TBS Graduation is a little more than 72 hours away. 6 Months of tough training, learning tenets of basic infantry tactics, officership, espirit de corps, leadership, and so much more. This is just about as exciting as OCS Graduation, but nothing will ever compare to that. Pinning those lieutenant bars on for the first time will always hold the most special place. But TBS graduation is a greater accomplishment and means more professionally. A graduation from The Basic School signifies that your superiors feel you are ready to hit the Fleet Marine Forces and begin leading Marines. Most everyone that starts graduates. However, there are always one or two from each platoon who aren't quite ready and are forced to do the program again. Not being "that guy" is a huge relief.
As glad as I am to have this over with, there are certainly things I, and just about every lieutenant here will miss. First the friends we all have made. Hardship molds friendships and comraderie unlike anything else. Doing things like spending five days in the field in smoldering hot weather, hiking back twelve miles with 110 pounds on your back on 12 hours sleep in the past week, the endurance course, and the myriad of other phyiscally and mentally painful tasks we completed here forged some serious friendships. I'm going to miss all that. But I will see these devil dogs in the fleet, and we will take the fight to the bad guys, together, here in a few months in Afghanistan.
For those keeping track at home, I ended up becoming an 0402 Logistics Officer. I will be in charge of a platoon that will be assisting the infantry and other Marines on the front lines, getting them what they need when they need it to effectively fight. I am going to be station in Camp Lejeune, NC for the next three years.
OO-Rah!
David
Monday, November 1, 2010
Saturday, July 17, 2010
The Basic School - Close to Halfway
We are about halfway through here at The Basic School and we have already learned a ton. It's nothing like Officer Candidate School; it's harder but at the same time so much easier. You get to be yourself, talk to your friends, get some free time, but the training events are more difficult on every level. Endurance events are longer, land navigation is spread out across kilometers of dense woodland, it is absurdly hot everyday and tests are much more difficult. But the great thing is that the whole time you are learning skills absolutely essential to being a leader of Marines. So far we have learned Martial Arts, basic markmanship with a rifle, pistol, and machine gun, fairly in-depth day and night land navigation, and are getting started into Combat Orders and beginning to learn how to lead a group of Marines with rifles and machine guns into combat.
So far I have loved it. I despise the training most of the time while it is occuring, because it is so detailed, tiring or downright painful but at the end of the day it is a great feeling of accomplishment most of the time. And the longer we are here, the more we realize how this training is important not for us, but for the Marines we will lead. We are essentially just a medium of information for the enlisted Marines that will be under our charge in the future.
Coming up in the future are a lot of time operating outside of the classroom. The next two months will be filled with about 70% of our time being spent running around and sleeping outside, attacking bad guys and defending against attacks from them. It will get progressively more complicated each time with the addition of more personnell to lead, the introduction of fire support from outside your platoon, and a progressively more difficult enemy, among other things.
Also coming up in about seven or eight weeks is job selection. By the beginning of September I should have a very good idea, if not know, what job I will end up in. Right now I am leaning towards the intelligence fields or logistics, but I'm keeping my options open. There is still a lot to learn.
Thanks for reading.
So far I have loved it. I despise the training most of the time while it is occuring, because it is so detailed, tiring or downright painful but at the end of the day it is a great feeling of accomplishment most of the time. And the longer we are here, the more we realize how this training is important not for us, but for the Marines we will lead. We are essentially just a medium of information for the enlisted Marines that will be under our charge in the future.
Coming up in the future are a lot of time operating outside of the classroom. The next two months will be filled with about 70% of our time being spent running around and sleeping outside, attacking bad guys and defending against attacks from them. It will get progressively more complicated each time with the addition of more personnell to lead, the introduction of fire support from outside your platoon, and a progressively more difficult enemy, among other things.
Also coming up in about seven or eight weeks is job selection. By the beginning of September I should have a very good idea, if not know, what job I will end up in. Right now I am leaning towards the intelligence fields or logistics, but I'm keeping my options open. There is still a lot to learn.
Thanks for reading.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Initial report from The Basic School
Here is the first post from The Basic School (TBS). Right now I am attending the Basic Officer Course at TBS, whose mission is to "train and educate newly commissioned officers in order....to prepare them for duty as company grade officers in the operating forces, with particular emphasis on the duties, responsibilities, and warfighting skills of a rifle platoon commander". In other words, TBS trains officers to lead Marines, and most of this training in centered around being a group of Marines with rifles. Every Marine, at the most basic level, is a rifleman, and every Marine Officer is a rifle platoon commander.
TBS is nothing like OCS. Just because I'm being trained by Marines doesn't mean I'm getting screamed at everyday. It's very much the opposite. At it's core, TBS is a learning institution, and the teaching here is extremely high quality. I was told the material we cover is 10th grade material, but the amount of infortmation is equivalent of two and half years of college. It's basic stuff, but it is a lot of basic stuff. Of this information, most of it will be learned in classroom (60% of our time at TBS) and then applied in the field (40% of our time at TBS). We are continually taught how to be professional leaders who are grounded in warfighting, and care for their men by holding them to the high standards established by the Marine Corps. Honestly, there is no officer school in the world quite like TBS. I don't know if it is the best officer school or not, but I know we are unique in that aspect.
So far at TBS we have done Martial Arts and are just beginning our work on the Rifle Range. Martial Arts were extremely interesting, albeit very basic, and gave us a good foundation on the basics of Marine Corps Martial Arts. We were taught how to hurt people and how to avoid being hurt too badly if caught in a bad situation. The Rifle Range portion of training are long days, but overall pretty fun. We learn how to accurately shoot both a service rifle (from 200, 300, and 50 yards) and service pistol (from distances between seven and twenty-five yards), and have some of the best instructors in the Marine Corps to instruct us.
Another mission of TBS is to assign newly commissioned officers the job specialties in the Marine Corps, from Infantry (the position with the most spots) to Intelligence, to Supply, Logistics, and many more. We are assigned these based on three things; our interests, the needs of the Marine Corps, and what our superiors believe we would be suited for. It is an extremely competitve process and it is something we think about a lot.
My goals for TBS are as follows: 1) To finish in the top 30% of my class
2) To graduate knowing I gave a complete effort
3) To be prepared to lead enlisted Marines
If I do the first two, the last one will take care of itself. Thanks for reading. Semper Fidelis.
For any more information visit www.tecom.usmc.mil/tbs. For pictures of training visit www.tecom.usmc.mil/tbs/student/Delta/galleryi.html.
TBS is nothing like OCS. Just because I'm being trained by Marines doesn't mean I'm getting screamed at everyday. It's very much the opposite. At it's core, TBS is a learning institution, and the teaching here is extremely high quality. I was told the material we cover is 10th grade material, but the amount of infortmation is equivalent of two and half years of college. It's basic stuff, but it is a lot of basic stuff. Of this information, most of it will be learned in classroom (60% of our time at TBS) and then applied in the field (40% of our time at TBS). We are continually taught how to be professional leaders who are grounded in warfighting, and care for their men by holding them to the high standards established by the Marine Corps. Honestly, there is no officer school in the world quite like TBS. I don't know if it is the best officer school or not, but I know we are unique in that aspect.
So far at TBS we have done Martial Arts and are just beginning our work on the Rifle Range. Martial Arts were extremely interesting, albeit very basic, and gave us a good foundation on the basics of Marine Corps Martial Arts. We were taught how to hurt people and how to avoid being hurt too badly if caught in a bad situation. The Rifle Range portion of training are long days, but overall pretty fun. We learn how to accurately shoot both a service rifle (from 200, 300, and 50 yards) and service pistol (from distances between seven and twenty-five yards), and have some of the best instructors in the Marine Corps to instruct us.
Another mission of TBS is to assign newly commissioned officers the job specialties in the Marine Corps, from Infantry (the position with the most spots) to Intelligence, to Supply, Logistics, and many more. We are assigned these based on three things; our interests, the needs of the Marine Corps, and what our superiors believe we would be suited for. It is an extremely competitve process and it is something we think about a lot.
My goals for TBS are as follows: 1) To finish in the top 30% of my class
2) To graduate knowing I gave a complete effort
3) To be prepared to lead enlisted Marines
If I do the first two, the last one will take care of itself. Thanks for reading. Semper Fidelis.
For any more information visit www.tecom.usmc.mil/tbs. For pictures of training visit www.tecom.usmc.mil/tbs/student/Delta/galleryi.html.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
"Superiority lies with him who is reared in the severest school"
-Thucydides
It has been about eleven long weeks since we last communicated. During those eleven weeks a healthcare bill was passed, Infantry Marines were pulled from Iraq, Ohio beat Georgetown, and really nothing else happened that I know of. Nothing else happened that I know of because that's about all I was told of the outside world while at Officer Candidate School in Quanitco, VA.
We started with some simple paperwork and other various administration things the first week, or "in-processing". After that first easy week, I was pretty sure I was on a different planet. I was no longer a person, I was a candidate, and usually a nasty or filthy one at that. I was told absolutely every step of my day from lights at 0500 until "sleep" at 2100 (900). I got screamed at or given a 300 word essay (all capital letters, words at or under three letters don't count, every counted word is numbered) if I didn't yell loud enough, move fast enough, or greet somebody improperly, just to name a few. This was the adaptation-phase. We got about 2-4 hours of sleep depending on the night, and those of us who did not know any better got 30 minutes some nights. We were given so much to do, on our own time, from 2100-0500 that was impossible to finish it all before 0500. What many of us did not know was that the trick wasn't to do it all, but to decide what was most important, then do that. We caught on eventually, but most of us were so sleep deprived at that point we still struggled.
As the training progressed, we got more sleep (about 4-6 hours a night) but also more responsibility. Many times we still were choosing between sleep and accomplishing a task at night, but the responsibility slowly increased during the day. Each week we were told less and less to do and expected to know what to do, where to be, what to have. By the end of training, candidates were more or less running the show around OCS, except by that point we had dropped down to 208 candidates from the original 318. Some dropped for medical reasons, some for lack of physical fitness, some for integrity violtations or character flaws, and most for a lack of leadership potential
But before we got to run the show, we had to prove we had what it takes to be Marine Officer's. We went on four, six, nine, and twelve mile hikes with seventy pound packs on our back. We went through 35* water, fully submerged, for periods of five to ten minutes at a time. We were expected to be disciplined in every single thing we did and professional in every single thing we did. It was about doing the right thing and giving 100% all the time because in the future, in front of your Marines, you will always be watched and scrutinized, setting the example. Nearly everyday we were given tasks or physical events that seemed absolutely impossible before the start and most of the time we completed them. If didn't, we came up with a plan of attack and pushed as hard as we could until we couldn't go anymore. We were taken out of our physical and mental limits and had new ones created. I hated every minute of it most of the time but after every brutal physical or mental event I felt like my soul had been cleansed.
I did not excel at Officer Candidate School. I struggled most of the way. Early, I was military-immature and had a hell of a time catching on to everything. I got behind from there and was playing catch-up most of the remainder of the cycle. However, I always worked hard and was always trying to increase my knowledge. There was never a point physically where I wanted to quit, but mentally everyday I woke up with the knowledge that I would probably dislike just about every minute of the day I was about to undertake. We learned how to act like Marines, but we never really learned what we all signed up for, which was how to fight and defend. We recieved very basic, rudimentary instruction on field tactics and movement as a squad attacking an enemy position. Just about everyone felt similarly, nobody likes OCS, but we were all proud of the traits it had brought out in us. Most of us were just counting down the days until graduation and commissioning.
Graduation was special, it felt good to finally be done with the ten weeks of hazing that was OCS. However, the really special part of the day was the Commissioning Ceremony at 1300 in the National Museum of the Marine Corps. I will remember raising my right hand and swearing "to defend the constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic" for the rest of my life. After the oath, I had a moment of both total motivation and a feeling of huge responsibility. It was, in civilian terms "hell yes, I'm a Marine Officer" and "holy crap, I'm a leader of Marines, my boss is Barack Obama". It's a dualistic feeling of accomplishment and the responsibility that comes with a commission.
The next step in The Basic Officer School, still located in Quantico, VA. Looks like I will begin TBS on April 27th. TBS is like OCS without constant yelling and a much stronger focus on how to be a Marine, from learning how to accurately fire all commonly used Marine Corps weapons to tactics to a plethera of Academics. We are also treated like 2nd Lieutenants here instead of candidates which is a wonderful change. We get to say I instead of 'this candidate' when speaking. We are allowed to talk to each other. We don't have to drill, but we still will do rigorous physical tests as well.
Thank you so much for all your support, especially Kristin, Mandy, Kurtis, Bryan, Adam Arnett, Adam VanHouten, Chris and Didi Fricke, and my parents. All of them made the trip to Quantico to be a part of graduation and commissioning and I appreciated that so much. Everyone else thanks so much for your letters, prayers, thoughts, and support through training. Hope to see you all soon.
-Thucydides
It has been about eleven long weeks since we last communicated. During those eleven weeks a healthcare bill was passed, Infantry Marines were pulled from Iraq, Ohio beat Georgetown, and really nothing else happened that I know of. Nothing else happened that I know of because that's about all I was told of the outside world while at Officer Candidate School in Quanitco, VA.
We started with some simple paperwork and other various administration things the first week, or "in-processing". After that first easy week, I was pretty sure I was on a different planet. I was no longer a person, I was a candidate, and usually a nasty or filthy one at that. I was told absolutely every step of my day from lights at 0500 until "sleep" at 2100 (900). I got screamed at or given a 300 word essay (all capital letters, words at or under three letters don't count, every counted word is numbered) if I didn't yell loud enough, move fast enough, or greet somebody improperly, just to name a few. This was the adaptation-phase. We got about 2-4 hours of sleep depending on the night, and those of us who did not know any better got 30 minutes some nights. We were given so much to do, on our own time, from 2100-0500 that was impossible to finish it all before 0500. What many of us did not know was that the trick wasn't to do it all, but to decide what was most important, then do that. We caught on eventually, but most of us were so sleep deprived at that point we still struggled.
As the training progressed, we got more sleep (about 4-6 hours a night) but also more responsibility. Many times we still were choosing between sleep and accomplishing a task at night, but the responsibility slowly increased during the day. Each week we were told less and less to do and expected to know what to do, where to be, what to have. By the end of training, candidates were more or less running the show around OCS, except by that point we had dropped down to 208 candidates from the original 318. Some dropped for medical reasons, some for lack of physical fitness, some for integrity violtations or character flaws, and most for a lack of leadership potential
But before we got to run the show, we had to prove we had what it takes to be Marine Officer's. We went on four, six, nine, and twelve mile hikes with seventy pound packs on our back. We went through 35* water, fully submerged, for periods of five to ten minutes at a time. We were expected to be disciplined in every single thing we did and professional in every single thing we did. It was about doing the right thing and giving 100% all the time because in the future, in front of your Marines, you will always be watched and scrutinized, setting the example. Nearly everyday we were given tasks or physical events that seemed absolutely impossible before the start and most of the time we completed them. If didn't, we came up with a plan of attack and pushed as hard as we could until we couldn't go anymore. We were taken out of our physical and mental limits and had new ones created. I hated every minute of it most of the time but after every brutal physical or mental event I felt like my soul had been cleansed.
I did not excel at Officer Candidate School. I struggled most of the way. Early, I was military-immature and had a hell of a time catching on to everything. I got behind from there and was playing catch-up most of the remainder of the cycle. However, I always worked hard and was always trying to increase my knowledge. There was never a point physically where I wanted to quit, but mentally everyday I woke up with the knowledge that I would probably dislike just about every minute of the day I was about to undertake. We learned how to act like Marines, but we never really learned what we all signed up for, which was how to fight and defend. We recieved very basic, rudimentary instruction on field tactics and movement as a squad attacking an enemy position. Just about everyone felt similarly, nobody likes OCS, but we were all proud of the traits it had brought out in us. Most of us were just counting down the days until graduation and commissioning.
Graduation was special, it felt good to finally be done with the ten weeks of hazing that was OCS. However, the really special part of the day was the Commissioning Ceremony at 1300 in the National Museum of the Marine Corps. I will remember raising my right hand and swearing "to defend the constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic" for the rest of my life. After the oath, I had a moment of both total motivation and a feeling of huge responsibility. It was, in civilian terms "hell yes, I'm a Marine Officer" and "holy crap, I'm a leader of Marines, my boss is Barack Obama". It's a dualistic feeling of accomplishment and the responsibility that comes with a commission.
The next step in The Basic Officer School, still located in Quantico, VA. Looks like I will begin TBS on April 27th. TBS is like OCS without constant yelling and a much stronger focus on how to be a Marine, from learning how to accurately fire all commonly used Marine Corps weapons to tactics to a plethera of Academics. We are also treated like 2nd Lieutenants here instead of candidates which is a wonderful change. We get to say I instead of 'this candidate' when speaking. We are allowed to talk to each other. We don't have to drill, but we still will do rigorous physical tests as well.
Thank you so much for all your support, especially Kristin, Mandy, Kurtis, Bryan, Adam Arnett, Adam VanHouten, Chris and Didi Fricke, and my parents. All of them made the trip to Quantico to be a part of graduation and commissioning and I appreciated that so much. Everyone else thanks so much for your letters, prayers, thoughts, and support through training. Hope to see you all soon.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Goodbyes
The day has arrived. Tomorrow afternoon I will begin the drive to Marine Base Quantico in Virginia to embark on Marine Officer Candidate School. I have all but finished packing, some of the more notable items being $458 to purchase uniforms,gear, and haircuts, waterproof notepads, make-up remover pads, and a flashlight (more of a headlamp) that goes around your forehead.
My final civilian weeks have been a blast, especially the 9th. Bryan and Adam planned a small 'suaree' for me. The outpouring of friends was overwhelming. I must have had thirty people came in and out throughout the evening to send me off. I'm lucky to have such a great group of people around me.
It's interesting how much your feeling change for an event like this as it gets closer. Two months ago I was invincible, nothing could stop me from graduating OCS. I didn't have a doubt in my mind. As the situation has become more tangible in the last few days, that little doubt monster that gets in everyone's mind begins to creep in. It has not helped that I've talked to a number of people recently who think I'm crazy for 1) Going into the service and 2) For joining the Marines of all the branches. I shrug them off because I know why I'm doing it, and my decision has been made by me for reasons for others just cannot fathom. I want to make a difference in this world, I want to join the hardest branch and go through the toughest Officer training, I want to go on dangerous assignments, I want the respect that comes with being a Marine, I want to lead people now and I want to go in first when America calls. My skill set just doesn't allow me to do some of those behind a desk or in another branch of service.
So as the doubt monster creeps in questions start popping in my head,; Am I cut out for the Marines? Will they see that I'm a good or even great candidate like I know I am? How will I deal with the cold? Will I "get it"? Am I really ready to committ four or more years of my life to the Corps? I think most of these also stem from what I'm leaving behind: Ohio. As much as I curse Ohio sometimes, it's people and places have made what I am today, and for that I am extremely grateful. Among those people are my loving family (with a shout-out to my sis doing her thing in Nashville), the most supportive and fun group of friends I could ask for, and my absolutely wonderful girlfriend. Most of these people are dreamers like me though so they know what I'm going after. The best to all of you.
In a futile attempt not to get ahead of myself, I will give you all the website to follow my conquests. This journal obviously, which I am going to try and update Week 4 (around the middle February) and at least every other week after that, but also http://www.ocs.usmc.mil/. On this website is Graduation and Family Day information as well as photos that will be posted of my company throughout each phase of my training. Thanks for reading.
My final civilian weeks have been a blast, especially the 9th. Bryan and Adam planned a small 'suaree' for me. The outpouring of friends was overwhelming. I must have had thirty people came in and out throughout the evening to send me off. I'm lucky to have such a great group of people around me.
It's interesting how much your feeling change for an event like this as it gets closer. Two months ago I was invincible, nothing could stop me from graduating OCS. I didn't have a doubt in my mind. As the situation has become more tangible in the last few days, that little doubt monster that gets in everyone's mind begins to creep in. It has not helped that I've talked to a number of people recently who think I'm crazy for 1) Going into the service and 2) For joining the Marines of all the branches. I shrug them off because I know why I'm doing it, and my decision has been made by me for reasons for others just cannot fathom. I want to make a difference in this world, I want to join the hardest branch and go through the toughest Officer training, I want to go on dangerous assignments, I want the respect that comes with being a Marine, I want to lead people now and I want to go in first when America calls. My skill set just doesn't allow me to do some of those behind a desk or in another branch of service.
So as the doubt monster creeps in questions start popping in my head,; Am I cut out for the Marines? Will they see that I'm a good or even great candidate like I know I am? How will I deal with the cold? Will I "get it"? Am I really ready to committ four or more years of my life to the Corps? I think most of these also stem from what I'm leaving behind: Ohio. As much as I curse Ohio sometimes, it's people and places have made what I am today, and for that I am extremely grateful. Among those people are my loving family (with a shout-out to my sis doing her thing in Nashville), the most supportive and fun group of friends I could ask for, and my absolutely wonderful girlfriend. Most of these people are dreamers like me though so they know what I'm going after. The best to all of you.
In a futile attempt not to get ahead of myself, I will give you all the website to follow my conquests. This journal obviously, which I am going to try and update Week 4 (around the middle February) and at least every other week after that, but also http://www.ocs.usmc.mil/. On this website is Graduation and Family Day information as well as photos that will be posted of my company throughout each phase of my training. Thanks for reading.
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