Boot Camp…Part 2

Congratulations, you did it, you survived the first phase of boot camp, you dealt with the berating, the early mornings, the long days, and the hours in a classroom. So you probably think you can call yourself a Marine now, right? Wrong! You are nowhere near the end. Three more phases are left and you will be tested at every possible turn.

One thing some people don’t realize about the Marines is they spend a lot of time in the water and therefore, recruits spend a lot of time in their pool training. Requirements to be a Marine are, Water Survival Qualification, Physical Fitness Test, Rifle Qualification, Martial Arts tan belt, Academic Mastery, Battalion Commander Inspection, and The Crucible.

You will spend hours on the shooting range, hours in the pool, and hours getting into tip top shape. For those of you wondering where a tan belt ranks as far as martial arts qualifications go, it is around the same as a white belt in tae kwon do but it is more focused on ground assault like brazillian jiu jitsu.

Mastering these takes place through phase two and three taking up 9 weeks of the 13. if you fail your rifle training you must go back to week 6 and re train. All that must be accomplished before moving on to phase 3: The Crucible.