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thedrifter
07-06-05, 10:42 AM
Young Marines Stay Committed, Graduate
Youths instilled with qualities for which military arm is famous
By Minerva Perez
SUN-STAR CORRESPONDENT
Last Updated: July 6, 2005, 07:44:56 AM PDT


Kirk Gadsby became a Young Marine to get a taste of what his future will be like. At 15, he already has decided that he "will go to the United States Naval Academy," as he puts it.
If the Castle Air Young Marines is any indication of what he can expect in Annapolis, Gadsby can look forward to a physically exhausting lifestyle with plenty of character building.

Gadsby and his fellow Young Marines gathered Tuesday along with friends and family at the Challenger Learning Center to congratulate the 10 Young Marines who have completed the 26-hour "boot camp," and to show support to those who have to continue.

"These kids are here because they want to be here. When you are the age that they are and you are willing to give up your nights to be put through this kind of regimen. That says a lot about you," said Commanding Officer Rudolf Tafoya.

Mark Barboa, 17, is the oldest of the group and has wanted to quit almost every day, but he keeps coming back, he said. The time commitment was at times too much for the teenager.

Like Gadsby, he joined the Young Marines to get a taste of military life in the hopes of one day following in the footsteps of his five brothers, three of which are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Even though the Army has his family now, he strongly believes in the Young Marine program and the discipline it has given him. He hasn't decided which branch of the military to join or if he wants to wait and go to college after graduating from Merced High School next year.

The latter is what Tafoya recommends. "They tell me 'well I want to join the military' I say go to college," he said. "You have to learn how to lead first."

The Young Marines is a nonprofit program started in 1965 with chapters in every state and in a few bases overseas. The program focuses on character building through self-discipline, teamwork and leadership with an emphasis on a healthy and drug-free lifestyle.

Although the Young Marines is the official youth program of the U.S. Marine Corps, it is not a recruiting tool, said Tafoya.

But it does strive to instill the Marine's core values of honor, courage and commitment.

These values are why most of the boys and girls join. Mauryanne Wissert, 11, felt that she could use more discipline in her life. "I was talking back to my grandmother and just being disrespectful," she said.

She learned of the program through school and having always admired her mother, a reserve with the U.S. Army, and decided to join.

Now, a year, later she hopes to one day be like her mother, who is about to leave for duty in Iraq.

Wissert said she wasn't always so "gung-ho" about the Young Marines and wanted to quit the first day of training.

Tafoya, 58, put Wissert and new recruits through 26 hours of "boot camp" in which recruits learn about history, close order drills, physical fitness, customs and courtesies and military rank structure.

Afterward they can choose to continue with the program and participate in its activities, which include community service, competitions and trips to Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego.

The Castle Air Young Marines branch is still fairly new compared with the 40- year history of the Young Marines.

When the cadet program of the National Guard Unit 184 was shut down, Tafoya, who was the cadet's martial arts instructor at the time, didn't want to see the program end so he asked the Challenger Learning Center for access to their facilities and began plans for a new program.

Tafoya chose the Young Marines for sentimental reasons, he was a Marine, as were his brothers and his two sons.

He joined the Marines because he wanted to be the "best of the best" and he hopes this motto will pass on to the youths he teaches.

"I think it's a little different than other branches of the military," he said. "Once you join, you never really leave. It's like someone opening up your chest and branding your heart." Correspondent Minerva Perez can be reached at citydesk@mercedsun-star.com.


Ellie