Right behind the endurance course for most dreaded events are hikes. I dreaded these! At OCS I struggled with hiking. I fell out badly at the 6 mile, and looking back, I would say it was mental. During the first half of the hike, I was fine, but someone in front of me fell out, and then an instructor saw the gap and said I was falling out too. So I lost a lot of heart and then fell out BADLY during the second half. So I definitely deserved the failing grade I got for that one. For the OCS 9-mile hike, I knew that if I did not get a 100, I would fail OCS. I couldn't even get an 80. I needed a 100. My foot was hurting really badly but something inside me just wouldn't let me quit. The 9-mile was super excruciating for me but I did it. It was a terrifying three hours of me freaking out that I would fall out or that someone in front of me would fall out. I remember hiking behind a super-in-shape prior service Marine, and we came to a really long hill towards the end that just never ended (not Danang). Mid-way through, this Marine made a motion to step to the center, and I remember almost screaming at her, "No, get back!" She stayed in the line and didn't fall out. This Marine had excellent physical fitness scores and was not in the same dire straights as I was. I needed her to stay in line for two reasons: one, I could not have a gap appear in front of me, and two, I needed her to stay in because if someone in great shape like her was falling out, I might lose hope that someone broken like me could finish this hike. We both finished and got 100s, and to this day, that feeling, the feeling that I was on track to graduate OCS, only a few memories top that one.
Why am I telling you this? I need you to believe me when I say that hikes are 90% MENTAL. Trust me. I'll touch more on this when I tell you about my 15-mile hike experience.
At TBS, you will conduct 5 hikes, plus many admin movements during FEX. None of them are graded, but the 15-mile hike is a pass/fail graduation requirement. If you fall out of a hike, you will most likely remediate. I did not fall out of ANY hikes, and by the time I got to the 12 and 15-mile hike, I was around 118 lbs. If I can do it, YOU CAN TOO.
The hike specifications are in your TBS SOP, and the packing lists will be issued shortly before. I was once told that the packing lists are secret, so I can't share the exact list, but I can share what I can.
The hikes:
3 mile "intro" hike- I got through this fine, but at times we were almost running, and this was the first company hike I did wearing a kevlar and flak jacket. I actually like hiking with the flak jacket, but the first time I hiked with a flak jacket, I hiked alone for 5 miles and my shoulders were killing. I'm glad I hiked by myself with the flak before.
6 mile hike- We went through never-ending hills up and down, but none were too challenging for me. There wasn't one big hill. I also hiked this with Mike Company, so it was no sweat.
9 mile hike-This one was okay too, but I got irritating hot spots. Just deal with them...
12-mile hike- This was the hike I was dreading. Everyone I talked to from other companies said that this was the one where most people fell out. I had always heard that the 15 mile was the easiest, so I assumed the 12 mile was going to be the worst for me. All the hikes have the same speed and weight except this one. This hike has the heaviest packing list. Since it was really hot, we were told to put our flaks in our packs. I hated this. It made the pack even heavier and I couldn't secure my pack around my chest too great. However, when we started, I knew I wasn't going to fall out, but I knew it was just going to be hours of annoyance. After two hours, I thought we were halfway done, and was wondering why my Apple Watch said we had only gone 5 miles. Someone then told me that the 12-mile has a slower pace, and we only cover 2.5 miles per hour instead of 3. Talk about extreme disappointment! So yep, there was an extra hour that we had to hike. Everything was sore on my body but I never came close to falling out. It was just a waiting game of aches and pain. I remember the morning of the hike, my alarm went off at 0130. I thought to myself, "Why is my alarm going off?" Then there was a sudden realization. "OH SHIT! We have the 12-mile hike at 0300 and I'm student Company XO so I have to be up extra early for accountability!" Yep. Not a good feeling.
15 mile hike- THIS WAS THE WORST EXPERIENCE OF MY LIFE. Holy crap do I never want to go through this again. For months I heard people from other companies say the 15 mile was the easiest. I went in thinking it was just going to be another boring hike like the 12-mile. WRONG. We took off running the first three miles. At the first break, I looked at some of my platoon mates and we were not happy. The next three miles were tough. But miles 6-9 was one of the worst hours of my life. I doubted I would get through. People were "heat-casing" left and right. Every so often you would hear thuds. But sometimes people would step off to the side and not collapse. I told myself that if I were to fall out of the hike, I better be waking up in the hospital. THIS IS ALL MENTAL. Just one foot in front of the other. Do not quit. Miles 9-12 were a little better, and miles 12-15 I had so much motivation that I knew I would be okay. Please believe me that if you give 150%, crossing the finish line of the hike will be one of the most exhilarating experiences of your life. I told myself that I would rather do the hike once instead of twice. Around 40-50 people fell out. YOU CAN DO IT!!!!
What helped me the most with hiking was doing a progression on my own while I was in Mike Company, and making sure I hiked with a flak before hand. Check out the next page for the hiking progression I used.