Each year, hundreds of future Marines get a taste of boot camp during the annual Albany Combined Pool Function in Watervliet

400 men and women arrived to the Watervliet Aresnal Saturday morning for the beginning of a weekend long training simulation event.

The future Marines, also known as poolees participated in strength tests, high intensity interval traning, and a variety of field events.

This weekend’s pooles are anywhere from 17 to 28 years old.

Spectrum News spoke to one aspiring Marine who saw a Marine Corps commercial when he was 8-years-old.

Ever since, he says, being a Marine is all hes ever wanted.

“It was a Marine, he was running through the field with his rifle and then it flipped to another Marine holding his sword, and I was like that’s what I want to be," said Christian St. Andrews, a poolee.

The Combined Pool Function concludes tomorrow with physical training and closing remarks.