Photo By Cpl. Thomas Sheng | Kubasaki High School students with the Marine Corps Junior Reserve Officers’...... read more read more
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CAMP FOSTER, OKINAWA, Japan – U.S. Marines with the Installation Personnel Administration Center, Marine Corps Installations Pacific, volunteered to give children ages 5-10 a Marine Corps experience during Kids’ Warrior Day on May 4.
Marine Corps Community Services Okinawa designed a four-hour event to give military children a taste of the responsibilities and duties of a Marine. All children that attended were split into squads designated by color, and were rotated through events such as the rifle range, obstacle course, combat fitness test, and the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program.
Some of the parents sat back and enjoyed the event from the sideline, while some followed their children through each event, motivating them and giving them support at each station.
“When I was a drill instructor, my oldest daughter had said she wanted to be a Marine, because she just liked the way we carried ourselves and the way we addressed each other,” said U.S. Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Miguel Pantoja, the guest speaker for Kids’ Warrior Day and a native of California. “This event was a good opportunity for parents to let their kids experience something that MCCS has to offer, but to also experience important aspects of the Marine Corps.”
To begin, children stood at the position of attention alongside their parental Marines during “morning colors.” MCCS Okinawa also enlisted the help of Kubasaki High School’s Marine Corps Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps for a ceremony that featured a color guard.
Each squad was assigned a group of Marine volunteers to act as squad leaders to guide them through each event and answer any questions that the children had.
Team Yellow, also known as “The Bananas,” was led by Cpl. Isabelle Chavez, Cpl. Evelyn Arredondo, Cpl. Jaden Cruz, Lance Cpl. Joshua Gonzalezcaceres, and Pfc. Marcel Robinson, all administrative specialists with IPAC, MCIPAC.
“Being a military child myself, my dad taught me what the Marine Corps was about, so at a young age, I felt like I had a good grasp of what it was,” said Chavez, a native of California. “My childhood experience was very helpful because when I enlisted, I knew some of the things to expect, so I thank my dad for that.”
Marines leading the team, supervised the children and also encouraged them. During ceremonial portions of the event the Marines showed children how to execute drill and marching movements. During events like the CFT and obstacle course, the Marines gave them verbal support and followed them through each maneuver. During the nerf gun range, Marines provided any assistance for aiming suggestions and weapon malfunctions.
The Bananas’s first station was dodgeball, a commonly played game in the Marine Corps for sport-oriented physical training, and also during unit field meets. During this, the children began to reveal their competitive nature and began to warm up to the event.
The next station was a bounce house that resembled the Marine Corps Obstacle Course. Children had to crawl through tube-like structures, jump over obstacles, climb up walls, and make a leap of faith. At first the children were reluctant to jump down, but after completing their first attempts, they became more comfortable with the obstacle course and gained confidence for the rest of the day.
“At the bounce house they were scared to jump at first, but when they did, they were super happy,” said Chavez. “In the beginning they were all very shy, but as the day went on they became more energetic and opened up to us.”
After the obstacle course, The Bananas transitioned to events that reflected annual Marine Corps qualification requirements. Marine volunteers guided children through the CFT course, provided help during the Nerf gun range, and held striking pads during the MCMAP lesson.
“I challenged my daughter to see if she could beat my CFT score so it was more competitive in nature,” said Pantoja. “My son had a fun time at the shooting range and he felt like he was playing a video game. He said, ‘Look daddy, I’m doing the same thing that you do when you go to the rifle range.’”
To give the children a break, Marines with the Provost Marshal’s Office, MCIPAC, brought out military working dogs to put on a demonstration, and opened the floor to questions from the children about the dogs.
“This reminded me of when we started [Marine Corps Boot Camp.] We didn’t know what we were doing and we didn't want to talk to anybody,” said Cruz. “I kind of saw myself in them because that's the same process I went through. I’m just glad they were able to open up in the same way we did to everything.”
After the final station, the children went to their parents, who had formed a bridge with streamers for the children to run through. After the last child had passed, a cake-cutting ceremony was held where the oldest and youngest child present shared the first pieces of cake.
“For the kids!” said the Marine volunteers.
Chavez, Cruz, Arredondo, and Gonzalezcaceres had expressed their satisfaction with the experience of the event and all agreed that this is something they look forward to volunteering for next year.
“This reminds me of having little siblings,” said Gonzalezcaceres, a native of Indiana. “To be able to be a role model, and to encourage them out of their comfort zone to see them break out and have fun meant a lot to me.”
| Date Taken: | 05.04.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 05.08.2024 20:29 |
| Story ID: | 470611 |
| Location: | CAMP FOSTER, OKINAWA, JP |
| Web Views: | 34 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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