# Basic Reconnaissance Course



## ritterk (Mar 30, 2013)

I just graduated BRC, if anyone has questions about the course, preparation, tips, etc. feel free to ask.


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## 25&5 (Mar 31, 2013)

Did you have tears of joy at the end of the death hike, or was it residual CS in your sweat?

Congrats, Brother.


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## ritterk (Mar 31, 2013)

I was way to exhausted to have tears of joy.  The death hike was no joke, by far the worst part of the course.


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## Teufel (Mar 31, 2013)

Congratulations!  I thought the worst part of the course was listening to other students talk about high school and boot camp all day long.


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## ritterk (Mar 31, 2013)

The stories about mart, sac, and other classes students were in was extremely annoying.


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## Teufel (Apr 1, 2013)

Teufel said:


> Congratulations! I thought the worst part of the course was listening to other students talk about high school and boot camp all day long.


 
My favorite question at BRC was, "Sir, how many chicks did you bang/touchdowns did you score/varsity sports did you play in high school?"


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## ritterk (Apr 1, 2013)

The kids going through MART are pretty much retarded.  I could go on for quite some time pertaining to all of the stupid questions they had.  For some reason MART guys were extremely keen on asking the instructors their stupid questions as well.


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## devilbones (Apr 2, 2013)

Congratulations.


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## ritterk (Apr 2, 2013)

devilbones said:


> Congratulations.


Thank you


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## MOTOMETO (Apr 2, 2013)

ritterk said:


> The kids going through MART are pretty much retarded. I could go on for quite some time pertaining to all of the stupid questions they had. For some reason MART guys were extremely keen on asking the instructors their stupid questions as well.


 
A lot of pfc's in your class?


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## ritterk (Apr 2, 2013)

MOTOMETO said:


> A lot of pfc's in your class?


 Pretty much everyone who came from MART were PFC's with a few LCpl's.


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## MOTOMETO (Apr 2, 2013)

Jeez, I thought BRC would be populated with NCO's. Do any guys go straight to Force out of BRC?


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## Teufel (Apr 3, 2013)

MOTOMETO said:


> Jeez, I thought BRC would be populated with NCO's. Do any guys go straight to Force out of BRC?


 
Not normally unless they are from the fleet.  My understanding is that most lat movers don't go to MART.


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## DA SWO (Apr 3, 2013)

I think you should post the questions so we can enjoy the rest of the week.


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## hunter33 (Apr 3, 2013)

Congratulations, must have felt pretty accomplished when you finished.


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## TheSiatonist (Apr 3, 2013)

Congratulations!



SOWT said:


> I think you should post the questions so we can enjoy the rest of the week.


Hear, hear...


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## Teufel (Apr 3, 2013)

SOWT said:


> I think you should post the questions so we can enjoy the rest of the week.


 
My dive buddy at Marine Combatant Dive was straight out of the pipeline and was 19 years old.  One morning I heard him humming the Marines hymn (at zero dark thirty) in formation as we walked to class for a day of thrashing and drowning.  He was so motivated and full of energy at 0400 that he was humming his service song.  I told him he was not allowed to march next to me anymore and banished him to the end of the gaggle.

We had a reservist Major in my class who renamed his dive team something funny so my PFC buddy wanted to change our name from "team 5" to "team velociraptor".  Yet another veto from the senior dive buddy.


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## 0699 (Apr 3, 2013)

Teufel said:


> *My dive buddy at Marine Combatant Dive* was straight out of the pipeline and was 19 years old. One morning I heard him humming the Marines hymn (at zero dark thirty) in formation as we walked to class for a day of thrashing and drowning. He was so motivated and full of energy at 0400 that he was humming his service song. I told him he was not allowed to march next to me anymore and banished him to the end of the gaggle.
> 
> We had a reservist Major in my class who renamed his dive team something funny so my PFC buddy wanted to change our name from "team 5" to "team velociraptor". Yet another veto from the senior dive buddy.


 
Did he make it?


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## Teufel (Apr 3, 2013)

He did actually.  He was a really solid Marine.  His excessive motivation annoyed me but that's what you want from a young stud.  He did so well the class leader made him the "senior PFC" and he had to herd all the PFC cats and dogs for the class.


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## 0699 (Apr 4, 2013)

Teufel said:


> He did actually. He was a really solid Marine. His excessive motivation annoyed me but that's what you want from a young stud. He did so well the class leader made him the "senior PFC" and he had to herd all the PFC cats and dogs for the class.


 
Those young guys that just can't be repressed have always been fun to have around. The ones where no matter how bad shit gets, they've always got a smile on their face and a smart comment to pass around.

Glad he made it.

Senior PFC.


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## JohnnyBoyUSMC (Apr 5, 2013)

Semper Fi brotha! Congrats!


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## Fucci26 (Apr 7, 2013)

Congratulations. Did you have a lot of guys there that came from SOI who volunteered?


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## Uncle Petey (Apr 8, 2013)

Back in my day.....sounds awesome. I'm glad the course is still a fucking Man-Course....I saw the documentary and I knew a lot of the guys.


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## ritterk (Apr 8, 2013)

It was a mix of both





Fucci26 said:


> Congratulations. Did you have a lot of guys there that came from SOI who volunteered?[/quoteThere were a lot of guys from soi in the course, but I'm not sure how many of the volunteered.


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## Fucci26 (Apr 8, 2013)

Thanks for the response, man. I'm really hoping I get to try out at SOI.


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## Blackevo110 (Apr 15, 2013)

Actually, I'm training right now for BRC. Anything specific you might suggest besides running and swimming? I've focused on SEALfit and Crossfit endurance, basically taking the sensible parts of them for combining. (like today was :30 on/:30 off in the pool until form fails and SEALfit is 4 miles timed, and a 30minute AMRAP burpees/squat jumps/dips)


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## Marine0311 (Apr 15, 2013)

No G2ing the course or posting information that could be viewed as OPSEC.


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## Blackevo110 (Apr 15, 2013)

Rog.


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## ritterk (Apr 16, 2013)

Google Marine Recon 0321, there's a site ran by the 1stSgt, of BRC, that will have all of the knots and other pertinent information you'll need.


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## Short Round (Apr 16, 2013)

Congrats on the accomplishment!
I'd also like to say in ITB's defense that we do our best to talk the pretty obvious DOR's out of MART before they leave us... although many of them end up dropped anyway. Do you know if recruiters are still telling kids about the DOR to just be an 11 route? I know they were having serious problems with that for a while. If a recruiter didnt have any infantry slots available for his district he would "suggest" that the kid take a contract for recon, DOR asap and then he'd just get kicked back to the fleet as a rifleman.


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## Fucci26 (Apr 16, 2013)

My recruiter told me that Recon contracts are given to one recruiting station a year. Also that, the one individual he gave that contract too, got a DUI and screwed his whole life up. -_-


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## FIJI750 (Apr 16, 2013)

MOTOMETO said:


> Jeez, I thought BRC would be populated with NCO's. Do any guys go straight to Force out of BRC?


 
On the reserve side they can go straight to Force not sure about active though.


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## x SF med (Apr 17, 2013)

Congrats, keep your shit screwed down tight... any qualifying course is just the entrance exam to the real learning.


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## ritterk (Apr 20, 2013)

FIJI750 said:


> On the reserve side they can go straight to Force not sure about active though.


On active duty, they can go straight to Force but that is dependent upon the needs of the unit they are going to.


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## ritterk (Apr 20, 2013)

x SF med said:


> Congrats, keep your shit screwed down tight... any qualifying course is just the entrance exam to the real learning.


Thank you.  I'm trying to attend any school possible to better myself.  I've spent the last two weeks learning how to keep my feet and knees together.


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## Teufel (Apr 21, 2013)

ritterk said:


> On active duty, they can go straight to Force but that is dependent upon the needs of the unit they are going to.


 
There is no screening for a reserve force reconnaissance company.  There is really no difference between a reserve force recon company and a reserve recon battalion company.


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## HeavyRuck (Feb 5, 2014)

i am currently Motor T looking to go Recon. but i am picking up Sgt this year. Not sure if lat moving to Recon and going through SOI then to BRC would be a good idea. but if i pick up sgt then when i get off this MSG duty i will not be eligible for MARSOC (original plan) because of being a Sgt 2yrs TIG. Any insight on if this is a good idea or not?


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## SkrewzLoose (Feb 5, 2014)

I am not in any SOF unit, so I can't speak to your question, but you might want to clean up your grammar a bit.  Attention to detail is just as much of an asset as physical tenacity.


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## HeavyRuck (Feb 5, 2014)

I have no clue if you are conversing with me SkrewzLoose but yes, let me break down what I said Barney style so the obvious can be expressed into greater and easier detail. 

My primary MOS is 3531 Motor Transport Operator. I am looking to lateral move (switch career paths in the US Military) into Recon or MARSOC. I plan to pick up Sergeant later this year. Lateral Moving to an Infantry MOS and going to the School of Infantry as a Sergeant seems like a bad idea. Has anyone on this forum experienced this issue before or knows of Marines who have Lateral Moved into Recon from other MOS's as an NCO.

So if this was beligerant, but I did not realize that we correct one another on a forum. Save that for when you are Garrison or whatever you do.


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## HeavyRuck (Feb 5, 2014)

**Sorry if this was beligerant....


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## HeavyRuck (Feb 5, 2014)

***Shit I cannot spell today, belligerent****


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## CDG (Feb 5, 2014)

HeavyRuck said:


> I have no clue if you are conversing with me SkrewzLoose but yes, let me break down what I said Barney style so the obvious can be expressed into greater and easier detail.....
> 
> So if this was beligerant, but I did not realize that we correct one another on a forum. Save that for when you are Garrison or whatever you do.


 
You're a supposed professional addressing a forum comprised of professionals.  Attention to detail is applicable both now, and with anything else in the military.  Advise you thicken your skin before attempting a Selection course of any type.


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## x SF med (Feb 5, 2014)

HeavyRuck said:


> I have no clue if you are conversing with me SkrewzLoose but yes, let me break down what I said Barney style so the obvious can be expressed into greater and easier detail.
> 
> My primary MOS is 3531 Motor Transport Operator. I am looking to lateral move (switch career paths in the US Military) into Recon or MARSOC. I plan to pick up Sergeant later this year. Lateral Moving to an Infantry MOS and going to the School of Infantry as a Sergeant seems like a bad idea. Has anyone on this forum experienced this issue before or knows of Marines who have Lateral Moved into Recon from other MOS's as an NCO.
> 
> So if this was beligerant, but I did not realize that we correct one another on a forum. Save that for when you are Garrison or whatever you do.



HeavyRuck - since you had an issue with SL making a valid and constructive point about the atrocious use of the English language in your post, not to mention the abhorrent use of capitalization and punctuation in the same post, let me state for the record that SL has been here a while longer than you. And, although he is not in an SOF unit, he has been accepted as a member of this board after dancing a tarantella all over his crank with sharpened track shoes at the outset of his time here. 

We do correct each other here in matters of language, attention to detail and situational awareness.  You have 6 whole posts and the audacity to make an ad hominem attack on another verified military member of this board (who just happens to have north of 3k posts) who was bringing your egregious lack of writing ability to the fore so that you would not end up taking the penis to Arthur Murray for dancing lessons under a pair of golf shoes yourself.  Yes, you were absolutely belligerent, rude and wholly lacking in situational awareness and tact.  Huge fail Marine.  Check your attitude, know your surroundings and communicate like you are talking to your Commander in threads of a military nature where you are asking a question or making a point.  Act like an NCO and a professional, got it?  Good.

End of NCOPD for the day.  Next issue with manners and attitude gets relayed to Teufel and the other Marines here, you really do not want that, they take the reputation of the Corps and it's NCO's/Officers very seriously.

Do not respond to this, just correct yourself like a good NCO.


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## ritterk (Feb 6, 2014)

I lat moved from utilities to infantry as a Sgt. SOI is what it is, and if you want Recon bad enough then it is totally worth the hassle; only you know the answer to that.  Life is better in Recon, but you definitely pay for it. You've got nothing to loose by lat moving, and if you don't lat move I can guarantee you that you will regret it.


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## HeavyRuck (Feb 6, 2014)

Thank you, ritterk! That really helped and you are right, I should decide myself. Do you have any idea if there has been an updated requirement list for this fiscal year? What really helped you with the lat move? To whom shall I speak to since I am on MSG duty and I really do not have a CRS?


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## Teufel (Feb 6, 2014)

HeavyRuck said:


> Thank you, ritterk! That really helped and you are right, I should decide myself. Do you have any idea if there has been an updated requirement list for this fiscal year? What really helped you with the lat move? To whom shall I speak to since I am on MSG duty and I really do not have a CRS?



http://www.marinerecon0321.com/Brc.html

http://www.tecom.marines.mil/soiwes...gBattalion/ReconnaissanceTrainingCompany.aspx

These sites are both run by the school house and both are current.


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## walra107 (Feb 6, 2014)

Heavy Ruck, In my own experience with MART/BRC  (and it was a very small class to begin with) NCO's that came from all over the Corps had a hell of a time adjusting to the fact that they didn't rate anymore, getting treated like the rest of us junior marines, and it played with a lot of them(not all but some), also some weren't prepared for the rigors, coming from the fleet it seemed some guys didn't push themselves in their off time as much as they should've ...WITH THAT I will say some of the best guys on my teams in BRC were NCO's, so I guess you have to want to be there bad enough whether you're an NCO, Officer, or Boot-ass Bitch like myself. In the end, BRC (and I'm personifying a bit) doesn't give a shit about your rank, it WILL test you in one form or another. However I do give you one suggestion for success, don't let your head get too big the opinion and the view of  your peers plays a big effect on your ability to make it through BRC. In addition, Facebook (if you use it) the Reconnaissance Training Company is pretty frequent in updates and is a good resource if you have any questions.


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## HeavyRuck (Feb 6, 2014)

walra107 Thanks for the update. When did you go through BRC? I've heard that "lat movers" do not go through MART before BRC. Have you heard anything like that?


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## walra107 (Feb 6, 2014)

I graduated in december class 1-14, We had NCO lat movers that went to MART, by choice. I had no choice, on the other hand lol. But yes Lat Movers do not HAVE to go to MART.


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## HeavyRuck (Feb 6, 2014)

Is it recommended that I go to MART? How should I train while I am currently on the MSG program?


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## HeavyRuck (Feb 6, 2014)

And not just train, what subjects should I be proficient in before going to BRC?


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## x SF med (Feb 7, 2014)

HeavyRuck said:


> And not just train, what subjects should I be proficient in before going to BRC?



Attention to detail ... Teufel added this link http://www.marinerecon0321.com/Brc.html to his response, it lets you know what the course entails...  use your smarts, do a little digging, and figure it out....  you need to be creative, self reliant, and intelligent.  Do not expect every answer to be handed to you, adapt and overcome.

The other link provided has the course overview and packing list...  if they mention a subject, at least be familiar with what it entails - but I'm sure the firehose will be open wide in the course, be prepared to drink deeply, or drown.

I will reiterate a previous statement - Act like a Professional NCO, individual leadership and motivation  have to come first.  On the battlefield nobody will give you answers.


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## walra107 (Feb 7, 2014)

I wont add onto anything more to this, x SF med's correct with self reliance, and intelligence, and he's a badass so nothing more needs to be said lol.


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## HeavyRuck (Feb 7, 2014)

x SF med said:


> Attention to detail ... Teufel added this link http://www.marinerecon0321.com/Brc.html to his response, it lets you know what the course entails...  use your smarts, do a little digging, and figure it out....  you need to be creative, self reliant, and intelligent.  Do not expect every answer to be handed to you, adapt and overcome.
> 
> The other link provided has the course overview and packing list...  if they mention a subject, at least be familiar with what it entails - but I'm sure the firehose will be open wide in the course, be prepared to drink deeply, or drown.
> 
> I will reiterate a previous statement - Act like a Professional NCO, individual leadership and motivation  have to come first.  On the battlefield nobody will give you answers.


I appreciate it xSF med, walra107, and Teufel. I checked those sites out and found great information, thanks again for the help.


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## x SF med (Feb 7, 2014)

walra107 said:


> I wont add onto anything more to this, x SF med's correct with self reliance, and intelligence, and he's a badass so nothing more needs to be said lol.



I have to correct you... I'm just a plain old ass.

ETA... all of you who agreed or liked this....  You are on the list... yes.... THE List.


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## Teufel (Feb 9, 2014)

HeavyRuck said:


> And not just train, what subjects should I be proficient in before going to BRC?



Realizing it is my choice and my choice alone
to be a Reconnaissance Marine,
I accept all challenges involved with this profession.
Forever shall I strive to maintain the tremendous reputation
of those who went before me.

Exceeding beyond the limitations
set down by others shall be my goal.
Sacrificing personal comforts and dedicating myself
to the completion of the reconnaissance mission shall be my life.
Physical fitness, mental attitude, and high ethics --

The title of Recon Marine is my honor.

Conquering all obstacles, both large and small,
I shall never quit.
To quit, to surrender, to give up is to fail.
To be a Recon Marine is to surpass failure;
To overcome, to adapt and to do whatever it takes
to complete the mission.

On the battlefield, as in all areas of life,
I shall stand tall above the competition.
Through professional pride, integrity, and teamwork,
I shall be the example
for all Marines to emulate.

Never shall I forget the principles
I accepted to become a Recon Marine.
Honor, Perseverance, Spirit and Heart.

A Recon Marine can speak without saying a word
and achieve what others can only imagine.

I posted some links with lots of information.  If you can't do some research on your own then you are not the guy we are looking for.  Hey no harm no foul.  Do some reading and if you find something specific in there that you are still not clear on feel free to ask.  I went to BRC seven or eight years ago but I feel like I can answer most of your questions as most of the E7s and up at BRC and SOTG are going to my kid's birthday party next weekend.


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## x SF med (Feb 9, 2014)

@Teufel - I wish there was a way to like that last post eleventybazillion times.


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