Navy Bootcamp

Departing:On the day of departure, expect to feel like you're being thrown into the wild. You've already sworn in, and the Navy owns you now.

The people in charge of you will usually give off the attitude of "We're not here to hold your hand through this"... although they actually ARE there to guide you, because you WON'T have a clue what you're doing, and they know that. Don't let them know you understand that though, because that's a good way to get your superiours to hate you.

You will probably find yourself wandering through airports and taking buses everywhere. At each checkpoint, you'll find more people that are processing you in, and they'll tell you where to go next. Don't worry, you won't have to pay for these buses. If the military people are telling you to take a certain bus, it's either one of their's or it's already paid for.

Arrival at Great Lakes:

You're going to be tired, bossed around, and humiliated by NCOs (non commissioned officers) and officers. Don't take offense to it. You won't know how to address some people, and you'll be yelled at for it. They will know that some people might not already know the ranking systems. If the person is an officer, you should address him or her as "sir" or "ma'am", respectively. If the person is an NCO, you shall address them as "petty officer" (if they are E-4 to E-6), "chief", "seniour chief" or "master chief", depending on their rank. If the person is E-3 or below, you may refer to them as "shipmate" or "seaman". Be careful when referring to people as shipmate, because some people stupidly take offense to the term.

P-days:

P-days is the affectionate term for "in-processing". You will hear many different terms, such as: P-days, in-processing, and processing days. P-days usually takes about a week, and you'll get very little sleep, if any, to do some tasks that will make you feel like you've been abducted by aliens, and they're now performing experiments on you.

You'll have to watch a few briefing videos about boot camp, which is -supposed- to give you an idea of what boot camp will be like. The videos are all very neutral though. They don't add any personality to the nature of boot camp. You'll go through the traditional head-shaving, so it's a good idea to let your hair grow out before boot camp. Personally, I shaved my head with a razor the day before I left, and fortunately, my RDCs didn't care. Some petty officers get very upset about that kind of thing though.

You will occasionally be woken up in the middle of the night to give urine samples to ensure that you have no drugs in your system. You will have naval history and ranking systems crammed down your throat, and expected to retain the information on a moment's notice. You will have to learn the 11 general orders and the Sailor's creed, and will spend many hours a day learning how to march correctly (this is sometimes the most memorable of all for some Sailor's, both the good and the bad). You will have doctor check-ups and see the dentist, and you will never look in or open your records unless directed, because they want to make sure that nothing is manipulated.

You will not be IT'ed (IT=intense training) during P-days, because the RDCs (recruit division commanders) need to ensure that you're FFD (fit for duty) before they can train you. Yes, you will be expected to learn all of these common acronyms and abbreviations in BC (boot camp).

These are the days you will be issued your gear, and you will be instructed on how to properly wear and maintain your uniform. If you can play an instrument, these are also the days that you will be recruited to a 900 division, which performs at graduations. More about 900 divisions will be in a later article. These are the days where you will answer the same questions on paperwork about your history, foreign contacts and family members so many times that near the end of it, you can just fly through paperwork. Yes, it's that aggravating. These are the days you will be forced to practice "recuit handwriting", which is a fancy way of saying "write neatly in capital letters because we're going to assume you're stupid and you have bad handwriting".

After P-days:

You're now FFD, so the RDC's can now PT (physical training) you and IT you. PT is the common workout, which you may perform in the huge gymnasium or in the "comfort" of your barracks. PT will usually only last an hour or two, but the RDC's will push people as rigourously as they can. They will yell at you and push you harder, but what some people don't realize is that they're paying close attention to you as well. You will feel like the RDC's don't care about you, and that they actually expect you to do 1,000 push ups on your first day. They will give you insane numbers and tell you they're going to make you puke, because they want to see where you fare when it comes to fitness. There will be 87 other people in your division, and your three RDC's that are assigned to your division will all be actively paying attention to all of you, trying to learn as much as they can about everybody's limits, and they will consistently push people to their limit.

If you mess up, the RDC's may IT you. The concept behind ITing is correcting faults, but they will sometimes take advantage of this to have fun and wear you down. If you refer to a seniour chief as a master chief, or mess up somebody else's rank, even if by mistake, prepare to do push ups or some other workout for about 30 minutes.

Besides working out, you will perform the infamous bunk drills. The concept behind bunk drills is that a Sailor should be tidy and organized, as well as being physically fit. The RDC's will show the Sailor's in their division how to make "bedtime smiley faces" out of their sheets, blankets, pillow cases and pillows, which is mainly to humour them. You will then have a set time limit on how long you have to make your rack (bed). At first, you won't be able to make the time limit, but don't worry - they will have you practice many times a day until you can get it. The RDC's will also closely inspect every rack to ensure that corner-folds on the bed were done right, and if one person messes up, then the entire division will be IT'ed. Basically, this means that your entire division IS GOING to be IT'ed, because it takes a while to get everybody doing things perfectly. On top of that, some people will try to take shortcuts, and they will be caught. The RDC's will once again IT everybody and the rest of the division will be mad at that person for about 20 minutes, until somebody else screws up and then the entire division will be mad at that person instead.

Other cleanliness subjects that are included in Navy BC are proper facial shaving and folding clothes. Yes, they actually have a "correct" Navy way to fold your clothes, and you will keep doing it until you get it right.

Emotions are a major factor in boot camp, although you wouldn't expect it. It's going to take some time for the division to actually start working as a whole - as a team. How long? About 2-4 weeks. To put this in perspective, boot camp is only 7-8 weeks long, so a lot of the time will consist of the division being upset with each other. There will be a few fist fights (although they usually aren't caught or even ratted on), and there will be some breaking down and crying, even in the male divisions. You will miss loved ones and think about them at night. You will sometimes feel like you should just quit or run away, but this is a very bad idea. You will be called retarded by your RDC's, or they may refer to you as a "[crap]bag" (due to restrictions on AssociatedContent, I had to change the curse word to "crap", instead of what they actually refer to you as).

Education will be crammed down your throat as well. If rote memorization is your forte, you will have no problem.

There are three marching events that will be held to test the division. For the most part of BC, many people won't know how to stay "in step". This could even be you. You will probably have people stepping on each other's heels because some people walk too slow or too fast. You will march around everywhere, and it will be very obvious who the new divisions are because they totally suck at marching. The "seasoned" recruits will be very loud and obnoxious when calling cadences, and they will sometimes be authorized to call otherwise-restricted cadences, if they've show mass improvement.

The chow hall food is usually bland. If too many people grab sweets or sodas during meals, or if just the wrong person does so when the RDC is in a bad mood, expect to be ITed when you return to the department (barracks). Near the end of BC, you will undergo a gas torture known as "tear gas". Your RDC's will try to make you drink milk before hand, telling you that it will increase your resistance to the tear gas. In actuality, this will decrease your resistance and make you more likely to throw up. If you don't care to humour your RDC's, remember not to eat cereal on the day of the tear gassing, and it's best not to do so the day before.

You will always carry your canteen around with you. They expect you to drink around 12 full canteen's worth of water a day. When doing the PRT, they will ask everybody if they've had enough water. The idea is, even if you haven't had as much water as they ask, you always say "yes" because if you are taken out on the PRT, you will severely upset your RDC's and they will make you drink about 20 canteens of water the next day before you remake-up the PRT. You can not get out of doing the physical assessment test. Always stay hydrated, and always make it seem that you're more hydrated then what they ask of you so you don't get yourself in trouble.

Conversing with other recruits is extremely limited. Many times throughout BC, the division will get in trouble because people get bored and they think they can get away with chatting. People will talk at night and be scorned by their shipmates who are trying to sleep. Recruits will talk at the chow hall and will often be sent to the end of the line, or if they're at the table already, their meal will be cut short and they will be sent back to the department to be IT'ed. However, friendly conversation with RDC's and officers is something you can sometimes get away with. The staff there often gets bored with having to yell at people all the time and they usually want to have a nice, relaxing day every once in a while. Since staff and NCO's are far less likely to get in trouble for talking, this is one thing that you can use to your advantage to make things a little easier. If an RDC tells you to stop talking and be on your way though, you must do so in order to prevent yourself from being IT'ed.

Restrictions on RDC's:

RDC's may not IT you when you're in Dress Uniform or NSU's. Before they had NSU's, the Navy used "working whites" and "working blue's", which was also unauthorized for IT. Now, you must be in Navy PT gear or BDU's (BDU's have replaced the "utilities") in order to be IT'ed. Don't think this means you can get away with things when in Dress uniform or BDU's... if you mess up, you will be directed to go change so the RDC's can IT you.

TECHNICALLY, the RDC's are not allowed to IT recruits for more than an hour, with a limit of two IT's per day, at a pace that is doable by the individuals being IT'ed, and they may not IT an entire department for one person's mistake. That's not how it goes at all though. You will be IT'ed for another person's mistake, you may be IT'ed 6 or 7 times in a day, and IT sessions may last many hours at a pace that will make you drop. Don't complain to the CO, because the RDC's will find another, more excruciating way to punish you, such as several mid-watches in a row, 2,000 word essays and calling upon officers to IT you, who have more freedom than they do.

RDC's may not sexually harass or discriminate against any recruit. There are forms that may be filled out if such events are taking place. Only use these forms for serious offenses, because you will be chewed out if you waste people's time.

Nearing the end:

Every recruit will have to go through Battlestations to graduate. It's an event that is constantly changing and being improved upon as time goes on, so although I can give you an idea, I will have to remain very vague, because it's probably already changed since I've done it.

You will undergo real-life simulations that test your knowledge on firefighting, teamwork and boatsmanship that you have learned up until now. Exact details can not be given. This IS the most exciting part of BC for many people though.

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Other, more detailed training and tests are included in BC, which will be explained in later articles.