flip side asking for a lawyer allways escilates the situation no matter what.  Sometimes it can be solved at a lower level....lawyers eliminate this.  

the other thing about SD is the airplanes.  You will constantly hear airplanes taking off and landing next door and it will allways remind you of a ride home.

[zorstorer]

Remember the credo....

NO POLY...

NO WAIVER...

NO STATEMENT...

[Slurpee]

heheh, i understand, ANY advice even post boot camp is helpful. Boot Camp will be hard enough, im definetly not gonna try something dumb or illeagal while in there. The reason i askd you about that case there in particular is because... well im guessing a good majority of even the underage Marines drink.

I have afew buddies in the USMC, whenever i get in contact with them, whole time they talk about all the fun their having and pass on stories etc. I know your not saying to go out and do it. But the chances given im a dumb young 18 yr old kid are pretty high itll happen.

I was just trying to better understand how not to get in trouble in a situation like that. The only way id ask for a lawyer is if it was something major and i was innocent etc.  Petty stuff, they way i see it, if i was dumb enough to get caught and cant get out of it. Then you mise well face the music and pay for what ya did.

About the airplanes in SD. Heh, we just got this Marine that came back from boot camp. I guess they were out on drill or something. Plane flew over, everyone that lookd or even hinted they noticed got squashed lol.

[bigsky]

Originally posted by Silat
Hmmm, in the army we know how to spell:)
It is Miranda:)

                           

lol well...nevermind  

[fd ski]

remove the instinct to ask "why", and you're well on your way there. Don't look for the reason, don't look for the cause, just do what you're told.

Good luck,

[MrLars]

Sleep will be your dear friend, cherish it and do it well.

I'm still catching up with mine 40 years after Army boot.

[Schaden]

Just run 5 miles a day, every day till they come and get you, the rest will be easy.

[SunTracker]

Start reading some books on house-to-house fighting and urban combat.  You will be doing lots of this in Iraq.  Remember that you are either fighting the enemy over there or you will be fighting them over here.  At some point in your career, you may be asked to sacrifice your life.  Or you may become a hero like this guy:

"...His name is Corporal Yeager (Chuck Yeager's grandson). As the Marines cleared an apartment building, they got to the top floor and the point man kicked in the door. As he did so, an enemy grenade and a burst of gunfire came out. The explosion and enemy fire took off the point man's leg. He was then immediately shot in the arm as he lay in the doorway. Corporal Yeager tossed a grenade in the room and ran into the doorway and into the enemy fire in order to pull his buddy back to cover. As he was dragging the wounded Marine to cover, his own grenade came back through the doorway. Without pausing, he reached down and threw the grenade back through the door while he heaved his buddy to safety. The grenade went off inside the room and Cpl Yeager threw another in. He immediately entered the room following the second explosion. He gunned down three enemy all within three feet of where he stood and then let fly a third grenade as he backed out of the room to complete the evacuation of the wounded Marine. You have to understand that a grenade goes off within 5 seconds of having the pin pulled. Marines usually let them "cook off" for a second or two before tossing them in. Therefore, this entire episode took place in less than 30 seconds..."

[Drunky]

I've been out for just over ten years now so I imagine boot camp will be a little different.

I went in when I was 23 years old so the PT was a bit of a problem because I was really out of shape.  But, because I was older the head games didn't really bother me, I knew what they were and ignored them.

Like when you wake up, we used to have an instructor come through and tell us to put on our blouses, and when everyone had one arm through he we scream for us to put on our trousers.  Most people wanted to finish putting on their blouse and he would flip out, run up to people, and scream at them about why they can't follow directions.

It didn't matter in what order we got dressed, we still had the same time to do it.  Even if you did an arm, a leg, the other arm, the last leg.  You still get there.

I also hated the 'games' that the DI's liked for us to play on the quarterdeck.  It's not simply PT, you play games which seem like torture sometimes.  But you get over it.

I have more advice for when you get out of boot camp.

Don't drink.  Especially after boot camp.  I got into quite a bit of trouble myself just luckily not something serious, like DWI, rape, assault, etc.  While I was on Okinawa a couple of Marines apparently got drunk, raped a native girl, and ended up in a world of ****.

And if you are in Okinawa do not **** with the JP (Japenese Police).  They are not only trained in several forms of martial arts they are also not bound by Miranda, etc.

[Sandman]

Originally posted by wombatt
Do not stand out!
in other words don't let the DI's get yo know you well LOL.
Keep your trap shut and blend in.

This is harder to accomplish than you think. If you're an above average or below average guy, you're going to stand out.

I was Navy. I went through boot camp trying awfully hard not to bring attention to myself. I paid attention, did the drills, and tried to blend in. Unfortunately, I was too successful. By the end of week 3, they fired the ARCPO and guess who got the job?