Marine Corp Preparation

The first test all Marine recruits must face is recruit training. You can expect recruit training to be the most physically and mentally challenging experience your life. Marine recruits train hard, and learn constantly. For that reason, you must prepare now. Good nutrition and physical exercise should be priorities because you will be required to pass an initial strength and fitness test, and report to recruit training in the best possible shape.

Here are some tips to help you be ready for basic training and the rewarding career that follows:

Preparing for the Strength and Fitness challenges

Your recruiter will give you a training guide, complete with exercises, instructions, and special tips. The guide will help you track your progress as you complete periodic trial runs of the Initial Strength Test (IST) and Physical Fitness Test (PFT), which are necessary to begin recruit training.

Note: If you show up to basic training in poor physical shape, you may be assigned to the Physical Conditioning Platoon until you meet the minimum standards. This will likely delay graduation.

Starting or intensifying your exercise and fitness program is a great way to become more mentally prepared for recruit training, as it creates a mindset of challenge and triumph. Healthy eating habits will also help greatly, as you will become accustomed to the habits you will adopt once in the Marine Corps.

Preparing for the mental challenges

By definition, Marines are physically fit. But the Corps also demands that you be mentally fit. The best thing for any future Marine to do is to become a serious student while still in High School. Developing good study habits will not only ensure that you make it as a Marine, but also help you do well throughout your career as a Marine and beyond.

If you are seriously considering the Marines, you will need to prepare for the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB). The ASVAB is a multi-aptitude test given at more than14,000 schools nationwide, and administered by the Department of Defense. The ASVAB scores in four critical aptitude areas that count toward the Armed Forces Qualifying Test (AFQT) score. The AFQT score determines whether or not you are qualified to enlist in the Marines. In addition, scores in the other areas of the ASVAB determine how qualified you may be for certain military specialties. High scores dramatically increase the chances of being assigned to a particular or desired specialty.

The Rewards

Although emphasis is put on the importance of Marine Corps Recruit Training, people sometimes forget that the recruit-training environment is the way Marines live from day to day. Not so. Recruit training is an extremely intense time of testing and preparation. At the end of that 13-week test, a recruit becomes a Marine, and enjoys a completely different status within the Marine Corps. As a graduate from recruit training, you will receive the Marine Corps Eagle, Globe and Anchor along with 10 days off (leave) to visit home before beginning training for their Military Occupational Specialty (MOS).

Marines enjoy a lifestyle of travel and adventure —  an important role in Marine Corps missions —  as well as benefits, including the opportunity to continue your formal education. Marines have normal work hours and regular time off, just like civilians. The difference is that Marines have a permanent place in one of the finest cultures of brotherhood and service in the world.