TBS Prep Guide

TBS Prep Guide 1. Physical Training Generally Conditioning plays a big part of what we do as Marine officers. Even on a non-physical day, the better conditioned your body is, the more energy you have to get through the day. Being in good physical condition translates to higher metabolic rates, which translate to a more efficient working body. All the mental and physical demands experienced by our bodies in a training environment act to quickly deplete our energy stores. By being in better condition and working more efficiently, the toll on the body by the various stresses is far less. Realistic training is the best way to train for any event. The same nerve endings are firing as those required by the event trained for. This is why training in the weight room exclusively will never translate to faster run times if one never goes outside to run! For most, running with boots and utes is an adjustment that takes an unnecessary toll on the body. Additionally, hiking or even just moving around with a combat load is difficult to adjust to. No matter how infrequent, just getting out and training with gear will help you get ready for TBS. Strength Training LOWER BODY STRENGTH A key component to your success physically at TBS is lower body strength. Interceptor Vests and Sapi plates are worn constantly throughout the POI. Adding the strain of running almost exclusively in boots and utes, the toll on the lower body is far greater than what was encountered in OCS. Priorities in training should be training for endurance while maintaining explosive strength. Developing the quadriceps is essential to you ability to bear the added weight of the Interceptor vest, Sapi plates, and Assault Pack or the Full ILBE System. Additionally, under the strain of a pack, the hip is often displaced forward which puts undue strain on one’s hip flexors. Development of hip flexor strength is necessary to ensure that the legs go through a full range of motion thus allowing the quadriceps to function properly. This is most important when hiking uphill with a pack. Again because of the added weight, the lower body has additional strength needs necessary for the initiation of movement. This is where the development of your calves is important. The “push off” phase of leg movement resides in one’s ability to propel the upper body weight forward. Calf strength allows the Marine to move efficiently with the added weight as well as meet the explosive needs of a MOUT environment. BACK STRENGTH Another key component to handling the physical strain of bearing a combat load is back strength. There is a reason why the Marine Corps does pull-ups and not pushups, like the other TBS Prep Guide branches. We carry a heavy load. Back strengthening should be focused on the extensor muscles of the back. The small muscles along the edge of the spinal column that help maintain an upright erect posture. Equally important to the back extensors is the lower back. Strengthening this area helps stabilize the trunk and balance out the pull of the abdominals. CORE STRENGTH Core strength conditioning is vitally important to any athletic endeavor. Strengthening and stabilizing this region allows the upper body and lower body to integrate their movements in full ranges of motion thus decreasing the risk of injury and undue strain on joints due to poor posture. Not to be neglected in this area are the “deep abdominals.” These are the abdominal muscles engaged when you exhale forcefully by sucking your stomach in. Strengthening this area is the most effective in achieving stability. The benefits are proper alignment to the hip and balance throughout the core. Many athletes find that movement in general is more efficient when an intensive core strengthening program is adopted. Flexibility Maintaining flexibility and increasing your range of motion in tight joints is key to recovery and long term athletic health. In particular for TBS and the type of training and loading of the body, the key areas to focus on flexibility are the quads, calf, hip flexors and lastly the hamstrings. Hip flexor flexibility is key to avoid a shortened range of motion in the hip joint which will result in your pelvis tipping forward thus taking the quadriceps out of their role in bearing the weight of the upper body. Additionally, one’s stride is shortened by this phenomenon which results in common problems like plantar fasciitis, shin splints, as well as tendonitis in the knee joint. Calf flexibility improves one’s explosive strength ability and is also key to recovery of the lower body, especially when that body is not accustomed to wearing combat boots on a daily basis. Quadriceps bear the weight of the upper body and therefore are engaged whenever we are upright. By maintaining flexibility in this area, an athlete ensures that his range of motion is not impaired by a muscle that is constantly engaged. Because of the constant load, there is a constant pull on the knee joint and therefore maintaining flexibility in the quadriceps helps prevent strain on the knee. TBS Prep Guide 2. Basic Nutritional Guidelines: Principles:     Hydration Increase metabolism Protein is your friend Supplementation Hydration The human body is 50-80% water depending on your age. In any athletic endeavor, your ability to function physically and mentally is dependant upon maintaining proper hydration levels. When you feel thirsty, the body is already sufficiently dehydrated to affect your concentration levels. Drinking around at least a gallon a day is recommended for outdoor activity. Develop good hydration habits by always carrying around a bottle of water and hydrate constantly throughout the day. Maintaining good hydration levels ensures an optimal environment for muscle tissue to regenerate and grow. Metabolism When we exercise, we apply stresses to our body forcing it to respond in kind. The body goes through a cycle of stress, breaking down muscle tissue, rebuilding muscle tissue. How quickly our body goes through this cycle is important in ensuring constant progress. If we apply stress to our bodies before the body has completed its cycle, we end up slowing down the growth process. The speed of this process is affected by our metabolic rate. Exercise alone will increase our metabolic rate, however, the manner in which we fuel the body can increase this rate as well. By eating smaller meals more often (every 3-4 hours), an athlete’s caloric intake is not in excess of its needs and therefore it no longer becomes necessary to store away that fuel for later use. The body learns to burn off the fuel that is taken in and it does this by increasing our metabolic rate. By processing fuels faster, the body devotes these resources towards the recovery and growth processes. Types of fuel Eating smaller meals more often is only a starting point to increasing metabolism. What we eat is important as well. In order to build muscle we need to provide the body with the building blocks necessary for the job. In essence the body needs protein to build muscle protein. Whenever we consume protein in larger quantities we need be careful of increased fat intake. Lean sources of meat TBS Prep Guide such as fish and chicken are ideal. Typically an athlete’s daily protein intake should be around 1.5g of protein/1kg of lean body weight (body weight minus the body fat weight). The rest of an athlete’s diet should come from carbohydrates. Depending on the type of training an athlete is undergoing determines his caloric intake and therefore his carbohydrate needs. Should an athlete be training for endurance, his caloric needs will be greater and therefore his needs require increased carbohydrates as well. It is recommended that you start a nutrition log to track the number of calories taken in each day. This allows the athlete to fine tune his needs for fuel over time by adjusting up or down his caloric intake based upon reaching weight gain, loss, or maintenance goals. Nutrition count books contain the nutrition information for most common foods and brands of food. Another tip is to use the fist method of counting calories. For most adults, the size of his fist is roughly a 6 oz. portion. By measuring via this method, an athlete can make rough estimates as to his intake per meal and still track protein and carbohydrates without a nutrition count book. An online resource for nutrition count information and an online nutrition log can be found at www.fitday.com. Supplementation As long as an athlete is consuming enough protein in his diet, his needs for supplementation are nothing more than a daily multivitamin. There are some products that may help an athlete achieve his goals faster, but careful study and research is recommended to ensure that money is well spent and that the supplements are actually beneficial to the athlete. Hydration products for post work out recovery are always recommended. These products will contain a carbohydrate to protein ratio of 4:1. Protein supplements are recommended if the athlete’s protein needs are not being met through natural food sources. The ideal timing of these supplements is within the 1 hour window after the working out. It is recommended that during this one hour window, a sports recovery drink be consumed with the protein supplement to help intake and absorption of the supplement. TBS Prep Guide 3. Mental Training TBS is a 6 month long test of your intestinal fortitude. Learning how to manage your greatest asset, your mind, will help you perform under extreme amounts of stress. Visualization / Goal setting There is a huge advantage in knowing where you are going and how you are going to get there versus operating in the dark. Visualization is merely mental rehearsal of your end state. It is seeing, feeling, or hearing yourself achieving your end state. Key to this is also developing the path to this end state. Setting small goals along the way and visualizing their completion develops the “how you are going to get there” aspect of achievement. Elite athletes all employ visualization as part of their training. A very important distinction to point out is that you must not only visualize achievement under perfect conditions, but also achievement under stressful conditions. Mental rehearsal of responses to difficulties is far more effective to never visualizing difficult situations at all. Without the difficulties, your mental rehearsal will be just wishful thinking. Performance State Every person performs differently under different conditions. Figuring out the conditions under which you perform your best will go a long way towards a successful career. By being able to recreate your ideal mental state prior to performing, you are setting yourself up for success. This performance state is different for all people. Some people prefer a very calm mind, whereas some need to be amped up and energetic to respond well to challenges. Figuring out where you are in the spectrum and learning to tap into it your performance state is an invaluable skill. Release Equally important in mental training is learning to let loose and find some stress release in your life. Finding healthy and safe ways to relax are important to your not becoming overwhelmed in a very stressful environment. Putting it Together Start thinking about what you want to accomplish at TBS and how you are going to get there. See yourself dealing with the challenges that you foresee yourself encountering. Figure out if you work best energetic or calm in the mind. Review your goals and visualizations periodically to keep yourself on track towards your goals. TBS Prep Guide 4. Knowledge For the most part what you need to know, you will learn at TBS. However it doesn’t hurt to be prepared and learn certain bits of knowledge that will be used repeatedly. Learning the Marine Corps Organization, T/O, Weapons Systems and capabilities will help immensely in your tactical decision making: Marine Corps Organization Marine Division Structure:  3 Infantry Regiments o 3 Infantry Battalions  Artillery Regiment o 4 Artillery Battalions  HQ Bn  LAR Bn  Tank Bn  Assault Amphibian Bn  Combat Engineer Bn Marine Air Wing:  Marine Air Group o 3 Fixed-Wing Sqdrn o 1 Rotor Sqdrn  Marine Air Control Group  Marine Wing Support Group  Marine Wing HQ Squadron  Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Sqdrn  Marine Tactical E-Warfare Sqdrn Marine Logistics Group:  HQ and Services Bn  Motor Transport Bn  Medical Bn  Dental Bn  Landing Suport Bn  Maintenance Bn  Supply Bn  Engineer Support Bn Location of Regiments: 1st Mar Div: 1st, 5th, 7th, 11th Marines 2d Mar Div: 2d, 6th, 8th, 10th Marines 3d Mar Div: 3d, 4th, 9th, 12th Marines 4th Mar Div: 23rd, 24th, 25th, 14th Marines *Regiments: 1-9th Marines = Infantry 10th-15th Marines= Artillery 21st-29th Marines=Infantry TBS Prep Guide USMC TABLE OF ORGANIZATION and Weapons Cheat Sheet Rifle Company:  HQ (CO, XO, First Sgt, GySgt)  Rifle Platoon (3) o HQ (Plt Cmdr, Plt Sgt, Plt Guide) o 3 Squads (13 Marines/Sqd)  3 Fire Teams (4 Marines/FT) M16: 5.56 mm Max Eff Range: 550m (point) 800m (area) Rate of Fire: 45 rpm(semi) 90 rpm (burst) M203: 40 mm Max Eff Range: 150m (point); 350m (area) Max range: 400m M249 SAW: 5.56 mm Max Eff Range: 1,000 m Rates of Fire: 725 rpm (cyclic); 85(sustained) M240G: 7.62 mm Max Eff Range: 1,800 m Rates of Fire: 600rpm(cyclic); 100rpm (sust.) M224 Mortar (60mm): 60 mm Min Range: 45m Max Range: 1,814m Rates of Fire: 30rpm(max); 18rpm(sust.) Mk 153 SMAW: 83 mm Max Eff Range: 250m(HE/DP); 500m(HE/AA) Mk 19:    (2) M16 M16/M203 M249 SAW  Weapons Platoon (1) o HQ (Plt Cmdr, Plt Sgt) o Mortars Section (60 mm) (Section ldr + Squads)  3 Squads (3 Marines/Sqd) o  M224 60mm Mortar Machine Guns Section (Section Ldr + Squads)  3 Squads (Sqd Ldr + Team)  2 Teams (3 Marines/Team) o o Assault Section (Section Ldr + Teams) M240G MG  6 Teams (2 Marines/Team)  Mk 153 SMAW 40 mm Max Eff Range: 1,500m Rates of Fire: 40rpm (sust.); 325-375rpm(cycl.) M220E TOW: 152 mm Min Eff Range: 65m Max Eff Range: 3,750m M252 Mortar (81mm): 81 mm Min range: 100m Max range: 5,733m Rates of Fire: 30rpm(max); 15 rpm(sust.) M2 .50cal.: Max range: 7400m Max Eff Range: 1830m Grazing Fire: 700m Rates of Fire: <40rpm(sust.); 40+rpm(rapid); 450-550rpm(cyclic) AT4: 84mm Max Eff Range: 300m Weapons Company:  HQ  Mortars Platoon (81 mm) o HQ o 2 Sections  4 Squads  81mm Mortar  Anti-Armor Platoon o HQ o Anti-tank (TOW) section  4 Squads  (2) TOW o Javelin section   Heavy MG Platoon o HQ o 3 Sections  2 Squads  M2 .50 cal  Mk 19 40 mm MG  HMMVW TBS Prep Guide 5. Time Management Just a word of warning. Do not fall behind! Do not blow off getting work done even though you think you can get away with it. Your professional reputation begins at TBS and will follow you everywhere. How you do at TBS will affect your promotions to Captain and Major. A composite score is generated based on your performance at The Basic School, which will follow you post-TBS and is a factor at promotion boards. Learn to manage your time so that you are well rested and well prepared. Set yourself up to shine at TBS and your career will be vastly different than if you coasted by.