Photo By Capt. James Mercure | Second Lt. Joseph Miley, Marine Air Control Squadron 2 Detachment A commanding...... read more read more
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"Star Wars" versus "Star Trek." David versus Goliath. Pittsburgh Steelers versus Baltimore Ravens. Throughout the pages of history, great rivalries have shown us the nature of a true competitive spirit. July 31, the Marines of Marine Air Control Squadron 2 Detachment A added another chapter to that book.
The air traffic controllers and maintenance Marines of MACS-2 faced off during a triathlon that started in typical Marine Corps fashion; at the obstacle course.
"The triathlon started at the o'course and then there was a mile and a half run in boots and utilities and then immediately after the run, there was a 100-meter swim," said Sgt. Jason Howard, a MACS-2 air traffic controller. "We're deploying soon, so before we get out of here we wanted to build some camaraderie and espirit de corps with some friendly competition."
For the 10 Marines of the maintenance team and the 10 Marines of the controllers team, the prize for the brutal physical training session was the commanders' cup, which had the likeness of a gold Spartan warrior standing atop a block with blank placards waiting to be inscribed with the name of the winning team.
"Marines by nature are competitive, and this is a team competition for motivation and the commanders' cup," said Master Sgt. David Salinas, the MACS-2 staff non-commissioned officer-in-charge. "We're bringing the commander's cup forward with us so we can continue to have competitions such as this and the winning team can continue to have bragging rights."
As the Marines egged each other forward through the o'course, pushed themselves through the run and finished the last leg of the race at the pool, one Marine says he had a formula for finishing that made the whole thing a little easier.
"The o'course is pure focus, the run is all heart and the swim is endurance," said Lance Cpl. Danny Fulton, a MACS-2 radar technician. "This shows you what you're made of, that's for sure."
As the competition grew to a close, the air traffic controllers seized the day after a few close calls.
"We thought halfway through the o'course we were done," said Sgt. Joseph Derringer a MACS-2 air traffic controller. "But then one of our Marines blew through the course and the run and it motivated our team to move faster."
The competitive edge of these Marines was evident that day by how hard they pushed themselves, and each other, which proved once again that no matter which side they were on, all Marines are on the same team.
"If you don't respect or know the Marines you're working with, it makes the job harder, and days like this bring us together and shows us how strong our leadership is," Fulton concluded.
| Date Taken: | 08.06.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 08.06.2009 17:30 |
| Story ID: | 37229 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 151 |
| Downloads: | 126 |
This work, MACS-2 faces off, builds camaraderie during triathlon, by CPT James Mercure, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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