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USN Basic Training: My Thoughts

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I have previously written on my experience in USN Boot Camp. The first article was a summary, while this one will serve as my commentary. With that out of the way, Let's begin.

Facts and Fiction

First and foremost, I want to shatter a misconception. Anyone with even a passing knowledge of the movie Full Metal Jacket will undoubtedly walk away with a certain view of Boot Camp. While there are some kernels of truth in the movie, it doesn't reflect today's training. Perhaps most importantly, RDCs are not allowed, for any reason, to lay an aggressive hand on a recruit. They can physically correct you with jumping jacks, 8-counts, lock and loads, or planks, but they are forbidden from smacking a recruit around. This extends to verbal exchanges as well. RDCs are permitted to criticize a recruit for their bad behavior or performance, but they cannot mock a recruit for their religious beliefs, nationality, ethnicity, or sexual orientation. Not only would it be irrelevant and downright rude, it would probably invite lawsuits.

Movies like Full Metal Jacket also do little to emphasize the positive relations between the recruits. Its true in one regard, divisions have plenty of problems. At best, they're like a big, extended family where everyone looks out for each other and everyone knows your name. At worst, they're like high school-esque drama factories with cliques and disunity. (Fortunately for me, I managed to avoid most of this, and I don't believe that anyone in my division held any resentment toward me). My particular division had only a handful of people above the age of 30, and many of us were barely out of high school. That's not to say that we were immature, but most of us were still quite young. Forming friendships was very common, and I remain friends with most of the 87 (or so) other recruits to this day. Unfortunately, there were no shortage of squabbles and bitterness, but that's pretty unavoidable.

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One thing that Full Metal Jacket got partially correct is that resentment among recruits is possible. It never reached the level of outright revenge or hatred, though. This is because recruits who consistently performed poorly could earn a not-so-positive reputation. Often when a given recruit messed up, the entire division would be punished, presumably because we let them down by not keeping them up to speed with everyone else. To be absolutely clear, we didn't hate each other, but we certainly had our frustrations with recruits who didn't seem to be trying or seemed like they wanted to do things their way. Because the day was so heavily regimented, there was very little time for us to talk between ourselves or air our grievances. After the RDCs left at the end of the day and the lights went out, we would discuss pretty much everything. Sometimes we were just shooting the breeze, but a lot of time was spent addressing problems. If a recruit was struggling to perform a certain task (like preparing gear for inspections or remembering facts), this was the best chance for others to help him or her. Now, because my division was about 50/50 male and female, the males would get their own compartment (separate room), while the females had one across the passageway. Unnecessary fraternizing between the two was forbidden, but that didn't stop two of my fellow Sailors from developing a quiet relationship and getting married after boot camp. I don't really know how they pulled it off, but more power to them.

Now, another common misunderstanding is that Boot Camp is primarily a test of physical endurance. To a certain extent, this is a reasonable view, but is only partially true. After a while, being physically punished by RDCs becomes the norm, and it becomes more of an annoyance than a source of dread. Recruits are only removed from the training if their fitness is truly lacking. Really, the training is a prolonged test of psychological endurance. Feelings of isolation, culture shock, uncertainty, and lack of a familiar social support system (limited contact with family and friends) will test your psychological resolve. If I had to put numbers on it, I would say that it is 70% psychological, 20% physical, and 10% mental. The mental (academic) requirements are not generally tough enough to cause recruits to flunk out, from what I saw.

Contact With the Outside World

A few weeks into training, we finally started receiving mail from home. If I understand correctly, we actually started to receive mail a lot later than other divisions, but I can't say for certain. I have to say- the first time I received letters from home, I was pretty sad. Having contact with the outside world for the was pretty significant, and I'm sure I wasn't the only one. For most of us, getting mail was the highlight of our day, and I actually developed a reputation for getting more mail than pretty much anyone else, and I kept most (if not all) of it after training was over. Now, that's not because I was a rock star back home or anything, but because my family (and extended family) were thoughtful enough to write very frequently. Most of the time, it would be about everyday occurrences, nothing fancy. I'd write back a lot of the time, mostly about how I missed everyone and how training was difficult but doable. Of course, Boot Camp didn't allow most packages in the mail, so it was always funny when somebody received candy in the mail, but had to sheepishly hand it over immediately in front of everyone else. We were supposed to convey that to our friends and family at home, but it happened anyway. Thankfully, it didn't happen to me.

Recruit Division Commanders



Regarding our RDCs, its easy to look back on the experience and laugh. Following basic training, some of my fellow sailors befriended one of our RDCs on Facebook, and there is little to no bad blood to speak of between any of us. But obviously, this didn't change the tough environment that they created. We were held to very precise standards, and it was very rare to go a day without getting physically corrected. One of the worst days of training was when we had our official Drill Inspection. We were a 900 Division, so we placed a greater degree of importance on marching maneuvers. During the graduation ceremony, we would have a specific routine to perfect. We had practiced daily for weeks, but while we passed the inspection, we did not score highly enough to give us the privilege of marching without our RDCs. For a 900 Division, that is about the most embarrassing and unheard-of thing imaginable. Our RDCs were particularly livid that day.

However I must emphasize the fact that RDCs were still human. They weren't cold and uncaring monsters. They made it clear from early on that anything they yelled at us was not personal, and was indeed meant to be constructive. On one particular occasion, a recruit received word from his wife that she had a baby. The entire division was thrilled, and the RDCs calmly congratulated him. That might not seem like that big of a deal, but it shows that they weren't perpetually angry and bitter- they had emotions just like everyone else. If we had honest questions about Navy life, they would answer. If we were learning something for the first time, they would explain it calmly and thoroughly. Near the end of training, they actually sat down and allowed us to blow off some steam and release some stress, namely by imitating their mannerisms and catchphrases. At first we were uneasy, but eventually we did our best impressions of them. Sometimes they were confused, but at other times they laughed just like the rest of us. Early during the final morning, while we waited to board our respective buses to ship out to our A-Schools, one of our RDCs stayed with us and discuss Navy matters just as anyone else would. No yelling, no scolding, just a regular conversation between Sailors. It's hard to blame them for their methods, since they had to condition generations of Sailors to potentially go to war. For what its worth, I don't resent them.

Daily Tasks

I want to talk about the jobs we were given during training. I briefly mentioned this earlier, but I should elaborate some more. We could volunteer for a given job, but you weren't guaranteed to keep that job. Depending on what role you had, you may have been eligible for an advancement in rank after training, which was obviously pretty desirable. At first, they tried out several people for the all-important duties of Recruit Chief Petty Officer and Assistant Recruit Chief Petty Officer (RPOC & AROC, respectively), but we found the best candidates not too far into the training. The RPOC outranked the other recruits, and we were supposed to respect the chain of command by consulting with her before we went to our RDCs if there was a question or concern. The AROC was the 2nd in command, and had the rather unenviable task of keeping the cadence while we marched. Luckily, he only lost his voice briefly during boot camp, and he did a pretty good job of keeping the cadence right.

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Our Masters at Arms were in charge of cleanliness, and they did a pretty good job. As of a matter of fact, the RDCs commended our male Master at Arms early on as a model recruit because of his seriousness and enthusiasm when responding to orders. The Yeoman took care of the clerical work, though she was assisted by two other Yeoman who dealt with Medical and Dental records. Our Laundry Petty Officers handled the laundry, obviously. Not much else to say about that, other than the fact that nobody envied their jobs. Having to stay on top of the laundry schedule for 40 or so recruits was pretty difficult. We also had Mail Petty Officers and Ironing Petty Officers, who handled their respective duties. As far as I can tell, their jobs were really easy, and I don't recall any of them being directly criticized for their job performance.

Perhaps the least desirable job was the Starboard Watch, who had to keep excellent records in our logbook, which were recorded by multiple watch standers. The logbook kept track of basically everything that happened in the division, and even the slightest mistake would invite the wrath of FQA inspectors. Everything had a very specific way of being recorded, and the Starboard Watch had to stay on top of that. As for my job, I was tasked with keeping track of people as they departed from the division or rejoined it during the day or night. Normally, the Yeoman would do this, but I was given this specific task, presumably so that she'd have a smaller load to carry. Funnily enough, our Yeoman was a tremendous help to me, and she probably saved me from being yelled at on several occasions. At one point, a recruit commented on how I had one of the worst jobs in the division, and I can't say that I disagreed with them. Still, it could have been a lot worse, and it certainly kept me busy.

Battlestations

If you recall, I briefly mentioned Battlestations in my previous article. As I said, this was the final test of knowledge and endurance for the entire division, which lasted for several hours throughout the late night and early morning. Whenever we asked Petty Officers about Battlestations prior to it, we would usually be given vague, blunt responses. Or we would be told to stop worrying about it and focus on the task at hand. Fair enough, since its not something that you can necessarily prepare for in your free time. Now, I can't elaborate on what we did, but I will say that we tested on everything we had learned up until that point.

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By the time Battlestations had rolled around, the division had lost about 13 recruits, mostly for medical reasons. One of the most jarring moments in all of Basic Training was actually the night we were leaving for Battlestations. We were all assembled in ranks, ready to move out. One of our RDCs asked for several recruits to step forward. He read some names out slowly, and at first we were confused, but then we were saddened, because we realized that the names he called out were people who didn't make it, several of whom barely made it to our permanent compartment. His point was: “you've made it too far, don't take this for granted”. None of us were expecting it, and it gave us something to be mindful of.

As for the matter of mentally preparing for Battlestations, we knew that we'd be divided into smaller teams beforehand, which begged the question, who would you want on your team? I can't say if I was the only one who pondered it or not, but I do know that certain recruits were exemplary, model individuals, while others were known for causing problems. That might sound a bit judgmental, but it is very hard to live 2 months with a lot of people without forming an honest opinion about them, one way or another. A day or so prior to the event, our names were called out as we were placed in groups. The other recruits would either cheer or recoil as certain people were called out, which was actually pretty funny. It was obvious who the division believed was awesome, and who they thought was... less than awesome. It was almost like being picked for dodgeball teams at school. However, everyone passed, so it really didn't matter.

Closing Thoughts

The bottom line of the entire experience is that while Boot Camp is difficult, it is by no means impossible. The way I see it, if an average person like me can graduate, a lot of other people probably can as well. Recruits are sometimes asked to perform certain tasks that are for all intents and purposes, impossible. The RDCs expect you to fail, and they want to see how you handle that failure. Being able to bounce back and learn from the experience is important, and it helps condition people to become better Sailors. That's what it's all about.

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That pretty much covers it for Boot Camp. Thanks for reading, and I hope I was able to shed some light on something that most people have limited knowledge of. I'd be happy to elaborate on anything, or answer any questions that you might have.

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