Photo By Sgt. Jamie Paetz | Recruits from Golf Company, 2nd Battalion, Recruit Training Regiment, Marine Corps...... read more read more
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As if 10 weeks of 16 hour days in constant motion aren't exhausting enough, Marine recruits from Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego have to endure a 54-hour training evolution at Camp Pendleton, Calif., appropriately named "The Crucible," before they can graduate basic training. The Crucible is jam-packed with obstacles in a combat-like atmosphere where sleep is reduced to four hours a night at most and food for two days is provided by only two Meals Ready to Eat, each of which only carry around 1,200 calories verses the 4,000 calories service members may burn each day, according to the Institute of Medicine.
After the end of the third tiresome night of the Crucible, recruits have only one last hurdle to clear.
It was at this last stretch that I joined the recruits of Golf Company, 2nd Battalion, Recruit Training Regiment, who'd been awake since 2 a.m. readying their selves and their 60 lb. packs for their last Crucible challenge, a 10-mile hike. They picked up their M-16 A2 service rifles and full combat gear including flaks and helmets. They were fatigued, and they were starving.
In an attempt to maintain a similar state as the recruits', I made sure I had little to eat the day before, took only four hours of rest and made my pack heavy. I woke up at 1 a.m. to get ready and then drove an hour from MCRD San Diego to the starting point for the hike. I was tired when I arrived at 2:30 and could only wonder how worn out the recruits already were and how much pain the blisters on their feet were causing them before we even stepped off.
I walked by the platoons of Golf Co. and noted the handfuls of recruits wrapping their feet, checking their weapons, chugging water and waiting.
The moon was full and gave every shiny or light surface on the ground a bluish glow. I found my way to the front of the formation and before I could introduce myself to the leaders hiking on my left and right, the order to begin moving echoed throughout the air.
We kept a moderate pace as we hiked in relative darkness and dipped in and out of a steep riverbed. After hiking several miles on a gentle incline, we approached a very grim, steep hill the recruits had been mentally preparing to climb for days now: "The Reaper."
"It's a real gut check," said Sergeant Maj. Mark Oloughlin, the 2nd Battalion sergeant major and a seasoned drill instructor. "And you have to remember these recruits are already exhausted and weak."
I began my ascension as the recruits took a few moments at the foot of the hill to take one last breather. My 5'3" figure was bent over at almost a 90-degree angle to compensate for weight of the pack I carried as I climbed an almost 70-degree incline. My heart began pounding, and the same beat began pounding in my legs. The Reaper's summit was only a quarter of a mile away. My heart felt like it was going to pound out of my chest at 50 feet, but I didn't slow down until I reached the top because I didn't want to feel the full toll the climb was taking on my body.
These recruits had been mentally and physically broken down. So what was driving them to climb over the Reaper? One recruit said it's what's around the corner that kept him going strong.
"My legs have been aching since we hiked out for the Crucible," said Aldo Estrada, a recruit from Glendora, Calif. "They're burning now, but it's that motivation that keeps me going."
Once the hike is over, the recruits will be handed the Marine Corps emblem device, the Eagle, Globe, and Anchor, and called Marines for the first time.
"I want to feel that pride. We've gotten this far, and we just need to finish. In a couple of hours we'll be Marines, and that's pretty exciting," said Estrada.
Once we all reached the summit, the drill instructors guided their platoons through several stations, reading them the biographies of a different Marine Medal of Honor recipient posted at each location.
The recruits re-wrapped their sore feet, chugged water and savored the severely-needed nutrients in the oranges they received.
The rest of the hike was all downhill and it seemed to be the longest stretch. We hiked the remaining five miles back with the rising sun and the raising temperature. I began to feel the places on my feet where I'd rubbed my skin completely off my heels, but I knew it was nothing compared to the feet of the recruits around me. I started to walk faster, hoping the adrenaline would keep the pain at a distance until we finished the hike.
It wasn't long before the dirt turned into a paved road and we were back at Edson Range, where the recruits stepped off for the Crucible just days before. We were now completely drained, hot and filthy. It was only 7:30 a.m. and the day had just begun.
The recruits stopped alongside the range's parade deck to stage their packs. They dusted each other off and waited for their drill instructors' command to march on deck. After 10 weeks as hell-raising dictators, the recruits' drill instructors were now their mentors, their big brothers-in-arms.
"I think they want us to be prepared for the most stressful situations," said Chris Kupka, a recruit with Plt. 2145 who will one day join the ranks as an Amphibious Assault Vehicle crewman.
"It's part of what we do. In a time of war, you need to fight through pressure and fatigue," he said, "and I think that's why they yelled so much and kept us moving fast. This is just a simple version of what I'm going to be going through."
| Date Taken: | 09.29.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 09.29.2009 12:31 |
| Story ID: | 39432 |
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| Web Views: | 5,560 |
| Downloads: | 1,035 |
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