Gentle advice for recruits.

[GreenFlag]

Green Flag,

The discipline is nothing like as severe as in
my day. Modern youth would never accept
what we put up with. Members of Parliament
postbags would be full with complaints from
mum on behalf of her 'Little Johnny.'

Lympstone was a hutted camp. 24 men per
hut bunked in double tiers. Individual lockers,
lino floor, pot bellied stove in centre of the hut.
Always burnished as were coal buckets. Never
used even in winter. Section Cpl. had a small
area blocked off from us Nods near the heads.
Lino was cleaned with mansion polish and a
bumper. Bristle brooms were used to clean the
walkway to the ablution unit. The heads were
immaculate as I know since I had to clean them
with a toothbrush for a minor infringement .

You matured very quickly and also there was a
crime called 'Dumb Insolence' whereby if an NCO
thought you had eyeballed him you could be then
marched off parade/whatever and placed in cells to
be subsequently charged with Dumb Insolence.

We never suffered or endured bullying. Some 98%
originals passed their CCse without undue problems.
We had no pain killers and just hacked it.

CTC is probably the finest training camp of all the NATO
forces in Europe. The facilities are second to none.

Autres temps autres moeurs.

Chas.

Excellent insight Chas, cheers Its totally different by todays standards as you say in respect to discipline etc! Its just goes to show that as years go by that things change, however the reputation of the Royal's has stayed the same throughout!

[Sully]

I think some of you are doing yourselves down a bit. Young people today have the same potential to achieve and excel as young people have always had. Perhaps these days the spirit is a bit more hidden under layers of comfortable, spoon-fed and idle living.

The great thing about the Corps is that it taps into it - privation is good for the spirit - it gives it something to feed on. There are very few things you can do these days that push you to the same extremes of tiredness, discomfort, pain..the rest of it. The Corps knows exactly what it wants from people and it gets it - it's been doing it for nearly four hundred years. It needs to unlock that spirit to do that.

I've heard that training is a lot more easy going than it was even 10 years ago but that might not be a bad thing - the mantra in the Corps is "improvise, adapt, overcome" and the Corps adapts.

The proof is in the pudding and I doubt there's a single former bootneck who isn't proud of how lads are acquitting themselves in the various hotspots. Proud of lads in all arms and units but especially (for us) of those that choose to Go Commando

[mm1306]

I don't know about society in general but surely the army hasn't got softer and that's purely based on the fact they still get the job done in the toughest of conditions.
There are even certain fools who claim that the US marines are soft. Maybe certain parts of it are less tough than others but try telling a fallujah veteran that the US marines are soft.
There is generally a bit of a bandwagon about how certain military units are apparently not what they once were. The times did an article about the alledgedly "soft"(ahem!) French foreign legion, if even they have supposedly gone "soft" then there is no hope for the Western world.
People of an older generation will always talk about things in their day military or not, I am 19 and I am already guilty of that towards the younger people.

[mm1306]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/w ... 796812.ece

Here it is, believe that and you will believe anything.

[davidemmerson]

Interesting point ref' painkillers I think.

What I often wonder is, did the men of Chas, Sully and Artist's respective eras suffer with the same injuries and problems that those of my generation seem to?
I would imagine that they didn't have trainers as we know today, rather more like plimsoles and lesser quality boots etc I would also expect they did not have the fancy training programmes that we chaps devise as well as all the other things we use to our advantage (or not ) as has already been mentioned such as this forum.

I expect it is a reflection of the lifestyle, would you agree that today we live in a soft society?
Ridiculous question really beause I'm sure the answer is yes but I would be intrigued to hear other people's views on this.

Hopefully that makes sense, rather knackered at the moment!

Thanks

Interesting point PA, here's my own view of it.

I've never used painkillers in my life, and unless they are advised I probably won't. As for training programmes, I've kept mine fairly simple, running, press-ups, sit-ups and pull-ups. I have no gym membership and don't use weights of any kind. I find running on the road and out in the fresh air far more enjoyable than being in a sweaty and sometimes crowded gym. I live in some great countryside, so why not enjoy it it!

Some people on here ask a lot about supplements, again, something I'm never going to touch. Thousands of people before me have succesfully completed RT or YO training without them so I've decided I am too. If something hurts, I'm just going to rest; easier and cheaper!

I'm going to invest in a decent pair of running shoes that fit my feet comfortably and that's about luxurious as it's going to get for me. I won't even think about getting a pair of boots until I get given a POC (hopefully) date. Even then I might not use insoles, just wear a couple of pair of decent socks and tape up any sore spots.

I think a lot of people 'have all the gear' but is it all necessary? I know they wouldn't have come onto the market if there wasn't a need for them but some things I think are pretty crap. All these energy drinks and snacks, waste of money in my opnion. To rehydrate myself I drink water, before and after exercise.

I don't want to appear macho yet I'm not going to wrap my body up in cotton wool. I'm training to be in the Royal Marines, I'm sure a bit of pain on the way won't do me any harm!

Another point: How many guys on here have very little time off school? I think in my whole school career I've never had longer than about 3 days off in one go. On average I reckon I've had one day of a year, although I had full attentence for Year 12. Has it got something to do with us 'not giving up' or being able to cope going to school with the sniffles or a headache? I know some people in my 6 Form who are right wusses, have a day off for anything. Or maybe it's because I've got an ex-RM as the head of the household!

David

[Chas]

My friend Sully is 100% correct.
Don't decry yourselves. If you
aspire to earn the coveted 'Green
Beret' go for it. Once won you will
be just as good as your forebears
and carry on the fantastic traditions
of the Corps hopefully also adding
to the laurels.

[JR]

Discipline the Aim! Drill the means.

Going back into the mists of time I joined the Royal Marines in 1947 when the signing up period was for 12 years and like many of my era we had just gone through a world war some of us had been bombed and even machine gunned during that period 1940/1944,so the rigours of Royal Marine training held no problems and out of a squad of 48 recruits all passed for duty on the completion of 20 weeks at RM Deal and 20 weeks infantry training at the ITCRM Lympstone.
Many of the squad dispersed to various drafts ie Commando School,Naval Gunnery,Landing craft and other specialist qualifications.
For some unknown reason I was shipped off to RMB Chatham (the barracks in a time warp) where most of the Bootnecks where Old soldiers sporting rows of medal ribbons and GCB's, discipline was paramount and the senior Marines were to be in most cases in charge of some of the lessor mortals?,I will say that spending my first draft amongst the old and bold stood me in good stead when I was drafted to the Commando School.

It was hard, very very hard but we were trained by the best,Men who had landed at Dieppe and D-day,manned the big guns of the fleet,crewed landing craft and had served all over the world.

To be honest I dont think the training has got any easier Its just that the lads of today are much more aware of the trials and tribulations of this modern day. Aye jr

[Alfa]

I think its a definitive yes to that question.
You look at climbers of the early days, no gore-tex clothing, fancy carbon fibre and titanium ice axes. Just a few woolen shirts, some leather boots and a bundle of rope.

Ever heard the saying..."any idiot can be uncomfortable"?

The trailblazing mountaineers certainly did do it the hard way but that was due to necessity rather than any kind of choice, if they'd have had the opportunity to wear gore-tex etc... on their acsents then I'm sure they'd have jumped at the chance.

Wearing the latest equipment to climb a mountain doesn't make you less tough it's just common sense. I mean would anyone like to hazzard a guess at the mortality rates for people who go climbing without 1st rate gear?

Also thinking about safety first isn't a bad thing, unless you think dying and being injured somehow makes you hard.

As for training getting easier well, in my opinion, it has gotten easier in so much as there is less bull & recruits aren't treated as harshly as they once were but I don't think the standards have dropped at all where it counts ie; field craft, PT and all the other things that actually make a person into an effective soldier.

[Mr_Kiwi]

I'm not saying its hard of someone to decline the use of proper equipment, what I meant was that not having modern day equipment around lead to an end result of hardier people.