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| Paris Island | |||||||||||||||||||
| In tenth grade, my ROTC class took a trip to Paris Island. Paris Island is a Marine boot camp, located in South Carolina approximately 350 miles south of Virginia. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Paris Island is the basic training facility for the United States Marine Corp. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Although it took only six or seven hours together it seemed like it took about a ten hours .The bus made many stops for the Cadets to grab a bite to eat and use the restroom. | |||||||||||||||||||
| On the long bus ride, I read and caught up on some of my class work, which was due when I returned in seven days. It was hard to concentrate because all of the guys were loud and played around. | |||||||||||||||||||
| The bus arrived at 6:00 a.m. Monday morning. We were met at the bus door by a screaming drill instructor, which I was not ready for. I quickly moved off the bus grabbing my bags. We were instructed to get to the barracks, change clothes, and stand at attention by our bunks. The drill Instructor went over some brief instructions and introduced us to the other cadets already attending boot camp. Afterwards, we had to stand in a line to receive our toothbrush, soap, and shampoo. The day went by, with short briefings, meetings and drills. All the cadets had to be in bed by 9:00 p.m. This was called lights out. | |||||||||||||||||||
| As I lay in bed, the excitement of the day finally took its toll, and I quickly fell into a deep sleep. In what seemed like only minutes, I was awaked to a loud banging noise, the lights came on, and every body jumped up in confusion, and there was the drill instructor yelling at us to get dressed, because he was taking us for our morning stroll before breakfast. After all of the cadets were outside, we were told that it was time for our short morning run, which took about two hours. We all came back in about 4:30 a.m. with many of the cadets sick and throwing up. At that point we had to get our showers and be in the mess tent for chow. The cadets were given just five minutes to eat, before our day began The day began with intense training such as, running, swimming, climbing and several other obstacles. At 12:00 p.m. we were to report to the mess tent, where we would have ten minutes to eat chow then meet back at the gym for hand to hand combat training. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Our instruction took most of the afternoon, then we went to the class room where we had our school instruction. At 6:00 p.m. we returned to the mess tent for dinner, this time they gave us about thirty minutes to eat. After dinner the drill instructor gave the agenda for the next day. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Later on that night we had quiet time, this is where the cadets did most of their class work and talked about the day. It was also time to prepare for the next day. | |||||||||||||||||||
| The next morning we were awoken to the loud horns, out to our morning stroll as the drill instructor called it, then the same routine with chow. Day two was a little easier but still intense. This day was referred to as marksmanship day. This is where we learned about guns and ammunition. The day went by rather fast, shooting a gun, most cadets found a fun experience. The day ended with dinner, quiet time, brief instructions, and then lights out. Day three consisted of marching, and learning how to put the uniform on correctly. Later on that day the cadets watched films on past wars. The cadets received two hours of free time, in which most cadets went to the pool. | |||||||||||||||||||
| The next few days where basically the same types of training, however day six is one that I will never forget. This day was the day our unit was introduced to the gas chamber. The gas chamber is where you get to experience the effects of chemical warfare. The procedure is as follows as a unit we marched into single room chamber, we put on our gas mask, and stood at attention in two ranks. At that point, the instructor briefed us on what was about to happen. The gas was ignited and fumes began to fill the room, at this point we where informed that we should not be feeling the effects of the tear gas if our masks were properly fitted. When the instructor was satisfied that there were no leaks in our masks, the real challenge began, we were instructed to remove our masks for a short period of time. This was done so that each cadet could feel the effects of the CS tear gas. | |||||||||||||||||||
| My time at the camp was exciting as well as strenuous. I learned a lot about how the military works and what is expected of new cadets. This is an experience that I will never forget. I gained a new respect for Military personnel. | |||||||||||||||||||
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