6 Days to Graduation!

Hey everyone!

So this is the last post I'm going to be doing before my brother graduates and is officially a Marine! We cannot wait to see him at family day then at his graduation! We are all so proud of him and his accomplishments so far.

So Jason said that everything is getting a little more hectic. They had their final drill and his platoon was pretty shocked because they got last place. They had to go first again which is a disadvantage because the drill masters eyes were fresh. Senior wasn't mad because he thought they looked great and deserved better than what they got. They now get to march like Marines which means they don't have to pick up their knees and get to walk a little more smoothly.

Now that they're so close to graduation, the squad is losing its military bearing since the DIs are getting a little more relaxed and its been bothering my brother. The other squad leaders and guides are acting like they're better than everyone and even acting like DIs and disciplining people and punishing them.

On the 23rd of July, they had a pre test day where the guys got tested on Marine Knowledge, navigation, weapons, and first aid. He said it was really easy but three people in his platoon failed. They were in the running to win the academic award but he's not sure now.

Jason says that his sergeant really cares about them because the night before the test he stayed up until 3 am quizzing people who needed help and was the only DI with them all day.

What is most exciting is that the guys got their orders today and Jason got seven days of recruiters assistance! He doesn't resport until August 27th and for those 7 days he works from 9-5 as a recruiter.

They are a part of a RTR group which is split into three Battalions. Each battalion has four companies. For 2nd battalion the have echo, Foxtrot, Golf, and Hotel. His battalion's nickname is Evil Echo and each company has six platoons. The Battalions have reputations too! 1st Battalion creates men (easy), 2nd Battalion makes Marines (semi-hard), and 3rd Battalion makes machines (hard). From the looks of it, these reputations are true because 3rd Battalion looks way more disciplined because they get ITed harder.

Appearance wise, obviously Jason is gonna look much more different than we are used to! He can grow out his hair a bit. A low regular cut is the lowest fade he is allowed. No sideburns, zero gradual up to a maximum of 3 inches on top. He still has to maintain his weight when he's out because his clothes are very slim fit and he still has to get weighed in.

They got to go to the Marine museum and got to hear from a Korean War Navy Cross recipient and his story was crazy! He's excited to bring us there on Family Day.

On Thursday they did their final PFT. He scored a first class score with 100 crunches, 12 pullups, and a 21:20 run time. His platoon got 2nd place!

Jason got to do a working party at the PX warehouse on Thursday and said it was super relaxing! He got a 30 minute lunch and stuffed his face so much he almost got sick, He got to monitor forming recruits packing bags and said it was really weird talking to recruits that are about to start training. While they were marching to the PX, his sergeant was moving their formation into other recruits way to see if they would move out of their way. He said that the DIs are starting to get pretty funny around them since they're so close to being done.

They got to do the rappel wall and in the morning they were only able to do a 20 ft test rope because it rained but later in the day the chief had them go back and got to rappel the big wall. He got to do the "hell hole" which is the free fall rappel without any wall to support and he said it was awesome!

That's pretty much all that he's been doing the last few days and the next time he writes us he'll be writing as a Marine!!!! I cannot believe he's already almost done! Time has flown by so fast and he might be writing his own post on here soon! Thanks to everyone for your continued support for him. We all appreciate it!