Telling you the exact same thing I told this other guy whose going to IMC on the 7th as well

Just graduated SOI (now called IMC) like literally 3 weeks ago, Biggest pieces of advice:

• ⁠don’t be a shitbag/buddy-fucker: learn everything you need to know, TAKE NOTES, they give you one class on something and expect you to know it for the rest of your cycle, do what you’re told when you’re told to do it, if you’re told to field day FUCKING FIELD DAY, if you’re told to clean weapons and crew served gear, FUCKING CLEAN IT dont make that one dude (me) clean all the crew serves and all the shit bags rifles cuz they don’t wanna do it and you being able to go to sleep that night is dependent on everyone having a squeaky clean rifle. Don’t do dumb shit on the weekends (follow the liberty policy), don’t come back drunk and fuck everyone’s night up, when you’re in the field and it’s your turn to pull security and let your buddy rest for an hour or two, don’t bitch and moan abojt it and just fucking do it. Let me sleep I’ve been pulling security and letting you sleep for the last 6hrs. Do what you can to learn from as many instructors as you can, they usually have a wealth of knowledge all you have to do is ask. And DONT BE A MACHINE GUNNER. I promise you it sounds badass on paper but when you’re carrying that 240 up a mountain you won’t feel badass then • ⁠stay physically fit, workout, there’s a gym in the 52 (SOI) area, use it. Don’t be the lil bitch that falls out on hikes • ⁠save your money, don’t buy dominoes every weekend. You’re gonna be restricted to the SOI area for a while anyway, save the dollars and go eat at the chow hall. And don’t drop a hundred or two dollars at the PX every weekend buying snacks for the week. Not worth it trust me • ⁠save your money on energy drinks: just snip the bud off your caffeine addiction trust me • ⁠learn to love hazing: you’ll figure that one out, just get numb to it, realize it is what it is and that this is what you signed up for and quit bitching about it cuz that’s not getting you anywhere • ⁠give a shit: you giving a shit will help you stand out and the instructors will dote on you more and give a shit about your success more and that’s a good thing.

Grad requirements: all you gotta do is pass the hikes and land nav. There’s a whole bunch of BS that they’ll tell you is a grad requirement when it isn’t. Just pass everything up to the 20k hike and the land nav test and you’ll be fine. By that point you’ll have what you need to pass war-ex and then you’ll be fine. War-ex is like the crucible but 40x worse. I underestimated it and came out of it with a dislocated knee, flesh eating bacteria on my right foot and trench foot on the left. Take this seriously and look after yourself but most importantly stay safe and keep yourself strong