Now browsing the "Drill Instructor Diaries" category
Recruit survival guide (politically correct remix)
12 Oct 2009 | 6 Comments | Continue reading »
I got into a fair amount of hot water over the original Recruit Survival Guide, prompting me to assign the post the algorithmically unbreakable password of YatYas98 and rewrite it to appease softer hearts. I blame the tree-hugging, save-the-whales, why-can’t-we-just-all-get-along, make-love-not-war whistle blowers, not my command who had to take action. Everything you see in [...]
Marine Corps Combat Fitness Test (CFT)
15 May 2009 | 2 Comments | Continue reading »
The CFT consists of three events: an 880 yard run, ammo can lifts, and maneuver under fire. 880 Yard Run: Marines will run for 880 yards while wearing boots and camouflage uniform (trousers and skivvie shirt). Ammo Can Lifts: Marines will lift a 30 pound ammo can from the ground, over their heads as many [...]
Protected: Recruit survival guide
19 Aug 2008 | Enter your password to view comments. | Continue reading »
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
Eleven year Marine Corps anniversary
29 Jul 2008 | 3 Comments | Continue reading »
I’ll admit I’ve taken my last eleven years as a United States Marine somewhat for granted. And now, as a drill instructor charged with making Marines, I see now more than ever that becoming a Marine goes well beyond a paltry twelve week recruit training cycle, follow-on occupational schooling, and even the first enlistment. The [...]
Protected: Recruit love letters
27 Feb 2008 | Enter your password to view comments. | Continue reading »
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Training day AD-4: Drill Instructor School Graduation
19 Dec 2007 | 14 Comments | Continue reading »
“These recruits are entrusted to my care. I will train them to the best of my ability. I will develop them into smartly disciplined, physically fit, basically trained Marines, thoroughly indoctrinated in love of Corps and country. I will demand of them, and demonstrate by my own example, the highest standards of personal conduct, morality [...]
Training days 53-55: Crucible observation
16 Dec 2007 | 2 Comments | Continue reading »
From “Rite of Passage: Making Basic Training Tougher” by Jim Garamone, 23 February 2004. Images meticulously selected and edited by yours truly. “We have two missions in the Marine Corps — to win battles and make Marines,” said Col. Bob Hayes, assistant deputy chief of staff for operations and training at the recruit depot here. [...]
Training day 35: in dreams
19 Nov 2007 | 5 Comments | Continue reading »
I had a nice little sit down chat with a military psychologist this morning. It was apparently in response to some paperwork I had filled out in the early days of DI school. I was one of fourteen Marines interviewed. Out of seventy-two. The conversation dealt specifically with my disclosure of physiological and psychological “abnormalities” [...]
Training days 26-34: Basic Warrior Training
18 Nov 2007 | 2 Comments | Continue reading »
How does two weeks pass without much to say about them? Maybe that means I’ve settled into the routine? The only real thing of note was BWT last week, which translated to a few days “in the field” smeared in cami paint and charging around the woods like a bunch of ROTC pinheads on a [...]
Training day 25: reveille, cockroach style
5 Nov 2007 | 13 Comments | Continue reading »
The picture you’re seeing to the right is the actual size of the cockroach that awoke me from my peaceful slumber at 2:00am this morning. He may not seem like much, but wait until the little bastard crawls into your ear and then tell me you’re not envisioning a thousands eggs being laid in your [...]
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Born in the year of the Dragon, the author grudgingly accepts the fact he has too many interests and not enough time. A cyclist as long as he can remember, an avid yet inconsistent writer since age eleven, and a U.S. Marine since age twenty-one, the author also adds computers, snowboarding, and motorcycles to his list of interests. Incidentally, he is aware of his inability to make a living from any but the Corps. The author accepts this as fact and remains optimistic. Feel free to drop him a line.
