British Students join Korean Navy: Boot Camp Day

All South Korean men have to serve almost two years of military service in the prime of their life. It's an experience shared by all the Korean guys I know, something I've often wondered about but never been able to fully understand. Now, the Korean Ministry of Defence has agreed to give us unprecedented access to their Navy Boot Camp Program. Six young men from the UK have travelled to Korea and will be enlisting alongside their Korean peers to experience what it's truly like to be a new recruit. It was time to head from Seoul down to Jinhae, to the Navy base for our basic training. I'm optimistic about the week ahead. A couple of the other boys are really nervous for it. But I'm, you know, confident. I'm on the optimistic side for sure, definitely. You've just got to give everything a go. That's what my mum sort of taught me. And I feel like if you don't do that, you're not going to miss out on loads of things if you don't have a go at everything. I mean, it's really exciting being back with the boys again. And I'm already dreading what's to come. I know it's going to be hard. I know it's going to be a challenge, which is a good thing, I think. I think we all kind of need a challenge. I think it'll be good for us. Are there any specific things you're worried about? I think getting told off by the drill sergeant. I think there's a big risk that we'll get just told off. I don't know, for having too much fun, maybe. This is it, boys. This is it. Oh, no. God, it's huge. Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, no. Man, I know what we're doing and I'm nervous. Really? There's a tension, isn't there? Yeah, but there's just more of a tension because, I don't know, it's just like general. I know what we're doing, so I'm nervous. Yeah, yeah. Oh. Remember, guys your age who turn up, they just know they're turning up. When they turn up, they turn up. Really? Pretty much. They don't have an itinerary before they go. They don't have, like, we're doing this on Monday. Oh, okay. Tuesday. Wednesday. Mike, shut the **** up. Whoa, I'm on this ferry. We are at a military base. Welcome. It was fun, though, cutting the hair phase. That was fun. Do you know what? I want to go back to that hotel. All right, let's do two pull-ups, man. Oh, gosh. No way. Oh, God. You know what's worse? We don't look the same as well. Before we could meet our fellow recruits, we had to get COVID tests and change into the standard Navy exercise uniform. I feel a bit sick. You feel sick? Yeah, I think because I've had too much to eat. You're close with your mum, your girlfriend. What do they think about you coming out here to do the Navy boot camp? I'm getting emotional, Jesus. Yeah, I just miss them. Sorry. Yeah, I just miss them. Oh, sorry. I don't know why I get emotional. I was all good, but, yeah. Mum called me actually fighting off at, like, four in the morning in the UK. Like, it's ridiculous. Like, she worries about me so much. But that's what mums do, though. That's why they're the best mums. So, yeah. I'm excited to be cut off from my phone for four days. We don't have enough phones. Yeah, that'll be good. I'm fine with that. How many days are we going to be there for? Four days. Four days? Oh, wow. Wow, yeah. I don't know. Just something about it. Like, it's the military. Like, no one's ever done anything like that. And that's why everyone's a bit cautious about it. That's how all Koreans your age are feeling right now. Yeah. This is intense. So, obviously, we've got a lot of things planned on the base here, but there's one thing that we wanted to arrange that would be a bit of a confidence boost for them. About to reveal that to them right now. Is he our instructor or something? So, a little surprise for you boys. We got your old headmaster, Mr. Smith, to come and join us for the experience. We thought it'd be a nice morale boost for you at the boot camp. You guys didn't see that coming, did you? What's going on? Welcome. I'm very excited, gentlemen. Very excited. The look on your faces. You ready? Yeah. Let's go. Okay. Don't know what we're doing, but we're going to go. This is also my first time. I don't know what to expect, so we're all in the same boat. I'm the fittest and healthiest I've ever been. You look great. You look great. I don't know if it's good or bad, to be fair. It made me more nervous. Never run in the training center. All right? Yeah. Don't say yes to me. You should say yes to DI. Yeah. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Guys, come on. Help me with this. Oh, man. That is so bad. That was so bad. Bob, you are going to get us in so much trouble. That was so bad. Come on. You are killing me. Having joined up with the fellow recruits, the boys in Martian into military service could begin. They were going to be thrown right into the deep end. Everyone knows exactly what to do when they shout, but we're kind of just looking around, side to side. And we're like, two seconds later, everyone just goes, oh, it's just been really intense. From now on, the combat training you are going to do is a training that will save you and your comrades when you are in a trap, or when an accident occurs at sea. I hope the combat training you learned today will help you. Do you understand? Yes. I don't like heights. We did the zip line in the last series, and that was a challenge. Heights is definitely my biggest fear, I'd say. This is terrifying. But it's OK. I was a bit overwhelmed when I first arrived, but I'm ready to take it in my stride. I'm not nervous. I am a little bit. One by one, every recruit, whether they could swim or not, took to the edge of the diving board and jumped. For some of them, really outside their comfort zone, the heights, the deep water, not knowing and understanding the instructions, it's a really, really big deal. Oh my goodness, I'm so scared. I'll be so honest, I didn't enjoy a lot of it. I can't swim, and we have to jump five meters from some platform straight into the water. We filmed on a military base before, but it wasn't a boot camp, and the soldiers we were filming with had done military service for a while. The level of intensity here now is completely different. Literally from the second we've arrived, they've just thrown the boys in with a group of guys literally exactly their age. I mean, this is Navy boot camp. Everyone who enters military service has to learn how to march in formation, and after a brief lesson, it was time to see what they had picked up. One, two, left foot. Left foot. One, two, three, four. Which one's left and right? I'll go right, Chad will go left. Just follow me because I'm following the person next to me. How did you find all the marching? People say I'm like at a football stadium when I march. It's a bit weird, I sort of go like... If you do it wrong, you look like a doughnut. You generally look like a doughnut. Too large, my bad. One, two, three, four. Did you hear that? Yep. One, two, three, four. Left foot. I'm absolutely loving this. This is brilliant, isn't it? You need to teach me how to count, Josh. I was just making noises. One, two... He said it about a thousand times. One, two, three, four. If you listen back to me speaking, you'll think, what is he saying? I'm just trying to hear. I love it. Okay, spoon, chopsticks. Hold the tray. And then rice. Rice here. I actually love this. When you're spooning something on, and you don't know what it is, but you just want it anyway. Thank you. When I'm on Squire, he's nervous. He's out of his comfort zone. Wow. This is not too shabby. This looks sick, yeah. Dave, you're having the time of your life. How much rice have you given yourself? Help yourself, mate. How hungry are you? I'm starving. I've just done my first run for ten years. I'm already exhausted. I'm already shattered. So much information in one go. It's a bit intense, huh? Finally, it was time for some food. So, what is your name? Pon. I'm Harvey. And a chance for the boys to get to know some of their fellow recruits. What's your name, sorry? Nam. How old are you? Sorry. 20. Yeah, 20. So, how did you find jumping in? Very. Yeah, it was terrifying. Have you done it before? Was it your first time? Oh, really? Oh, wow. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That moment where you step up the edge, that's terrifying. Felt okay until the end, and then the way down, it was crazy, man. I was just gritting my teeth. I like the fact there's just that expectancy that as soon as he blows the whistle, you've got to go. Because if you've got to make the decision yourself, you couldn't turn back around and go back, could you? I saw Max grab the railing a bit. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Max grabbed the railing on both sides. How scary was that? It was more scary being up there. Once it happened, it was okay. How long have you been here? Two months. And you like it? No. Really? Yeah. People like being in charge of the army. Yeah, yeah, yeah. How long are you here for? A year and a half? Yep. 20 months. You'll be okay. How do you feel? I feel good. A new experience for me. I'm ready to embrace it. It'll be fine. It'll be good. We're very excited to be here. Okay. I've never done anything like this. When's your first time in the pool today? Are the DIs scary? Yeah? No. Have they shouted at you? No. So what's a normal day like? What time do you wake up normally? We wake up at 5.45. 5.45? 5.45am. Yeah. 5.45. They wake up normally at 5.45am. 5.45am. Jesus. Man alive. This is more intense than I imagined. After dinner, it was back to the pool. Where all the recruits would be taking part in an exercise which required them to jump off the 5-metre diving board, climb into the life raft, and then as a team, swim in unison the full length of the pool. The boys got a chance to practice all of the manoeuvres before combining them all. Two, three. You have to save someone. I'd get Mr Smith as my partner. You know he's big. I'm not that big. I'm having a great time. And then that was tough. Today, the swimming pool activities were really fun. I really enjoyed it. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Stage one was to jump off the diving board. I've done it once. I'll never do it again. Feeling confident? I'm proud. No nerves. I was expecting it to be hard, but nowhere near as hard as this. Nowhere near as fully immersive as this. Stage two was to climb into the life raft, which was easier said than done. At the end of the day, absolutely everything is about doing it collectively as a team. For stage three, we had to dismount the life raft, assemble ourselves into a line, and swim together all the way to the end of the pool. You've got to give absolutely everything, and it's just exhausting. Go! The boys, obviously, they're 19, 20 years old. I'm 36. And boy, do I feel my age. After the exercise, it was time to head to our barracks. But the DI wasn't happy with how seriously we were taking the training so far. Yes! 1, 2, 3, 4. We're not going to do it here. Are you having fun with the camera? No. Does it look easy? No. Stand up straight for 40 minutes until 20. Do you understand? Yes. Do you hear me? Yes. Do you understand? Yes. Follow, follow. We walked into the dorm. I think that's when it hit me. Like a moment of realization. This is real. Where are we staying? Bloody hell, they put my whole government name on there. Right, so you go on top, yeah? Second, okay. What the heck? We're getting filmed here as well. God, it's like a reality TV show. Armand, you got told. Armand almost literally got us killed out there. Yeah. That moment when Armand was fooling around. You got belted out. I got shouted out so badly. I understand. Just a little bit right. A little bit more. Not perfect, but a little bit more. And your feet is almost 90 degrees, just reduce your angle. I'm coming, I'm coming, I'm coming, I'm coming. So, you are one. Remember, two. One, two. So, you remember, you are two. Three, four, five, six, seven. One, two, three. One, two, three, four, five. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. Attention. If you keep your posture, you won't move. Attention. Are you done with your personal hygiene and personal duties? Yes. Attention. If you do it now, you will stand in a standing position in front of the individual judges. Do you understand? Yes. Voice, volume, do you understand? Voice volume. Yes. Do you understand? Yes. Attention. Stand in front of your bed. Get back to your bath. You'll be standing in front of your bed. It's going to be inspection. Max, put your bag on top. Attention. If you do it now, put all the things you need in the box. No, you need to keep your underwear. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Keep your toothbrush. Oh, right. Okay, okay. Keep toiletries. Keep underwear. Brilliant. Okay. How can I not keep my f***ing teddy bear? Hmm? Jeez, my girlfriend's teddy bear. Yes. Do you want my wallet as well? What, sorry? They took Bobby's teddy bear. It's extreme, man. It's a great experience, though. No, it's good fun. And obviously, you'd probably disagree, but I look at the young people today. Oh. Yeah? What, are you 40? 30? Yeah, well, I am. Are you 40? 36. You're still young. But like, you know, just the average kid at school, they don't think they should respect an adult unless you've earned their respect. Whereas here, you just have to learn to respect an adult. And that's quite powerful. Wait, Natty, Natty, your marching was on point. You were nailing it. I know, that's the only thing I've got in me. The marching was good. Thank you. It's because back home, I was in the police cadets, so we used to march a lot. Oh, jeez. You were a police cadet? In London, yeah. But not anymore, a long time ago. Why? Hmm? Why was I? Because I went to university, so I had to stop going. Because I go to university outside of home. Missed you, Max. Yeah, I know. Missed you, too. Missed you. School's not something without you. Well, it never would be. It never would be. The elite year. Yeah, the elite year. But, you know. Wait, are you staying here with us as well? Do you have your name here? I was going to, but we decided it's better for you guys to not have me to lean on at all for a while. Wait, you're not staying with us? Oh, that's just because you prefer going to a hotel. You're not either, so. Yeah, yeah. I swear. Luke and Ollie decided it was better if we didn't stay with you. Oh, Mr. Smith, come on. You guys have to be independent. Right. Make some friends. Can you stop touching me, please? Yeah. See, he's already annoyed. Yeah, he is. I'm f***ing annoyed. I've had a f***ing long day. You're pissing me off. Someone's agitated. Huh? Someone's agitated. That's right. Yeah, I know. I'm pissed that they're staying at a hotel, man. I'm pissed. So, we've just left the boys. Don't know if you guys are able to see the energy in there. People are stressed. They're nervous. The reason why I was so disheartened, maybe, was because I was just, it was not what I expected at all. I think I sort of expected definitely to push myself physically, but I didn't expect the mental push. Swishy! That is the maddest thing we're experiencing in our life. I think the first couple of weeks have been the toughest. Yeah. I'm ready to bounce now. Call it quits, man. Yeah, just lie down, that's right. Essentially, what you have to do is you have to get in bed and then lie in attention position in bed with your feet, like, V-shaped. Good night. So, you just lie down there, and then eventually, they'll say, you go to bed, and everyone just quickly scrambles, gets the bed sheets over them. You missed your loo time. Wait, are we staying in these clothes for the night? You do not. If you don't, the ice will come in and bust our ass. Well, good night. Don't have a good night. Good night. Yeah. Boys, good night, yeah? Good night. I kid you not, because I was so serious the whole day, I put the bed sheets over my head, and I just couldn't stop laughing. Genuinely, I was just giggling to myself for a good three, four minutes. I was like, what is going on? Where am I? What am I doing? Why am I lying down like a pencil in my bed? Oh, God, I'm going to get brain damage. If everyone puts it on their head, it won't hurt as much. And he just kept going, he just kept going. The toughest bit was when he would put the log down. Parts of it where I thought, do I even want to do this anymore?