thedrifter
12-16-05, 05:23 AM
Swift, silent, deadly Marines prepare for dive school
MCB Camp Butler
Story by:Lance Cpl. Warren Peace
CAMP SCHWAB, OKINAWA, Japan(Dec. 16, 2005) -- Seventeen Marines with 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion, 3rd Marine Division, participated in a pre-dive course Nov. 29-Dec. 9 on Camp Schwab to prepare them for the 35-day Marine Corps Combatant Diver Course.
The pre-dive course prepares Marines physically and mentally through classroom instructions and rigorous physical training, explained Sgt. Hamid Razzazan, a team leader and reconnaissanceman with the battalion. The MCCDC, held at the Naval Diving and Salvage Training Center in Panama City, Fla., will be a true test of fitness.
During the two-week course, students physically trained by running and participating in various water aerobic exercises followed by open water finning, which is swimming wearing fins. While finning, students also wore load bearing vests, simulated ammunition with M-16A2 service rifles slung across their backs.
“By the end of the course they will be swimming 2,000 yards in open water,” said Gunnery Sgt. Mark D. Altenburg, the training chief for Headquarters and Service Company, 3rd Reconnaissance Bn. “They need to be ready for the (MCCDC). By the time they complete that course, they will have finned 63,000 yards - roughly 37 miles.”
Following the open water swim, students attended classes on the fundamentals of dive medicine, dive tables and basic dive principles, explained Razzazan.
“We are trying to set them up for success,” he said. “The (MCCDC) is extremely demanding, both physically and mentally. We want to send them to the dive course with a good understanding of the academic portion of the course, as well as being strong swimmers.”
The pre-dive course proved to be a challenge for the Marines who have been in the reconnaissance field for many years, according to Cpl. Jonathan E. McGarvey, a reconnaissanceman with 3rd Reconnaissance Bn. Instructors were present during all physical portions of the course to ensure that there were no health related incidents.
“When you’re totally exhausted and in the water, your life is pretty much in (the instructors) hands,” he said.
Ellie
MCB Camp Butler
Story by:Lance Cpl. Warren Peace
CAMP SCHWAB, OKINAWA, Japan(Dec. 16, 2005) -- Seventeen Marines with 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion, 3rd Marine Division, participated in a pre-dive course Nov. 29-Dec. 9 on Camp Schwab to prepare them for the 35-day Marine Corps Combatant Diver Course.
The pre-dive course prepares Marines physically and mentally through classroom instructions and rigorous physical training, explained Sgt. Hamid Razzazan, a team leader and reconnaissanceman with the battalion. The MCCDC, held at the Naval Diving and Salvage Training Center in Panama City, Fla., will be a true test of fitness.
During the two-week course, students physically trained by running and participating in various water aerobic exercises followed by open water finning, which is swimming wearing fins. While finning, students also wore load bearing vests, simulated ammunition with M-16A2 service rifles slung across their backs.
“By the end of the course they will be swimming 2,000 yards in open water,” said Gunnery Sgt. Mark D. Altenburg, the training chief for Headquarters and Service Company, 3rd Reconnaissance Bn. “They need to be ready for the (MCCDC). By the time they complete that course, they will have finned 63,000 yards - roughly 37 miles.”
Following the open water swim, students attended classes on the fundamentals of dive medicine, dive tables and basic dive principles, explained Razzazan.
“We are trying to set them up for success,” he said. “The (MCCDC) is extremely demanding, both physically and mentally. We want to send them to the dive course with a good understanding of the academic portion of the course, as well as being strong swimmers.”
The pre-dive course proved to be a challenge for the Marines who have been in the reconnaissance field for many years, according to Cpl. Jonathan E. McGarvey, a reconnaissanceman with 3rd Reconnaissance Bn. Instructors were present during all physical portions of the course to ensure that there were no health related incidents.
“When you’re totally exhausted and in the water, your life is pretty much in (the instructors) hands,” he said.
Ellie