Working to become a Marine

Do you like running? Do you like running long distances? This will become a very frequent part of your life in the Marine Corps. Your recruiter will send you to boot camp as long as you can pass the mile and a half run, but you will want to be able to pass the 3 mile run before you ship out for boot camp. If you end up stationed at a wing you'll run at least twice per week for unit PT. If you get stationed at one of the big bases you'll probably run more than that. Most runs will be 3 miles, but it's not uncommon to run twice that.

Congrats on your decision, and the most important two words I can state right now are....

Mental

Toughness


If you have it getting through boot camp, schools, and into the fleet will be no big deal. If you don't have it start working on it now. You will be deprived of things you love, degraded, questioned, exhausted, burdened, taxed, tested and tried. And if you can suck it up you will become part of a brotherhood that most couldn't possibly understand.

If you are in decent shape, the physical is the least of your worries. You have plenty of time for that. And nothing really prepares you for some of the tests you might deal with, other than your mental state. "Humps" can be a joy, ranging from less than fun to brutal. But it's all worth it if you apply yourself. You will see and get to do things most people will never get to see or do.



And on a parting note...

Do it for the right reasons, and take every training day seriously. Especially in this day and age, being sent on a hostile deployment is just as likely a matter of when vs a matter of if.