USMC Boot Camp Day 1 - Waking Up in Marine Corps Boot Camp

Everything is perfectly planned out and on a strict routine in Marine Corps Boot Camp, especially morning and evening routines. This video focuses on “lights on” for a platoon of recruits. When you head the drill instructor counting backwards that is so they know how long they have left to get done with that specific task. These recruits are in Phase 3, so they get a lot more leeway than if they were fresh recruits.
The first thing they do is count off, to make sure everyone is accounted for.
When the DI says “Port side get in the head”, that side of the squad bay goes to the bathroom while the other side makes their racks. You can see that everything, including making their beds involves teamwork.
The USMC boot camp experience is very structured, from day 1 through The Crucible and Graduation. There have been some changes from Marine Corps boot camp in the 1960's or even the 1980's, but the overall mission is the same. To break down civilians and mold them into United States Marines.
Marine Corps Recruit Training is broken down into four basic Phases.
Phase 1 lasts approximately three weeks. Here, discipline will begin to be instilled in recruits by disorienting them and breaking them from old civilian habits and mindsets. Drill Instructors begin reinforcing the mental and physical standards needed to perform under stressful situations that could be experienced in combat.
The purpose of Phase One is to mentally and physically challenge the recruits. At this point, civilian habits are completely detrimental to training, so they are eliminated during this period through intense physical training, strict routines, discipline and intense instruction. The process is designed to enable recruits to learn to survive in combat situations and to adapt and overcome any unexpected situation. One of the principal ideals learned during this period is that recruits are not to think of themselves as individuals; they are not permitted to use first person pronoun, “I” instead, recruits refer to themselves as “This Recruit” and all tasks are designed with teamwork in mind and recruits are expected to conform to a standard that does not tolerate personal eccentricities. It is a fast paced, intense period in the transformation of civilian to Marine.
Close order drill is an important factor in recruit training, and begins from their first formation on the yellow footprints. In the first phase, recruits learn all of the basic commands and movements, memorizing the timing through the use of cadence that helps synchronize a recruit’s movements with the rest of his or her platoon.
During Phase 1, recruits lean that their civilian bodies aren’t good enough. Phase 1 training focuses on turning their civilian bodies into the bodies of Marines. This is done through a rigorous routine of endurance and resistance exercises. Running will build their cardiovascular endurance and events like the circuit course will build muscle strength and stamina to forge them into the best shape of their lives. They are going to need it for the trials they face ahead.