Getting through boot camp: a ‘hectic’ time

In November 2009, at 17, Kaitlin LaBarca, Lynbrook High School 2010 graduate, enlisted in the U.S. Marines. After months of preparation and training, she was off to Paris Island last April for 13 weeks of boot camp. On November 5, LaBarca’s family joined her to witness her graduation — a day filled with overwhelming pride and excitement, according her mother, Pat LaBarca.

Awake and ready to go at 4 a.m. each morning, LaBarca said the best word to describe her time at boot camp was simply, “hectic.” “Sometimes you’re getting dressed multiple times because either you’re moving too slow, or the other girls aren’t moving fast enough, so everyone has to start over… it’s funny at times, but annoying at the same time,” laughed LaBarca.

Depending on the day, things varied in terms of a schedule for the girls. In the morning, there would be a physical training component, followed by classes. Depending on which phase of training you were in, said LaBarca, your day changed. The first phase consisted of mostly classes all day long, but in the second phase “you’d be at the rifle range shooting all day long, and then you had basic warrior training,” she said.

“I joined the Marines because there are better opportunities for me here — I can get schooling and a job, and be doing something I love,” said LaBarca when recalling her reasoning for joining the Marines. “I wanted to do something to not only help my family, but to better myself as a person.”

LaBarca was not just the only graduate in her class to join the service after graduation, but also the only female in her training class here on Long Island before she left for boot camp.

There were as many as 60 women sharing one rack, or bunk, and despite everything, that was the hardest part of boot camp according to LaBarca.

“I knew she could get through it,” said Pat, “she’s a strong girl, but I knew the girls would make her crazy.”

LaBarca has always been competitive — training with all males back home made her feel as if she was being punished when she got to boot camp because a lot of the girls were nowhere near as physically fit as she was.