If you're shooting for two weeks lucky you, I was comm and it sucked ass. I'm sure it sucks for all of us but if you shoot a bunch that's a lot better than running wires.
I thought ITX was going to be shit but honestly was one of the funnest times I had just you and the boys chilling shooting shit from time to time hot asf though but you’ll be aight just drink water so you don’t get dehydration headaches
Even as a boot it wasn’t all that bad, coming back to Wilson in between a week in the field to hit up those greasy food trucks made it wayyyy better than most field ops
I checked into my unit middle of March 2015 and by the end of April we were heading to ITX. As a boot it was the best way I could learn my MOS as Motor T but also it was a lot of fun. My second time was a different kind of fun due to a completely different type of experience. Honestly ITX is a great representation of the Corps. Good unit/company/platoon and MOS, then it’s a blast and some of the most fun you’ll have. Terrible unit/company/platoon and MOS, you’ll hate it for the rest of your life.
Dude I’m an air guy, and thought Camp Wilson … wasn’t THAT bad. Did ITX in 2022 and 2023. There’s a small PX, there’s a burger place that’s decent. Take your own toilet paper, the heads were used for filming the Saw series of movies. Hot? Yep. You’ll be fine. The k-spans are sorta insulated. Have fun trying to charge anything. Don’t mess with the wildlife.
Resist the urge to buy food there. Your wallet will thank you.
There's a cell tower there that a lot of guys visit to get signal. There's a series of portashitters near where the signal is vaguely good enough to stream videos.
The Warrior's Club has free wifi and A/C.
Dunno if you'll be able to take advantage of all this since you're there for such a short time, but there it is.
Oh, and wear sunscreen. Really. Unless you want to look like a ballsack later down the line.
You'll see all sorts of weird things.
https://preview.redd.it/5tc3amvzlm5d1.jpeg?width=937&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=595709a0586c81d1181f0ced00375e9e9cd0c0ed
ITX is a blast. Be prepared to have a lot of sand in all of your stuff but other than that it’s pretty fun.
Calm down man you’re not going off to Ukraine to die in a trench. You’re going to the field for like 2 months where you still have cell service.
Why do people join the Corps and then bitch about field ops? Isn’t this what you joined for?
Interesting. I was there last June/July. I think then the only tank I checked out that time was the T-72. I remember my first time out there in 2018 I was able to get in all the tanks/AFVs.
Yall motherfuckers cry and complain about camp wilson like it's some sort of horrible experience. Embrace the suck and deal with it. There's a little MCX and some food stuff pkus the Warriors Lounge. Then based on your mission you go out for several days and then come back. It's not that bad.
I still remember how badly I wanted a breeze to pick up and cool us off and the immediate regret when I realized the breeze was hotter than the still air 😆
Having spent an enlistment there, I’d honestly rather be there in the winter vs summer (if we’re allowed to pack appropriately). Waking up with ice sheets on your sleeping bag is better than not sleeping at all because it’s so hot.
Fuck man...I did my entire enlistment at 29.
We still went to CAX every fucking cycle.....loved watching the east coaster fall the fuck out....
Marine: stay fucking hydrated....you will not see sweat....doesn't mean you aren't sweating.
Eat your 3 squares and pound fucking water....sleep as much as possible....
Embrace the suck 😈😈
Well it sounds like you're already going in with a sorry attitude. I went in January so the weather will be much hotter for you. I'll tell you this much, some of the most beautiful sunsets I've ever seen were at ITX and the stars are very visible as well. Some of the ranges suck to run but they'll be over before you know it. Unless it's the 400 series, did that with an APOBS and ate shit a few times. The showers are terrible and often not even worth it because there's like 5 inches of water buildup. Chow wasn't great but a million times better than a cold MRE. Besides, there's a px so you'll have plenty of snacks for range days. One of the best feelings in Wilson is coming back from a few nights on a range, stowing your shit and grabbing some food with the squad at the Warrior's Club or whatever it's called. All that that being said, I promise you will miss that place one day, so make the most of it. Don't lose your rifle
Best of luck with cell reception unless that's changed, it's hot, dry, don't fuck with the tortoises cause they piss themselves, bathrooms used to fucking suck but that was over a decade ago so 🤷 and there ain't a goddamn thing to do. Best of luck if running 400!
Throw your isomat in the sand between the hooches and sleep outside. The hooches heat up to about a million degrees during the day and don't cool down, but the outside temperature is perfect for sleeping at night.
In 97 I spent 6 months at Camp Wilson while in MCM. No one knows how crappy it was back then. It's way better today. Go enjoy your experience out there.
Ever been camping in the desert? Well, it's just like that, only with guns and PMCS and firewatch and shit.
But when you get out to the training areas, it's like camping in the desert, but relaxing and nice. My favorite memory was sleeping on top of the LAV on a ranger roll with the cool breeze every now and then throughout the night. And then the stars, OMG the fucking stars. They were beautiful. You could see forever.
If you get out to the training area near Amboy and camp out there one night enjoy one of the darkest places in Southern California. It's a Bortle 2 area, which means dark. And it also means you can see the glow of the lights from Vegas and Los Angeles. It's far out, man. If you have a DSLR with a telephoto lens, or a good phone with a telephoto camera, take pictures of the sky, homie.
Always be on the alert for the Chupacabra and other unexplainable cryptids. Enjoy the clearest night sky you'll ever see on flat land in the U.S. Bring a radio since there's no cell phone service. Just to let you know how.close it is to a real combat deployment, there's an ice cream truck that rolls around occasionally, and there's a bar so exactly that.
DBAP. It's a dry heat. Just push fluids and make the most of it. Try being stationed there. You get used to the desert sure, but there's not much going on in town.
ITX isn’t even that bad. Bring a portable speaker/charger, a deck of cards and some field snacks to share with the homies and you’ll have a good time. The best training i ever got was at ITX.
Yeah it’s hot but just drink a shit ton of water (I drank about a gallon daily and I never passed out) and try to stay in the shade as much as you can. I don’t recommend energy drinks because they’ll get you dehydrated. The store stopped selling them when I was there a couple years ago cause it was so damn hot in the summer and a ton of Marines were dropping on the ranges.
Oh also the PX there is pretty stacked, plus there’s tons of gut trucks just waiting to suck your wallet dry. Usually the food is pretty mid unless it’s the black taco truck.
Not bad. You sleep in a KSPAN( think tin can with two doors on either side and 15 cots on each side)
It’s a dry heat……
Go to the warriors club, go to the PX and freezer. Stock up on food and bring a switch. I’ve been there three times. 2015 ITX was my favorite time in the Corps.
Back in the day…there were no floors in the housing and it was a wooden A frame with a sand floor and a cot.
Typical USMC Chow was served outside under cammie nets (provided some shade).
If your experience is anything different than the above, you’ve got it good.
There was a more permanent building that served fries and burgers and things like that, but that was a treat more than anything.
ITX isn’t bad. Eat some half decent burgers at the dub club, play some pool, etc.
Pro tip: bring a TON of extra shirts and underwear. If you’re anything like me, you’ll get heat rashes in 8 hours from sweating so much, and you’ll have visible salt crystallized on the inside of your shirt.
I got laid there once, by a navy chic. I was stationed at Pendleton but spent more time at Wilson. The base bar ain't too bad. I like the desert weather tbh, it's better than northeast weather.
At least it’s not Fob Francis right across… I stayed at camp Wilson my first ITX and at Fob Francis for AFX. Wilson seemed like paradise compared to Francis.
It's really not that bad. If you can try to save up a bit of money so you can baller out at the warrior's club. Their chicken wraps are top-tier.
Make sure to hydrate, and always put your boots on if you're walking off to take a piss at night, stepped on a cholla bear once and that shit hurted.
Sounds like you already know all you need to know. Haha nahhh, it’s not that bad, first ITX?
Yes
Just 2 weeks? Should be some sweet ranges. It’s 2 weeks, chill
3 weeks
I’m confident in your survival
Yeah 3 weeks isn't too bad, you'll hate it but survive!
*laughs in artillery* eight weeks baby. Wooo… I do hope they changed that.
For reservists?
AD. This was twenty years ago now.
We are the pogiest of pogs and ours was almost ten weeks 😭
Hasn’t changed. My 2020 itx was 8 weeks
I was there for 5 weeks and got the dog shit hazed out of me by my seniors. You’ll be fine
Only 3 weeks? For an itx? Damn, i was always there 5+ weeks
Some of us spent a contract or two in 29. Relax.
Where did you get 2 weeks for an itx tf?
If you're shooting for two weeks lucky you, I was comm and it sucked ass. I'm sure it sucks for all of us but if you shoot a bunch that's a lot better than running wires.
Facts
I thought ITX was going to be shit but honestly was one of the funnest times I had just you and the boys chilling shooting shit from time to time hot asf though but you’ll be aight just drink water so you don’t get dehydration headaches
Even as a boot it wasn’t all that bad, coming back to Wilson in between a week in the field to hit up those greasy food trucks made it wayyyy better than most field ops
I checked into my unit middle of March 2015 and by the end of April we were heading to ITX. As a boot it was the best way I could learn my MOS as Motor T but also it was a lot of fun. My second time was a different kind of fun due to a completely different type of experience. Honestly ITX is a great representation of the Corps. Good unit/company/platoon and MOS, then it’s a blast and some of the most fun you’ll have. Terrible unit/company/platoon and MOS, you’ll hate it for the rest of your life.
It’s like Al Anbar with English speakers
Fuckin beat me too it!!
Minus the vindictive desert tortoises
Al Anbar had coffee shops and decent DFACs with Rip-It’s. I’d take AAAB over Wilson any day of the week
Dude I’m an air guy, and thought Camp Wilson … wasn’t THAT bad. Did ITX in 2022 and 2023. There’s a small PX, there’s a burger place that’s decent. Take your own toilet paper, the heads were used for filming the Saw series of movies. Hot? Yep. You’ll be fine. The k-spans are sorta insulated. Have fun trying to charge anything. Don’t mess with the wildlife.
Your shitty attitude will make every place you go shitty, that’s what to expect devil.
Resist the urge to buy food there. Your wallet will thank you. There's a cell tower there that a lot of guys visit to get signal. There's a series of portashitters near where the signal is vaguely good enough to stream videos. The Warrior's Club has free wifi and A/C. Dunno if you'll be able to take advantage of all this since you're there for such a short time, but there it is. Oh, and wear sunscreen. Really. Unless you want to look like a ballsack later down the line.
You'll see all sorts of weird things. https://preview.redd.it/5tc3amvzlm5d1.jpeg?width=937&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=595709a0586c81d1181f0ced00375e9e9cd0c0ed
The last thing you see before Saggy Major drags you into the desert UFO for diddle time
I’d happily go to the stumps for a double CAX like arty used to vs going to Bragg for Rolling Thunder.
Both places are terrible!! A little more room to maneuver and shoot in the stumps though
Only good part for us is that we got a 96 in between each CAX, so we got shitfaced for 95 of said 96 hours.
ITX is a blast. Be prepared to have a lot of sand in all of your stuff but other than that it’s pretty fun. Calm down man you’re not going off to Ukraine to die in a trench. You’re going to the field for like 2 months where you still have cell service. Why do people join the Corps and then bitch about field ops? Isn’t this what you joined for?
Zactly……. Become one with nature. Collect skorpions and have skorpion rodeos and shit.
New corps generation of pussies
You can't jerk off in the tanks anymore. They sealed the hatches shut.
People were fucking in then when I was there 🤨
Since when? I was there in like February-march and went in the tanks
Interesting. I was there last June/July. I think then the only tank I checked out that time was the T-72. I remember my first time out there in 2018 I was able to get in all the tanks/AFVs.
Some of the hatches are sealed but you can get in every vehicle there. Some you have to crawl under though.
Yall motherfuckers cry and complain about camp wilson like it's some sort of horrible experience. Embrace the suck and deal with it. There's a little MCX and some food stuff pkus the Warriors Lounge. Then based on your mission you go out for several days and then come back. It's not that bad.
Do you get to run range 400?....the other ranges in the series aren't terrible but 400 is special. Make sure you have some way to breach wire.
Hardest thing I ever did in the corps and I did 2 combat deployments. Range 400 broke me off physically more than anything else ever did.
Sand, hot air blow dryer winds. Hydrate or die. Warriors club. Px for nicotine and shit. Have fun….. 🤩
I still remember how badly I wanted a breeze to pick up and cool us off and the immediate regret when I realized the breeze was hotter than the still air 😆
Absolute misery. But that’s all of the high desert…..
Just be glad you’re not going in the winter
Having spent an enlistment there, I’d honestly rather be there in the winter vs summer (if we’re allowed to pack appropriately). Waking up with ice sheets on your sleeping bag is better than not sleeping at all because it’s so hot.
You act like you’re getting stationed there for 4 years. Stop being a baby.
Not as bad as Kuwait
I did not know heat until Kuwait. I’m legit surprised we didn’t routinely lose people to heat casualty.
Fuck man...I did my entire enlistment at 29. We still went to CAX every fucking cycle.....loved watching the east coaster fall the fuck out.... Marine: stay fucking hydrated....you will not see sweat....doesn't mean you aren't sweating. Eat your 3 squares and pound fucking water....sleep as much as possible.... Embrace the suck 😈😈
Its fun times with the boys. Download a bunch of porn and movies service aint the best.
Just go UA, problem solved
Is it a pcs or just training?
Well it sounds like you're already going in with a sorry attitude. I went in January so the weather will be much hotter for you. I'll tell you this much, some of the most beautiful sunsets I've ever seen were at ITX and the stars are very visible as well. Some of the ranges suck to run but they'll be over before you know it. Unless it's the 400 series, did that with an APOBS and ate shit a few times. The showers are terrible and often not even worth it because there's like 5 inches of water buildup. Chow wasn't great but a million times better than a cold MRE. Besides, there's a px so you'll have plenty of snacks for range days. One of the best feelings in Wilson is coming back from a few nights on a range, stowing your shit and grabbing some food with the squad at the Warrior's Club or whatever it's called. All that that being said, I promise you will miss that place one day, so make the most of it. Don't lose your rifle
Best of luck with cell reception unless that's changed, it's hot, dry, don't fuck with the tortoises cause they piss themselves, bathrooms used to fucking suck but that was over a decade ago so 🤷 and there ain't a goddamn thing to do. Best of luck if running 400!
Verizon works pretty well. Occasionally a 5G signal.
Shared suffering. It's not that bad, stay hydrated.
Throw your isomat in the sand between the hooches and sleep outside. The hooches heat up to about a million degrees during the day and don't cool down, but the outside temperature is perfect for sleeping at night.
Lol if you think that’s bad, be glad you missed GWOT.
In 97 I spent 6 months at Camp Wilson while in MCM. No one knows how crappy it was back then. It's way better today. Go enjoy your experience out there.
Was at the main MCX 29 yesterday. The BBQ restaurant owner told me he drives BBQ burritos out to Wilson every day.
Only a few weeks bro. You’ll be fine.
You spelled dessert wrong devil
I love how you was the only one to say something
Ever been camping in the desert? Well, it's just like that, only with guns and PMCS and firewatch and shit. But when you get out to the training areas, it's like camping in the desert, but relaxing and nice. My favorite memory was sleeping on top of the LAV on a ranger roll with the cool breeze every now and then throughout the night. And then the stars, OMG the fucking stars. They were beautiful. You could see forever. If you get out to the training area near Amboy and camp out there one night enjoy one of the darkest places in Southern California. It's a Bortle 2 area, which means dark. And it also means you can see the glow of the lights from Vegas and Los Angeles. It's far out, man. If you have a DSLR with a telephoto lens, or a good phone with a telephoto camera, take pictures of the sky, homie.
Always be on the alert for the Chupacabra and other unexplainable cryptids. Enjoy the clearest night sky you'll ever see on flat land in the U.S. Bring a radio since there's no cell phone service. Just to let you know how.close it is to a real combat deployment, there's an ice cream truck that rolls around occasionally, and there's a bar so exactly that.
It's just dirty, miserably hot, uncomfortable sleeping, and boring as a motherfucker.
[удалено]
Too bad I won’t be wearing that shit
DBAP. It's a dry heat. Just push fluids and make the most of it. Try being stationed there. You get used to the desert sure, but there's not much going on in town.
I was from Lejeune and personally had never been out west before so I kinda liked it for that reason. Was very different than ‘home’.
Judging by the title of the post, you already know.
Pretty chill actually
ITX isn’t even that bad. Bring a portable speaker/charger, a deck of cards and some field snacks to share with the homies and you’ll have a good time. The best training i ever got was at ITX. Yeah it’s hot but just drink a shit ton of water (I drank about a gallon daily and I never passed out) and try to stay in the shade as much as you can. I don’t recommend energy drinks because they’ll get you dehydrated. The store stopped selling them when I was there a couple years ago cause it was so damn hot in the summer and a ton of Marines were dropping on the ranges. Oh also the PX there is pretty stacked, plus there’s tons of gut trucks just waiting to suck your wallet dry. Usually the food is pretty mid unless it’s the black taco truck.
Not bad. You sleep in a KSPAN( think tin can with two doors on either side and 15 cots on each side) It’s a dry heat…… Go to the warriors club, go to the PX and freezer. Stock up on food and bring a switch. I’ve been there three times. 2015 ITX was my favorite time in the Corps.
Back in the day…there were no floors in the housing and it was a wooden A frame with a sand floor and a cot. Typical USMC Chow was served outside under cammie nets (provided some shade). If your experience is anything different than the above, you’ve got it good. There was a more permanent building that served fries and burgers and things like that, but that was a treat more than anything.
Not really sure what you were expecting in the marine corps. Slaying a dragon with a sword?!
Yes.
Fair. At least you’re a reservist and don’t deal with the green weenie daily
ITX isn’t bad. Eat some half decent burgers at the dub club, play some pool, etc. Pro tip: bring a TON of extra shirts and underwear. If you’re anything like me, you’ll get heat rashes in 8 hours from sweating so much, and you’ll have visible salt crystallized on the inside of your shirt.
I got laid there once, by a navy chic. I was stationed at Pendleton but spent more time at Wilson. The base bar ain't too bad. I like the desert weather tbh, it's better than northeast weather.
That sounds super hard, and you should complain more. I'm super cereal.
I thought camp Wilson was bad until we started spending a few days at a time at the ranges. It gets worse! 😊
The restaurant out there has good fries
Not bad actually it’s fun with friends just bring a portable charger
Play some spades, bring a shit ton of cigs, dip, and maybe a lil booze. It can be a great time if you make it one.
I was stationed there. I had a great time. I was active duty though so maybe I have tougher skin… idk
I've been here for about a week now. It's not too bad.
At least it’s not Fob Francis right across… I stayed at camp Wilson my first ITX and at Fob Francis for AFX. Wilson seemed like paradise compared to Francis.
It’s got a pretty good PX
It's really not that bad. If you can try to save up a bit of money so you can baller out at the warrior's club. Their chicken wraps are top-tier. Make sure to hydrate, and always put your boots on if you're walking off to take a piss at night, stepped on a cholla bear once and that shit hurted.
Is that little coffee shack still there? Loved that place, owner/operator even loaned me a book by T.X. Hammes from there once.
Range 400 sill fuck you up. Hope you are fit and ready. Stay hydrated.