Am I being lowballed? I received an offer with an $86,000 base salary, a $15,000 bonus, and 125 RSUs. I have four years of networking experience, one year of leadership experience, an MBA in IT Management, and several IT certifications. Does this seem competitive for my background?
I know Boot Camp is supposed to be hard. Nobody is expecting summer camp. Yelling, discipline, stress, etc. comes with the military. But based on multiple accounts from recruits who went through RTC and separations between April–May 2026, there’s a difference between training people and straight-up degrading them.
A lot of recruits reported being bullied, humiliated, ignored during mental health situations, or treated like they were inconvenient for asking for help. Some people said they were mocked for wanting to see chaplains or medical. One recruit allegedly got told “praying doesn’t help you swim.” Another was referred to as “the girl that wants to kill herself.” Female recruits said some RDCs casually called them “bitches” and talked down to them constantly.
Ship 17 and separations got mentioned A LOT. Recruits described mold, ants, broken equipment, lack of masks, sick people not being separated, and admin/legal constantly delaying things or making mistakes. Multiple people said they felt like once you’re in separations, nobody cares anymore and you’re treated like less than human. Some recruits even said leadership discouraged people from going to legal unless Congress got involved.
And before anyone says “that’s just military culture,” there’s a difference between discipline and people being on power trips. Some leadership actually WERE respected. Recruits specifically mentioned Chief Farley and PO Barnes as professional and respectful, so clearly it’s possible to lead people without humiliating them.
The most concerning part honestly was the mental health side. Multiple recruits talked about suicidal thoughts, self-harm concerns, or being mentally drained and feeling ignored or mocked instead of helped. That’s not “making stronger sailors.” That’s how people break.
Not saying every RDC or chief is bad because that wouldn’t be true. But when this many stories line up across different divisions and ships, something needs to be looked into.