View Full Version : Basic training/boot camp in and out weight
Went in the day after I turned 18 in 1983. I was a skinny kid at the time, 6'1" and 165lbs. Drank some beer and generally had fun the summer I graduated high school, did a little weight lifting too, and then left for the Army in September. Ft Benning School for Boys.
MEPS weight was the aforementioned 165. At some point several weeks into our cycle we were weighed again and I had dropped 5lbs, down to 160. By the time we graduated I had gained it back plus an extra 5 to boot. Graduation weight was 170lbs. So I initially lost the "softness" of civilian life and gained back 10lbs of solid weight. Hell, 12 weeks of exercising daily and eating whatever they gave you paid off!
How about you guys? What was your into-service weight and what did you weigh after your basic/boot camp ordeal?
AF boot camp so only 6 weeks.
In at 200. Out @ 155. 30 years later back to 200. I was 190 for many years then have bumped 10 since retirement.
AF boot camp so only 6 weeks.
In at 200. Out @ 155. 30 years later back to 200. I was 190 for many years then have bumped 10 since retirement.
Damn, Zoomie basic made you lose 45lbs! Impressive!
You and I went in at a time when the military basic/boot camp experience is what got you into shape (if you weren't already some jock in high school). Nowadays they want you to be able to pass a PT test before you even leave! My buddy's son graduates from Parris Island this Friday and he had to do PT the whole time he was in delayed entry. I guess it's not a bad idea, but I am used to the old-fashioned paradigm.
Well, I was varsity football in HS. Part of my problem was at every meal you only had so much time and I was a slow eater. After the mandatory 3 glasses of water. I maybe had 180 seconds to eat. So I was really underfed.
I learned how to eat fast in boot camp too.
In Basic at Benning at 6 foot 1 and 205. 14 weeks later I was 188. I could run and do pushups but I had lost overall strength. Started lifting again a little and my walk around weight was 205-210 the rest of my enlistment. I got taped every PT test.
Eurodriver
12-05-16, 19:50
Parris Island broke me off. I was absolutely more fit going in than I was coming out. My IST had more pull-ups than my final PFT.
I don't think, in 13 weeks, I ever finished a meal. No sleep. No real workout routine - just crawling around the squad bay with scuz brushes.
Dist. Expert 26
12-05-16, 19:57
What Euro said
I went to PI doing 24 pullups, well over 120 crunches and running in the 21 minute range for the 3 mile. My final PFT was something like 16 pullups, barely 100 crunches and a 23 minute run.
I too never finished a meal and was hungry to the point where I thought about food more than anything else. I got so sick I couldn't talk, and spent countless hours pushing towels and scuzz brushes around (in between trips to the sand pit of course).
I think I lost like 15 pounds. When my family got there the day before graduation they tried to feed me the entire time. My grandma said I looked like I had been in a concentration camp.
In 1996 I went in after spending every summer clearing land, logging, working a small farm, and playing sports. I popped a hernia half way through Army basic. I told no one. It hurt my sit ups but I was able to push through the rest of PT. Went directly into AIT (fire support specialist)and still told no one. Got through that. Finally got really sick one week after I got to my first duty station. By then I had lost 12 lbs, but I really didn't have much to lose since I was 74 inches tall and 180 lbs going into basic. 168 was my final weight just before surgery. If that hadn't have happened I think I'd have actually gained weight though seeing as how I was a fast eater going in and I grabbed everything I could eat in the chow line and somehow managed to finish every meal just about.
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Parris Island broke me off. I was absolutely more fit going in than I was coming out. My IST had more pull-ups than my final PFT.
I don't think, in 13 weeks, I ever finished a meal. No sleep. No real workout routine - just crawling around the squad bay with scuz brushes.
I was a Hollywood baby Marine. I swam and ran cross country in high school. Boot camp kind of broke me down physically in terms of pull ups and sit ups, not so much on the run. I was 6' and probably weighed 185 when I went in and 165-170 out of boot camp. They told us they would break us down and then build us up. I didn't see much up.
It was 1972. My DI's were VN vets who were pissed we weren't going, they pounded us into the ground. Looking back at all the PT and pit calls with no recovery, it is amazing we kept as many in my platoon as we did, muscle mass pretty much wasted away.
I have the impression that today's Marine's have it just as rough, maybe rougher, but less sadism and more scientific focus on the physical training aspect.
Parris Island
In: 155lbs
Out: 125lbs
None of my Civvies fit when I got back home. Haha Semper Fi.
Averageman
12-06-16, 06:09
We were OSUT, One Station Unit Training.
There was a vague line where basic ended and AIT, Advanced Individual Training began, but the smoke just kept coming never the less.
I might have been 170 when I went in and 145 when I graduated.
My pants were too loose and my shirt was too tight and my....were swing from left to right.
LowSpeed_HighDrag
12-06-16, 07:40
I was an offensive lineman before leaving for Marine Corps boot camp. Had to seriously cut weight to pass MEPS. Left at 212, immediately got tagged as a fat body and half rations. Combined with constant pneumonia, I finished at a very sickly 180. Honestly, I looked like I was had survived a gulag or concentration camp. I was much weaker coming out, but regained much of my strength through MCT and MOS school.
Great Lakes in the winter. I don't recall my weight, but I did lose about 10 pounds. Very slow running inside around a track, very little 'real' PT unless you were special warfare contracted.
I went in to Army basic in December of 85. Went in at 135lbs and left at 142lbs. I was a PT hound though. I made sure to eat all I could and my drills allowed me to use their weight room across from my room. I worked out at least 3 times a week in addition to everything else we did.
Went in the day after I turned 18 in 1983. I was a skinny kid at the time, 6'1" and 165lbs. Drank some beer and generally had fun the summer I graduated high school, did a little weight lifting too, and then left for the Army in September. Ft Benning School for Boys.
MEPS weight was the aforementioned 165. At some point several weeks into our cycle we were weighed again and I had dropped 5lbs, down to 160. By the time we graduated I had gained it back plus an extra 5 to boot. Graduation weight was 170lbs. So I initially lost the "softness" of civilian life and gained back 10lbs of solid weight. Hell, 12 weeks of exercising daily and eating whatever they gave you paid off!
How about you guys? What was your into-service weight and what did you weigh after your basic/boot camp ordeal?
Damn, I thought I was skinny at 6'2" 179 in and 172 out. 18 years old, 2001.
I actually got weaker in Basic Training/Infantry OSUT from lack of food. On my final APFT I only did 46 pushups where as I did 66 on the first one.
When I got to Ft Bragg I got to a solid 195 in no time.
Wow, the lack of food=weight loss comments from some of you guys! Granted, it's not like you got all you wanted to eat and you had to eat FAST but I cleaned my tray every time in the messhall and generally ate all of my C-Rats when out at a training area (we switched to MRE's about 5 months after I got to my permanent duty station). While it sucked, Infantry OSUT was a "healthy" lifestyle doing PT every day and cleaning my plate like a good little boy! For some reason I also recall doing shit-tons of pushups on my own the whole time, not counting all the ones we did in PT and while getting smoked.
I honestly didn't get a full meal until the last week of boot. I got in on the very first MRE's. They really sucked. I recall at the obstacle course I got a freeze dried hamburger patty. You took a bite and it tasted like dirt. Add water and it tasted like mud. With the freeze dried fruit cocktail too! So yummy...not!
Wow, the lack of food=weight loss comments from some of you guys! Granted, it's not like you got all you wanted to eat and you had to eat FAST but I cleaned my tray every time in the messhall and generally ate all of my C-Rats when out at a training area (we switched to MRE's about 5 months after I got to my permanent duty station). While it sucked, Infantry OSUT was a "healthy" lifestyle doing PT every day and cleaning my plate like a good little boy! For some reason I also recall doing shit-tons of pushups on my own the whole time, not counting all the ones we did in PT and while getting smoked.
I've always eaten so fast that it alarms people so I was well-suited to eating in that kind of environment. I definitely missed no meals. They would always send the small guys, like under 130 through twice or give them the extras to put weight on them but us taller guys that were deemed "good" probably could have used more calories to build muscle. I felt pretty weak (but could run like the wind) at the end of it but was able to start eating much better right away afterwards in Airbone holdover and then Airborne School.
dwhitehorne
12-06-16, 10:27
Paris Island September 87. I only remember only loosing 8 or 10 pounds. The one thing that surprised me was how weak I felt. I remember going to the gym with some buddies after boot camp and had a hard time lifting with them. David
Straight Shooter
12-06-16, 10:31
Parris Island broke me off. I was absolutely more fit going in than I was coming out. My IST had more pull-ups than my final PFT.
I don't think, in 13 weeks, I ever finished a meal. No sleep. No real workout routine - just crawling around the squad bay with scuz brushes.
SCUZ BRUSHES! HA-damn I hadn't thought of those in decades! Thanks for that Euro.
Went to P.I. in Sept83 about 210 or so...just an old hay hauling farm boy...came out at 165lbs. Daddy didn't know who the hell I was when I walked up on him. My real, best fitness came two years later in the Corps. I stayed real good for several years until I started driving OTR.
PHSSSH...there THAT went.
Reported to Ft. Benning in Feb 1995 @ 144lbs and graduated 13 weeks later at 160lbs (I'm 5' 11"), tack on 21 plus years and now I'm at 235 on a good day
Parris Island broke me off. I was absolutely more fit going in than I was coming out. My IST had more pull-ups than my final PFT.
I don't think, in 13 weeks, I ever finished a meal. No sleep. No real workout routine - just crawling around the squad bay with scuz brushes.
I do not remember my weight going in to PI. I was 168 on the way out the door at 6" The only meal I did not eat there was Liver. Damn it I tried but I could not gag it down. I was a Fat Body and ate at the end of the line on the "diet tray" I shit like a rabbit the whole time I was there. My run and sit ups improved but my pull ups were lower than when I went in. I lost fat but muscle too. We always had 7 hours or so of lights out. I slept pretty well except for the cold. I was so damn tired. My dad was a Marine in Korea and the day before graduation took a tour of our barracks. He said it was lame we had AC. I looked at him and said dad it's so dam cold we don't sleep well. I wore my sweatshirt to bed every night, still froze. I do remember I had a 21 min run and got my 80 sit ups. We were not doing crunches at the time. I hated the Scuz Brush too!
I went to Benning in '01, don't believe I gained or lost any weight, but I was also on double rations out in the field and whenever I got stuck with KP duty I would volunteer for pots and pans so I could eat all the excess food off the line before washing the tins. I was always between 150 and 158 from tenth grade to when I moved to Cali, 12 years later, was super poor so I dropped down to 140 and was super weak when I met my wife. She and her mom got me eating good and I started hitting the gym regularly and almost two years later of being at the gym, I'm up to 177 and am the strongest in my life. Got another 4ish years to go until I retire.
I slept pretty well except for the cold....
When I went to Great Lakes in the winter, we had to sleep in out skivvies only. The heat was overwhelming....it was so damn hot you could smoke turkeys. We would get so overheated during PT in our barracks, especially when we were being quarterdecked, they would make us run downstairs and outside to cool off, where it was about 0, and run back up.
I was at Benning from June to September for Basic. Was hot and humid as hell. It would regularly be foggy in the morning because of the humidity. Coming from Az I had never experienced this level of humidity and quickly came down with pneumonia. I almost got kicked out because they thought I had asthma at first.
Il take my 118 with 10 percent humidity over 95 with 80 percent humidity any day of the week.
I was at Benning from June to September for Basic. Was hot and humid as hell. It would regularly be foggy in the morning because of the humidity. Coming from Az I had never experienced this level of humidity and quickly came down with pneumonia. I almost got kicked out because they thought I had asthma at first.
Il take my 118 with 10 percent humidity over 95 with 80 percent humidity any day of the week.
I did Navy officer school at Pensacola, August-Sept. Hotter than hell, and more humid. You could count on the afternoon thunderstorm about 3 pm to make everything even more humid.
Il take my 118 with 10 percent humidity over 95 with 80 percent humidity any day of the week.
Works the other way also. I grew up in Kansas and Nebraska. Below zero in Lincoln was not unusual. When I got to Camp Lejeune it was 30 degrees. Coldest I'd ever been in my life up to that point. I thought my bones were going to break in that moist cold.
Dist. Expert 26
12-06-16, 16:09
Works the other way also. I grew up in Kansas and Nebraska. Below zero in Lincoln was not unusual. When I got to Camp Lejeune it was 30 degrees. Coldest I'd ever been in my life up to that point. I thought my bones were going to break in that moist cold.
For real.
I thought I was going to freeze to death at SOI a few times. After that I got smart and bought legit winter gear.
Of course that didn't help when you have a BC who can count his IQ on his fingers. Battalion run at 0630 in March? No problem. Said run wearing only shorts and a t shirt? Somewhat miserable. Standing outside for an hour before the run, huddling like penguins for warmth? Priceless.
I went to basic at Fort Knox the early Summer of 1978. I was lanky and tall, and I was underweight by about 3 lbs. I bulked up on Joe Weider body building powdered stuff you mixed with milk. I went to the AFEES (Armed Forced Entrance Examination Station) and I was about a pound and a half over the minimum. I kept the weight up during basic, but I was offered jump school right after and did my 3 weeks at Fort Benning in August 1978. It was damn hot. Lost several pounds there. Started my Freshman year at the U of A Tucson and built it back up, including some weight training.
Works the other way also. I grew up in Kansas and Nebraska. Below zero in Lincoln was not unusual. When I got to Camp Lejeune it was 30 degrees. Coldest I'd ever been in my life up to that point. I thought my bones were going to break in that moist cold.
If it is actually raining or there is mist about, I agree. Other than that I've never felt cold without precipitation in any southern state I've lived in or gone to the field in---North Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana, or Texas.
If it is actually raining or there is mist about, I agree. Other than that I've never felt cold without precipitation in any southern state I've lived in or gone to the field in---North Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana, or Texas.
I was at the MCES at Courthouse Bay perhaps the proximity to the Atlantic. And I agree, I've run around Benning, Bragg, and Campbell summer and winter, they weren't that cold. It impressed my young ass. The next time I was that cold was 7 or 8 years later during a night jump from a UH1 at Fort McCoy during winter training.
Georgia has the most bipolar manic depressive weather. It can be ball shrivelling cold then unforgiveably hot and then muggy and icky all in the same day. Literally. 0300 bitterly cold. 1530 swimming weather. Never get used to it. Never.
I can be hot. I can be cold. I can be pissed on. But all three is just....ugh.
Yet I stay here. Why?
I was at the MCES at Courthouse Bay perhaps the proximity to the Atlantic. And I agree, I've run around Benning, Bragg, and Campbell summer and winter, they weren't that cold. It impressed my young ass. The next time I was that cold was 7 or 8 years later during a night jump from a UH1 at Fort McCoy during winter training.
I seemed to always do ground training in hot, humid places at the worst time of the year. When I was assigned to Fort Campbell in 1983, I was talked into Air Assault School. I really had no interest, but being a new, young 1LT in the Regiment, I had to save face. Those 10 days were hell and fun. Almost boloed my first day. Enjoyed fast roping out of a UH60, didn't care much for sling loads or the 12 mile ruck "march". Did it in July 1983. More fun in Honduras and Nicaragua the following two years. Too hot and humid there as well. Keep in mind I grew up in dry and cool northeastern New Mexico.
MCRD San Diego in 92. At 6'2" I went in a strapping 155 lbs and left at 155lbs. At retirement in 2012, it was a stretch to get down to 214, which was my max weight.
I seemed to always do ground training in hot, humid places at the worst time of the year. When I was assigned to Fort Campbell in 1983, I was talked into Air Assault School. I really had no interest, but being a new, young 1LT in the Regiment, I had to save face. Those 10 days were hell and fun. Almost boloed my first day. Enjoyed fast roping out of a UH60, didn't care much for sling loads or the 12 mile ruck "march". Did it in July 1983. More fun in Honduras and Nicaragua the following two years. Too hot and humid there as well. Keep in mind I grew up in dry and cool northeastern New Mexico.
I'm a special snowflake, I did the rappel master course without the benefit of the air assault course. Cadre was pissed. They were pretty chickenshit about the whole deal, it was the first time since MCES that I had to shave off my moustache. What really chapped their asses was myself and a Chemical Corps Captain being the only two to pass the course that cycle. I don't know if that was the norm or they just got a little carried away boloing folks. The final thing they did was STABO me and the Captain out to a lake, dunk us and then fly us around awhile. It was a hoot compared to the jumpmaster course which almost had me shitting blood.
I spent a couple years in northwest (ish) Nevada, west of NAS Fallon. I loved the weather.
I stayed between 145 and 155 until my second Iraq deployment, came back at 210 after 15 months of gym time and rucking, and extra trays from the DFAC. 9 years later with a mostly sedentary job and lifestyle, 185.
I'm a special snowflake, I did the rappel master course without the benefit of the air assault course. Cadre was pissed. They were pretty chickenshit about the whole deal, it was the first time since MCES that I had to shave off my moustache. What really chapped their asses was myself and a Chemical Corps Captain being the only two to pass the course that cycle. I don't know if that was the norm or they just got a little carried away boloing folks. The final thing they did was STABO me and the Captain out to a lake, dunk us and then fly us around awhile. It was a hoot compared to the jumpmaster course which almost had me shitting blood.
I spent a couple years in northwest (ish) Nevada, west of NAS Fallon. I loved the weather.
Fast roping and rappelling out of a helicopter was enjoyable. On the last day of the Air Assault Course, I did the 12 mile ruck march in 2 hours 43 minutes. I had bleeding blisters on both feet. The whole time I had those black shirts right behind me.
They need to change the way weight and fitness standards are graded, but of course basic is its own unique animal and once that is done, soldiers/Marines can actually focus on being in good shape. I graduated Parris Island in 2000. I am not a large guy to begin with. I was maybe 140 pounds going in, I couldn't have been more than 115-120 coming out. I was a "double rat" and that wasn't enough to maintain, granted most of that food wasn't eaten anyway.
Not sure how standards are now, but I remember guys who were studs, who could get high PFT scores, but because of their musculature were technically "overweight".
Went to Benning this Summer at around 135 pounds- I am really light, but also short- and left at 150 pounds. I was in great shape before going, then got into worse shape while there.
I ate a lot more while at basic, but the besides doing push up's for hours, the PT and everything was not very challenging for me. What hurt me the most was sit-ups, couldn't do them. I would max my run, almost max push-up's, then just suck at sit-ups.
ramairthree
12-09-16, 00:04
I am not quite 6 feet tall and showed up to harmony church at fort benning from the Canadian border into a July drought and heat spell. It was miserable. I did see some Alaskan national guard guys that were chubby natives that looked even more miserable so I was good to go.
I went in weighing 165, and came out weighing 165.
I was actually healthier going in. I got good exercise and good rest and are healthier.
There was more catabolic with more intake of crappy calories so no weight change overall.
A year after I fattened up to 175 when I got my date for ranger school, and came out of that at 140. In horrible shape, even more catabolic.
Eurodriver
12-09-16, 06:47
Funny hearing you guys talk about cold.
Grew up in FL. Went to MCRD PI in the summer. Stationed in Hawaii.
The first time I ever saw ice just growing in the wild was in Iraq of all places. 17* froze the mild drip from our water bull into a huge icicle I promptly broke off and used as a sword. I have a pic somewhere...
**** the cold. I've still never seen snow. Don't want to neither.
Funny hearing you guys talk about cold.
Grew up in FL. Went to MCRD PI in the summer. Stationed in Hawaii.
The first time I ever saw ice just growing in the wild was in Iraq of all places. 17* froze the mild drip from our water bull into a huge icicle I promptly broke off and used as a sword. I have a pic somewhere...
**** the cold. I've still never seen snow. Don't want to neither.
How did you miss the fun and games at Bridgeport?? That place was COLD!
Dist. Expert 26
12-09-16, 09:02
How did you miss the fun and games at Bridgeport?? That place was COLD!
Bridgeport is, from my understanding, primarily on the pre deployment list for Afghanistan.
Bridgeport is, from my understanding, primarily on the pre deployment list for Afghanistan.
I have been out for a bit, but if that's the case, that changed.
Best man at my wedding was a Paris Island Marine. Went in between our FR and SO year of college at 6'2" and a pudgy 230 and came out at a hard as a coffin nail at 185. Drunk frat boy made the mistake of picking a fight about 3 weeks after he came back. Didn't end so well for the frat boy....
Funny hearing you guys talk about cold.
Grew up in FL. Went to MCRD PI in the summer. Stationed in Hawaii.
The first time I ever saw ice just growing in the wild was in Iraq of all places. 17* froze the mild drip from our water bull into a huge icicle I promptly broke off and used as a sword. I have a pic somewhere...
**** the cold. I've still never seen snow. Don't want to neither.
You haven't lived. A long time ago I went to Bondurant's School at Infineon when it was Golden State International Raceway. The skid pan was a hoot, all these Cali kids who didn't know how to slide and me, the old snowblower. In my day one of the first thing a teenage boy did when it snowed was find someplace to go crazy in a car.
You also have not lived until you've spent the night in a snow cave and skied in bib shorts and a t-shirt.
LowSpeed_HighDrag
12-09-16, 22:13
How did you miss the fun and games at Bridgeport?? That place was COLD!
I did summer Bridgeport. Hot as hell.
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