generalities about boot camps

Hello I'm a writer developing a story about a WWII US soldier, and I have some general questions about the training period.
My character is a 20 y.o. man who is enlisted just after Pearl Harbor. Ideally, I would like to have him sent to a boot camp near San Francisco. Where there boot camps in this area ?

Some general questions:
- when a new recruit enters the army, is he directly affected to a specific company / regiment / division? or does it only come after his training ?
- when he trains, is it always with the same "group" (company) ?
- are all members of such a group sent to the same place once the training period comes to an end ?

Thanks in advance !

 

Assuming its the same as when I joined in 1987. You are assigned to a platoon which is part of a company, brigade of a training division. After his training is done he is reassigned to a advance school for more specific training based on his specialty. Depending on the specialty most soldiers are then assigned to where there are needed as individuals. From Band of Brothers the men in the advanced training stayed together once they went to their regular unit.

 

WW2 US ARMY MOBILIZATION TRAINING CAMPS
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/camp-ww2.htm

WW2 California Army Airfields
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_World_War_II_Army_Airfields

 

the USMC has the Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego...I went in 1982.......was up around 4am central time to go to processing in my hometown....we did not get to Diego until night, or late evening, by bus....and then the yelling started....we got issued gear, clothes, toiletries, etc...waiting in lines...haircut, ...every little ''infraction'' noticed by the DIs--drill instructors.....we didn't get to sleep till after 2am..then up early, I think around 5 am....learning to march, marching to every place...
..now, for the first week or so, we had processing DIs that would teach basic drill, etc....then we got our primary DIs...we were in our boot camp platoon of about 70 ''boots'', ...and 1 of 4 platoons, if I remember correctly--long time ago....we always trained with the same platoon....and our whole world was the platoon
it was a good feeling, as graduation neared, and the weather was cool, but nice...the DIs wouldn't hound you as much...you still had to be locked and cocked....after boot camp, a lot, most, were assigned to SOI-School of Infantry...some went to special schools--communications, etc...I went to mortar school--I think I was assgned to mortars at SOI...I think...like I said, some time ago...
after SOI, most went to the Rifle companies of the USMC infantry divisions...of course, they are assigned to a certain platoon, of a company, of a battalion, of a regiment........I went to Marine Barracks Hawaii...not many are chosen for that....it is/was guard duty of naval bases in Hawaii........after 4 years I went to 81s mortar platoon, Weapons Company 3-6...that's 3rd battlaion, 6th Regiment....
this is/was USMC, not army......ok, if I missed something or my memory went out to sea, sorry
I was supposed to call my recruiter when I got up to go to boot camp...I woke an hour early, miscommunication or screw up by me

 

The Army and Air Corps had basic training. The Marines and Navy had boot camp. I take it that the protagonist is in the Army since you referred to him as a soldier.

 

Thank you all. Wasn't there any camp where you could find both Marines and soldiers? Was there only three boot camps for the Marines (San Diego,Parris Island and Camp Lejeune) ?

 

I'm not sure, but I don't know of any posts where Army and Marines were stationed right off hand. There was no reason for such a set up, and besides, they just didn't get along that well anyway. As for Marine boot camps, There was a 4th training depot at Cherry Point, NC. They may have been more, but maybe USMCPrice can shed some more light on the subject. I'll call him.

 

I was in for 8 years...Parris Island and San Diego are the 2 boot camps for the Corps..Lejuene is the main base for various units, not a boot camp .........Parris Island is generally flat and swampy.....at San Diego, they bussed us out to Camp Pendleton for basic infantry training where there are large hills, so the humping was much harder...so we did basic infantry training in boot camp, and then ''advanced', specific training at SOI..

http://www.ww2gyrene.org/boot_camp.htm

this link tells some history and some detail specific, first hand stories of WW2 USMC boot camp

 

Bronk the question was about WWII. During that period there was a third recruit depot at Montford Point for training black Marines. Montford Point is part of the larger Camp LeJeune base complex, and has since been renamed Camp Johnson. Early in WWII Marines from San Diego Recruit Depot got their follow on training at Camp Elliott, located on what is now MCAS Mirimar. Camp Pendleton came into being during the WWII expansion.

 

Duplicate post-deleted.

 

your point? my link tells all about MP, answering the poster's later question<>.'''.this link tells some history'''..boot camp is boot camp....DIs, marching, drilling, learning, yelling,standing in lines , etc...Lejuene was not a boot camp, as stated, per requested information..here I give first hand knowledge of what it is like to be in boot camp, and answered the poster's initial questions correctly, ..he asked for a ''boot camp'' near San Fran...Diego is pretty close, no??.nothing I said was wrong was it?? someone did message me there are a lot of nit pickers here....it's not even nitpicking, it's trouble stirring
the poster says he's developing a story...'graphic novels', as he says in another thread....I gave some 'inside' , graphic details only a ''bootcamper'' would know, to help him develop his story...if that's not good enough, I don't know what is...the only thing better, would be an actual WW2 vet......they did the same marching, same drilling, same standing in lines, same haircuts, etc in WW2..
or maybe we have some trolls, but that makes the forum more interesting.....time to enjoy some potato pancakes...
and it was not for black Marines, but African-American Marines, as stated in the link

 

compare WW2 to my 1982 bootcamp book...the WW2 pics are from the link..caption INSPECTION....except for uniforms and rifles, exactly the same

 

of course we are in white shirts....I'm sure there was an instance where I could've got a pic almost exactly like the WW2 one, with the exact background, with 16s of course..but we weren't there to take pics..WW2 pic caption DRILL

 

A crucial change is the drill sergeants could beat boots up for discipline reasons. If someone is interested watch the start of Full metal jacket, The drill is the real deal

 

My point is that is not how you phrased your reply.

The point is there was a third recruit depot that trained 19,168 dark green Marines during WWII, Montford Point. (and the OP is asking about WWII, not present day).

Same state, same coast, it's 500 miles north, so depends upon your definition of close.

That's your opinion and you're welcome to it. I don't see it as nitpicking, I see it as giving the OP more complete information for his questions. But if we're talking nitpicking;

That's kinda' splitting hairs if you ask me, or you were trying to make my statement more politically correct.

From desegregation of the Marine Corps:
"On June 1, 1942, the initial group of black USMC recruits was admitted, but they were not immediately trained because separate, segregated facilities had not been completed. Black volunteers began their basic training in August at Montford Point in North Carolina.."

Ooops, should have said African-American.

This is an ongoing discussion and each comment after your initial one has changed the course of said discussion. The OP came back after your initial comment and asked;

You replied,

It is today, but the question was about WWII. In my reply to the poster I stated, "Montford Point is part of the larger Camp LeJeune base complex, and has since been renamed Camp Johnson." Now initially Camp LeJeune was known as MCB New River, there is still today MCAS New River located near Camp Geiger (also part of the larger Camp LeJeune base complex). Marine Barracks New River was started in 1941 and renamed for John LeJeune in 1942. So the OP's question was not wrong in the bigger picture, there was a recruit training facility at Camp LeJeune located at Montford Point, in order that he could more fully understand the subtleties.

I think that's a bit of an exageration, but that's just my opinion.

Actually, while much remains the same, much has changed since WWII, especially after the Ribbon Creek incident in 1956. Prior to that Drill Instructors had virtually no supervision. They were expected to have their platoons at certain company mandated functions, but were given a pretty much free hand in how they trained their recruits. With the exception of weapons training, which did have a formalized training format, other training and methods were left up to the DI's. As long as the platoon passed company inspections, met physical training test standards, passed essential subject testing and drill evaluations, etc., how the DI got them to that point was left to him. Successful DI's with good platoons were retained, DI's with sub-par platoons were transferred back to the Fleet. Now there is a formalized, highly structured training syllabus, close supervision by officers, and a formalized DI School to insure approved training methods are utilized. (My list of changes is not all inclusive)

First time I've been called that. Well maybe if you'd take some Mydol for your PMS or make sure someone doesn't urinate in your morning Wheaties, you wouldn't end up with your panties in such a wad.

 

Cherry Point was actually (still is) a Marine Corps Air Station and was an advanced training facility for aviation specialties, and aviation units, not a boot camp. I think you're confusing Montford Point for Cherry Point. My younger brother was actually born at Cherry Point Naval Hospital and it is about 36 miles northeast of Camp LeJeune.
As for bases where Marines and soldiers served jointly, Marines attended a number of the Army's formal schools and there were at least two amphibious training facilities early in the war where the two new Marine divisions trained the 1st, 3d and 9th Infantry Divisions in amphibious warfare. The Army opened it's own Amphibious Training Center for training additional US Army Divisions, but I'm not sure how long it existed or where it was located.
Like I stated in an earlier post, there used to be a Camp Elliott, which no longer exists, but much of which was located on what is now MCAS Mirimar. It opened in 1940 and was used for weapons and field training for recruits from San Diego, advanced infantry training, artillery training, tank training and parachute training (probably more schools because the Navajo code talkers trained there, but I don't have a complete list of all schools located there. When the Marine Corps started acquiring land (Rancho Santa Margarita y Los Flores) for Camp Pendleton in February 1942, construction started in April and 9th Marines marched up from Camp Elliott to be the first troops to inhabit the base in September, 1942.

For the OP, if I were you, and wanted to get the feel for what it was like in Boot Camp and initial training during WWII I'd rent/buy Battle Cry (1955) and The DI (1957) (actually takes place around Korean War but Boot Camp was the same).

A couple scenes from the DI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irCqA4lcgoE&index=7&list=PL53ISISS7AcpoP04DnSOBGgXcJKa7FzyQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bgdpwjMsx4

The DI uses real Marines and real DI's for the majority of the roles. Battle Cry has a fairly long sequence about Boot Camp and follow on MOS training. James Wittmore, who plays one of the central characters, actually served as a Marine Corps officer in WWII.

 

The nearest basic training facility to San Francisco during WW2 was Camp Roberts. It was an Army post.

 

Thank you all !

 

You're welcome. If you could give us a little more information on what you're trying to portray we could be more specific in our answers. For example young man from Colorado volunteers for US Army within a month of Pearl Harbor. Goes to basic training, then trained as radio man. Goes overseas and eventually ends up at Guadalcanal.
Then we could give the most likely bases, units and time frames. Just a suggestion.