Chris323
Unverified
Hello!
My name's Chris and I'm a poolee in the USMC. I turned 21 last month and have wanted to join the military for quite a while; in fact, I realized that I wanted to serve while in my Junior year of college and took leave from the school to figure things out. I've since decided to enlist, have sworn in to USMC DEP, and will be PT'ing my rear off until October 7th.
I grew up on a farm and learned a lot about long days of work. A bunch of relatives passed on before I was five, so I got used to that at a young age. I did really well through middle school but picked up a bit of attitude and insecurity and ended up dropping out of high school after sophomore year in early 2008. I realized very quickly how bad dead-end labor is and got right into community college, where I did pretty well, studying philosophy (ever so useful!) and foreign languages. I hold an AA from that school and did a semester at a decent uni on the East Coast (where I realized I didn't want to fulfill my OSO's dream, but my own.) Beyond school and part-time work, I've not accomplished a whole lot "professionally."
Physically, I was reasonably athletic before high school. I ballooned up to 250lbs (at 6') thanks to video gaming and IB work and eventually got really sick of those things. I am currently 185-190lbs and am much more fit in the important areas for a Marine... 12-15 pullups, 75 crunches, ~11m IST run. I'm very happy to be even that far along as I wasn't running consistently until March (and can now run 3-4 miles without rest, though the pace is more 9:30 per mile than the 7:00 or less I'd like it to be) and never did a pullup until last Fall. I got into weight lifting *very seriously* while in college, and while this wasn't detrimental, it was a rather the wrong path to pursue for military-readiness and fitness. While I couldn't run at faster than a 9:00 mile pace at the time, I was squatting unhealthily high weights for ridiculously low reps and so on, a tendency I've since corrected. Regardless, I have gathered fitness materials from Marine resources, the STREND idea from Ed Bugarin, a whole lot of running literature, and generally feel like I will progress so long as I apply myself consistently. I am finally at the point of recognition that the path to progress isn't more books or a new workout, but more effort and renewed vigor on a daily basis; at least that's the paraphrased message I would intuit from this community and those like it. If you have more to add or corrections to make, please do not hold back, as I value the opportunity to learn.
I decided to enlist rather than pursue a career as an officer because I wanted to begin my career in the military sooner rather than later. I also wanted *more* say, though not necessarily absolute control, over my career choices, not to mention the opportunity to serve as a true technical professional, rather than split my resources between a technical discipline and highly demanding leadership roles; I view it that an NCO gets enough of the latter, and as of this writing don't see the need for more! As it stands, I have a 267x contract and have alternate jobs of 02xx/26xx and Meteorological/Oceanographic Intel Analyst. I chose these because, despite my high physical aims, I've excelled more in academic areas in the last half of my life than in any other area. I am happy with all three MOSes, though there is one other option I've yet to discuss with my recruiter. It's something I aim to discuss with members of this community someday, but I feel that I need to prove myself, both regarding PT and mental toughness, before even entertaining the idea.
Effectively, I've joined this board as I highly respect the SOF community, have a few inklings of questions regarding fitness, and will perhaps, in time, pursue some advice pertaining to career paths and MOSes. What I will not do is bombard each and every page of this community with questions asked and answered hundreds of times and take away the valuable resources that you all provide from those who can better use them. Thank you for your provision of this community and I look forward to your input.
Respectful regards,
Chris
My name's Chris and I'm a poolee in the USMC. I turned 21 last month and have wanted to join the military for quite a while; in fact, I realized that I wanted to serve while in my Junior year of college and took leave from the school to figure things out. I've since decided to enlist, have sworn in to USMC DEP, and will be PT'ing my rear off until October 7th.
I grew up on a farm and learned a lot about long days of work. A bunch of relatives passed on before I was five, so I got used to that at a young age. I did really well through middle school but picked up a bit of attitude and insecurity and ended up dropping out of high school after sophomore year in early 2008. I realized very quickly how bad dead-end labor is and got right into community college, where I did pretty well, studying philosophy (ever so useful!) and foreign languages. I hold an AA from that school and did a semester at a decent uni on the East Coast (where I realized I didn't want to fulfill my OSO's dream, but my own.) Beyond school and part-time work, I've not accomplished a whole lot "professionally."
Physically, I was reasonably athletic before high school. I ballooned up to 250lbs (at 6') thanks to video gaming and IB work and eventually got really sick of those things. I am currently 185-190lbs and am much more fit in the important areas for a Marine... 12-15 pullups, 75 crunches, ~11m IST run. I'm very happy to be even that far along as I wasn't running consistently until March (and can now run 3-4 miles without rest, though the pace is more 9:30 per mile than the 7:00 or less I'd like it to be) and never did a pullup until last Fall. I got into weight lifting *very seriously* while in college, and while this wasn't detrimental, it was a rather the wrong path to pursue for military-readiness and fitness. While I couldn't run at faster than a 9:00 mile pace at the time, I was squatting unhealthily high weights for ridiculously low reps and so on, a tendency I've since corrected. Regardless, I have gathered fitness materials from Marine resources, the STREND idea from Ed Bugarin, a whole lot of running literature, and generally feel like I will progress so long as I apply myself consistently. I am finally at the point of recognition that the path to progress isn't more books or a new workout, but more effort and renewed vigor on a daily basis; at least that's the paraphrased message I would intuit from this community and those like it. If you have more to add or corrections to make, please do not hold back, as I value the opportunity to learn.
I decided to enlist rather than pursue a career as an officer because I wanted to begin my career in the military sooner rather than later. I also wanted *more* say, though not necessarily absolute control, over my career choices, not to mention the opportunity to serve as a true technical professional, rather than split my resources between a technical discipline and highly demanding leadership roles; I view it that an NCO gets enough of the latter, and as of this writing don't see the need for more! As it stands, I have a 267x contract and have alternate jobs of 02xx/26xx and Meteorological/Oceanographic Intel Analyst. I chose these because, despite my high physical aims, I've excelled more in academic areas in the last half of my life than in any other area. I am happy with all three MOSes, though there is one other option I've yet to discuss with my recruiter. It's something I aim to discuss with members of this community someday, but I feel that I need to prove myself, both regarding PT and mental toughness, before even entertaining the idea.
Effectively, I've joined this board as I highly respect the SOF community, have a few inklings of questions regarding fitness, and will perhaps, in time, pursue some advice pertaining to career paths and MOSes. What I will not do is bombard each and every page of this community with questions asked and answered hundreds of times and take away the valuable resources that you all provide from those who can better use them. Thank you for your provision of this community and I look forward to your input.
Respectful regards,
Chris
