#strugglewell

01, April 2013.

     I was 25 years old when I got a taste for MCRDPI. There is not a day that goes by where I do not forget the scent of the way the buildings smelled. To me, the receiving building smelled like a mixture of Gain laundry detergent and old musk. The squad decks smelled like Aqua Velva and gain. The mindset of the men who train is not for everyone. But their job is effective. they are there to create and train Marines to go to war. 

  The first 36 hours was the longest of my life. I knew nobody and it was my first time away from my family back home. My time started 24 hours earlier in the MEPS center in Boston, MA.  I and a few others that were shipping out to their training bases were there as well. Not everyone I went down with was heading for the Corps. Some were heading down to Fort Benning in Georgia to join the Army.  Once we all boarded our Delta flight, it felt as if the hatch was closing on our freedom.  I arrived at the rally point around midnight with a few others. We were fed our first official USMC meal which was a sub. I tried to sleep on my way to the island with no luck as I was full of adrenaline. Once we arrived at the Island, we were all instructed to keep our heads down by a female Marine on sentry detail.