The Biggest Mistake of My Life (LONG STORY! MILITARY PERSONELL PLEASE READ)

nooboob · 09-29-2005

This is a long ass story. I dont suggest you read it if you are not open minded.

Well, it all started when I was interested in joining the military. It was during the middle of last year, and I was a freshman in college, 17 years old. I called a UC (University of California) and asked about their ROTC programs. They said that because I was currentlly a JC (Junior College) student, I was unable to take part in their ROTC program.

So for compensation, they took all my information down. Address, schooling, age, prior drug usage, etc. I was pretty much stupid back then... Not knowing why they were asking all these questions.

Next thing I know, I have an appointment with the nearest Marine Corps recruiter.

A few days later, I meet up the recruiter and we have a long chat. He pulls out the recruiter "guide" (a big ass notebook filled with primetime bullshit) He drones on about how only a selected few want to become Marines, all the benefits (Marine Corps and benefits? Isnt that an oxymoron?) and, blah blah blah.

I started to get pretty interested in becoming a Marine. I said, "Yeah. Im pretty interested. Let me think about it for a while."

But this guy doesnt take that for an answer. He tells me how interested I am, and I reply again "pretty interested".

Then he goes off telling me how there are only a few spots left for currnet MOS's (Military Occupational Specialty. Basically, your job while in the force)

He tells me that I need to HURRY and take these jobs before they fill up. (There were 3 of them. Auto Mechanic, and some other labor-related jobs like a Construction Worker, and Flight management)

So Im on the spot light. I wanted more time to think about it, but my recruiter kept on claiming how if I were to join, this would have to be the time. (Which is utter bullshit considering jobs are re-opened the next "harvest".. I did not know this at the time)

I thought about it, and I said that I would join. He immediately busts out his celly and calls some other guy and tells him that he had a recruit with him.

Now, I know I was the dumbass that made the decision; not my recuiter. I know I should have thought about it longer about joining, but the way the recruiter talked to me... "You have to hurry and sign up for these MOS's before they get filled up. And once they are, you cant join at all till they re-up". Iono. I just wish he would have given me more time.

Keep in mind that nothing the recuiter said was illegal. But he damn well was walking a fine line on what was illegal and what wasnt.

So anywhoo, I started going out to the weekly PT's (excersize) and stuff, and PT'ed my own time. I quit smoking, and I seriously think I was in the BEST shape of my entire life. I usually couldnt run a mile without gasping for dear air, but after training myself, I got to do 2.5 miles... Yay for me.

I also took the ASVAB. Scored a 77 on it.

The date I was SUPPOSED to be shipped out was supposed to be 5-6 months after the day I talked to my recruiter. But after 2 weeks or so, my recruiter calls me and says that I had to be shipped out sooner. Sooner as in 10 days. 10 days?! I was supposed to be shipped out in 5-6 MONTHS! His excuse was that the Corps were making new policy changes regarding diplomas.... but thats another long ass story in itself... Ill just continue.

Finally D-Day arrived.

I stayed @ the local hotel with a bunch of other army-brats. The next morning (3:45 in the freaking morning to be exact), I made my way to MEPS (Military Entry Processing Station.. or something like that) for the run-through before going to hell.

Oops! Turns out theres someone fu*k*d up my paperwork. So now I had stay @ the hotel for one more night, meaning I had only a couple hours of sleep till I had to go through the whole run-through process again with MEPS. I had to wake my ass up in the cold damn morning again the next day.

Guess who I saw at MEPS the next morning? My recuiter. He see's me and says "Hi".

Thats it.

A "Hi", and then he walks off into his office. I mean, Im getting shipped out to boot-camp the same day, and all he says is "hi"? No tips or advice? No inspiring words? And not only that, he doesnt even tell me WHY THE HELL I AM STAYING HERE FOR ONE MORE DAY! (Trust me... if your in MEPS, a day seems like FOREVER)

pretty shady imo.

So anywho, you know the story. From the USO (forget what it stood for.. but its a little area for military personell in an airport), a DI (drill instructor) with a smokey hat walks into the room filled with 50-70 fresh, blue-balled recruits.

Everyone is silent. Trust me. EVERYONE. He screams for everyone to sit indian-style in front of the sliding doors in columns of 5 or so.

We sat there for 2 hours, with our feet crossed. No moving at all. If I ever find the mother-fuc*er who sat behind me that day, I will cut his legs off.... This guy behind me kept resting his legs under my butt... straight up *******.

Meanwhile, some fuking *******s outside were pointing at the DI and yelling, "HES GONNA FUK YOU GUYS UP! YOUR IN HELL NOW!" and some other remarks. I dont even think that guy was military.

Then came the bus ride from hell.

Well, thats enough of bootcamp stories, but Ill get on to the point.

It was too much for me (then?). Every meal felt like the "last meal" for a man on death row. (I think the Marines here know what im talking about) All the yelling, the conformity, the day to day scehdule. I couldnt hack it.

Also physically I was at a disadvantage. I was the only asian kid in my platoon (which was only 25-35 people.. normally its larger). Being the only asian kid, one of the shortest kids, and also one of the youngest ones, I was picked on pretty badly by the DI's. Picked on meaning, "SHOW ME WHAT I JUST TAUGHT YOU!", and not the "YOUR LITTLE SKINNY ASIAN FLAT ASS, so and so". (Racial slurs dont really mean anything to me... but when Im ordered to do something and I screw up, the DI's have a right to IT (intensive training... push-ups, sit-up, or whatever till I drop) my ass. IT was fun. But having the whole platoon pay for my mistake was pretty excruciating.

Other physical things such as the nightly canteen drinking ritual, really fuked me and my platoon up. Every night, we had to drink an entire canteen of delicious barrack's tap water. Im a pretty small guy, so drinking an ENTIRE canteen was impossible. LITERALLY IMPOSSIBLE. But anyways, I dont want to put the Corps down, so ill leave that story out.

I wasn't at a point to where I was about to commit suicide or cry every night (I cried the first couple of nights... everyone cries though... unless your a heartless beast.

), but I just didnt want to do this for the next 8 years. (BTW. I was under the 6-2 program as a reservist. 6 years active, 2 years inactive)

It was a stronger feeling than "didnt want to"... but not to the point where it was "if I keep going like this, im going to kill myself". I talked with a couple squad leaders about my situation. They felt where I was coming though They knew the DI's were picking on me more than the others. (Picking on me not through hatred, but for my own benefit. Building character, etc) I specifically recall my squad leader telling me, "With a 77 on the ASVAB, why the hell didnt you join the Air Force?".

After 2 weeks since my arrival, I decided I had to do something about it. I called in for sick-bay the next morning.

This is the part where I regret the most. I told the doctors about my situation. But the stiuation alone wasnt enought to purposefully discharge my ass. I had to tell them some stories.. all of it was true. 100% of it. It was just slightly exagerated a bit. You know the drill. Panic attack, having trouble breathing, difficult past, etc.

When the SDR (senior drill instructor.. head honcho of the drill instructor of your platton) got wind of this, he was furious. Freaking furious. He started telling me how my future would be fuked up if I was discharged, and etc.

Anyways, a couple weeks later (it took weeks because your in the Marine Corps.... If you didnt know, their motto is "HURRY UP AND WAIT")

Now, im sitting in the comfor of my home, typing this shit and reminicing about a month in hell. About a year has past, but I believe I got something out of this mess. I now have a better understanding of what my limits are (both mentally and physically).

But I also feel like im missing some part of me. I feel like I left part of me back in MCRD. I didnt finish basic, and that leaves me as a failure. I know I pussied out, but at the time, I was young, stupid, and weak minded. You know the saying, "Finish what youve started". I strongly feel that way. Whever someone asks me why I was discharged, I feel fuking ashamed.

Im also pissed off at my recruiter a bit for walking the thin line between deception and reality.

So what now?

I really want to go back and complete what I started.
This doesnt neccessarily mean joining the Marine Corps again. Air Force, Army, Navy, etc, are all ok in my opinion. I just want to serve what I first agreed to do: serve the US.

So my question is this for the military people. Is it possible to join the military again? I called the Navy and Army and a couple of branches, but they told me that they didnt want me. (The calls were placed a couple weeks after my discharge)

Technically it isnt a discharge because I wasnt ever IN the Marine Corps yet... I was just a meager recruit. Instead, I was ELS'ed (Entry Level Seperation) I was ELS'ed under Medical Fraud.

But rumor has it that after 2 years I could join again. Either you could join any branch again after 2 years because of rules, or after 2 years have passed, your records are completely erased... therefore, no one knows that you were discharged.

I really have the desire now to serve... So yeah.... Heres some info about my ELS for you military people who know whether or not I can come back:

The seperation code is: JDA1
Re-entry code is: RE-3F
Seperation authority is: 6204.3

I want to make another thing clear: My DI's were respectable men. They taught me alot now that I think about it. Im pretty sure everything that they did to me was to my benefit.... I hope.

Staff Sgt. ********: "As you may know, I dont speak very good english." (he really didnt). "HOWEVER. I speak 4 other languages: Spanish, fuked up english, shitty english, and bad english.

I tell you: theres nothing more refreshing as having a DI being nose-to-nose with your face hailing spit at you, while the other 2 DI's next to each of your ears spit shinning your ear drums.

I just didnt trust my SDI (senior drill instructor). SDI's are supposed to be the "passionate" of the 4 DI's. The man who would listen to your problems, the man to comfort you. LIES i tell you. ALL LIES. This mofo is the sneakiest mother ****er alive. He tells us "If you guys ever need someone to talk to, let me know". He wanted to portray the other DI's as your enemy: the bad guys... and the SDI as an angel. Bullshiet... It's all a ploy to hate your DI's even more, and make you tell everything thats on your mind to the SDI. The SDI then can fuk you over with this.... Once the SDI heard that I was being discharged he made sure I couldnt hear properly when I left.

The other DI's though showed me "tough love". Something Im gratefull of right now.

Great guys those regular DI's... Wish I could thank them today.

For those new recruits thinking about joining let me tell you these things: *Dont join if your in it for the $. Join the Navy or Air Force. Or keep pursuing that well paying job @ an office. Marine Corps and financial aid is an oxymoron. (You have to pay for your own haricuts, did you know that?)
*Dont let your recruiter take ahold of you, make decisions for you, persuade you, or etc.
*Dont join because your all "gung-ho" to kill some Taliban. You'll learn to hate the M16A2 soon enough...
*Dont enter bootcamp wearing anything associated with the military. (Military fatigues, emblems of an eagle on your shirt, or etc.) You WILL get FUKED up on the first day if you do. I really feel sorry for the bloke who wore fatigues the first day. Everyone told him not to, but the guy wouldnt listen....

And before I end this, I would like to say:

I HATE YOU NAVY PEOPLE!!! YOU DONT KNOW HOW MUCH I SUFFERED FROM YOUR DAMN HANDS!!! The navy is responsible for many duties in MCRD... Mostly health work, like doctors and such. They act all hard-core though..

But one cant really do much about it when a meager recruit. I remember this one ******* Navy doctor telling me and another guy "$20 for a phone call home on my cell phone. I wont tell anyone."

Straight up *******.

Anyways, theres my story. If anyone can get back at me with details on re-enlisting, that would be great.

Thanks.

To remove this ad, register today for free or log in if already registered!

HITMAN · 09-29-2005

oh damn man - cliff notes

nookiemonster · 10-03-2005

Okay I just read that and wow it brings back memories.

As far as your experience in bootcamp, all I can tell you is that I come from the old corps, the old 90's corps where DI's actually hit recruits. Alot of guys have had it worse, and if you do go back, take it like I did. Live meal to meal, mail call to mail call. It's all that will keep you going, and all the abuse will just get numb after a while.

As far as your reenlisting, well I dunno...talk to a recruiter...

ZapThyCat · 10-04-2005

Hmm. Good luck on what you want to do!

thefivespeeder · 10-04-2005

you gotta play them like a business, and fck recruiters man, get everything you can in writing because what he said months before doesn't help you when your on a plane to the front

IronFist · 10-05-2005

What happens if you wear fatigues on your first day?

ZapThyCat · 10-05-2005

^That's what I was wondering...

Civicccc · 10-05-2005

why go through it again? you already learned the lessons from it.

nooboob · 10-05-2005

If you wear fatigues the first day, you have the mentality of:

"I love the Marine Corps.. High Ho, High Ho~~~~.....",

or "IM GOING TO BECOME A MARINE NO MATTER WHAT! BRING ON THE PAIN!",

In any case, the Drill instructors mission is to break you, grind you, mash you, and to make things worse; break you again.

People who have the mentality as mentioned above are overconfident, cocky, and foolish. They think that the whole boot camp experience is the same s**t on the Discovery Channel; a walk in the park. The idiots already think their Marines just by being there, or their just sucking up to the DI's.... The D.I's see this (apparently.... through the idiot wearing the fatigues) and they want to f**k them up even more.

hehe.. i remembrer this one idiot who wore a camo shirt and desert cammie pants... He had nappy hair and looked like a skater-dude from the suburbs to me. We were all warning him, "Dude, dont you know your not supposed to wear that sh*t?!"

He kept telling us, "Mind your own buisness."

Well, it turned out that his buisness was our buisness... That idiot ended up in our platoon. During recieving the DI's picked on the poor guy like no tomorrow. "Oh! LOOK WHAT WE HAVE HERE! A CERTIFIED SOLDIER!"

<EDIT> Now that I think about it, his name was someone from the show "Leave it To Beaver"... our DI saw this and made him whistle the main tune from the show for 5 minutes in the middle of the barracks while everyone was online (standing in front of the racks). I swear to God, it took everything in me to not let out a laugh.

They had him pointing at the hatch (door) and shouting, "THIS WAY RECRUIT!" over and over and over again, to tell us where we had to go to get our haircut, equipment, etc.... Mind you there were ALOT of doors to go through that night.... and of course, when his voice fell, a D.I would pop out of thin air and get up on his face.

I still have nightmares of his voice... "THIS WAY RECRUIT! THIS WAY RECRUIT!"... over and over again..... I think he was born again though. Turned out hardcore after a couple weeks...

nooboob · 10-05-2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by Civicccc

why go through it again? you already learned the lessons from it.

i learned that i didnt have the proper mentality when I got in... I was blue balled and over confident.... I still feel as if I need to complete what i started.

CivicHatch9one · 10-05-2005

if you want to go in...do air force.....i did...its shorter....its still hard but if you have willpower it will be alright

invrtdsa1nt · 10-05-2005

about that reenlisting thing, since you were discharged on medical fraud, i dont think it will be too easy to get back in. even though they shouldn't, these things often depend on who you know and how much they like you. 2 years is probably the minimum before you can start trying to reenlist. go in the AIRFORCE. its common knowledge in the military world that the chairforce is the most chill service. and boot camp is like 6 weeks.

boot camp wasnt that bad come on. its all a game, you just deal with it. and dont **** up. they dI's didnt know my name till 3rd phase, cuz i didnt do stupid shit. and just live meal to meal like that other guy said.

if anyone is looking to join the marine corps, feel free to pm me about it. i'm probably one of the very few that is in the corps on this site, and i wouldnt mind telling you about the things you want to know.

CivicHatch9one · 10-05-2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by invrtdsa1nt

about that reenlisting thing, since you were discharged on medical fraud, i dont think it will be too easy to get back in. even though they shouldn't, these things often depend on who you know and how much they like you. 2 years is probably the minimum before you can start trying to reenlist. go in the AIRFORCE. its common knowledge in the military world that the chairforce is the most chill service. and boot camp is like 6 weeks.

boot camp wasnt that bad come on. its all a game, you just deal with it. and dont **** up. they dI's didnt know my name till 3rd phase, cuz i didnt do stupid shit. and just live meal to meal like that other guy said.

if anyone is looking to join the marine corps, feel free to pm me about it. i'm probably one of the very few that is in the corps on this site, and i wouldnt mind telling you about the things you want to know.

i think they uped it to 8 weeks but that was just a rumor...yea keep hidden dont volenteer and i lived meal to meal but mostly letter to letter from home....my TI didnt know my name at graduation he had to look at my name tag....so i think i did a good job...but i was a slacker when i joined and i got through it so i guess that means you can too

nooboob · 10-05-2005

haha. its hard to "blend in" with the croud when your the only slant eyed asian in the platoon. Smallest one in fact too... i stuck out like a sore thumb.

invrtdsa1nt · 10-05-2005

you have your point there, i guess i never had to deal with that being of normal size. but i think you could have done it. i've seen some retarded ass people get through that boot camp. its all in your head, and if you're not a dumb**** you dont let the games get to you.