Military Discharge & Police Recruitment

[phillyfed]

This guy is a lost cause. Nobody said one was harder then the other. We said you have a big mouth and a lot of opinions you want people to take as gospel because of what you heard. Like Switchback said in so many words, that it would behoove you to shut your hole and listen to what experienced guys are telling you. That's why God gave you two eyes and ears but one mouth. So you can look and listen twice as much as you talk. I am also sorry to let you in on the fact that different types of training provide their own obstacles. If it makes you feel better, the DPS academy is much more intense then any other training in existence. That includes any SPEC Ops, any branch of service, or police agency. I can say that because I am about as qualified to make that statement as you are regarding DPS. BTW, I went to one academy with a guy from DPS as well as knowing many other guys from different state policing organizations. So if you have any other questions, they told me stories too. So I feel I am qualified to comment on their training/policies.

[O.C White]

My goodness let's not jump on the guy who is going to an academy, let's jump on the guy who woosed his way out of basic training period :D Just kidding.

Oh yeah I am not a supposed Marine D.I I would take a very close look at that avatar of mine. I was the real deal for 3 years at MCRD San Diego.

[bell4fan]

you didnt have a change of heart, you got the bootcamp blues, started feeling sorry for yourself and woosed out. Most police academies are at least as hard, and twice as long as Marine bootcamp. Hope you can handle it now.

Such a simple statement gets me so much grief. i would have hated to see what would have been said if I had told him to go for it because police academies are a joke that anyone can make it through.

[eddie_gunz]

You are going to run into a lot of senior guys telling you how to do your job. Take it with a grain of salt. Do what you are taught to do by the instructors, and your agency policy. Get some thick skin.

[mcsap]

And when you are done with the academy , you will be back under the authority of the senior officers...like us. So get used to doing things they way you are told to.

[Switchback]

You are going to run into a lot of senior guys telling you how to do your job. Take it with a grain of salt. Do what you are taught to do by the instructors, and your agency policy. Get some thick skin.

Wow! Such words of wisdom from someone with such a well established foundation to make such comments. (Note, that was sarcasm, just in case it eluded you.)

FWIW, some of us are instructors AND senior guys on the street. :D

[cita]

[QUOTE=O.C White;913242]My goodness let's not jump on the guy who is going to an academy, let's jump on the guy who woosed his way out of basic training period :D Just kidding.

LMBO!!!! I was thinking the same thing! :p

This is a rather interesting post..but not going to jump into the which basic is harder than the other thing lol I personally went through Army BootCamp, and did receive an honorable Discharge after 8 years of service. But believe me, I carry that DD-214 anytime I go to apply for work because every application ive seen asks if you have been in the military and if you answer yes...the next question is...Was it less than Honorable??? I think all bootcamps and academys of any kind are all physically and mentally draining....they break you down to a pulp, and then slowly bring you back up...question is...do you think you can handle this type of "Trauma" lol again? By the way...my dad says Jungle Warfare Training is the hardest! LMBO He is a Leo who has been through enough academies to make me cringe!;) He says Drill Sgt School ranks 2nd because that will make or break your career. I am a security officer who went through a tough application process to work where I work, and they told me from the get-go that if my military discharge was found to be anything less than honorable that I would not receive my Security License. I know from my fathers experience that they went and talked to bums on the street in the neighborhood he grew up in that knew him as a kid when he became a leo. People take the less than honorable thing very seriously...just depends on how serious the person who decides whether you will get that second chance is. Just my two cents:cool:

[PrasadNiraj]

I have an honorable discharge from the New Jersey National Guard which seems to pale in comparision to some of you guys who have been in the Marines, Special Ops, etc.

[cobravenom1]

I have an honorable discharge from the New Jersey National Guard which seems to pale in comparision to some of you guys who have been in the Marines, Special Ops, etc.

Yeah, you do, pale in comparison that is:p:D.

I remember looking at this thread when "Woos in Boots" first posted it. I was sooo disgusted with the reason that he could not make it through BASIC that I just passed. Then, just the thought of him possibly falling through the crack and becoming a LEO made me ill.:mad:

Now I am wishing he gives up all hope and goes back to his mommas apron strings.:D

[crow1984]

I've done 8 yrs in th military, and I've seen some of the stuff that was sent to MCRD, and while they did graduate, you think to yourself, man, if they can make it........

We lost four guys the first two weeks after T-1. One popped on his piss test and was discharged, one came down with a bad case of staff infection, and two got injured. We lost a couple more along the way because they failed PFTs.

About a month in, another guy and myself were getting smoked side by side on the quarterdeck. We've been there a while...I was drenched in sweat, beads rolling off my nose forming a small puddle on the floor, I was gasping for breath and wondering how much longer this could go on. The DI is screaming at the top of his lungs inches from my face, calling me a ***** and a sorry excuse for a recruit....

The guy next to me stops doing pushups, gets to his feet and says "I quit, sir." The DI screams at him to get back on his face and push. The guy says "No, sir. I quit." He takes him into the duty hut and the Senior DI has a little chat with him. About a minute later he's back on the quarterdeck pushing.

Then one night up north, we've played the "drop the tent stakes" game for....long enough...the same guy goes up to the same DI and informs him that he doesn't want to continue training, he's had enough, if he isn't sent home he's going to "hurt himself." Without skipping a beat, the DI takes off his campaign cover and pulls a straight razor blade out of it, extends it to the recruit and screams "DO IT, *****!!"

The recruit is obviously flabbergasted that the DI called his bluff...he wasn't expecting that. So the guy took his quarterdecking and the verbal abuse and fell back in.

That guy graduated. (on a side note: After basic, the next time I saw him was at MOS school as I was leaving my graduation ceremony. I asked him how he was. He said "Great! I'm getting out on medical discharge...my foot's messed up!")

My point is: It's not easy to fail Marine Corps Boot Camp. It's not easy to quit either. It's still a living hell. The DIs make it quite clear that the easiest and fastest way to "get out" of boot camp is to graduate from it; I remember when we were filing into the chow hall one day close to graduation, and our DI pointed out a guy who got dropped from our platoon early in the cycle. He got there the same time we did and he wasn't even close to leaving.

I start my Academy in 20 days. It's said to be one of the best in the state of TX. I'm expecting it to be difficult...I'm hoping for it to be difficult. But I've toured the facility and there's a few things missing: Big steel racks to move back and forth, foot lockers to carry, a big sand pit to get smoked in, a big tile floor to scrub...that's not all but trust me...the absence of these things alone eliminates the possiblity for ALOT of "games" we play in Marine Corps boot camp to get the stress levels up.

Furthermore, we won't be living at the academy, we'll leave every day. 9 hour days Mon-Fri. The simple freedom of that reality right there...makes even scratching the surface of the level of "suck" of Marine Corps bootcamp an impossibility. You can see your friends and family, you can wear civilian attire, you can RELAX and SIT DOWN and WATCH TV and drink something other than water from the wash rack... You can decide what you want to eat, when you want to go to the bathroom, what temperature your shower water is... You know you'll get a good shower each day, you won't be spending days in the field on a diet of MREs that you'll never finish because your DI won't give you enough time and you aren't allowed to eat the items with "civilian" wrappers on them.

Believe me...I could probably go on all night.

So...yes, I expect to be challenged at the Academy. I expect that it will be harder for some that it is others. Quiting (resignation) will be an option though, and we'll probably lose many who don't have the heart to push themselves. But I don't expect it to be Marine Corps boot camp.

My buddy at Ft. Worth PD did tell me that the OC spray and tear gas were 20 times worse than any Marine Corps gas chamber he ever walked into.

[Stub]

We lost four guys the first two weeks after T-1. One popped on his piss test and was discharged, one came down with a bad case of staff infection, and two got injured. We lost a couple more along the way because they failed PFTs.

About a month in, another guy and myself were getting smoked side by side on the quarterdeck. We've been there a while...I was drenched in sweat, beads rolling off my nose forming a small puddle on the floor, I was gasping for breath and wondering how much longer this could go on. The DI is screaming at the top of his lungs inches from my face, calling me a ***** and a sorry excuse for a recruit....

The guy next to me stops doing pushups, gets to his feet and says "I quit, sir." The DI screams at him to get back on his face and push. The guy says "No, sir. I quit." He takes him into the duty hut and the Senior DI has a little chat with him. About a minute later he's back on the quarterdeck pushing.

Then one night up north, we've played the "drop the tent stakes" game for....long enough...the same guy goes up to the same DI and informs him that he doesn't want to continue training, he's had enough, if he isn't sent home he's going to "hurt himself." Without skipping a beat, the DI takes off his campaign cover and pulls a straight razor blade out of it, extends it to the recruit and screams "DO IT, *****!!"

The recruit is obviously flabbergasted that the DI called his bluff...he wasn't expecting that. So the guy took his quarterdecking and the verbal abuse and fell back in.

That guy graduated. (on a side note: After basic, the next time I saw him was at MOS school as I was leaving my graduation ceremony. I asked him how he was. He said "Great! I'm getting out on medical discharge...my foot's messed up!")

My point is: It's not easy to fail Marine Corps Boot Camp. It's not easy to quit either. It's still a living hell. The DIs make it quite clear that the easiest and fastest way to "get out" of boot camp is to graduate from it; I remember when we were filing into the chow hall one day close to graduation, and our DI pointed out a guy who got dropped from our platoon early in the cycle. He got there the same time we did and he wasn't even close to leaving.

I start my Academy in 20 days. It's said to be one of the best in the state of TX. I'm expecting it to be difficult...I'm hoping for it to be difficult. But I've toured the facility and there's a few things missing: Big steel racks to move back and forth, foot lockers to carry, a big sand pit to get smoked in, a big tile floor to scrub...that's not all but trust me...the absence of these things alone eliminates the possiblity for ALOT of "games" we play in Marine Corps boot camp to get the stress levels up.

Furthermore, we won't be living at the academy, we'll leave every day. 9 hour days Mon-Fri. The simple freedom of that reality right there...makes even scratching the surface of the level of "suck" of Marine Corps bootcamp an impossibility. You can see your friends and family, you can wear civilian attire, you can RELAX and SIT DOWN and WATCH TV and drink something other than water from the wash rack... You can decide what you want to eat, when you want to go to the bathroom, what temperature your shower water is... You know you'll get a good shower each day, you won't be spending days in the field on a diet of MREs that you'll never finish because your DI won't give you enough time and you aren't allowed to eat the items with "civilian" wrappers on them.

Believe me...I could probably go on all night.

So...yes, I expect to be challenged at the Academy. I expect that it will be harder for some that it is others. Quiting (resignation) will be an option though, and we'll probably lose many who don't have the heart to push themselves. But I don't expect it to be Marine Corps boot camp.

My buddy at Ft. Worth PD did tell me that the OC spray and tear gas were 20 times worse than any Marine Corps gas chamber he ever walked into.

Excellent post, way to put things into perspective.

Congratulations on your selection to attend the police academy.

Personally, I would take OC or CS before I go for a ride on the X26 (Taser) again.

[MP_Steve]

We lost four guys the first two weeks after T-1. One popped on his piss test and was discharged, one came down with a bad case of staff infection, and two got injured. We lost a couple more along the way because they failed PFTs.

About a month in, another guy and myself were getting smoked side by side on the quarterdeck. We've been there a while...I was drenched in sweat, beads rolling off my nose forming a small puddle on the floor, I was gasping for breath and wondering how much longer this could go on. The DI is screaming at the top of his lungs inches from my face, calling me a ***** and a sorry excuse for a recruit....

The guy next to me stops doing pushups, gets to his feet and says "I quit, sir." The DI screams at him to get back on his face and push. The guy says "No, sir. I quit." He takes him into the duty hut and the Senior DI has a little chat with him. About a minute later he's back on the quarterdeck pushing.

Then one night up north, we've played the "drop the tent stakes" game for....long enough...the same guy goes up to the same DI and informs him that he doesn't want to continue training, he's had enough, if he isn't sent home he's going to "hurt himself." Without skipping a beat, the DI takes off his campaign cover and pulls a straight razor blade out of it, extends it to the recruit and screams "DO IT, *****!!"

The recruit is obviously flabbergasted that the DI called his bluff...he wasn't expecting that. So the guy took his quarterdecking and the verbal abuse and fell back in.

That guy graduated. (on a side note: After basic, the next time I saw him was at MOS school as I was leaving my graduation ceremony. I asked him how he was. He said "Great! I'm getting out on medical discharge...my foot's messed up!")

My point is: It's not easy to fail Marine Corps Boot Camp. It's not easy to quit either. It's still a living hell. The DIs make it quite clear that the easiest and fastest way to "get out" of boot camp is to graduate from it; I remember when we were filing into the chow hall one day close to graduation, and our DI pointed out a guy who got dropped from our platoon early in the cycle. He got there the same time we did and he wasn't even close to leaving.

I start my Academy in 20 days. It's said to be one of the best in the state of TX. I'm expecting it to be difficult...I'm hoping for it to be difficult. But I've toured the facility and there's a few things missing: Big steel racks to move back and forth, foot lockers to carry, a big sand pit to get smoked in, a big tile floor to scrub...that's not all but trust me...the absence of these things alone eliminates the possiblity for ALOT of "games" we play in Marine Corps boot camp to get the stress levels up.

Furthermore, we won't be living at the academy, we'll leave every day. 9 hour days Mon-Fri. The simple freedom of that reality right there...makes even scratching the surface of the level of "suck" of Marine Corps bootcamp an impossibility. You can see your friends and family, you can wear civilian attire, you can RELAX and SIT DOWN and WATCH TV and drink something other than water from the wash rack... You can decide what you want to eat, when you want to go to the bathroom, what temperature your shower water is... You know you'll get a good shower each day, you won't be spending days in the field on a diet of MREs that you'll never finish because your DI won't give you enough time and you aren't allowed to eat the items with "civilian" wrappers on them.

Believe me...I could probably go on all night.

So...yes, I expect to be challenged at the Academy. I expect that it will be harder for some that it is others. Quiting (resignation) will be an option though, and we'll probably lose many who don't have the heart to push themselves. But I don't expect it to be Marine Corps boot camp.

My buddy at Ft. Worth PD did tell me that the OC spray and tear gas were 20 times worse than any Marine Corps gas chamber he ever walked into.

Excellent post! +1

[cobravenom1]

I start my Academy in 20 days.

So...yes, I expect to be challenged at the Academy. I expect that it will be harder for some that it is others. Quiting (resignation) will be an option though, and we'll probably lose many who don't have the heart to push themselves. But I don't expect it to be Marine Corps boot camp.

My buddy at Ft. Worth PD did tell me that the OC spray and tear gas were 20 times worse than any Marine Corps gas chamber he ever walked into.

+1 Deserved and given.

Keep us up to date on your progress in the Academy when time permits (Heh, Heh!).;):p

Is there anyone else on this board that feels ancient. This dude was born when I was deep into doing the country's business. I actually know I have t-shirts older than him.:D

[janego10]

my academy was pappitas..according to someone who went through officer training and military flight training. the only reason i made scholastic honors was because the military makes you LEARN how to study.. I had folks coming up to me begging me to come to my house to study because they knew it was the hardest thing they've done in their lives and they knew i could do it. I respected that because i know at 20 years old most have done nothing but graduated high school. At 27 i was a college grad and a former military aviator. So i taught them and got folks through the academy with learning disabilities that they bought me bottles of crown royal without skipping a beat. I still have a best bud telling me that without me he'd of never made it through the academy. To this day i'm proud of that fact..i dont care that i made it i'm happy that i helped those that deserved to be there make it and good officers they have become in their respective departments. i even helped a guy out 2 weeks for an ankle injury pass the academy. Thats my proudest achievement of the academy, to get those that deserve to be there to get there. And on my side it was not all easy..or i would have gotten a 100 grade point average and i did not. Be humble, dont show off, stay quiet and you will be respected and they will clap for you at graduation day when you get that scholastic honors award. I felt proud at that.


i still have to say...What do you call a person that makes a 70 on the TCLEOSE exam?
A Texas Peace Officer.

I'm glad to have helped those achieve their dream.