Can Someone That Used To Be/is In The Military Please Help Me?

[ACDCrockr209]

I'm wondering if some of people that have been in the military can please explain to me the exercises they had to go through during their training to become a soldier.



I plan on rewriting my entire Helljumper story from scratch. I'm still keeping some of the original characters.



I already got a small Idea of what the traininng is from the Live action ODST film, but I want something that has been tried firsthand.



I would need everything from running miles, to live fire training, ect.





If you could help out, it would greatly appreciated!



-Pony

 

[KevlarSpartan]

It's probably no help, but i could give the whole lowdown of Australian Defence Force Training. I study military history and tactics quite extensively, but again, i know only of (or at least 80% my knowledge is) the Australian side of things.

 

[Upchuk]

Hey, former active duty United States Marine here. I was active from May '02 to May '06. Our training has changed a bit since i went in, then got out. If you want a complete badass way of training, watch Stanley Kubrick's "Full Metal Jacket". Thats how training was(in the 60's). Since then Mothers of America have pretty much made training into a cake run. If you have the mental ability, the physical stuff isnt much. For Physical Training we had the ususal running, calastenics, obsacle courses, ect. For most runs we started around 3 miles(which was the PFT{Physical Fitness Test} standard). After a while the runs grew to 4, then 5, soon we were doing 8 mile runs near the end of our training time. For marksmanship training we spent the better part of a week at the range. Then entire time your are at the Recruit Depot you are taught rifle handling skills(from the second they issue it to you). So by the time we get to the firing range we know dont point the weapon at anything you do not intend to shoot, do not put your finger on the trigger until you inted to shoot. Never take the weapon off safe until you intend to shoot. For the first part of the week at the range they have barrels with tiny target painted on them that we aim at and dry fire at. We do this to make sure we know how to use the sight apertures on our weapons. Also we were taken to the ISMT(Indoor Simulated Marksmanship Training) which was like a huge video game to teach you how to shoot. you have a M-16 "light gun" and a projection screen in front of you with troops running around you have to shoot at. Well, thats the basics of some of our training in the USMC. If you wanna call and get more info on some of our training, feel free to call me and ill answer any questions you have. (910)581-4030. There is a bunch of stuff i havent put here, because i dont wanna type a novel on the forum.



-Ryan "Upchuk" Presson

Cpl UMSC

"Once a Marine, Always a Marine."

 

[Xtreme TACTICS 101]

To get a basic idea of what soldiers go through, films are normally the right thing to watch. More often then not, they portray most parts of basic training fairly well. A few examples you should watch for a basic idea of excersises would be:



-Tigerland (1960's based-Vietnam era)

-Full Metal Jacket (1960's based-Vietnam era)

-Band of Brothers-Part 1-Currahee (1940's based-Second World War era)

-Band of Brothers-Ron Livingston's Diary (training actors went through-good military exercise and combat footage)



You may also want to look on youtube for some military training exercises. You would be surprised what you may find. There are also a few internet published diaries of modern day soldiers training. I know there is one that has helped me a lot:



Canadian Forces-Training-What to expect



If you need any more help, I would be glad to help you out. I have a few military member relatives, so if you have questions, they will have answers. Remember I am also writing a book like yours.



Good luck!

 

[ACDCrockr209]

Thank you so much guys!



I'm already get some notes down Upchuk Thank you!



Xtreme I'll make sure to loook into those movies. I've been wanting to rent BoB for a while now and I think I might do it sooner!



I want to make the ODSTs go through hell when they are trained and you guys have helped me do that.



I'll post more question here if I have any



-Pony

 

[Xtreme TACTICS 101]

You will probably ant to learn a bunch of other things. Such as the UNSC's rank system, Their militaries structure (for example- Fire team->Squad-> Combat Team->Platoon and so on...). A list of how many men per each element, and how many elements are in each larger element can be found here:



UNSC Military structure system



You will also want to learn hand signels, tactics used by the soldiers (For example- Double pincer movement is a double flanking movement-Link to how to execute...), and slang used by the soldiers (For example- Oscar Mike means "On the Move").



You should learn everything there is to know. I have been reading up on everything I can get my hands on, from field manuals to real-world rifles. I know how to fully field strip the C7A2 Carbine. You should know how to theoretically field strip a MA37 Assault Rifle, or a BR55HB SR Battle Rifle. You can't just write a great novel without the proper research.

 

[Cadet]

I would imagine that ODST training to be near the same level as Navy Seals, and an excellent inside look into their training is given in the book Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell, who lost his entire Seal team in 2005 while facing facing Taliban fighters during Operation Red Wing.



The one guy at Bungie did say that he envisioned the ODSTS at the UNSC's version of the current Marine Force Recon, or British SAS, so you could also look into their training.



Also, the short story "Dirt" in the Halo:Evolutions anthology does give a peak into the training of the ODSTs as well.

 

[Upchuk]

Tactics is right. start researching modern weapon strip down procedures. That way you can get a good idea of what it might be like to strip a fictional weapon. The USMC rank structure goes as follows



ENLISTED



PVT - Private

PFC - Private First Class

Lcpl - Lance Corporal

CPL - Corporal

SGT - Sergeant

SSGT - Staff Sergeant

GYSGT - Gunnery Sergeant

MstSGT - Master Sergeant

1STSGT - 1st Serageant

MSTGYSGT - Master Gunnery Sergeant

SGTMAJ - Sergeant Major

SGTMAJ of the USMC - SGT Major of the Marine corps (highest Elisted rank in the Corps)



Master sergeants and 1st sergeants are in the same pay grade, but have different responsibilities

Master sergeant- in charge of a section in a unit. (I.E. an engineering MSTSGT will be in charge of the engineer shop in a unit)

1stSGT - Is more of an administrator for a unit, takes care of personnel issues.



Mst Gysgts and SGTMAJs are the same, but one rank up and usually a higher level of command(I.E. MSTSGTs and 1stSGTS would be battalion lvl. MSTGYSGTs and SGTMAJ would be Headquarters.



OFFICER



2ND LT - Second Lieutenant

1ST LT - First Lieutenant

CAPT - Captain

MAJ - Majaor

LT COL - Lieutenant Colonel

COL - Colonel

BRIG GEN - Brigadier General(1 star)

MAJ GEN - Major General(2 star)

LT GEN - Lieutenant General(3 star)

GEN - General (4 star, Commandant of the Marine Corps)



WARRANT



WO - WARRANT OFFICER(2 RED squares on a gold bar)

CWO2 - Chief WARRANT OFFICER 2(3 RED squares on a gold bar)

CWO3 - Chief WARRANT OFFIVER 3(2 RED squared on a silver bar)

CWO4 - Cheif WARRANT OFFICER 4(3 RED squares on a silver bar)

CWO5 - Cheif WARRANT OFFIVER 5(1 RED line on a sivler bar running vertically) in the infantry CWO5s are referred to as GUNNERs and are experts on almost ALL weapons systems

 

[Upchuk]

I would imagine that ODST training to be near the same level as Navy Seals, and an excellent inside look into their training is given in the book Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell, who lost his entire Seal team in 2005 while facing facing Taliban fighters during Operation Red Wing.



The one guy at Bungie did say that he envisioned the ODSTS at the UNSC's version of the current Marine Force Recon, or British SAS, so you could also look into their training.



Also, the short story "Dirt" in the Halo:Evolutions anthology does give a peak into the training of the ODSTs as well.

According to the HALO encyclopedia. the ODSTs are an elite section of the UNSC Marines. so using force recon training might be a good start.

 

[sirnaut]

Lots and lots of running and pushups and pull ups

 

[ACDCrockr209]

MA37 Assault Rifle

Is there really such a rifle?

You should learn everything there is to know. I have been reading up on everything I can get my hands on, from field manuals to real-world rifles. I know how to fully field strip the C7A2 Carbine. You should know how to theoretically field strip a MA37 Assault Rifle, or a BR55HB SR Battle Rifle.

I guess I would need to look up different stripped fire arms to get a general idea.

Tactics is right. start researching modern weapon strip down procedures. That way you can get a good idea of what it might be like to strip a fictional weapon. The USMC rank structure goes as follows



ENLISTED



PVT - Private

PFC - Private First Class

Lcpl - Lance Corporal

CPL - Corporal

SGT - Sergeant

SSGT - Staff Sergeant

GYSGT - Gunnery Sergeant

MstSGT - Master Sergeant

1STSGT - 1st Serageant

MSTGYSGT - Master Gunnery Sergeant

SGTMAJ - Sergeant Major

SGTMAJ of the USMC - SGT Major of the Marine corps (highest Elisted rank in the Corps)



Master sergeants and 1st sergeants are in the same pay grade, but have different responsibilities

Master sergeant- in charge of a section in a unit. (I.E. an engineering MSTSGT will be in charge of the engineer shop in a unit)

1stSGT - Is more of an administrator for a unit, takes care of personnel issues.



Mst Gysgts and SGTMAJs are the same, but one rank up and usually a higher level of command(I.E. MSTSGTs and 1stSGTS would be battalion lvl. MSTGYSGTs and SGTMAJ would be Headquarters.



OFFICER



2ND LT - Second Lieutenant

1ST LT - First Lieutenant

CAPT - Captain

MAJ - Majaor

LT COL - Lieutenant Colonel

COL - Colonel

BRIG GEN - Brigadier General(1 star)

MAJ GEN - Major General(2 star)

LT GEN - Lieutenant General(3 star)

GEN - General (4 star, Commandant of the Marine Corps)



WARRANT



WO - WARRANT OFFICER(2 RED squares on a gold bar)

CWO2 - Chief WARRANT OFFICER 2(3 RED squares on a gold bar)

CWO3 - Chief WARRANT OFFIVER 3(2 RED squared on a silver bar)

CWO4 - Cheif WARRANT OFFICER 4(3 RED squares on a silver bar)

CWO5 - Cheif WARRANT OFFIVER 5(1 RED line on a sivler bar running vertically) in the infantry CWO5s are referred to as GUNNERs and are experts on almost ALL weapons systems.

Thank you for this. This will help alot.



========================================



I have another question for you guys if you don't mind.



*What rank do you have to be in order to be a medic?



Again guys, thank you.





-Pony

 

[Upchuk]

The USMC doesnt have its own intigral medic corps. All of our "medics"(we call them corpsmen) are provided by the Navy. they can be almost any naval rank. From Seamen recruits, to Cheif Petty Officers. Most Officer Corpsmen are actual doctors with medical degrees, or are working on thier degrees.

 

[Xtreme TACTICS 101]

Is there really such a rifle?







I guess I would need to look up different stripped fire arms to get a general idea.







Thank you for this. This will help alot.



========================================



I have another question for you guys if you don't mind.



*What rank do you have to be in order to be a medic?



Again guys, thank you.





-Pony

The MA37 is the Assault Rifle from Halo Reach.



I have about 1000 hours of solid research on the UNSC rank system, modern and future (halo) weapon systems, modern military and future (Halo) military tactics, training exercises, and a mountain of other things researched and drilled into my head. Writing a believeable combat sceen in a book, weather it be a training drop followed by a simulated battle, or a full out combat drop should not be taken lightly. You have to make the soldiers feel like they could die at any second. In order to do this, the best research is personal experiance. I'm not saying join the military, I'm saying go paintballing a few times. Get some field action so you know the feeling, and you can portray it as such.



As for the training, do plenty of forced runs, push-ups, pull-ups and so on to make you see what they go through. Crawl through mud, run through forests, every waking moment of your field research will give you a better feeling of what they do.



Also make sure your weapons are time accurate. Be sure to incorperate different culters between the solders. Not everybody is from Earth in the Halo universe. I could go on about this stuff for hours, but to save my fingers, I'll leave it there for now.

 

[Nintendude]

You are getting a lot of information via the Marines or as we in the Army call them, Jarheads. My son asked me to talk to you. From an Army stand point, I can give you information from first person but then, I can also ask others in my family who were also in the Army, like my brother who was a First Sargeant, then there is my nephew, and right now, my son whow is in the Army Reserve.

Back in the late 80's, I was in Basic Training, my company had two platoons of men and one of women. We trained together and was expected to do the same activities. Men were required to do more pushups and women were required to do more situps. It's something to do with how we are built. We did mostly exercises, especially puchups and situps, then there was also cherry pickers, mountain climbers, and many more excersises on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays in an area that was designated the "Pit of Doom" and running on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Always before sunrise. Don't forget to have cadence when you have people running. That way everyone keeps in step.

Marching, marching, marching almost everywhere, using cadence there too. If it was too far away, thre were the "cattle cars". So many people packed in that there was just about no possibility of anyone falling when it went around a corner. cause there was no room for anyone to sit, everyone was standing up.

There were six companies in each Training Battalion, Alpha, Brovo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot Companies. I was in what was called a One Station Unit Training (osut). That meant I was in the one company for both Basic and Advance Individual Training (AIT). AIT is where you are trained for your specific job in the Army.

I've went on and on too much. If you need more info, you can also call me (501)977-0393. Ask for Edwina. If I can't help you, I can put you in touch with my son who was in Basic year before last.

 

[jareyes]

While we're on the topic of proper military procedure, can anyone tell me if there is a "proper" way of doing a salute? I sometimes hear nitpickers and others saying how the salute isn't at the right angle and such; anyone care to clarify?

 

[Upchuk]

While we're on the topic of proper military procedure, can anyone tell me if there is a "proper" way of doing a salute? I sometimes hear nitpickers and others saying how the salute isn't at the right angle and such; anyone care to clarify?

The way I was taught(and always did it), is that your arm will be parralell to the deck, your hand flat with the thumb along the outside of the hand(not in the palm) and your middle finger touching the tip of your eyebrow(or brim of your cover, if wearing one), with your hand tilted just enough to see the inside of your palm out of the corner of your eye.

 

[BlindRascal]

Not all movies are that good at portraying basic training. I haven't been in it, but I've been told what to expect, and if I or anyone else can find the "map" of the 13 weeks in the USMC that would help the OP. Theres a lot of school, and when you get in, theres a lot of boringness. I'll message you back on Wednesday and get the name of it and see if I can google image it, if not take a picture of it. Uhh, lets see, I hardly remember the map (as I haven't gone in yet, I'm just going by what it says and what people have told me) You get in, its really boring and you do paperwork. Then blah blah do stuff. Uniform fitting blah blah, pugil sticks, obstacle courses, swim week, rifle week, hiking lots of miles, physical training of course a lot, inspections. I'm lazy currently and will try and get a better response next time. If you were just looking for a physical portion of it, then others have explained well.



And upchuk, I'm taking it you went to MCRD in San Diego?

 

[jareyes]

The way I was taught(and always did it), is that your arm will be parralell to the deck, your hand flat with the thumb along the outside of the hand(not in the palm) and your middle finger touching the tip of your eyebrow(or brim of your cover, if wearing one), with your hand tilted just enough to see the inside of your palm out of the corner of your eye.

I can't tell you how thankful I am to finally be told how it's supposed to be done properly. Thanks man! Guess your the resident military expert here now haha.

 

[Upchuk]

Not all movies are that good at portraying basic training. I haven't been in it, but I've been told what to expect, and if I or anyone else can find the "map" of the 13 weeks in the USMC that would help the OP. Theres a lot of school, and when you get in, theres a lot of boringness. I'll message you back on Wednesday and get the name of it and see if I can google image it, if not take a picture of it. Uhh, lets see, I hardly remember the map (as I haven't gone in yet, I'm just going by what it says and what people have told me) You get in, its really boring and you do paperwork. Then blah blah do stuff. Uniform fitting blah blah, pugil sticks, obstacle courses, swim week, rifle week, hiking lots of miles, physical training of course a lot, inspections. I'm lazy currently and will try and get a better response next time. If you were just looking for a physical portion of it, then others have explained well.



And upchuk, I'm taking it you went to MCRD in San Diego?

HELL NO! MCRD Parris Island, Beaufort SC. What made you think I was a "Hollywood Marine"?

 

[colinmon22]

Discovery Channel has a show called "Two weeks in Hell" that follows a class of Green Beret hopefuls as they go through their entrance assessment. I'm not sure how much DC distorted the actual experience to turn it into entertainment, but it might be useful to you.