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On my first day 79 men stood around me on my second day 78 stood around me on my passout day 23 mates stood around me its not meant to be easy if it was you wouldnt need a green hat at the end of it cos thats the goal yes i hated some days and loved others but i did it and im proud to say i was a royal marine as preecey says once a marine always a marine so stop wingeing and bellyaching and get it on man

Good for you terry. Nobody seems to be whingeing or bellyaching though. I think the original poster is getting back into it - that's good. Imilan sums it up by saying that he's had his doubts about leaving but it's not for him and he fully realises that. When I left the Corps I hated it (that's why I left) and just like TABBER says I know people now who will still have nothing to do with it - his post was spot on. Only a couple of funerals brought me back into contact with old oppos and got me looking into sites like this.

I sometimes feel that I should move on, it was a long time ago and I'm not the man I was, but I was. True enough 'once a marine always a marine' but I never lose sight of the fact that some like to think they are or were more marine than others. Steve Preece had a bit of a broadside on that one.

Probably not the 'DS answer' but I'm my own man and a big lad now.

Sully yes I walked the walk, but stood my ground like bootnecks do. Its never easy holding your own against posts that you can do very little about. However, I hope you continue to post and add value to these sites. The young men on here draw from your experience and advice. That in itself makes your contributions and continued focus on the Corps invaluable to an extent.

I tried to walk away from being a bootneck and once thought I had acheived that. However, these years on, a lot of the things I do have peices of my background in the Corps written all over them. i.e. my fizz, my energy, my work etc etc. So I guess I owe a lot to it really.

I, like you and all the other former Bootnecks on here, take pride in keeping tight hold of my memories of the the sound oppos and fabulous times we had when we served in the Corps.

Its is strange, but when a group of bootnecks get together, its always just like old times. A couple of months back I met up with a few former bootnecks in London. We went on a sesh from 6pm till 4 am. Minging wasn't a good enough description. However, like a good little bootneck I was still in work on time and ready to do my job by 8:30am the next morning.

Cheers

Steve

ps: When the hangover kicked in later, I was hanging out big style.

It's the same on the phone mate - laughing, taking the piss. Most of my best memories seemed to involve getting in the shit I was always in the wrong place at the wrong time doing my own detail (somebody had to I suppose) and I couldn't keep my grid shut - that's not changed I've just realised who I'm talking to about getting in the shit

I've got the Army/Navy match coming up soon - should be fun. I'm always wary of living in the past but I've probably got the Corps to thank for everything I have now. Bleeding heart bit over......

........and out.

Yes me too sully. I guess I was hardly ever out of the hot brown stuff. Mind you, I was one of those bootnecks who used to fall into a bucket of sh*t and come out smelling of roses. God only knows why!!

We laugh about it these days. Recently I got in touch with an old oppo of mine and he had a drip about getting into trouble for being late for a parade. I asked him how late he was and his answer was: 10 Months.
Lol.

The last time I saw him he was on a runashore with another oppo dressed up as Harry Chrisna in Guz, complete with orange gown, shaved head and wooden begging bowl. The run lasted for over a week and both him and his oppo stayed shiters by begging beer. It was a classic runashore, undoubtedly. Before that, it was a cowboyz and indian run down the strazzer. At the start of the night the cowboyz went one way up the street and the indians the other. At Midnight we had a rendezvous arranged for "The Battle of the Little Bighorn" on the Octogon Roundabout. It was mayhem!!! In a word: WAZZER.

Cheers

Steve

I'd walk into a field of roses mate and come out covered in shit - you just can't teach something like that.

Ironically enough I had an awol situation in Parma once and I was stood by to clean the shit tanks on the Fearless should it happen. never did so I proffed on that one.

Sorry to black cat but I heard tell of a signaller by the name of Gallagher who was awol for 5 years. Story goes that he turned to up at comms troop lines and 5 years earlier he got distracted at the Sea Gate on his way and ended up in the Foreign Legion. Who the f**k are you says the sgt major

Sully: No probs with Black cats. The banter is good mate.

The guy whom I was referring to has a surname of McCosh. You might know him!! I'm just about to telephone him. Unfortunately, he's not too fit these days, old wound from the F.I. War that came back to haunt him some years later. He was a diamond and a fabulous runshore oppo of mine. He was a crazy git but I guess we all were in those days. One of his son's is in the Army, and the other, is a bootneck.

He can't drink these days so I always phone him after I've had a few wets. He laughs and slags me off for it because we joked that we always thought it would have been his liver that gave him sh*t years later.

Also: I recall a huge oppo of mine who once got 14 days in the cells for being a naughty bootneck whilst on a course at CTC. There was a lance jack who beasted him to death during that time. I saw him thank the guy in Sams nightclub (Exmouth) shortly after he finished the stint. However, I wasn't sure if the guy was pleased or not as I saw him get launched over the bar by my oppo's huge mit!! Some people are never happy!! LOL

My oppo is in my books and goes under the name of Sam Olsen (Not his real name). I searched for him some years later, unfortunately without success.

All the best mate

Steve