Once a basic foundation of Marine discipline and the fundamental skills as a Marine rifleman were solidly in place, the next step was ingrain the skillset of a combat Marine. The place where those skills were taught and practiced is called Camp Pendleton – over 200 square miles of rugged, mountainous, punishing, exhausting terrain.

The day after graduation, we were loaded into cattle cars and driven north to Camp Onofre – an advanced infantry camp for hard training Marines deep in the steep, unforgiving mountains of Camp Pendleton. Offloading, our company of over 200 Marines found ourselves faced with the same stark, austere Quonset huts of the Marine Corps infantry. This is where Marines trained for the fight in the Pacific in World War Two and for the rugged mountainous warfare of the Korean War. This is where the Marine infantry experience begins to get real.

The first big change was our daily schedule. Reveille went off at 0400 (4 am) and lights-out was at 2200 (10 pm). So, our new standard day was 18 hours 5 ½ days a week. All the classes were held outdoors anywhere from 1 to 2-3 miles one way from our base camp. We would run to and from our classes every day. Midday chow out in the field was now C-rations – the same meals I would end up eating for 13 months in the jungles of Vietnam.

Inside our Quonset was a bare concrete floor, metal bunk beds and wooden foot lockers. And a new item: a single stove in the center of the hut.  That did not bode well.

The rest of the day was filled with moving in, unpacking, and making up our racks. That afternoon, our company formed up on the street in front of our huts. We were introduced to our Troop Handlers. I vividly remember one Troop Handler in particular. A tall, lean black sergeant who looked like he could run forever. Turns out, I was not wrong.

After evening chow, we pretty much had the evening to write letters or just hang-out and B.S. We would not get another night off for a week.

0400 came early and cold.  After making our racks and getting squared away, we bundled up in our field jackets and headed out to our company street. We were called to attention in our company formation by our Troop Handlers. After a briefing of the schedule for our day, we were marched to the chow hall.

Same basic routine, same metal trays, only now we could say we wanted more or less of this or that. And we were given what seemed (after boot camp) like a generous amount of time to eat.

Then, with the sun rising, we were marched up a mile long steep mountain road to a set of bleachers with a flat, slanted galvanized metal roof over them. We packed into the bleachers and waited. Those who wanted to smoke, smoked. Jerry Anderson, my best friend from boot camp and Honor Man, smoked. At that point, I had never smoked.

After a while, the Marine Staff Seargent who would teach the class appeared on the rough stage in front of the bleachers. The class was Land Nav or land navigation. Which meant navigating your way around the Camp Pendleton boonies with nothing but a topographical map of the area and a military compass.

He introduced the course then issued a compass to each one of us. Then he walked us through the features of the compass and exactly how to properly use it.

We paused for noon chow. No chow hall. Instead, we were each issued a C-ration meal – a cardboard box that contained a complete meal of, as it turned out, 1,200 calories. Whatever meal you were issued by the instructor’s assistants, was random. I got Ham and Eggs. Normally, the meal would be heated up. We did not have time today, so we just ate our meal cold. Using the small metal can opener, we opened each of the cans in the box and tore open the accessory pack. The 4 crackers smeared with a small enclosed tin of peanut butter. Plus the larger can of Ham and Eggs. Plus a small can of fruit – I got pears. Plus a round thick chocolate bar. Everything tasted reasonably good and was quite filling. The accessory pack included among other things salt and pepper and 4 cigarettes.

Following the 30-minute break, we were each issued a topographic map of Camp Pendleton. We spent the afternoon practicing getting oriented on our map with our compass.

As it began to get dark and cold, class was concluded for the day, and Staff Seargeant Lewis ran us the mile or so back to our chow hall. After evening chow, we were allowed to straggle back to our huts. After our first 15 hour day, many of us were asleep before lights out at 2200. Welcome to day one of Advanced Marine Corps infantry training.

As an active duty infantry Marine, I did not have the option of the kind of high-quality food or super high-quality protein shakes like you do. The Marine chow hall food was probably better than most Americans eat every day. The combat meals called C-Rations provided solid nutrition but had to have tremendous shelf life – like years. It was only after my time in the Marine Corps and my combat tour in Vietnam, that I really began to consciously and deliberately eat well. I came home from Vietnam on a stretcher. It was during my recovery back in America that I had a whole new appreciation for a lot of things. I encourage you to appreciate and take advantage of a level of nutrition and health simply unavailable to the vast majority of the people of the world. 

Joe

Start your day with a JDD protein shake — click for recipe!