Every Marine Defends Their Boot Camp. He's One of the Few Who Saw Both. / Randall Parkes USMC

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Every Marine defends their boot camp. Randall Parkes is one of the few alive who saw both sides of it, San Diego recruit, three years as a Parris Island drill instructor, then back to MCRD San Diego as a First Sergeant. Ronnie asks the question every Marine argues about, and for once the answer comes with full context.

And that's just the warm-up. Twenty years from a founding MARSOC Raider: walking into the monitor's office to dodge Albuquerque and walking out with orders to a unit he'd never heard of, boot camp on the morning of September 11th, a drill instructor story he's never told on any show, and the phone call from his old interpreter as Kabul fell, eight months of paperwork going nowhere, and the Bro-Call that finished the job in days. Plus turning down Sergeant Major, EMDR at the VA, and the benefits playbook he wants every Marine to run before they get out.

This episode is sponsored by Bulkhead Energy, www.bulkheadenergy.com

In their words

“The Marine Corps is a big part of who I am today, but it doesn’t define me in perpetuity.”

“This is directed right at the GWOT generation. Our generation, the help is there.”

Chapters

1. 0:00 Cold Open
2. 2:46 Welcome to Vegas Veteran Voices
3. 6:50 A Funeral, Dress Blues, and a Navy Dad
4. 8:38 The $10,000 Offer vs. the Eagle, Globe, and Anchor
5. 10:16 Security Forces, Bangor, and Coming Home Pale
6. 12:03 Accidental Orders to MARSOC
7. 15:56 Boot Camp on September 11th
8. 19:47 Four Combat Deployments

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9. 22:25 Kandahar and the Gunny
10. 27:11 Becoming a Drill Instructor
11. 31:23 The World's Smallest Drill Instructor
12. 35:37 San Diego vs. Parris Island: The Verdict
13. 37:44 Turning Down Sergeant Major
14. 42:09 The Kabul Rescue
15. 50:21 Using Your Benefits: GI Bill, USC, and the VA Loan
16. 59:45 EMDR and Mental Health at the VA
17. 1:05:04 Wrap-Up
18. 1:05:38 Outtake: Full Send