PRMC Diary 11th-14th By Marcus

[marcus2007]

This is my diary of the 11th-14th September PRMC. Enjoy!

Tuesday:
Arrival

Me and a couple of other boys arrived at CTCRM at 14.10, we were greeted by a guard at the gates, and he told us that a Corporal would be coming to sign us in within 5 minutes. The Corporal then turned up and shouted to us to line up in single file so he could see who was there. One of the lads had a bollocking for not calling him Corporal, which was fair enough, just a bit of a shock to us all to be honest! After he signed us in, he took us up through the CTC, and into our galley, where we were told to sit in a TV room for an hour to wait for more people to arrive.

Sorting Kit

Another of the Corporals then told us to go to our designated rooms, which were set out in alphabetical order, drop off our bags, and move towards the end of the galley for further instructions. Once we were all lined up outside the stores cupboard, we were told to find our sizes on the chart, and find appropriate clothes. To be honest this proved quite tricky with 40+ people there, so to be honest its best to just try one boot on, and hold the clothes up to you to find an approximate fit, me and plenty others did this, and they did fit quite well, but if you cant find anything to fit perfect, get a size just a bit bigger, it will be easier to get on and get off, and you can always tuck it in. After sorting our clothes out, we had to make our beds, our room used a bit of initiative and everybody helped each other make theirs, and all 16 beds were done in about 5 minutes which weren’t bad. We then unloaded our bags into our cupboards and lined up outside our rooms.

Scran

This is one of the moments everybody was waiting for. Everybody was hungry, and needed a bit of fuel! The Corporal then asked for people who had previously been on a PRMC, and asked them to lead us over to the Canteen for dinner. The food was amazing, nicely cooked, good sized portions, and you’re served in about 1 minute!

Lecture

Around 18.45 we had a lecture off our duty Corporal, it was basically on what we were expected to attempt on the course. He also asked us a few questions like how old we all were, who smoked, who had been on a previous PRMC and where they had failed. There was a trend of people who had failed the Determination Test, one or two had failed the 3 miler, and we also had a few who had failed the AIB on the POC!

NAAFI

We were allowed to a NAAFI Break of about an hour, although we had to sign a piece of paper to say we'd gone, and sign back in when we got back (Many forgot, including me). The NAAFI is basically a nice big shop, with sweets, drinks and plenty of magazines. Lots of the PRMC boys were stocking up on Red Bull and Energy Drinks for the next day.

Bed

Basically we were told how to behave ourselves, how to address Corporals, Sergeants, and Officers etc. We were all in bed for around 2200, probably the worst nights sleep ive ever had.

Total people on course: 48

Wednesday

Reveille

Everybody was up at 5.45, everybody rushed into the showers, trying to fight through the queues. I don’t think anybody used the Corporal suggested method (one person gets wet, puts shampoo on whilst the second person gets wet, then rinses off shampoo whilst other person puts their shampoo on) and we just all piled into the shower area waiting for a free one. There were 4 showers, and about 8 sinks, the showers had cold water, and that probably was a good idea seeing as people were in the shower for 20 seconds max. We were advised by the Corporal not to use the two baths which were in the room, as we would be shocked when one of them would decide to dive in there with us in it!
We all got showered, shitted and shaved, remember to shave all your face, and get somebody to check your face for any bits of stubble, as you will face tuck jumps and a bollocking.
Everyone got dressed into smart civilian clothing, and we all started to clean the accommodation area. Personally I found this to be quite relaxed, because everyone was using their initiatives, and helping each other. Basically we had to brush the floors, clean the radiators, any grime off the walls, then mop the floor, try to dry it, make sure the heads (toilets) were clean, and then be lined up in the galley for 0615.

Scran

We were told to have breakfast as quick as possible, and be back at the galley for I think it was 0640. Once again breakfast was lovely, and there was a choice of fry up (bacon eggs sausage beans etc) or cereal. Most people had cereal as they knew that the 3 miler was shortly coming up and didn’t fancy spewing everywhere!

Drill

We were all then greeted by another Corporal, who taught us the basics of Drill. Marching, turning and halting were all taught, and to be honest everyone seemed to catch the grasp of it pretty easily, although the learning curve was very steep. The Corporal was quite easy going, and taught it well, and told us why we needed to look good whilst doing it on the Pass-Out.

Lecture

Next we had a general interest lecture off a WO2. Basically he could sell the Royal Marines to anyone, he was brilliant. Funny, charismatic and got us all involved by asking plenty of questions.
Towards the end of this lecture, it was evident that one person had quit the course, nobody knew why, but he had gone home by the end of the lecture.

3 Miler

This is what everybody was worried about, but again it got everyone hyped up at the same time. We were introduced to a PTI, who was really funny. He told us to get into our PT rig, and meet him outside our block in 3 ranks. We all rushed into our kit, and got lined up ready. We all then put our numbered bibs on, and marched outside the camp, up over the bridge, and all gathered in the car park for our warm-up.
The Warm-up consisted of sprints, jogging around the car park, and plenty of good stretches to get the heart going a bit.
We were all then told to line up in 3 ranks, in height order. So being 6'3 I was placed right at the back where there were 3 Corporals. A few Corporals and PTI's had run up the road ahead of us. PRMC...Quick March, that was all of us speeding up the road, the pace was pretty easy going, and it turned into a slow jog for the next 10 minutes or so. The route was pretty nice, quite flat and to be honest just seemed a good route to run. We all approached the end part of the first 1.5 miles, and everybody was in good rhythm. We all turned at the bottom of the road, which was a bit manic, with bushes and ditches on the sides of the very narrow road. After about 15 seconds max, we all took off, and a pretty easy pace. The first part of the 2nd 1.5 Miler is a very slight gradient, but definitely uphill for those who are wondering. This bit only lasts for about 3-400m, and then it’s around the corner and speed on! I started the route back right at the back of the crowd, because of the height order start, but I did manage to overtake about 18 people on the way back, I also noticed somebody sitting in the transit van after he just gave up! Anyway, the run was going pretty well, with the Corporals giving you all a bit of abuse as we're powering along, then you see that sign, '500M TO GO...ITS ONLY PAIN'. To be honest it just made me think a bit about how much I wanted it. I really ran for it when I saw the tops of the buildings towards the start, as I knew this was where I needed to cover as much road as possible. It was a sprint finish for the end, and it felt good to pass the line within the required time.
The PTI told us to stand in line after collecting our Tag. I finished the run with a time of 9.50 mins, not bad for me to be honest, seeing as I was only doing a 10 minute 1.5 miler before arrival! About 6-7 people finished the run after me within the required time, the rest, about 9 failed to finish within the required time. We had a quick cool down, and a couple of stretches, and it was back to the galley for showers and ready for another lecture. It was a nice feeling to know that the 1st physical test was over, but the fun was just about to start...

In total 9 people failed the run. 3 of them chose to stay on the course.

Weapons Lecture

We all turned up at this lecture with grins like Cheshire cats! There were guns laid out on the floor, ranging from a pistol, AK47, up to the GPMG.
The Corporal described each weapon very well, telling us the ranges or each one, when it came out etc. He then welcomed us to come down and have a play with them. We were allowed to have a hold etc for around 20 minutes, its surprising how heavy the LMG and GPMG actually get as well, and how much the bullets and other kit required is going to wear you down.


Bank Lecture

Straight after we had a lecture off a nice woman from Barclays bank. She basically told us that they will sort all our money out, and how much goes in at certain weeks, and how much comes out etc. This came at quite a shock to some people as they didn’t realise they had to pay for all the accommodation and food. She also told us that there is a Barclays bank on site, and it is open throughout the week. This only lasted around 15 minutes and then we were quickly sent off for scran and then instructed to go to our galley and get changed into our PT rig. and put our bibs on.

Gym Test 1

As we got back to our rooms it was evident that most of the people who failed the 3 miler had already left or were just getting their stuff ready to leave. I had a chat to a few of them but they were adamant that they didn’t feel like they needed to stay. I think out of the 10 that failed 3 chose to stay on.

We all got dressed into our shorts and t-shirts/vests and we made our way over to the Gym. The rules came as a bit of a shock to us all!
No rubbing sweat, no fidgeting, and no scratching and when they tell us to double time, we double time! Double timing is basically arms in tight, parallel to the floor, whilst jogging on the spot but bringing legs right up to the waist. This can be shattering after 2-3 minutes, but if you listen to the PTI and all do it correctly it doesn’t last long.
First up was the bleep test, we were instructed how to do it and that we would get 3 warnings then get pulled off if we went past this amount.
We all got off to a good start; just make sure that when you do it, you stay in line with the PTI who does up to level 4 with you. If you’re racing off ahead, you’re just using vital energy, and there really is no point in beating the bleep. People started to drop off towards the end of level 9, although I got my first warning at 11.1, second warning at 11.2, and 3rd warning at 11.4. Once you seem to lose momentum it really is quite hard to get back into it. Remember, once you get your first warning, and you feel like you cant go no more, keep running, because its possible to get another 2-3 beeps before your warnings are up and your pulled off.
I think one or two boys actually finished the bleep test and managed to get to 13.4-5. The rest of us just walked in a big circle till they finished.

Next up was the press-up test. You have 2 minutes to do as many press-ups as you can, and if you move out of the press-up position your score will be stopped from then. We got showed our partners, and we took it in turns to do our press-ups. We are instructed to take our tops off so that we make sure the hand touches the chest every time. We are also showed that the press-ups are to be done shoulder width apart, and any that are done with bad form are not to be counted. My partner had to do his press-ups first, and then it was my turn. I was getting off to a good start, then about a minute into it, BLUE 3 was told to stand up and stop counting, so my partner, BLUE 2, also decided to stand up for no reason, and I got onto my knees to see what was going on, and I lost about 30 seconds. Although I was able to still do about 15 more, it still took my vital time off me.

Next was the Sit-ups test. Similar as above, we got shown the correct way to do it, and that we only count the sit-ups that actually go all the way back down, knees stay together, and elbows touch tops of knees. Remember, the PTI's are very strict on form, so make sure you get it right. Once again, my partner went first, and then I went second, although this one went smoothly.

Finally were the Pull-ups. For this they bring out apparatus from the walls, and set up the beam so that it is roughly 7.5-8 feet high. Personally, I didn’t find the bar that thick as I was previously warned, but it did get sweaty, as was proved when I fell off the bar on the way down on the 6th pull-up! These are done to the 'ARMS BEND...ARMS STRETCH' command, when he shouts 'ARMS BEND', you pull yourself up so that your chin is above the bar, 'ARMS STRETCH', you lower yourself down under control. You are also warned that if you cannot do 2 pull-ups, you will not proceed to the Bottom Field.

This didn’t go on for too long to be honest, about 20 minutes maximum. Just don’t fidget, make sure you double time quickly, and it could finish even quicker!

I didn’t get shown my scores, but my partner told me I had:
Bleep Test: 11.4
Press-ups: 45
Sit-ups: 60
Pull-ups: 5

Personally I thought I did quite well for my level of fitness.

Swimming Assessment

Next up was the swimming assessment. Isn’t a requirement to swim, but you need to be able to swim before you can pass out of training. Basically it’s just a jump off the high board; then swim breastroke along the outside of the swimming pool and climb out the other end. The Corporals will ask you for you're number if it is clear you are a weak swimmer. Make sure you wear Speedos (pant-type) because you'll just get a bit of a bollocking off the PTI for it.

Medical Lecture

Next we all had a lecture off a Navy Commando Doctor. This was pretty informal and quite interesting. He explained the basics of nutrition, explained the purpose of Hunter Troop and what would happen to us in the event of an injury. He was pretty easy going and answered our questions on so called 'body-building' supplements, and basically told us its not needed with the amazing food of CTCRM, which I can back up. The lecture lasted around 15-20 minutes but was nice to have the bit of rest from the previous tests!

Foundation

We all then went over to the Foundation Block. This is where you're first 3 weeks are spent. It's basically a 60 man room, and you will do a lot of ironing! We had to wait for half an hour or so before we could go in, so we all chatted to Corporal F for a bit and had a laugh with him. We then were allowed to go into the accommodation and chat to some of the boys, who were pretty tidy to be honest, told us all the good points, and the bad points, as well as a couple of tips for Bottom Field.

That was it for the night, so we all went back to our galley, tidied up a bit and then had a chance to go over the NAFFI and stock up.

Thursday

Reveille

Everybody up again at 5.45, showered, shaved and down the hall for Scran. We were advised to watch what we eat because of the Bottom Field, so once again most of us ate cereals. Make sure that you're water bottles are topped up, because you're throat will feel like sandpaper after the assault course.

Death Slide

I think this has now been renamed to the Commando Slide for political reasons? Anyway, we got dressed into combats and boots, and we marched for the outskirts of camp towards the slide. The Death Slide is basically a zip wire, but it is higher than it seems, but all good fun. You're told to put harnesses on, and you all help each other get them on and off, because it is much quicker that way. It was done it two groups, so whilst the one group did it, we just watched how it was done. We were instructed how to jump, when to stretch, then how to get off the wire. Simple. Well, most people did struggle to get off, but getting shouted at by the PTI sorted that! Anyway, this all ran smoothly, and we all felt hyped up after it. The PTI and Corporals then ordered us to follow them down onto the bottom field.

Ropes Course

This part was pretty simple. All you had to do was climb across the ropes with the method showed to you by the PTI's and it was simple! This is basically a 4 foot high rope, which once you cross, leads on to a 10+ Foot Rope, and then you climb across that, climb up onto a platform, then jog across a wooden plank, then climb across the higher one, and jump onto the net. Once that was done we had to run back and for to the wall to wait for everybody else.

Assault Course

This was the test everybody was waiting for. But there was a catch, we were always double timing, jogging on the spot, this tired you out quite a bit, being in boots as well. Anyway, we were shown 3 obstacles a time, and after watching it we were given a chance to do it. A big point was made on landing with 2 feet. Make sure you DO IT! It will get you agro off the PRMC Staff and you will seriously increase the chances of hurting yourself. The guide to the assault course took about 15 minutes, and then it was time for our timed run. This was set out in alphabetical order, so I was in the 3rd set, with one minute intervals between each set of us. GO! I got off to a good start, and cleared the Tank Trap and got up over the 6ft Wall with ease. For some reason I struggled a bit with the Monkey Bars, I just couldn’t get the swing correct, I didn’t fall in though. Then it was the Zig Zag wall, the first part you walk, then you jog then you sprint. What really scared me as I jumped off is that I noticed barbed wire each side of it, and thought what if? Next up was the Chasm and the rope, which by now I found easy and enjoyable. I made up a lot of time on this and overtook the rest of my team; I even got a good effort off the Corporal. Next up was the 3 stride bridge, which by now had gone wonky, and then it’s a sprint across to the next wall, climb over, then sprint up the hill towards the Gate Vault, then up and over, then run across to the tunnels. Make sure you get up on your hands and knees to go through here, there is plenty of room. Then it’s a sprint down the hill and up the 12 foot wall. This is helped by one of the ropes that hang down. You then shout you're name at the top, then run down the steps and shout you're name for a second time; you then walk in a big circle for 5 minutes before everybody else finishes.

I achieved a time of around 3.20 on this which I was happy with.

Determination Test

This was the bit I was dreading most. I knew how much I wanted to pass, but I just felt exhausted before we even started it. It was simple really. But to the boys and me it was pure hell! We had to run down to the scramble nets and back, and do 10 press-ups downhill, 10 sit-ups facing uphill, then 10 squat thrusts, then we'd run to the monkey bars, and get our heads in the water, then run back. We were always double timing as well, and if we didn’t double time well enough, we'd have to run back to the monkey bars, and get in the water again, which to be honest felt nice and refreshing! I really did find it hard going. I started to throw up about 10 minutes into it, didn’t stop me at any point, but I had to be sick all over myself which isn't very nice when its blowing all over you. My body was literally screaming at me to give in, and most of the boys around me were giving up, because we were 'at the back', the generally un-fitter boys who were coming in last when we had to race to the obstacles etc...The temptation of having a nice sit down with you're water bottle is also a nice thought, but knowing id come all this way, and getting the chance to be a Royal Marines Commando meant so much to me, so I thought 'just crack on'. After about 20 minutes I went numb, and when we had to run up the steep hill and back, I just had nothing left; the fastest I could go was an alternating fast walk/jog. But I did give it my everything, when I could speed up I would, I just wanted it over with. The next thing we got instructed to do was piggybacks. At first I thought it wouldn’t be too bad, but we were all shattered. When we had to run down the hill, the Corporal moved further, probably about another 20 metres, but that extra 20 metres was hard work when we had to run back up. I was one of the first to get down the hill, but when I went to run back towards the start, I had nothing, I was stumbling and everybody else kept going. The boy who was on my back was shouting at me to run, so I just kept going, and it was obvious to everybody on the field that I was giving it my all. For some reason I just found that part extremely hard going, I was physically and mentally exhausted. When I got on the other boys back for my piggy back, I nearly fell asleep. It was only because he was strong and fit that we was there and back in no time. But it ended after that piggyback.

That determination test was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. But I do believe that if you want it enough, you won’t give in. It's only 25-30 minutes of pain, but the feeling you get when you're still there at the end is brilliant.

I think 9 people gave up on it.

After this we went back to our accommodation for a well deserved shower and get changed ready for our interviews.

Our Corporal told RED (The bib group) that we would have our interviews later on in the night, and that we could go for scran, but would have to be quick, so we legged it down for scran, and by the time we got back we were alerted that we had Gym Test 2 and needed to get changed into PT Rig.

Gym Test 2

We all rushed down to the gym again, but we were still aching and sore from Bottom Field, and we knew that this wasn’t going to be easy either. Gym test 2 is made up of 5 obstacles in the sports hall; they are made up of Ammo Box Carrying, Pulling the Crate, Moving the Mat, Jumping over the Horse and Rolling onto the Mat and Getting a 15kg bag from one side to the other. It is supposed to test team skills as well as personal coordination, as the obstacles are done individually, in pairs and as a group. We were given 2 minutes for each game, and we were warned that we would have to be at maximum effort, and whenever we were not doing anything, we would be double timing. First we went for a nice warm-up outside, and then ran back into the hall to start. The tests themselves passed very quickly, and it’s just about going in and really going for it, giving you're 100%! It pays off though, because we were told that our sprint session was only going to be small, so that raised a few smiles. The sprint session itself, although not very long, was very tough and did seem to drag a bit. It was basically running to the middle and back, then running to the far end and back, once, twice, sometimes even three times. It went on for a few extra sprints because somebody wouldn’t double time properly, although I had a couple of rows for it, this person in particular wouldn’t do it at all! It soon passed by though, and we had to head back to the galley to get changed because we had a few lectures.

Specialisation Lecture

This was a nice little lecture basically telling us what we could do after passing out from training. He told us that heavy weapons are good to get into, and that Signals is basically shit. That shocked a few boys, as a couple of them seemed interested. He also told us that if we’re thinking of going for SBS, get a couple of years and go for it, better sooner than later according to him. We then got sent to Scran, and told to be outside the galley ready for another lecture.

Fitness Lecture

At first we all gathered in one room, but the screen wasn’t working, so we had to go through the building to go to another room. This lecture was pretty easy going, everybody sort of knew what he was on about, and he really had to rush it because we were all late apparently. But he basically gave us methods of getting fit, how often we should train, and what type of exercise we should do. This lecture lasted about 20 minutes and we were all trying hard not to nod off to sleep!

Interview

A couple of the boys and I had our interviews a bit later than the others, but he told us we could stay in our Casual Clothes which made things better, as we were tidying like mad men just before he shouted for us! Anyway, this was a lot more laid back than I thought it would be. He asked us questions on Corps History, Skills you will learn, VC winners, pretty easy to be honest if you’d revised a little bit. He told us that we weren’t going to find out our scores, and that we’d have to wait and see. But we were all feeling quite confident to be honest.

The rest of our night was spent cleaning our boots; we all then got given T-Shirts and Water Bottles. We all had a chance to pop over the NAAFI; also the Corporals had written up a little shopping list and wanted us to get them stuff!

Friday

We were all allowed to have a lie in! Still that was only 15 minutes and we were all dressed and showered by 0615. Most of our stuff was already packed up, so we were allowed to rush over to have Scran. Today we all had masses of food, bowls of cereal and a plate of Fry-up is what we all needed! Still, it went down very nice, and even the worry of whether we had passed or not hadn’t affected it going down well! We all rushed back to the Galley and had lined up outside our rooms. The Corporal told us we had 30 minutes to quickly sort the rest of our rooms out and clean up ready for inspection. This was done very quickly, as we already knew who did what, and where all the cleaning equipment was. I was very lucky, because for some reason I forgot the Milkshake bottle on the shelf, and the Corporal didn’t notice it! After we’d tidied up, the Corporal came round and checked the tops of shelves for dust etc…and he told us it “wasn’t bad to be fair.”
Another Corporal then came out and asked to see one of the boys, then told the rest of us to make our way over to the stores. This got us pretty excited, as we already knew that the boy who had been called had failed the 3 Miler, and that we were being issued boots! We all had a laugh finding a pair of boots that fitted reasonably well, and we also got issued a pair of socks and an RT Booklet. Did this mean we’d passed? Because the Corporal told us not to get excited or anything yet!
Next up we got told to put all of our clothes and our boots in the TV room in our Galley, and make our way over to the presentation room.
Everybody was getting excited, The Sergeant Major told us what we had all been through, and that we’d passed! He gave us our certificates, all except the boy who had already failed. But even he was happy; because the SM said that he had tried extremely hard, and would pass the next time.
We were all so happy, and felt even better when we all watched a video of a troop going through training, looked brilliant!

That was it for the PRMC, we were told to collect our stuff, and make our way to the train station, although a few boys decided to run down there on their own, and that got us all press-ups from the PTI in our suits, on the train station! Brilliant!

In total there were 48 people on our PRMC, 1 person left on the first day, 9 failed the run, and 7 quit the determination test. Leaving just 31 people. Altogether, it was a brilliant experience, and you make some great mates over the couple of days. Just remember, it doesn’t last forever, and when you stick at it, you’ll feel great in the end!

[fubar84]

Well in mate, and good diary. Did you find it funny during the lecture on fitness it says ''DO NOT eat any later than 2 HOURS before exercising!!'' Yet during PRMC you normally only get about 30-60 mins between meals and thrashings lol

[marcus2007]

yer mate! haha you really need the energy!

[Chezza]

Good diary mate!

[marcus2007]

Cheers

[edd91]

That was really good, its really helps to know what your going to expect to some extent, just need to pass my second medical then i should hopefully be on me way, but all in all a good read, very informative.

[marcus2007]

Thanks mate, its taken me a couple of days to do it really, ive been ill etc...caught the flu when i got back from PRMC!
Anyway, i loved it there

[james_m]

Well done mate!

A superb diary Marcus - thank you!

Cheers
James

[marcus2007]

Thanks a lot guys! All the preparation i did wouldn't of gone so well if it wasn't for the support and information off the guys at MFAT! So i owe you a big thanks!

[lukeyluke]

Well done mate, excellent diary!

Do you know when you’ll be getting an RT date through? I’m not sure how long they usually take; some people seem to get them through pretty quick.

Cheers,

Luke

[edd91]

Marcus did you use a training schedule, before PRMC, just wondering if you did could you PM me it or something please because mine is shoddy to say the least.

Edd

[fo0q]

spot on the diary mate... shared the same feelings pretty much as I did when i did my PRMC.

Bottom field was probably the part i was most anxious about after reading on here but like everybody has said its all mental. After a certain point i think i just switched off from the pain and must have been running around like a zombie.
we only had to do 5 sets of exercises every time though but i think we went up the hill about 5 or 6 times.

Gym test 2 was probably the hardest physically for me though as your drained but you know its the last test so theres no chance of giving up at that point. Lads were cramping up in both legs on the sprints and dropping like flies but after being told by the PTI they would fail the whole course if they didnt go to the end they soon got back up.

They are probably the longest 3 minutes of your life aint they. especially jumping over the boxs onto them pudding mats.

[maritime_marine]

Good diary mate, brings back memories! Same here Fo0q on bottom field, that hill was a killer. Worse bit was there was 58 lads in my PRMC and you try getting us all around the cone at the same time at any respectable pace...not gunna happen. So he punished us for walking haha.

[Starwon]

Great diary and congratulations

[MadAd]

Very good diary mate. Ive hopefully got mine on the 2nd of October. Combination of shitting my pants and really looking foward to it. Cant say im looking foward to the time limits between eating and the beastings! What was your training regime like before attending PRMC.?