Color Guard at bootcamp

[FutureSailorB]

Do you volunteer to do color guard or do they pick people because I really want to do color guard or even be part of the band or drill.

[sweetmtn]

To be any one of those you would have to be "picked" for the 900 division. Not much you can do to try and get that, unless you have it in your info packet that you did honor band in school, or ROTC in school, etc.

[SN-Madman]

Originally Posted by FutureSailorB

Do you volunteer to do color guard or do they pick people because I really want to do color guard or even be part of the band or drill.

I wanted to be part of it, but it wasn't even really offered to me. If you hear ANYTHING about musical instruments, pipe up.

However, I know that the 900 divisions (musical instruments/dress drill/etc) get worked twice as hard as a regular division, and they're punished twice as hard too. It may be exciting to be a 900 division person for the time you're there, and for about two months after you leave, but I've only been in for 7 months past my BC graduation, and I can tell you that no one cares what division you were in in basic.

900 divisions have clout in basic, and yeah, we were jealous of them there, but remember that you will still be a sailor after being part of a regular division, but there will be less pain and suffering in a regular division. ;)

I would highly recommend NOT piping up about anything. From my experience, the longer you can go before anyone knows your name in boot camp, the better off you are. I didn't get a "job" until week 5, and it was wonderful. I barely got punished, because when you have a "job" they look for excuses to punish you.

The point of basic is to teach you to listen to what you're told, and to work together to achieve success together. Any division will teach you this, because all RDCs are selected and trained for this purpose.

[prop827]

900 divisions pick up every week, but which TYPE of 900 changes. One week is staff, one week is Triple Threat (Band, Choir, Color Guard - the spinning/trick rifle kind, not the kind that marches with the flag), and the next week is State Flags, then its Staffs week all over again!

The needs for each division is different and so if you meet the requirements for one, doesn't mean that is picking up that week.

Staff - All Male Division - Qualities they look for: Military Bearing (times like 50), Intelligence (high ASVAB score), Military Appearance (Clean, professional, and fit looking), and Physical Fitness. Confidence is also key here.

State Flags - Integrated Division - Qualities they look for: Height (times like 50, all State Flags are within 2" tall of each other, I forget the exact height they look for, but I think its around 5'6 or 5'8), and Military Bearing.

Triple Threat - Integrated Division - Qualities they look for: Talent (times like 50. If you did color guard, were experienced playing an instrument, or were a good singer that's the key), Intelligence also (high ASVAB), and Military bearing.

I was a 900 Staff division and the petty officer selecting who was going into division would interview you, asking about your swimming and PT abilities, rate, ASVAB, etc. He would also push your military bearing, if you left off petty officer (definitely if you forgot twice) you were out, he'd tell you to sit. After interviewing me (You stand at attention surrounded by other recruits answering their questions), he had me stand at attention for 20 minutes to see if I would break military bearing (look around, fidget, etc) before putting me into the 900. When you're going down the P-way at arrival, go through urinalysis, and initial issue they are watching you to decide if they're even going to put you aside for interview.

900 is cool and is a heck of a way to do boot camp and I liked it, but I wasn't trying to get it. However you do work A LOT harder. You PT more, have less time in class to study and learn the same information as regular ("rifle land") divisions, and have the added responsibilities of being at the Drill Hall practicing on Saturdays for performances, instead of practicing and training like every other division in your grad group. Just to make it harder, some 900's are push divisions giving you even less time to complete it all.

If you go for it, make the decision carefully, they don't ask you, they pick you and you get told, you can't turn down 900. Its really like a pick your poison.

[sweetmtn]

"State Flags - Integrated Division - Qualities they look for: Height (times like 50, all State Flags are within 2" tall of each other, I forget the exact height they look for, but I think its around 5'6 or 5'8), and Military Bearing."

When my son went through boot he was in State Flags and he is 5' 11" tall..he had the Nevada State Flag..and no you do not get to pick which flag you get.....but at least it was next to our state!

[maggio1994]

I was in division 910 which was a staff division.

If you get put into a 900 division you'll go to the graduation hall and they'll let you watch another 900 division practice, then they'll come over and assign jobs. The petty officer will say who wants to do blah and she'll explain what it is then ask for volunteers, if there are none she'll voluntell people. Then you'll go talk to the other divisions and they'll show you what to do.


My advice if you want to get into a 900 division is to keep an eye out when you're in the big room full of desks and when you see the petty officer asking people questions and sending some to a separate area and some are just going back to their seat, that's the guy picking people for the 900's. Have good military bearing, don't look around alot, don't talk, sit straight up, etc. You should see a group of people sitting seperate from the other recruits, those are the ones picked for a 900. If you're accepted he'll tell you to write a number on your hand then send you to the seperate area.

If you don't get questioned by the petty officer, stand up and say something like "petty officer respectfully requesting permission to ask a question", he'll say "what" or "go ahead" then say something like "petty officer how do i get put over there?" He'll be like "whats over there why do you want to be over there?". Just say something like "They're seperate, and they act as one"(fix eachother, help eachother, if one takes sweatshirt off they all do, etc), make him see that you see a difference between them and everyone else and he should question you. Do NOT walk up to him, he hates that. When I got put into a 900 he had a guy sitting in a desk who was his yeoman, if you got put into a 900 he'd take your hard card, etc. Somebody walked up behind the petty officer and he started yelling at the yeoman because he was supposed to 'have his back'. He wasn't really yelling in a mad way but in a showy way I guess, he's funny in a weird way.

You'll notice who the 900's are when you first get to RTC, they'll be allowed to talk to eachother (not like socializing but helping eachother, chain check, fix your seabag, etc because the petty officer tells us we have to fix eachother and make sure we all look the same) the other people still don't talk to eachother. And you'll see when everyone else has their hoodies on there might be a group of people with them off.

Like I said before we were sitting in the front corner of the room where the shoe machines are and nobody else was in that section, the petty officer would come over and talk to us, laugh, help us, etc and everybody else would just look over and watch. Somebody stood up and asked him how to get put in that section and he asked why he wanted to be over there and he said something and the petty officer pulled him over and put him in the division.

[FutureSailorB]

thanks maggio and everybody else who commented...my recruiter told me that the people who were in rotc get picked for the 900 division..i was just really curious because i like a challenge

[maggio1994]

Yea, they say it's only for band\marching but you have to remember the Staff division who are picked based off military bearing and look.

I'm not very athletic looking, I wasn't a great swimmer, and I'm a horrible runner but I guess I had great military bearing. If you get into a 900 division I think you'll have a better time at bootcamp, it's a unique experience.