Like many in his generation, Pvt. Richard Faler was once considered unfit to serve in the military.

The 21-year-old tipped the scales at 305 pounds just a couple years ago. At 5 feet 10 inches, Faler was too heavy to join any of the services.

But his family had a long military history, and he wasn't going to let his weight get in his way of serving his country.

He and his brother started working out, and it paid off. Faler recently graduated from boot camp and became a Marine. Now 150 pounds, he is headed to his military occupational school to become a defense message system specialist.

Despite his dramatic transformation, Faler said boot camp would've been a lot easier if he had been in better shape when he got there.

"The standards are fine, if not a little too low," he told Marine Corps Times. "Even though I, with the help of family and my recruiters, made the height-weight and [fitness] standards to ship to boot camp, I wish that I reached the fitness level of where I was midway through boot camp.

Boot camp is tough for everyone, and even though he met the Marine Corps' fitness standards going in, carrying extra weight made it even tougher.

"I know it is designed to be as hard as you make it, but if the fitness standards were a little higher, I just personally believe I would have been even better off," he said.

× Fear of missing out? Sign up for the Marine Corps Times Daily News Roundup to receive the top Marine Corps stories every afternoon. Thanks for signing up. By giving us your email, you are opting in to the Marine Corps Times Daily News Roundup.

Here's how the private made the change from an out-of-shape civilian to Marine.

Continuing the tradition

Pvt. Richard Faler's family has a long history with the military. His grandparents were in the Air Force and Navy, and he has several cousins in the Army.

Faler, however, wanted to be different — he joined the Marine Corps.

He wanted to join what he calls the "hardest" service, but there was one problem: He weighed 305 pounds at the time.

Faler's grandparents served in the Air Force and Navy and he had several cousins in the Army. He wanted to follow in their footsteps, only he decided to join what he calls the "hardest" service: the Marine Corps.

In 2014, Faler called a recruiter in his home state of Indiana, but was told he needed to lose weight before he even bothered coming in. He needed to make some serious changes, he said, and knew his brother could help.

" He’s been a gym rat his whole life," Faler said.

Faler’s brother, Christian, got him running every day. He started small, just running a block around his house, but worked to increase it every day.

"I started running a block around my house," he said. "I made it bigger every day."

A year later, Faler walked into the Marine Corps recruiting office in Kokomo, Indiana, 80 pounds lighter .

A month later, he was in the Delayed Entry Program. His recruiter gave him a physical training plan, but it nearly killed his resolve.

"I could barely do any of it," Faler said. "At that point, I lost motivation when I realized after all that work I couldn't do anything."

But his brother continued to push him. To motivate the poolee further, Christian pledged to join the Marine Corps, too, if Faler proved he could meet the standards.

Finding the motivation

The Faler brothers got to work. Richard Faler still had 10 pounds to drop before he went to the Military Entrance Processing Station.

The pair printed a workout routine done by Hollywood fitness buff Mark Wahlberg — one of Christian’s favorite actors — and vowed to follow it every day. One worked days and the other nights, so they had to schedule their PT sessions creatively.

"We had a four-hour layover between when he was off and I had to go in," Faler said. "He'd come over and we'd lift weights, then we'd eat dinner, then go for a run."

Since he still needed to drop weight, Faler changed his eating habits, too. When he was heavier, he would sometimes eat three or four plates of food. He also drank a lot of sugary drinks, which he replaced with water.

"We ate a lot of chicken, and vegetables that we grew," he said. "The stuff we made was low fat and high protein."

He also watched how much he was eating. Instead of eating three or four plates, he would eat one or two and drink water instead of sugary drinks.

He got down to 185 pounds by April when he shipped off to boot camp. His brother kept his word about joining the Marine Corps, and shipped to boot camp about a month later.

Private Richard A. Faler, Echo Company, 2nd Recruit Training Battalion, stands next to his squad bay at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, July 5. Following recruit training, Faler will continue his schooling at Marine Combat Training at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., and then on to his military occupational specialty school to learn his profession of communications. Annually, more than 17,000 males recruited from the Western Recruiting Region are trained at MCRD San Diego. Echo Company is scheduled to graduate July 8.

Pvt. Richard Faler stands next to his squad bay at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego on July 5. Faler weighed more than 300 pounds before joining the Marine Corps. He now weighs about 150.

Photo Credit: Cpl. Jericho Crutcher/Marine Corps

Faler said he never could've met his goals without his brother and recruiters motivating him along the way.

"When I first called [Staff Sgt. Tyler Love at the recruiting office], he was the one who said I had to lose weight," Faler said. "He was making time out of his Saturday to come run with me during the mornings."

Love, who has been in the Marine Corps for 13 years, said Faler had a lot of drive.

"He just needed some coaching," he said.

Sgt. Jordan Jeffries was Christian’s recruiter. Faler credits him with helping him prepare for the Marine Corps' Initial Strength Test, which all prospective recruits must pass.

"He taught me different ways to work on certain parts of PT," Faler said.

Jeffries said when he was a new Marine, he was taught to do two pullups every minute for 30 minutes. He encouraged the Faler brothers to try the plan.

"It builds them up," Jeffries said. "[Faler] said that helped him a lot."

Both recruiters checked in with the Faler brothers routinely, Faler said, in order to keep them motivated.

"You just gotta get someone to help you out," he said. "It's a lot easier for a friend or brother to help push you through it."

" A lot of people told me I couldn’t do it," Faler said. "Just proving them wrong was the best feeling."

Charlsy Panzino covers veterans education, employment and transition issues, as well as travel, entertainment and fitness. Email her at cpanzino@militarytimes.com.