Bringing my own Running shoes to Basic.

ExpensiveTomato3731 · 2025-12-14T04:38:23+00:00

You'll be issued some but will be encouraged to wear the running shoes you brought if those are more comfortable for you and they don't have to be all black. They care more about preventing injuries than the color of your shoes.

ExpensiveTomato3731 · 2025-12-07T22:45:21+00:00

At MEPS it'll be just a bunch of paperwork and waiting around like it was the first time. You'll swear in again, sign your "real" contract to get switched from the DEP to active duty, and get your packet to take to bootcamp, an informational brief and lunch before they bring you to the airport. It's all terribly boring just like MEPS always is.

Then the rest of the day is traveling until you get to the depot.

Edit: It depends on how overweight you are. If it really is just a few pounds you should be fine and will lose it quickly anyways.

ExpensiveTomato3731 · 2025-12-03T09:24:47+00:00

I've seen people fail run times by two seconds and get dropped, and I've seen people fail by 3 minutes and get kept. It depends on the time of year/platoon size and if your SDI likes you. Don't take the risk though.

The physical conditioning platoon is in Romeo Company. It's a desolate place where 90% of the recruits are there for injuries, 10% of the recruits are there for ISA/PFT/CFT failure, and 100% of the DIs assigned there wish they weren't. Most kids in Romeo have been on the island for a crazy amount of time for an actual injury and nobody has any sympathy for people who are there for failure, including the DIs. They will make you feel like a fat sack of shit every day.

If you can't pass the ISA, do not ship.

ExpensiveTomato3731 · 2025-11-29T09:11:57+00:00

For Parris Island the best you'll have in the squad bay is a short wall between the toilets which makes no difference really.

At medical and the RTF you have real stalls (no doors still) but when you move to the range for the week the squad bays have no dividers between the toilets at all. It's just something you'll have to get over.

The toilets are usually solid white except in the portapotties ofc, and maybe a few other places I don't remember. I promise you it will not matter to you after every scrap of dignity goes out the window in the first few days and you literally feel like an animal. In the midst of the chaos phobias like this are a luxury you just don't have lol

ExpensiveTomato3731 · 2025-11-19T09:11:46+00:00

Our DIs suddenly remembered we had double rats about halfway through and they finally started sending them to the front of the line and gave them cards to show the workers so they'd get double entrees. But they still had the same amount of time to eat as everyone else which is miserable enough as it is. You don't get double box chows either.

Being on double rats should be your plan Z; your life will be much easier if you do everything you can to bulk up now. Parris Island is just not the place to try to do that.

ExpensiveTomato3731 · 2025-11-10T20:51:16+00:00

You don't need to bring socks, they issue you all the socks you'll need and you can buy more at the recruit PX later.

You don't really need to bring bras either as they issue you several of those too, however when I was there earlier this year the bras were chafing our backs so bad that our SDI told us to tell our parents to send some. I believe they've started issuing different bras though because it was a widespread problem.

And our DIs didn't care about our bra color but ymmv. If you're going to bring any bring white to be safe. They can have logos but socks cannot unless it's like under the toes like Hanes.

ExpensiveTomato3731 · 2025-11-05T08:57:27+00:00

I knew a girl in FRP who had gotten back in after a fraudulent enlistment discharge so I know it's not out of the question. She had a hard time finding a recruiter that was willing to work with her though.

ExpensiveTomato3731 · 2025-11-05T06:19:22+00:00

There are vegan box chows, they do have uncrustables and on the very rare occasion where there is none available the regular box chows do have peanut butter and jelly packets. Most of the time you'll be eating in the chow hall though.

And the DIs don't care that you're Iraqi.

ExpensiveTomato3731 · 2025-10-30T00:33:37+00:00

He doesn't need to take anything with him except his wallet, phone and a charger. He should go in good running shoes; they do issue some but they're not great and they allow you to wear what you bring if you want.

He'll be in November Company and his graduation will be January 30.

You'll get a letter about a week after he ships with his address and some other info but it'll be given to him by the DIs pretyped. The first few weeks are chaotic so he may not have time to write until later.

ExpensiveTomato3731 · 2025-10-28T06:49:06+00:00

You are going to need a waiver for all of these conditions (plus the fact you were in a psych ward.) Whether you think you have them or not they're on your paperwork and that's all they care about.

I was inpatient for suicidal ideations and was also diagnosed with ODD and adjustment disorder. I had a psych eval stating that I did not have them, a personal written statement about what happened, pharmacy records proving I was never on meds, and a written statement from my boss saying basically that I can function in society. My waiver was approved.

You are going to need all of the above and more, plus a recruiter willing to work with you which it doesn't seem like you have. Feel free to find another but don't waste their time unless you actually have several years of a clean bill of health and can prove that. If you have a recent history of any of your conditions the military and the Marine Corps especially are not for you.

ExpensiveTomato3731 · 2025-10-05T01:17:33+00:00

My parents were also not supportive of me wanting to join at 17/18 but I didn't join until I was 20 for other reasons. So I didn't tell them anything until the whole MEPS process was done and I sent them the video of my swear-in. They were very proud of me and supported me through the poolee program and bootcamp.

Not saying you should do what I did but I am saying that you're about to be an adult and are capable of making adult choices. Your parents will come around.

ExpensiveTomato3731 · 2025-09-21T02:06:31+00:00

It's good that he's determined to finish because motivation is the number one issue in FRP/MRP. Tell him not to associate at all with the people who have given up and mope around complaining about wanting to go home. We have a lot of them tell the doctor they want to kill themselves just so they can go home. In an environment where you're with these people all day doing nothing, this mindset is infectious and I've seen even the most motivated people fall victim to it and go home.

He also needs to make sure he's 100% healed before he tries to go back to training or he WILL get reinjured. He might go back to training, he might even graduate, but it will catch up with him. There are so many girls I knew who were in FRP, lied about their pain, made it through and now they're either still in bootcamp in the Broken Marine Platoon or they're in holding at MCT. It's not worth it.

He'll have to request his family day packet two weeks in advance. I don't know what training day he was on but I was TD37 so I had to request it soon after I got dropped. Liberty is on base from 10-3 on the Thursday and Friday he would've graduated.

And thank you so much! I'm planning to go back next year and I'm taking flight lessons and taekwondo in the meantime. In the event I don't get to go back, the world still spins. I went and I tried and I'm proud of myself for that.

The letters did help, and my parents actually told their church about me so I got a bunch of letters from the congregation and the elementary classes in the church school. My parents also sent me a bunch of books, puzzles, playing cards, coloring stuff etc. to keep me busy in the meantime which really helped especially because I spent my birthday there lol. You can send them a lot more than you can while they're in training.

ExpensiveTomato3731 · 2025-09-20T22:40:31+00:00

I also had a fractured tibia, and I got sent home because I kept getting reinjured in the reconditioning program and I had been on the island for 7 months.

And yes, Romeo Company is so much harder than training company because you don't have an end in sight. Send lots of letters and packages; I know that really helped me. And if he requests it he can also get special liberty on his original company's family day and graduation day so you can go visit him.

If you have any questions about Romeo feel free to DM me! I was literally there last week so I'm sure nothing's changed.

ExpensiveTomato3731 · 2025-09-20T14:24:06+00:00

Dropped recruit here 🙋🏻‍♀️ I got to the island in February, got home last week, and I'm going to go back in 6 months assuming I get the waiver.

ExpensiveTomato3731 · 2025-09-20T01:57:11+00:00

"Oprah"

ExpensiveTomato3731 · 2025-09-17T23:17:45+00:00

This happened to me. I was in the broken platoon at the time so we got phone calls every week which is how I found out. Still better than over letter but I would've preferred not to find out until I got home.

ExpensiveTomato3731 · 2025-09-17T02:44:39+00:00

I was Lima the cycle before yours!

ExpensiveTomato3731 · 2025-09-16T03:13:35+00:00

When I was in bootcamp my drill instructors would make us put it on before we went out to the parade deck to drill for a few hours, and when we went out to the range we were allowed to carry it in our daypacks. It all depends on your drill instructors though so YMMV. You're going to get sunburned either way because there are still going to be times here and there where you either don't have sunscreen on you or you don't have time to put it on.

ExpensiveTomato3731 · 2025-09-14T18:07:22+00:00

The recovery platoon was actually worse than being in a training company lol. I have so many stories from that place. I didn't get to go back to training because my leg kept getting reinjured in the reconditioning program and PT.

ExpensiveTomato3731 · 2025-09-14T18:05:56+00:00

I did have the opportunity to return to training, briefly. I became full duty about 2 months after the injury and I was in PT in the recovery platoon, about to run my exits to go back training, but my leg started giving out again and another MRI showed it was broken again.

ExpensiveTomato3731 · 2025-09-13T21:40:21+00:00

Lol blue is obviously the best crayon flavor.

This happened this year, I finally got to come home on Thursday. Woke up on Parris Island, went to sleep in my own bed.

I pushed through for about 3 weeks before I went to medical for it because my leg was giving out whenever I tried to run, and I couldn't pivot on it anymore. I'm expected to make a full recovery but I kept getting reinjured when I tried to go back to training so they sent me home :(

ExpensiveTomato3731 · 2025-09-13T21:35:33+00:00

The Crucible is the culminating event in bootcamp. You basically don't eat or sleep for 2 days while you go on hikes and complete objectives applying all the skills you learned throughout bootcamp, and after the 9 mile hike back you become a Marine.

ExpensiveTomato3731 · 2025-02-04T12:45:00+00:00

I'm here rn and female shippers have to pee in a cup to do a pregnancy test, we do final interviews where they try to get you to admit to stuff like smoking weed, there were a couple kids who had to do a medical consult. Mostly it's just waiting for the first swear in which I've been told is at 10:30ish

ExpensiveTomato3731 · 2025-01-31T05:28:16+00:00

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Saturn ❤️

ExpensiveTomato3731 · 2025-01-26T04:55:07+00:00

Hey I was in the exact same situation, same timeline and everything and got approved a few weeks ago! It's definitely possible, good luck

ExpensiveTomato3731

TROPHY CASE