thedrifter
10-10-04, 09:56 AM
Water World
Marines face more intense swim training
Published Sun, Oct 10, 2004
By MICHAEL KERR
Gazette staff writer
Still dripping, Kurt Brutting struggled to catch his breath after pulling himself from Parris Island's combat pool Friday afternoon.
The 21-year-old Marine Corps recruit from New York state had just finished a 50-meter swim with 35 pounds of gear weighing him down and an M-16 slung over his back, part of the Combat Water Survival training all recruits undergo on the island.
"During the 50-meter swim I thought I was going to give up,'" Brutting said, standing at attention while fellow recruits from Echo Company, 2nd Recruit Training Battalion struggled through the water. "Something told me to just keep going."
Brutting and the rest of his company were in the middle of their third day of swim training at the Marine Corps recruit depot. After a weekend break from the pool, the recruits will hit the water again Monday and Tuesday, some aiming to qualify at a higher level and others hoping to just qualify at all.
Starting in April, incoming recruit classes were faced with the new five-day swim training schedule, instead of the old Monday through Thursday schedule, as instructors aimed to increase the number of recruits qualifying at higher levels.
"That gives them the weekend in between the third and fourth swim training days to sort of rest their muscles up," said Col. Kevin Kelley, the commanding officer of the depot's Recruit Training Regiment.
The depot's goal, Kelley said, is for 20 percent of recruits to qualify at Combat Water Survival 2, which Brutting was struggling through Friday. Under the old schedule, about 19 percent of recruits qualified at that level, the second highest attainable. Since the new system was instituted, 27 percent have reached level two, Kelley said.
"The fifth day gives the instructors some extra latitude and allows us to qualify recruits at a higher level," Kelley said.
The extra day also gives recruits struggling to qualify at the lowest level, Combat Water Survival 4, more opportunities, said Staff Sgt. Anthony Davis, a Marine Combat Instructor/Trainer of Water Survival.
"They have a better chance of making it," Davis said. "They have more chances to try and advance to the next level."
A second significant change to recruit training this year was the movement of the Crucible from week 11 to week 10. The Crucible is the final, 54-hour test of recruits' mental and physical endurance, which challenges them to think for themselves for the first time, and to work as a team.
Since bumps, bruises and twisted ankles during the Crucible aren't uncommon, moving the event up a week gives recruits a longer amount of time to heal up before graduation, so they'll be healthy and ready for the school of infantry after leaving the depot, Kelley said.
Some kinks in the training schedule have also been worked out so administrative obligations, such as dental checkups, won't interfere with training, the colonel said.
Field firing at unknown distances has also been combined with Basic Warrior Training during week 9, and the final drill competition has been moved to week 11.
Overall, the changes have lead to healthier and better prepared Marines leaving the depot, said Staff Sgt. Brian Akers, a senior drill instructor with Echo Company.
"They're stronger. They're in better shape," Akers said. "They've got more intensity. The training is more life-like, mentally and physically."
That mental and physical toughness and intensity has new Marines better prepared for a future in which they could find themselves on the battlefields of Iraq or Afghanistan, Akers said.
"Before, you graduated 80 recruits," the senior drill instructor said. "They still had that recruit mentality. Now, you graduate 80 Marines."
As he awaited the next challenge of Combat Water Survival, recruit Brutting said the swim training had its moments of extreme difficulty, but that he expected it to all pay off in the end.
"It was harder than I expected," the recruit said. "I think I can go all the way."
Contact Michael Kerr at 986-5539 or mkerr@beaufortgazette.com.
http://beaufortgazette.com/ips_rich_content/NWS-recruit-swim1-10092004.jpg
Megan Lovett/Gazette
A marine recruit takes a gulp of air during the start of a 50-meter swim for Combat Water Survival 2, the third level of combat swim training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island on Friday afternoon.
http://beaufortgazette.com/ips_rich_content/NWS-recruit-swim2-10092004.jpg]
Megan Lovett/Gazette
A marine recruit from Echo Company, 2nd Recruit Training Battalion, focuses on the final stretch of a 50-meter swim during the third day of combat swim training at Parris Island on Friday afternoon.
http://www.beaufortgazette.com/local_news/story/4106112p-3872344c.html
The Drifter's Wife
Ellie
Marines face more intense swim training
Published Sun, Oct 10, 2004
By MICHAEL KERR
Gazette staff writer
Still dripping, Kurt Brutting struggled to catch his breath after pulling himself from Parris Island's combat pool Friday afternoon.
The 21-year-old Marine Corps recruit from New York state had just finished a 50-meter swim with 35 pounds of gear weighing him down and an M-16 slung over his back, part of the Combat Water Survival training all recruits undergo on the island.
"During the 50-meter swim I thought I was going to give up,'" Brutting said, standing at attention while fellow recruits from Echo Company, 2nd Recruit Training Battalion struggled through the water. "Something told me to just keep going."
Brutting and the rest of his company were in the middle of their third day of swim training at the Marine Corps recruit depot. After a weekend break from the pool, the recruits will hit the water again Monday and Tuesday, some aiming to qualify at a higher level and others hoping to just qualify at all.
Starting in April, incoming recruit classes were faced with the new five-day swim training schedule, instead of the old Monday through Thursday schedule, as instructors aimed to increase the number of recruits qualifying at higher levels.
"That gives them the weekend in between the third and fourth swim training days to sort of rest their muscles up," said Col. Kevin Kelley, the commanding officer of the depot's Recruit Training Regiment.
The depot's goal, Kelley said, is for 20 percent of recruits to qualify at Combat Water Survival 2, which Brutting was struggling through Friday. Under the old schedule, about 19 percent of recruits qualified at that level, the second highest attainable. Since the new system was instituted, 27 percent have reached level two, Kelley said.
"The fifth day gives the instructors some extra latitude and allows us to qualify recruits at a higher level," Kelley said.
The extra day also gives recruits struggling to qualify at the lowest level, Combat Water Survival 4, more opportunities, said Staff Sgt. Anthony Davis, a Marine Combat Instructor/Trainer of Water Survival.
"They have a better chance of making it," Davis said. "They have more chances to try and advance to the next level."
A second significant change to recruit training this year was the movement of the Crucible from week 11 to week 10. The Crucible is the final, 54-hour test of recruits' mental and physical endurance, which challenges them to think for themselves for the first time, and to work as a team.
Since bumps, bruises and twisted ankles during the Crucible aren't uncommon, moving the event up a week gives recruits a longer amount of time to heal up before graduation, so they'll be healthy and ready for the school of infantry after leaving the depot, Kelley said.
Some kinks in the training schedule have also been worked out so administrative obligations, such as dental checkups, won't interfere with training, the colonel said.
Field firing at unknown distances has also been combined with Basic Warrior Training during week 9, and the final drill competition has been moved to week 11.
Overall, the changes have lead to healthier and better prepared Marines leaving the depot, said Staff Sgt. Brian Akers, a senior drill instructor with Echo Company.
"They're stronger. They're in better shape," Akers said. "They've got more intensity. The training is more life-like, mentally and physically."
That mental and physical toughness and intensity has new Marines better prepared for a future in which they could find themselves on the battlefields of Iraq or Afghanistan, Akers said.
"Before, you graduated 80 recruits," the senior drill instructor said. "They still had that recruit mentality. Now, you graduate 80 Marines."
As he awaited the next challenge of Combat Water Survival, recruit Brutting said the swim training had its moments of extreme difficulty, but that he expected it to all pay off in the end.
"It was harder than I expected," the recruit said. "I think I can go all the way."
Contact Michael Kerr at 986-5539 or mkerr@beaufortgazette.com.
http://beaufortgazette.com/ips_rich_content/NWS-recruit-swim1-10092004.jpg
Megan Lovett/Gazette
A marine recruit takes a gulp of air during the start of a 50-meter swim for Combat Water Survival 2, the third level of combat swim training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island on Friday afternoon.
http://beaufortgazette.com/ips_rich_content/NWS-recruit-swim2-10092004.jpg]
Megan Lovett/Gazette
A marine recruit from Echo Company, 2nd Recruit Training Battalion, focuses on the final stretch of a 50-meter swim during the third day of combat swim training at Parris Island on Friday afternoon.
http://www.beaufortgazette.com/local_news/story/4106112p-3872344c.html
The Drifter's Wife
Ellie