MCMAP instructor devotes free time to teaching fellow Marines

Photo By Sgt. Juan D. Alfonso | Cpl. Cory T. McCormick became a black belt instructor Sept. 24.  

09.24.2006

Story by Cpl. Juan D. Alfonso 

III Marine Expeditionary Force   

by Lance Cpl. Juan D. Alfonso
III Marine Expeditionary Force PAO

He wanted to be a Marine ever since he was a child, now all he wants to do is train them.

Cpl. Cory T. McCormick, the noncommissioned officer in charge of the Camp Foster Post Office and a Marine Corps martial arts black belt instructor, uses his personal time to better his fellow Marines through MCMAP.

"He's really dedicated to what he does," said Lance Cpl. Alfonso R. Delgado, a postal clerk who works under McCormick. "He's the kind of Marine who will go the extra mile and make sure his Marines succeed. He's just a good NCO."

McCormick said he decided to join the Marine Corps when he was in 3rd grade.

"I used to see that old commercial of the Marine slaying a dragon, and I used to tell my mom, 'Mom, I want to fight dragons when I grow up,'" McCormick said laughing.

The Maryland native eventually joined the Young Marines and went on to become a lieutenant commander in the Naval Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps. He graduated from both organizations an honor graduate.

McCormick enlisted in the Marines in 2003 and attended recruit training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, S.C. He excelled again and became an honor graduate, earning a meritorious promotion to lance corporal.

McCormick said once he got to the fleet, it was his desire to better himself that led him to become a MCMAP instructor.

"I used to look around at all these NCOs and staff NCOs who had tan belts, and I started thinking that MCMAP was a way to set myself apart," McCormick said. "Once I became a gray belt, it wasn't enough. I was hooked, and I had to know how far it would go."

The 22-year-old attended the Martial Arts Instructor Course and eventually became a brown belt instructor. He hasn't stopped teaching Marines since.

"I love training Marines," he said. "I like to feel like I've made a difference in a person's life, the kind of positive impact that makes them think about me someday and say, 'He was a good NCO.'"

McCormick recently took on the challenge of training every Marine in Headquarters and Service Battalion on Camp Foster to the gray belt level.

With a battalion of more than 400 Marines and new ones arriving every week, the goal may seem unattainable, but that doesn't stop him from trying.

He recently completed a gray belt course for more than 22 Marines from the Installation Personnel Administration Center.

McCormick enlisted the help of several Marines with gray belts to help with the course, a move that fulfilled remediation hours required for the assisting Marines to advance to the next belt level and allowed McCormick to teach multiple courses at the same time.

Despite the amount of time MCMAP takes away from his personal life, McCormick says he'll continue to teach Marines until his end of active service in March 2007.

"When people tell me I can't do something, it just makes me try harder," McCormick said. "I live by a famous quote from Frederick Douglass, (who) once said: Without struggle there is no progress.' That's what MCMAP is, a struggle that makes me better."

• Date Taken: 09.24.2006
• Date Posted: 10.24.2006 08:30
• Story ID: 8115