

Tips for Successfully Completing Boot Camp - Anon84
http://www.artofmanliness.com/2013/03/20/7-tips-for-successfully-completing-boot-camp-or-any-intense-training-experience-courtesy-of-wwii-marines/

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run4yourlives
_note: this comment may be offensive to people that find swearing and/or the
army offensive. By proceeding you agree not to get your knickers in a knot_

Having personally been through boot camp, and situations after that that made
boot camp look like a day at the beach, let me provide some "amendments" to
this nonsense.

First, some perspective: Nothing you can do in civilian life is applicable to
the "challenges" of combat, and therefore the experience of boot camp that is
designed to prepare you combat. I'll make an exception for people fighting
terminal diseases themselves, or helping their young child fight. Aside from
that, recognized that your current challenge is not really compatible.

That said, here is what you can truly learn from military training:

1\. It can always, always, get worse. _Way worse_ Appreciate the benefits of
where you are at all times, and dwell on that, not on how shitty your
situation is.

2\. Follow fucking instructions. If you do not understand the instructions,
ask for them to be clarified. Repeat until you do understand, regardless of
how uncomfortable this is. Do not do something you don't properly understand.
(Note: if you do this a lot, either you or your boss probably sucks at their
job. Odds are it is you. Find a new job.)

3\. Make sure your buddy is okay, even before you are okay. If everyone spends
more time looking out for their buddies than they do looking out for
themselves, everyone is actually stronger than any individual can be. You are
as strong as the weakest member of the team.

4\. Your mind will want to quit way before your body needs to. Ignore it.

5\. That guy with all those stripes on his arm? He's been doing this shit
forever. He's not perfect, but he knows a ton more than you do. Odds are he
can help you if you listen to him, and ask him questions.

6\. Smile. Bootcamp is often motherfucking funny, and no matter how bad it is,
nobody is trying to actually kill you.

~~~
hiddenfeatures
Pretty awesome post and right to the point. Couldn't agree more to points 2 -
4. Regarding 5: Stripes == NCOs - right? Sorry, I'm in a different army

I would personally add: 1b) No matter how bad the situation, chances are that
you and your comrades will crack jokes about it within 3 months. (Probably
doesn't always apply, but certainly in regards to bootcamp/exercise)

~~~
pc86
Depends what he means by stripes. In the Marine Corps (the only branch I have
experience with) enlisted will get a diagonal stripe (hash mark) on their
forearm for ever 4 years of service. I believe that's what he's referring to.

I think Army is one for every 3 years of service.

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rodly
I enjoyed the anecdotes, but the life lessons are mostly generic trash. Every
story in the article ended up with a life lesson that was merely a solution to
the error in the story.

example :

5\. Don’t be a “grab-ass.”

Story - guy hits another in line with his helmet (grab-ass), the DI saw this
and made them continuously hit each other and it was a funny sight for the
rest of the men.

"Life Lesson" - Life lesson for today: Discern when to use humor on the job.
Even if you’re just standing in line, apply yourself to the task and maintain
your focus.

Resolution : If you can get away with being humorous, do it. If you get
caught, you didn't discern the right time to use humor on the job, and thus
were being an unfocused grab-ass.

\---

I'd say a better life lesson here is to take responsibility for your actions
and never act without understanding potential consequences. The soldier that
originally started the helmet hitting should have taken the heat solely for
starting the ordeal.

~~~
vinceguidry
> The soldier that originally started the helmet hitting should have taken the
> heat solely for starting the ordeal.

Not how it works. In battle, one man's screwup can get the whole team killed.
So it's up to the whole team to stop that one man from screwing up. Everybody
works as a unit.

Another thing about the military that people don't understand is just how wide
of backgrounds that recruits and conscripts come from. There's smart people in
the military, and there's very very dumb ones. The military can't turn dumb
soldiers into smart ones, but they can make procedures so simple that even the
dumb ones can follow it. This combined with the first dynamic explains why the
military seems as crappy and backwards in its training as it is.

~~~
hmottestad
My primary school teacher told me to not call stupid people dumb. Since dumb
means to not speak, and has only become a description of stupid people because
of its use.

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hmottestad
I read through the beginning of the article and came to this:

"Life lesson for today: Approach your training with humility, a willingness to
follow directives, and an immediate respect for your leaders. One day when
you’re in charge, you can do things your way. Until then, do things their
way."

I didn't really like that life lesson. Since I'm only 24 I might be too young
to appreciate this lesson. However, I feel that following directions from
anyone should always be followed carefully. Remembering three things:

1\. The person who is giving you directions probably has a lot of experience
and knows what he/she is talking about.

2\. It's still just a person. A fallible one. And limited by their own
knowledge and skill.

3\. Failing is actually a good thing. And you will appreciate and understand
your teachers point of view if you fail in the manner she/he is trying to
avoid.

EDIT: Finished reading the article and mostly didn't like it. Most of the
article is about not thinking for yourself and just doing what everyone else
is doing/saying/telling you until you are 60 and can make everyone do what you
want. All this might be a great approach to achieving a high rank in the
military or in a rigid corporation. However it seems really dull and boring,
and I strive to fight this kind of attitude since it will solve none of the
bigger problems in society.

~~~
hiddenfeatures
Just remember one thing: war is a totally different environment from your
everyday company (Yes, even different from YC-backed startups ;-).

There's a reason, why it is useful to have disciplined soldiers - it saves
lives on the battlefield.

That's not to say, that you want drones. It just helps the group (not each
individual soldier) if - at times - everyone just does what he/she is told to
do.

~~~
derefr
> That's not to say, that you want drones.

Sure we do--remote-operated variety, please. ;)

~~~
CamperBob2
Absolutely.

Increasingly, wars are won by geeks who think independently and subvert
conventional authority. That was almost as true in WWII as it is today,
arguably all the way back to ancient Greece.

If you find yourself in a situation where (as run4yourlives put it) you're the
guy who has to man a machine gun to cover your company's retreat, you are
indeed a victim: not of the enemy's actions, but of your own leadership's
incompetence -- or worse, treason. You have made a monstrous mistake, one that
you will have had many opportunities to avoid.

It's interesting to read this article back-to-back with this one:
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21768668>

War is a racket. Avoid wars, if possible. If you can't avoid them, don't be
cannon fodder, and resist anyone's attempt to treat you that way. This policy
scales remarkably well.

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ajmarsh
Well I think the overall point of the article is how to overcome a difficult
obstacle that you can't avoid or go around. I think my service in the Marines
did anything but turn me into a mindless drone.

Working for a start up can be hard, and there will be some difficult tasks
that just have to be handled. Something like Marine boot camp helps you put
the tough problems into perspective.

...and yes there is nothing more pointless than arguing with a drill
instructor.

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nraynaud
I would title that: "how to kill innovation and become a drone"

~~~
run4yourlives
Actually, if you knew anything about western armies, you'd understand that the
last thing they produce is drones.

~~~
nraynaud
I'm happy not to participate in that stuff, I hope to leave a better
contribution to humanity than a better way of killing more people.

~~~
run4yourlives
Cool, that's your right.

Congratulations on winning the birthplace lottery, btw.

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js2
Non-swipe: [http://www.artofmanliness.com/2013/03/20/7-tips-for-
successf...](http://www.artofmanliness.com/2013/03/20/7-tips-for-successfully-
completing-boot-camp-or-any-intense-training-experience-courtesy-of-wwii-
marines/?onswipe_redirect=never)

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fyi80
This website name is sexist, and therefore it is offensive to share on a
technology forum.

~~~
jdechko
I'm assuming you haven't read many other articles on that website, but it's
definitely not sexist.

The site could just as well be called "Hey guys! Here's how not to be an
asshole and perpetuate the typical male stereotype." But that's a really long
URL to type.

<http://www.artofmanliness.com/about-2/>

~~~
chatmasta
Guys... he's being sarcastic.

