thedrifter
08-02-05, 02:03 PM
Courtesy of Mark aka The Fontman
Young men begin their 12-week transformation into Marines
By MATT LANE, editor
Tuesday, August 2, 2005 11:11 AM CDT
SAN DIEGO - Randal Barnham, 19, of Wilburton, isn't the same young man he was on Monday.
Today he is on his way to becoming a member of America's most elite fighting force, the United States Marine Corps. Barnham, the son of Donnie Barnham and Sylvia Nelson, arrived Monday at the USO terminal at San Diego's Lindbergh International Airport and began a 12-week transformation that, if he makes it through the nation's toughest basic military course, will make him a Marine.
He stood in line at the USO with about 140 other young men, all of them hoping to become Marines, ramrod straight as a Marine drill instructor began the process of making Marines. "Say aye aye," the DI screamed as he asked the young recruits a question. The young men - from states and U.S. possessions west of the Mississippi River - answered back in loud, strong voices. Each recruit was literally numbered. The platoon they will spend the next 12 weeks in is written on their forearms. For Barnham, it's Platoon 2111.
During this first week, Barnham and his fellow recruits will endure an introduction to physical training, learn the Marine's core values, be taught about America's workhorse rişe - the M16AT - and undergo introductions to other core elements that make Marines.
As Monday's first taste of Marine life continued, the DI ordered Barnham and the other recruits to get on a bus - he called it his bus, and not one recruit argued the point - for the short ride from the airport to the Marine Recruit Training Depot, a collection of gold and red buildings and barracks where young men are turned into Marines.
The 2004 Wilburton High School graduate had no idea what was to come. "I want to serve my country and make myself a better person," Barnham told the McAlester News-Capital. "I would like to be the best I can possibly be."
Once at the depot, the young recruits were met by drill sergeants well versed in how to take young, undisciplined minds, and turn them into warriors.
As he stepped off the bus, Barnham walked - DI's tell recruits to walk fast, not run - to a line of gold footprints painted on an area in front of the contraband building. "You are walking," the DI's bark. "Do not run, walk faster, you are walking!"
As the recruits stand at attention, heads down, a DI reads from a large red and gold sign outside the contraband room. It lists the code of military justice - laws these young men and countless generations of Marines - will live by. The last on the list is important, the DI's say. "If you leave this base without permission, you will go to jail."
All the time he was walking, running really, the DI's were demanding Barnham stand up straight, not slouch and keep his eyes to the front. "On the marks," the DI's yelled. The contraband room - a place where nearly all vestiges of civilian life are stripped from the young recruits - was the next stop on this life-changing night.
Barnham marched into a room lined with red tables, each one containing numerous cubicles, a small green bag, a white mesh bag and a tan bag filled with the only items the Marine Corps says a recruit needs.
Combs, deodorant, hair gel - all of it must go. If recruits come wearing more than one shirt, off it comes and into a bag it goes. "Tuck those shirts in and pull your pants up to your navels where they belong," a DI demands as the addled young men rush to comply with a şurry of orders from the omnipresent drill instructors. Pockets are emptied and reminders of life before the Corps are placed in bags. It's done all in 60 seconds or the wrath of the DI's comes down.
Barnham has a small radio and earphones. That draws the attention of one of the DI's. He is told to report to a menacing looking drill instructor at a podium, on a platform at the front of the contraband room. "Take this envelope and write your name on it," the DI says. "Make it legible," he yells as he yanks the envelope from Barnham's hands. The young man must try again. He does it, writes his name and a brief description of the radio. He rushes back to his place in line.
Bibles and wedding rings are OK, but that's about it. Civilian life is over and Barnham is on his way to becoming a Marine. Last night he was issued clothing - from his shoes up - and an astonishing transformation began.
From the contraband room, Barnham is quick marched to a room where two barbers wait. This is no high fashion styling salon, the barbers work with ruthless efficiency. Barnham is sat down and in seconds his hair is reduced from dark brown locks to a very short stubble on his young scalp.
The transformation continues.
Today, Barnham and the group of recruits he is with, are going through the administrative part of becoming a Marine. They will be rushed from one office to another, filling out forms, answering questions and undergoing medical examinations. It's a tough regimen for these young men and one that may see them go for hour upon hour before they sleep.
The faces of these would-be-warriors are a cross section of America. Most of these faces will join the Corps, will proudly carry the title of United States Marine, but not until they make it through the next 12 weeks. Not until they are molded, shaped and transformed into disciplined warriors, grounded in the Corps tradition of courage and honor.
Barnham has begun an amazing journey.
He says he was visited by a recruiter after taking the ASVAB test, a standard test the military says "is a comprehensive career exploration and planning program that includes a multiple aptitude test battery, an interest inventory and various career planning tools designed to help students explore the world of work." Barnham says he was interested in what the recruiter had to say. He joined up and says he is ready for the challenge ahead. "I'm excited and I'm very nervous," he said.
Only young men are trained to be Marines in San Diego. Young women entering the Corps - and there are more and more - are trained at the recruit training depot at Paris Island.
S.C. Lt. Col. Scott Blankenship, the commanding officer of the 1st Recruit Training Battalion - one of three battalions at the depot in San Diego - says many of the young men who come to San Diego to become Marines are searching for something. "They are looking for direction," he said. "They are looking for something in their life that is going to help them be successful." Becoming a Marine is one way, Blankenship says, young men and women can demonstrate that desire to succeed.
Young Randal Barnham is working hard to succeed today. He is working toward one goal: To be a United States Marine.
Editor's note: This dispatch is the first in a series detailing how the United States Marine Corps trains warriors.
Matt Lane and Glen Eller are on assignment in San Diego as part of a trip for educators in Oklahoma and other states sponsored by the United States Marine Corps. Air transportation, some meals and lodging are being provided to this newspaper by the Marines. The stories and photos filed from San Diego are not subject to military censorship or review.
Ellie
Young men begin their 12-week transformation into Marines
By MATT LANE, editor
Tuesday, August 2, 2005 11:11 AM CDT
SAN DIEGO - Randal Barnham, 19, of Wilburton, isn't the same young man he was on Monday.
Today he is on his way to becoming a member of America's most elite fighting force, the United States Marine Corps. Barnham, the son of Donnie Barnham and Sylvia Nelson, arrived Monday at the USO terminal at San Diego's Lindbergh International Airport and began a 12-week transformation that, if he makes it through the nation's toughest basic military course, will make him a Marine.
He stood in line at the USO with about 140 other young men, all of them hoping to become Marines, ramrod straight as a Marine drill instructor began the process of making Marines. "Say aye aye," the DI screamed as he asked the young recruits a question. The young men - from states and U.S. possessions west of the Mississippi River - answered back in loud, strong voices. Each recruit was literally numbered. The platoon they will spend the next 12 weeks in is written on their forearms. For Barnham, it's Platoon 2111.
During this first week, Barnham and his fellow recruits will endure an introduction to physical training, learn the Marine's core values, be taught about America's workhorse rişe - the M16AT - and undergo introductions to other core elements that make Marines.
As Monday's first taste of Marine life continued, the DI ordered Barnham and the other recruits to get on a bus - he called it his bus, and not one recruit argued the point - for the short ride from the airport to the Marine Recruit Training Depot, a collection of gold and red buildings and barracks where young men are turned into Marines.
The 2004 Wilburton High School graduate had no idea what was to come. "I want to serve my country and make myself a better person," Barnham told the McAlester News-Capital. "I would like to be the best I can possibly be."
Once at the depot, the young recruits were met by drill sergeants well versed in how to take young, undisciplined minds, and turn them into warriors.
As he stepped off the bus, Barnham walked - DI's tell recruits to walk fast, not run - to a line of gold footprints painted on an area in front of the contraband building. "You are walking," the DI's bark. "Do not run, walk faster, you are walking!"
As the recruits stand at attention, heads down, a DI reads from a large red and gold sign outside the contraband room. It lists the code of military justice - laws these young men and countless generations of Marines - will live by. The last on the list is important, the DI's say. "If you leave this base without permission, you will go to jail."
All the time he was walking, running really, the DI's were demanding Barnham stand up straight, not slouch and keep his eyes to the front. "On the marks," the DI's yelled. The contraband room - a place where nearly all vestiges of civilian life are stripped from the young recruits - was the next stop on this life-changing night.
Barnham marched into a room lined with red tables, each one containing numerous cubicles, a small green bag, a white mesh bag and a tan bag filled with the only items the Marine Corps says a recruit needs.
Combs, deodorant, hair gel - all of it must go. If recruits come wearing more than one shirt, off it comes and into a bag it goes. "Tuck those shirts in and pull your pants up to your navels where they belong," a DI demands as the addled young men rush to comply with a şurry of orders from the omnipresent drill instructors. Pockets are emptied and reminders of life before the Corps are placed in bags. It's done all in 60 seconds or the wrath of the DI's comes down.
Barnham has a small radio and earphones. That draws the attention of one of the DI's. He is told to report to a menacing looking drill instructor at a podium, on a platform at the front of the contraband room. "Take this envelope and write your name on it," the DI says. "Make it legible," he yells as he yanks the envelope from Barnham's hands. The young man must try again. He does it, writes his name and a brief description of the radio. He rushes back to his place in line.
Bibles and wedding rings are OK, but that's about it. Civilian life is over and Barnham is on his way to becoming a Marine. Last night he was issued clothing - from his shoes up - and an astonishing transformation began.
From the contraband room, Barnham is quick marched to a room where two barbers wait. This is no high fashion styling salon, the barbers work with ruthless efficiency. Barnham is sat down and in seconds his hair is reduced from dark brown locks to a very short stubble on his young scalp.
The transformation continues.
Today, Barnham and the group of recruits he is with, are going through the administrative part of becoming a Marine. They will be rushed from one office to another, filling out forms, answering questions and undergoing medical examinations. It's a tough regimen for these young men and one that may see them go for hour upon hour before they sleep.
The faces of these would-be-warriors are a cross section of America. Most of these faces will join the Corps, will proudly carry the title of United States Marine, but not until they make it through the next 12 weeks. Not until they are molded, shaped and transformed into disciplined warriors, grounded in the Corps tradition of courage and honor.
Barnham has begun an amazing journey.
He says he was visited by a recruiter after taking the ASVAB test, a standard test the military says "is a comprehensive career exploration and planning program that includes a multiple aptitude test battery, an interest inventory and various career planning tools designed to help students explore the world of work." Barnham says he was interested in what the recruiter had to say. He joined up and says he is ready for the challenge ahead. "I'm excited and I'm very nervous," he said.
Only young men are trained to be Marines in San Diego. Young women entering the Corps - and there are more and more - are trained at the recruit training depot at Paris Island.
S.C. Lt. Col. Scott Blankenship, the commanding officer of the 1st Recruit Training Battalion - one of three battalions at the depot in San Diego - says many of the young men who come to San Diego to become Marines are searching for something. "They are looking for direction," he said. "They are looking for something in their life that is going to help them be successful." Becoming a Marine is one way, Blankenship says, young men and women can demonstrate that desire to succeed.
Young Randal Barnham is working hard to succeed today. He is working toward one goal: To be a United States Marine.
Editor's note: This dispatch is the first in a series detailing how the United States Marine Corps trains warriors.
Matt Lane and Glen Eller are on assignment in San Diego as part of a trip for educators in Oklahoma and other states sponsored by the United States Marine Corps. Air transportation, some meals and lodging are being provided to this newspaper by the Marines. The stories and photos filed from San Diego are not subject to military censorship or review.
Ellie