Marine recruiters offer taste of boot camp
Every Wednesday afternoon, the U.S. Marine Corps DuPage North recruiting office introduces local students and graduates to what it takes to join the few and the proud.
Known as pool functions, area recruiters act as drill sergeants while young men and women who are enlisted or interested in the Marines get a taste for boot camp training at the Bensenville office tucked away at the corner of York Road and Grand Avenue.
“We do training, general orders, rank structure,” Sgt. Andrew McGady of Glendale Heights said.
“The workout is running, stretching, pull-ups, the whole nine yards.”
McGady said anyone interested is welcome, but the functions might not be for everybody.
“The high school seniors that play three sports do a lot more than the guys who just play video games,” he said. “If you don’t like it, it’s not for you then.”
McGady said “the faster group” of experienced recruits begin with at least a two-mile run before circuit courses.
“The slower group are usually the guests, but they get used to it and push themselves,” he said.
Vince Figueroa, 18, of Villa Park is a senior at Willowbrook High School who will deploy to boot camp Nov. 1.
Figueroa said he enlisted because his uncle praised the merits of a military career, but found his experience in shotputting and gymnastics does not make boot camp training any easier.
“They work you really hard,” Figueroa said. “… You’re sore the next day, and yet they make you work harder (the next week).”
John McGrath, a 20-year-old Elmhurst resident, said he comes to the boot camp training session every Wednesday to prepare himself for the future.
“Every time I come, I come here to learn something new,” McGrath said. “When we get there, we’ll know what to do.”
York High School senior Andrew Sullivan has been attending the weekly training sessions since the beginning of December.
“It builds character, and is overall a great experience,” Sullivan said.
Seventeen-year-old John Datzman of Villa Park, also a Willowbrook senior, comes from a family rich with military service and said he’s wanted to join the Marines his whole life. still, the pool functions he’s attended since May can wear him out.
“They’re pretty intense. It’s a good workout to say the least; it gives you a taste of what boot camp might be like,” he said. “I played football for two years, and none of the sprints prepared me for going to pool function.”
McGady said recruits are allowed to bring guests, and there are no commitments by attending.
That might be a good thing.
“If you were to buy a brand new car, would you buy the first car you saw? Probably not,” McGady said. “You want to check out your options. … That’s why they do it if they like it; if they don’t, they don’t.”
Marine recruiters offer taste of boot camp