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I'm leaving for Boot Camp in two days!

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I was in the Navy from 93-97. I would recommend taking advanatage of any schooling you can get while active duty. I wish i had done that. Make sure you sign up for GI Bill AND Navy College Fund. I missed out on the fund but got the bill which helped. Other then that just have fun and try not to take it too serious. Oh and one other thing. I wish i had done 20 years and retired as well. Great benefits i missed out on. And as of today id only have 2 more years to go for those 20 years lol

/facepalm myself lol
 
Come to think of it, don't even shower. "It is better to have a dirty virgin cornhole than a clean violated one." Truer words were never spoken, Grandpa.
 
I'm too old for the Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard.
I think I'll pass 🙂

Maximum age to enlist:
Active duty Army - 42
Army Reserves - 42
Army Natinal Guard - 42
Active duty Air Force - 27
Air Force Reserve - 34
Air National guard - 34
Active duty Navy - 34
Navy Reserves - 39
Active duty Marines - 28
Marine Corps Reserves - 29
Active duty Coast Guard - 27
Coast Guard Reserves - 27

wrong.

my brother's 28 and enlisted in coast guard.
 
I'm too old for the Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard.
I think I'll pass 🙂

Maximum age to enlist:
Active duty Army - 42
Army Reserves - 42
Army Natinal Guard - 42
Active duty Air Force - 27
Air Force Reserve - 34
Air National guard - 34
Active duty Navy - 34
Navy Reserves - 39
Active duty Marines - 28
Marine Corps Reserves - 29
Active duty Coast Guard - 27
Coast Guard Reserves - 27

You're never too old for Peace Corps.
 
Find the toughest looking guy you can find. Then walk up and punch him as hard as you can right in the face. You will earn instant respect. Trust me.
 
Come to think of it, don't even shower. "It is better to have a dirty virgin cornhole than a clean violated one." Truer words were never spoken, Grandpa.


My company had a guy who never showered - 5th week in, and he still hadn't. We complained to the Company Commander, and while the guy was definitely spoken to there was no resulting change in this individual's behavior.



So a bunch of us wrapped a blanket around his head in the middle of the night, dragged his sorry ass into the shower, and used lots of soap, water, and scrub brushes on him. We didn't beat the guy up, but in the morning he was a living scab. A very CLEAN living scab, mind.

Two things happened:

(1) We got the hell mashed ("physical training") out of us the following day. But *nobody* in the company spoke a word.

(2) The guy was transferred out of the company.



With the current Politically Correct atmosphere, I highly doubt such an act would have been handled in the same manner. But it was absolutely effective.
 
My Civilian life is almost over. I'm joining the Navy.

Anyone join in the past decade or so? Any pro-tips from the ATOT elders?

Have a good time.. go in with the right attitude and you will do great.

My GFs son just graduated the other day from Great Lakes.
I convinced him to join and he loved bootcamp.. lol.. sad but yes.

I was AT2 back in 1987-1997 so can answer some things about Aviation at least.
 
My company had a guy who never showered - 5th week in, and he still hadn't. We complained to the Company Commander, and while the guy was definitely spoken to there was no resulting change in this individual's behavior.



So a bunch of us wrapped a blanket around his head in the middle of the night, dragged his sorry ass into the shower, and used lots of soap, water, and scrub brushes on him. We didn't beat the guy up, but in the morning he was a living scab. A very CLEAN living scab, mind.

Two things happened:

(1) We got the hell mashed ("physical training") out of us the following day. But *nobody* in the company spoke a word.

(2) The guy was transferred out of the company.



With the current Politically Correct atmosphere, I highly doubt such an act would have been handled in the same manner. But it was absolutely effective.

I don't see this as true.. sorry but with the super close personal inspections the DI at least in Navy boot would have taken action the very sec he smelled anything period..
they were very adamant about that kinda stuff even bad breath woulda got you yelled at.
 
I don't see this as true.. sorry but with the super close personal inspections the DI at least in Navy boot would have taken action the very sec he smelled anything period..
they were very adamant about that kinda stuff even bad breath woulda got you yelled at.


Feel free to disbelieve. But the CC couldn't force the guy to shower, and so the company ended up doing it for him.
 
Feel free to disbelieve. But the CC couldn't force the guy to shower, and so the company ended up doing it for him.

Guess from a much different era than the new Navy.

Now they would special process your ass out for not showering and not adhering to the Military grooming standard. flat out.
The navy is not wanting recruits they can be as selective as they want now.
And dirtbags are not wanted.
 
Guess from a much different era than the new Navy.

Now they would special process your ass out for not showering and not adhering to the Military grooming standard. flat out.
The navy is not wanting recruits they can be as selective as they want now.
And dirtbags are not wanted.


Cheers for the Improvement 🙂


Though I suppose, if one were to consider enlisting today: Of the choice of Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines, the Squids (except corpsman) and WingNuts have the least chance of chewing dirt in Iraq and Afghanistan.

That would tend to alter the preferences of your enlistees somewhat...
 
The Navy is an excellent choice. IMO they have the best technical training of all the services. Take advantage of everything. You will get out of it what you put in.

I joined for most of the same reasons during the Vietnam era and was involved in explosives and demo, It was fun blowing shit up, but I didn't see it as a lifetime work. Changed to Missile Technician and received advanced electronics training .... completed 20 years, retired and nearly done with second retirement as an electronics tech for a large corp.

Best advice in a nutshell:
1. Do what you are told no more no less.
2. Take advantage of every school you can get.
 
...follow directions, and keep your mouth shut...

This, this, and this.

Especially for the boot camp portion. Sure, they'll make you do some physical stuff, but the majority of it is mental.

I was in the Navy from 93-97. I would recommend taking advanatage of any schooling you can get while active duty. I wish i had done that. Make sure you sign up for GI Bill AND Navy College Fund. I missed out on the fund but got the bill which helped. Other then that just have fun and try not to take it too serious. Oh and one other thing. I wish i had done 20 years and retired as well. Great benefits i missed out on. And as of today id only have 2 more years to go for those 20 years lol

/facepalm myself lol

This too. Take advantage of *everything* the Navy has to offer. Schooling, officers programs (if applicable), tours, etc. etc.

I did 5 years from '89-'94...would have been eligible for retirement in '09...but I don't regret getting out. I just regret that I did not take advantage of the opportunity for school while I was in.
 
My company had a guy who never showered - 5th week in, and he still hadn't. We complained to the Company Commander, and while the guy was definitely spoken to there was no resulting change in this individual's behavior.



So a bunch of us wrapped a blanket around his head in the middle of the night, dragged his sorry ass into the shower, and used lots of soap, water, and scrub brushes on him. We didn't beat the guy up, but in the morning he was a living scab. A very CLEAN living scab, mind.

Two things happened:

(1) We got the hell mashed ("physical training") out of us the following day. But *nobody* in the company spoke a word.

(2) The guy was transferred out of the company.



With the current Politically Correct atmosphere, I highly doubt such an act would have been handled in the same manner. But it was absolutely effective.

We also had one of the "unwashed" when I was in boot camp 41 years ago...and we did much the same thing when we could no longer stand his stink...only we scrubbed his nasty ass with these:

1445.jpg

Heavy, stiff, long-handled palmyra brushes...we literally scrubbed some of the skin off of him...but he smelled better.
Plus, as a nice bonus, every time he decided to struggle a bit more, they made nice clubs to whack him with...<thunk>

When he was released from the infirmary, he was transferred...and recycled to the beginning of boot camp.

Other than a bit of group-ass chewing, not much was said about it...and no punishment was handed out.
 
Volunteer for EVERYTHING!! People always say not to, but I got to do some of the most interesting, off-the-wall things by volunteering for details.

Obviously, someone never heard that the letters NAVY stand for Never Again Volunteer Yourself!! 🙄

Just like what's been said, pay attention to detail. They're going to show you their way of doing things. Stupid people that like to do calisthenics for punishment continue to try to do things their own way. Trust me, they can and will find enough exercises, for a long enough period of time, to wear you out and show you the error of trying to do it your way. Doing it their way is so much better!

For instance, early on in basic, my company was going to be punished, because we still weren't thinking of ourselves as a team, but as 80 individuals (something stupid we'd done, don't remember what). Our punishment? 100 jumping jacks. Sounds simple, right?? Except we had to do it in perfect unison, as a team. One person gets out of sync, we stop, and start over again.

We never got past 60.......and yet, we did about 1000 jumping jacks that day. Try it sometime, and let me know how your arms feel, when you're done! 😵
 
I did my Boot Camp at MCRD San Diego. In those days, the Navy boot camp was right next door, and we'd be out getting our asses PT'd on the Grinder, and the Navy pukes would be at the chain link fence that separated the two bases...smoking cigarettes and laughing at us...There's quite a bit of difference between Navy boot camp and USMC Boot Camp.
 
I did my Boot Camp at MCRD San Diego. In those days, the Navy boot camp was right next door, and we'd be out getting our asses PT'd on the Grinder, and the Navy pukes would be at the chain link fence that separated the two bases...smoking cigarettes and laughing at us...There's quite a bit of difference between Navy boot camp and USMC Boot Camp.

My grandpa was a marine, my father was a navy man. When I got older, my g-pa would rib on my dad in front of me for going to Navy boot camp. Suffice it to say, it was funny.

I've also heard of the joke(while on ship) of some sailors just standing at a door, and waiting for marines to form a line behind them. The marine grunts figured if a few people were waiting, something was worth waiting for and formed up behind the sailors.
 
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