Comments on: Fat camp for military recruits http://www.joannejacobs.com/2009/01/fat-camp-for-military-recruits/ Thinking and Linking by Joanne Jacobs Fri, 10 Feb 2012 04:51:22 +0000 hourly 1 By: Rex http://www.joannejacobs.com/2009/01/fat-camp-for-military-recruits/#comment-43046 Rex Wed, 14 Jan 2009 18:51:31 +0000 http://joannejacobs.com/?p=7151#comment-43046 Back during the days of the draft, we had such an animal at Parris Island. There were two special recruit battalions, one for fatbodies and one for weakbodies. Someone who was only overweight but could handle the strength required for the initial fitness test (much easier than and NOT the physical fitness test that Marines have to pass on a regular basis) would stay in a regular recruit platoon. Once out of the special battalion, the recruit would be integrated into a regular recruit platoon, sometimes at the beginning of the training cycle, and sometimes a little further along. Back then, we learned something that seems to have been forgotten: if you wanted to be a Marine, you could be. You just had to want it enough. Every single one of us realized, at some point during boot camp, that we would physically fail before we mentally quit. That's the secret of Marine boot camp and Marines in general. It's an awesome feeling that not everyone in the other services experiences. Back during the days of the draft, we had such an animal at Parris Island. There were two special recruit battalions, one for fatbodies and one for weakbodies. Someone who was only overweight but could handle the strength required for the initial fitness test (much easier than and NOT the physical fitness test that Marines have to pass on a regular basis) would stay in a regular recruit platoon. Once out of the special battalion, the recruit would be integrated into a regular recruit platoon, sometimes at the beginning of the training cycle, and sometimes a little further along.

Back then, we learned something that seems to have been forgotten: if you wanted to be a Marine, you could be. You just had to want it enough. Every single one of us realized, at some point during boot camp, that we would physically fail before we mentally quit. That’s the secret of Marine boot camp and Marines in general. It’s an awesome feeling that not everyone in the other services experiences.

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