Joe's Early History

  • Working Every Day to Master the Basics

    Working Every Day to Master the Basics

    February 16, 2026

    The first clue is in the very name: Basic Training. A major difference between the Marine Corps and other services is that the Marine Corps takes…

  • Day #5: Swim Qualification

    Day #5: Swim Qualification

    February 2, 2026

    Day 5. About a quarter of the recruits in my Quonset Hut are awake and a few are even out of their racks and on their feet before the Drill Insructor…

  • Day #4: Fitness Baseline and Our First O-Course

    Day #4: Fitness Baseline and Our First O-Course

    January 20, 2026

    For me, running any of the 3 O-course was one of the things I most enjoyed in my 13 weeks of bootcamp.

  • Day 3: Already Awake — Trash Can

    Day 3: Already Awake — Trash Can

    January 5, 2026

    I realized I was awake. I had woken up naturally without the traumatic violence of a metal trash can colliding with a concrete floor. As I was…

  • Marine getting a vaccine

    Day #2 of Bootcamp Starts With A Metallic Crash

    December 10, 2025

    Once we completed the tests – after a couple hours I am guessing, we were marched to another large, long, one-story wooden building. We lined up single file. One by one we were issued our rifle – an M-14.

  • Group showers in the military

    My First Day of Bootcamp Comes to an End

    November 26, 2025

    Following our first session of close order drill, Gunnery Sergeant Barker marched the platoon to the mess hall for evening chow.