Just A Few Questions

marines4me
Wed, 16 Nov 2005 11:30:29 +0000

For some reason, I remember thinking that Absolutely American wasn’t all that detailed. BUT, it has been awhile since I’ve read it. Anyways, Beast I and Beast II differ very much. Here’s the best that I can give you.

Beast I is all about learning how to do the simple things. R-Day is spent getting a bunch of basic stuff. You’ll walk into your room that first day and just stand there in total shock. When I first got to my room, no one told me to sit down, so I stood there at Parade Rest for about half an hour. You’ll have so much crap that you have no idea what to do with or what it does or where it goes. They’ll give you a manual of how to set things up, but the manual sucks. There’s so much it DOESN’T tell you. As R-Day gets closer for you guys, I’ll try to tell you as much as possible to help out, as well as stuff to bring. Anyways, after R-Day, you’ll spend all of your time getting issued equipment and clothing and learning how to put it together. That, interspersed with a BILLION classes on sexual harrassment, the Honor Code, etc. You’ll spend a vast amount of hours sitting in Rob Aud listening to some incredibly boring briefing. Everyone will want to fall asleep, but the upperclass will be lurking everywhere, much like sharks. You’ll want to write letters home, because that’s the only enjoyable thing you CAN do. You’ll have almost no time to do it, either. Any time you’re anywhere waiting in line (which you’ll be doing for hours at a time), you’ll be studying knowledge. You will never, ever stop studying knowledge. Here’s a basic day during Beast 1. I can’t remember the exact times for breakfast and all that, but you’ll get a general idea.

Wakeup: 0520
PT: 0535-0700
Breakfast: 0720
Most of the day: Briefings and issue points
Lunch
Afternoon: More PT or Mass Sports (about 1.5 weeks in you’ll start mass sports)
Dinner
Squad Leader time: (teaching how to shine shoes, putting room together, putting LCE together)
New Cadet Time: 2130-2200 (this is the time when you’ll shower, shine your shoes, clean your room)
2200: Lights out

That’s Beast I, essentially. You’ll go on 3 or 4 ruck marches—two 2 milers, one 3 miler, and then the 6 mile. The 6 mile is quite possibly the worst of all the ruck marches. It goes almost straight up the ski slope. I did NOT think I’d make it. Besides the ruck marches, pretty much the only other military stuff you’ll be doing during Beast I is IMT (individual movement techniques). That’s where you get to do all the crawling under barbed wire, throwing grenades, etc. It’s pretty fun. I’ll continue the part about Beast II in my next post.