2nd Recon Bn. jumps in the deep end

Photo By Lance Cpl. Preston McDonald | A Marine with 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion, 2nd Marine Division allows himself to sink to the bottom if the pool while conducting 5 bobs with a mask in his mouth at the Courthouse Bay Training Tank aboard Camp Lejeune, N.C., March 20. Approximately 20 Marines from 2nd Recon Bn. are participated in a two week pre-dive course in which they conducted exercises that would ready them for Combatant Diver Course.  

CAMP LEJEUNE, NORTH CAROLINA, UNITED STATES

03.20.2015

Story by Lance Cpl. Preston McDonald 

II Marine Expeditionary Force   

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. - Marines with 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion, 2nd Marine Division underwent a two-week pre-dive course at the Courthouse Bay Swim Tank aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, March 16-27.

The course is put together to prepare the Marines for what they will encounter at the Combatant Diver Course.

“We take some of the areas that students are known to fail at and then we bring it into pre-dive,” said Staff Sgt. Jon Roig, the dive locker staff non-commissioned officer-in-charge, with 2nd Recon Bn. “We work on the Marines and sailors in those areas so they are set up for success prior to going to dive school.”

The Marines undergo training in different areas such as an underwater swim, tying knots without a mask, and drown-proofing.

“Drown-proofing is where their arms and feet are tied together,” said Roig, “They have to go through a series of events; such as bobbing, floating, having to do front-flips and back-flips, having to get their mask with their teeth from the bottom of the pool and do 5 bobs with their masks still in their mouth.”

The drown-proofing portion of Dive School is called the Special Operations Command screener. The Marines encounter the SOCOM screener on the second day of Dive School. For most, the screener contains the toughest obstacles.

“For me, the hardest part is the mask bob,” said Lance Cpl. Thomas Proctor, a reconnaissance Marine with 2nd Recon.

Proctor said that retrieving the mask is tiring in itself but what really pushes him are the five extra bobs afterwards.

During pre-dive, the Marines are split up into smaller groups and are given hands-on instruction and guidance to help in each section of the SOCOM screener.

Roig said that he feels confident in the Marines at the end of the course when he sees the lightbulb effect and they can comprehend the tactics that he has taught them.

Roig also said that the Marines are tested to their limits during the pre-dive course, but it will greatly increase their chances of passing dive school once they get there.

“This is the best thing to prepare us for dive school,” said Proctor. “It is very well-rounded training. It’s physically harder than dive school and it will make us better equipped for it.”

Throughout the course, the Marines are tested in all aspects of the water. Not only must they overcome physical challenges, but they must use the principles instilled in them through becoming a Reconnaissance Marine in order to successfully get through the course.

“Never shall I forget the principles I accepted to become a recon Marine; honor, courage, spirit and heart,” said Roig while reciting the Reconnaissance Creed. “You can’t get through our course without all those principles already embedded in you.”

• Date Taken: 03.20.2015
• Date Posted: 03.25.2015 15:29
• Story ID: 158048
• Location: CAMP LEJEUNE, NORTH CAROLINA, US