Sworn in as a Midshipman

[CtheHammer]

Yesterday afternoon I got back from almost a week of NROTC orientation, and I must say it was quite an adventure. I am a member of the Atlanta Region NROTC unit, which is I believe on of if not the largest in the country, and there were about 57 of us that went down to King's Bay for the orientation.

After about seven hours of them being really low key and calm with us, they introduced the Midshipman squad leaders that would be working with us and the Marine Sergeant, Staff Sargeant, and Gunnery Sergeant that would be working with us. After that things went crazy with them all yelling at us, none of us doing anything right, and several of the candidates already crying.

Now before I say anything more, I must say this: This was not a boot camp! There was nothing that really came anywhere close to being like a real boot camp. Sure there was plenty of yelling, but it was not really that bad.

That said, we had PT every morning at 0500 after we were able to get maybe about 3-6 hours of sleep, we got hardly any time to change clothes or shower during the day. Everything that we did had to be done at night after the troop handlers, as they were called, left us to get sleep also. During the day we had several lectures on various things regarding naval service and our unit, and we also went on tours both in King's Bay and also at nearby Jacksonville and Mayport. When we weren't doing that, we were doing drill or just getting yelled at by our handlers and instructors.

The yelling really wasn't that bad, and if you stayed squared away and didn't screw anything up, they never really gave you any crap.

I must say that the most impressive people that were there were not the Midshipmen that were there, but the Marines. All three of the enlisted Marines were completely squared away, and always were very intense, be they yelling at us or running drill, or giving a lecture on how the physical fitness test would be run. The most impressive, though, is the Marine officer in charge that is assigned to our unit.

Major MacCormick (sp?) was on the program American Gladiator and went all the way to the finals there. I have also been told that in the Marine recruiting commercial that has the chess pieces that are all moving around and the guy that cuts a guy in half at the end, he is the guy at the very end in the dress uniform that does all the stuff with the sword coming to attention. Anyway, this guy is like the poster Marine, and he seems to just have this air of confidence about him in all he does. If I were to be a Marine, he is the Marine that I would strive to emulate, I was that impressed with him.

Overall, looking back, it was a good experience. I learned a lot, it was a good way to go ahead and get good habits regarding military courtesies started, and it was a good start for forcing us to think under pressure. It also created a way for us to get to know each other and the troop handlers, who are actually really neat people. I spent an hour or so talking to one of them this evening over at his frat house.

Now I am a Midshipman 4/c in the United States Naval Reserve and starting Tuesday I will be doing my Naval Science classes that will help prepare me for a commisioning in the Navy or Marine Corp (right now I am Navy option, but I may switch sometime in the next year, but a lot has to be thought over).

Anyway, just thought I would share that with ya'll, and those of you who are still in high school and looking at the academies, I would suggest lining up ROTC and their available scholarships as a plan B. In the end it is the same result, and you also get the full college experience.

C

Edited August 16, 2003 by CtheHammer

[Specter]

Im glad that you had a positive experience. I have to say that the second most right thing i ever did in my life was go in the USMC. I accomplished the most in my life during my time as a Marine, despite what happened to me. That was the second greatest time of my life, and if offered the chance to repeat it, I would do every bit of it over again, rejoining the Corps for my MOS without a second thought. I did 4 years of ROTC (granted it was Air Force ROTC), but being from Colorado, a very big Air Force State), that's all I could get. I did 4 years of it in High School, and it was a great preperation for military life, and because of that, it opened alot of choices up for me joining the USMC that I might not have had otherwise. Such as I went into boot as a PFC, and would have come out of boot as a Lance Corporal, which isnt the norm. Normally you come out of boot as a PFC. It also helped me get a shot and win an MOS that they only offered to 2 people every 3 years.

It took them 6 months to come up with the background checks for the security clearances i would have had before they even let me leave for San Diego.

I think you made an excellent move here, and whether you choose the Navy or the USMC (my choice that I would make again in a heartbeat), I wish you the vbest of luck bro ! !

Semper Fi ! !

[tyovan4]

congratulations and good luck C!

@Phantm, if you dont mind telling, what was the MOS you had? im just curious

[Specter]

My MOS's would have been Satellite Interpretation and Analysis. for Military Intel, and my secondary would have been Force Recon. I would have been stationed at Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado Springs.

[DeepRecon 0321]

Good Luck C!

I ship out for Marine bootcamp right after XMas, can't wait.

[CtheHammer]

Hey Deep, good luck with that man. I am planning on working out with the Marines here, and they are hard core. Make sure you are in good shape. I personnally have a lot of work to do there (I didn't fail anything though on the PRT), but I have every confidence in the Marines running PT and myself that everything will work out.

C

[DeepRecon 0321]

Yea that's all I'm doing is working out and running. Got a good discount for this gym here, one of the managers is a retired Gunny. Told me I wasn't leaving without a perfect PFT. Thanks for the support and I'll keep ya posted...