‘I did it for the pride’

[thedrifter]

‘I did it for the pride’ <br />
By Tony Pennington <br />
CNHI News Service <br />
<br />
— EDITOR’S NOTE: Transcript writer Tony Pennington and photographer Kevin Ellis are taking part in the weeklong Educators Workshop...

[jinelson]

One of our own is in print again. ROTFLMAO I hope he didnt scare the educators too badly. Get Some Gunny!

[thedrifter]

Into the crucible
The Norman Transcript

EDITOR’S NOTE: Transcript writer Tony Pennington and photographer Kevin Ellis are taking part in the weeklong Educators Workshop sponsored by the USMC.

By Tony Pennington

Transcript Staff Writer

SAN DIEGO — After two years at Oklahoma State University, recruit Richard Wade Boone felt he wanted more. He had a desire inspired by his grandfather and uncle who both served as members of the military. He wanted the challenge and discipline that came with the 12 weeks of the United States Marine Corps basic training. He wanted to be counted among the best.

“No ma’am,” the 21 year-old from Lawton responded when asked if he considered other military branches. “The Marines are just better.”

Boone is one of the 30,000 USMC recruits annually to test and prove themselves against the Corps training matrix. The three-month program is divided into three four-week phases. Phase I acclimates recruits to the Marine lifestyle. Phase II builds a sense of team while testing their physical and mental limits. And Phase III prepares the young men and women to assume their places as Marines.

“After Phase I we really have the rough product of what is to become a Marine,” said Capt. Matt McBroom, executive officer of Recruiting Station Oklahoma City. “They learn the Marine Corps basics so they can survive in the second phase.”

Phase II for the recruits assigned to the Receiving Depot in San Diego begins an hour away at Camp Pendleton. There they learn how to fire their M16-A2 rifles, work as a squad and fire teams and accomplish objectives, all under the watchful eyes and loud voices of their DIs. The final test of their time at Camp Pendleton is the “crucible” — a three day training exercise that will cover more than 50 miles including a 10-mile hike up and down the “Reaper.”

It was at the Infiltration Course Wednesday that the 41 members of the Marine Corps Educators Workshop watched Boone and his platoon begin their entry into the crucible. Behind Boone, the simulated sounds of gunfire and explosions faded like a scene change in an old war movie. He came to attention and stood silent and motionless as the guest educators asked questions of the handful of recruits assembled from the RS Denver and RS Oklahoma City areas.

During the brief question and answer period, Boone revealed he preferred the second phase to the first.

“Phase I is all about getting the discipline down,” he said, buried beneath more than 100 pounds of gear and a layer of dirt and face paint. “Phase II is more Marine training. It’s more physical and you learn about what it means to be a Marine.”

Norman recruiter Sgt. Shane Weeks, 24, said it was crucial to a recruit’s success that they understand the building blocks established in Phase I and expanded upon during Phase II.

“It’s paramount for them to figure that out,” Weeks said. “For these recruits to be effective, they must learn teamwork and that not one man alone is going to accomplish a task.”

Boone’s platoon will continue through the crucible over the next few days. They will get little to no sleep as they travel from station to station building trust and the concept of one among their fellow recruits. And if they are able to walk down the Reaper, McBroom, 38, of Norman said they will have completed the most physical part of training.

“That is the point of culmination,” he said of the crucible. “Once a recruit has made it through that, he has made it through the toughest portion of boot camp. From there, the recruits will be transported back to MCRD for the final preparations of graduation.”

And when those recruits, who weeks earlier experienced the “shock and awe” of the “yellow footprints,” leave San Diego with their eagle, globe and anchor, they will do so with the knowledge and discipline to carry them beyond military service.

“Recruits can expect to gain those intangibles and characteristics that will help them succeed in every part of life,” Weeks said.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Worthy of the eagle, globe and anchor
CNHI News Service

— EDITOR'S NOTE: Transcript writer Tony Pennington and photographer Kevin Ellis are taking part in the weeklong Educators Workshop sponsored by the USMC.

By Tony Pennington
Transcript Staff Writer

SAN DIEGO -- The United States Marine Corps band played the "The Marines' Hymn" Thursday morning as Timothy Smith stood at attention with his fellow recruits of platoon 1083 on the parade deck of Marine Corps Receiving Depot, San Diego.

In a few minutes they would be counted among the few and the proud. Three months ago, it must have seem a lifetime away.

Smith arrived at the Depot like any other recruit, head in their lap, silent and late in the evening. The "shock and awe" of basic training began when the doors of the bus opened and the ear-piercing shouts of 10-foot-tall drill instructors introduced them to life for the next 12 weeks. The process was under way. The recruits would be broken and rebuilt. No longer a collection of individuals, one way or the other, they would emerge as average, basic Marines.

From day one, the members of Alpha Company First Battalion lost more than their hair. Personal effects were removed and the distractions of the outside world banned in the isolated environment of boot camp. Their identities were stripped as they were all referred to as "Recruit."

Together they stood up to the challenges of physical training, classroom instruction, marching, marksmanship and team building. There were nights in the field and days climbing hills.
Every exercise and early morning led to the moment Smith, 19, of Midwest City and the others assembled in front of family and friends and accepted their eagle, globe and anchor pin, the final piece before they earned the right to be called a Marine.

And for Smith it was the best decision of his life.

"I had a lack of motivation and discipline to stay in college."

the new private said Tuesday as the reason for his enlistment.

"I decided to give it a shot and go with the hardest branch."

While he was nervous, stressed and not eating for the first few days of boot camp, Smith's family back in Midwest City was supportive, yet hesitant, about his enlistment.

"I knew he could do it, without a doubt," said Jesse Ryan, Smith's father, after Thursday's ceremony. "The harder things get, the more he excels. He's got a hard head and is very determined. He said if he was going do it, he wasn't going to do it half-ass."

Ryan may have been positive about his son's potential for success, but April, his mother, didn't like the idea of her boy leaving home.

"I was just scared," she said with tears forming in her eyes as she held her daughter Sara who was already crying. "It was just the thought of him being gone."

It would be months before April had an opportunity to embrace her son again. She wasted little time when the company was dismissed for five hours of liberty.

"It's great to see him again," she said. "I'm very proud. He looks awesome and taller."

The Marines will say the impression of a taller private is one of the by-products of 12 weeks of strength, discipline and pride.
After today's graduation ceremony, Smith will return to Midwest City with his parents for 10 days. He will then report back to San Diego for combat training.

But before he leaves again, Smith will eat a plateful of Hamburger Helper and give his family a chance to get used to the "taller" man he has become.

"It just amazing," Jesse said smiling while looking over his uniformed son. "We are just going to have to know him all over again."

Tony Pennington 366-3541 schools@normantranscript.com

Ellie