Photo By Cpl. Tommy Bellegarde | Lance Cpl. Dingyi Duan, of Buffalo, N.Y., a high-mobility artillery rocket system...... read more read more
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CAMP LEATHERNECK, Helmand province, Afghanistan – Getting through Marine Corps recruit training is a difficult, but necessary rite of passage for young adults who aspire to become United States Marines.
It is mentally and physically exhausting, and drill instructors hover constantly to correct mistakes instantly. Some recruits stand out and become leaders while others choose to blend in. No matter what their strategy, recruits must follow a drill instructor’s orders to the letter.
The vast majority of recruits are American citizens and native speakers of English. They understand nuances in body language and behavior that foreigners and others unfamiliar with American culture do not. Recruits who have English as a second language have an added challenge when enlisting in the Marine Corps.
Lance Cpl. Dingyi Duan, currently deployed to Afghanistan, is originally from Zibo, China and moved to Buffalo, N.Y. at age 17 to live with his mother and sisters. This was a period of adjustment for Duan. He spoke very little English, didn’t know many people in Buffalo, and was largely unfamiliar with American way of life. His mother, knowing her son’s competitive personality, told him about his sister’s success in school and how quickly she was learning the English language. Not to be outdone, Duan focused on education in an effort to improve himself.
He attended State University of New York at Geneseo, focusing primarily on schoolwork and learning English. Duane had been a student in China where he had very little free time and after three years of college, he wanted to take a break from school and try something new. He stopped by the Marine Corps recruiting station outside of the university one day just to see what the Marine Corps was all about.
“I’d been in school my whole life so I decided to do something different,” said Duan. “I stepped in and the recruiter was a really nice person. He asked me if I wanted to (enlist).”
Duan knew next to nothing about the Marine Corps, so he went on the internet to learn more. He was impressed by the competitive nature of Marines so he went back to the recruiter’s office and told him he wanted to be a United States Marine.
“I came back to the recruiter’s office after doing research online, trying to figure out (who) Marines are, what they do,” said Duan. “Then I decided, ‘okay, I’m going to be a Marine.”
When he stepped onto the yellow footprints of Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, S.C., in October 2009, he not only had to overcome the physical and mental challenges of recruit training, he had to do it with English as a second language.
Duan occasionally had a difficult time understanding orders from his drill instructors, but his English improved at a rapid rate, a product of his ability to adapt and overcome. The 22-year-old Duan said, “No matter what the drill instructors told me, all I could say was ‘aye, sir; yes, sir.’”
Duan managed to keep the drill instructors relatively at bay, despite not having a mastery of English, by showing a consistent, genuine desire to become a Marine. He was motivated and the challenge of recruit training catered to his competitive nature.
“The good thing was the recruits and my drill instructors didn’t really mess with me too much,” said Duan. “They helped push me through the whole three months of recruit training and helped me become a Marine, so I really appreciate my drill instructors and (fellow) recruits.”
Duan, currently a high-mobility artillery rocket systems crewman with Romeo Battery, 5th Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment, said recruit training was stressful, but it was worth the hardship. His English improved greatly, and he eventually bonded with his fellow recruits and drill instructors; the experience helped him grow significantly as a person, he said.
“I think the most important period of time when I adjusted myself (was) when I was in (recruit training), because you think about nothing but training and making it through the whole three (months),” said Duan. “I kept (asking) myself every night, every day, … ‘how am I going to make it through these three (months)? How am I going to do it in the future?’”
Two years have passed since Duan stepped onto the yellow footprints, and Duan has not yet met a challenge too difficult to overcome. Duan’s leadership has taken notice of his rapid growth as a Marine, and has been impressed with Duan’s determination, resiliency, and insatiable hunger for knowledge.
“His ability to adapt and overcome is very strong due to obvious reasons, coming from halfway across the world and into the Marine Corps,” said Temecula, Calif., native Sgt. Louis Cardin, an assistant section chief in Romeo Battery. “He knows himself and is always seeking self-improvement.”
Duan has come a long way in a relatively brief period. No longer is Duan the wide-eyed young man from China, nervous about moving a world away. He’s a United States Marine serving in Afghanistan, something he never would have predicted just a short time ago.
“I came all the way from China for college in America, and then from college I went to the Marine Corps,” said Duan. “From the Marine Corps, I made it all the way through recruit training, (Marine combat training), (military occupational specialty) school, made it to the (the operational Marine forces) and then made it to my deployment here out in Afghanistan – it’s really dramatic.”
Editor’s note: Fifth Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment, is currently assigned to 2nd Marine Division (Forward), which heads Task Force Leatherneck. The task force serves as the ground combat element of Regional Command (Southwest) and works in partnership with the Afghan National Security Force and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to conduct counterinsurgency operations. The unit is dedicated to securing the Afghan people, defeating insurgent forces and enabling ANSF assumption of security responsibilities within its area of operations in order to support the expansion of stability, development and legitimate governance.
| Date Taken: | 11.17.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 11.17.2011 04:59 |
| Story ID: | 80149 |
| Location: | CAMP LEATHERNECK, HELMAND PROVINCE, AF |
| Web Views: | 4,404 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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