thedrifter
08-09-07, 06:52 AM
Youth get tough workout
By Press And Journal Staff : 8/8/2007
PA Young Marines, who meet biweekly in Royalton, recently returned from a weeklong excursion to Parris Island, S.C. The trip wasn’t exactly a vacation, though.
Forty-five members of the U.S. Marine Corps’ youth anti-drug program spent four days and four nights at the U.S. Marine Corps recruit depot, experiencing a small portion of recruit training and touring the facility.
The youth, ages 8 tthrough 17, each raised or paid $150 to go on the trip, July 15 through 21.
“I was nervous and didn’t know what to expect,” said Cpl. Tia Matz, 14, of Dillsburg.
Matz said she enjoyed the rigorous training, though. She plans to become a Marine someday and considered the trip a preview of the training she’ll go through one day.
Pfc. Douglas Baker Jr., 15, of Newville, said he also intends to join the Marine Corps, following in his father’s footsteps.
“[The trip] was good for me because now I know what I’m looking forward to,” Baker said.
“I didn’t want to leave,” he added.
Adjutant for the unit, Bob Hauser, explained the federal government requries all branches of the military to offer an anti-drug program for youth. This is the USMC’s answer to that requirement.
Because the group is not a recruiting arm for the Marine Corps, not all of the group’s members plan to join the military branch. Pvt. Stephen Hoch, 15, of Duncannon, is unsure of his intentions and received a bit of a surprise when he arrived at the depot.
“I thought it was going to be a vacation, but I was wrong,” Hoch said. He said he enjoyed the trip, though, and learned a lot about discipline from it.
The Young Marines slept in sleeping bags under the stars at a nearby campground each night and woke up at 4 a.m. every day to take a bus to the depot. Mealtimes were short and structured, beginning and ending when the guide started and finished eating. The guide is the group’s highest-ranking member, in charge of the unit. She finished a meal in about three minutes the first day, Matz said.
Young Marines were required to eat meals with their trays and cups pushed together on the table, one hand on their lap except when necessary to use both hands and minimal talking.
“We were more disciplined than [the Marine recruits],” Matz said with pride.
The Young Marines also marched everywhere and, when spoken to, yelled back to drill instructors.
“We do a lot of marching and yelling here [in Royalton], but it still seemed like a lot. I didn’t have a voice all week,” Baker said.
“We marched on the rifle range where they filmed ‘Full Metal Jacket,’” Hoch said.
The youth participated in PT, or physical training, one day, completing many of the same exercises required of recruits.
But they were sure their training was just an appetizer for the real thing.
“They didn’t even go 30 percent as hard on us as they do on the recruits,” Baker said.
They completed obstacle and confidence courses another day. Hoch explained the obstacle course tested each person’s physical ability while the confidence course, which he and a few others completed, tested each person’s confidence.
Baker, Hoch and Matz were very enthusiastic about Noonan’s Evacuation, a Marine Recruit Crucible exercise. The exercise was named after a Marine sergeant who successfully evacuated other wounded Marines before succumbing to his own wounds.
The teens described it as a timed drill down a three-mile trail. During the drill, the Young Marines followed drill instructors’ orders to hold an imaginary gun and march, drop to their knees and crawl in the dirt with their faces down and legs crossed, and run. Most of those orders changed every four feet or so, the teens said.
Hoch said he didn’t hit the ground fast enough once and was “killed” by an imaginary sniper. He said he was proud of how far he did make it, though.
Matz said she was proud to finish first among the girls in the group. The Young Marines were given 45 minutes to complete the drill, and those in the group that made it through the whole ordeal finished in 42 minutes.
They also sat in on Marine recruit classes and used the Marine Corps’ multi-million dollar video simulator to learn how to shoot an M16-A2 rifle.
“It was basically an electronic gun hooked up a video game, but when it kicks back, it feels real,” Matz said.
She was proud of how much the unit did and how well they did it.
“They told us we accomplished in four days what most recruits do in four weeks,” Matz said. Recruits typically complete boot camp in 12 weeks.
The youth also visited the Marine Corps Museum on Parris Island and relaxed during a casual three-hour tour of the U.S.S. North Carolina battleship memorial.
“It was kind-of creepy, knowing a lot of people died on [the U.S.S. North Carolina]. But it was beautiful, too,” Matz said.
Like others in her group, she felt the trip was well worth the cost in time and money.
“I’ll be back in four years. This trip didn’t change my mind [about entering the Marine Corps]. It just made me want to go even more,” Matz said.
The Young Marines meet at the Royalton borough offices every other Saturday, year-round, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. for drills and other activities.
The group is forming its next recruit class. Applicants should arrive at 1 p.m. on Aug. 11 or 18 to enroll.
Visit www.devilpups.net for more information.
Ellie
By Press And Journal Staff : 8/8/2007
PA Young Marines, who meet biweekly in Royalton, recently returned from a weeklong excursion to Parris Island, S.C. The trip wasn’t exactly a vacation, though.
Forty-five members of the U.S. Marine Corps’ youth anti-drug program spent four days and four nights at the U.S. Marine Corps recruit depot, experiencing a small portion of recruit training and touring the facility.
The youth, ages 8 tthrough 17, each raised or paid $150 to go on the trip, July 15 through 21.
“I was nervous and didn’t know what to expect,” said Cpl. Tia Matz, 14, of Dillsburg.
Matz said she enjoyed the rigorous training, though. She plans to become a Marine someday and considered the trip a preview of the training she’ll go through one day.
Pfc. Douglas Baker Jr., 15, of Newville, said he also intends to join the Marine Corps, following in his father’s footsteps.
“[The trip] was good for me because now I know what I’m looking forward to,” Baker said.
“I didn’t want to leave,” he added.
Adjutant for the unit, Bob Hauser, explained the federal government requries all branches of the military to offer an anti-drug program for youth. This is the USMC’s answer to that requirement.
Because the group is not a recruiting arm for the Marine Corps, not all of the group’s members plan to join the military branch. Pvt. Stephen Hoch, 15, of Duncannon, is unsure of his intentions and received a bit of a surprise when he arrived at the depot.
“I thought it was going to be a vacation, but I was wrong,” Hoch said. He said he enjoyed the trip, though, and learned a lot about discipline from it.
The Young Marines slept in sleeping bags under the stars at a nearby campground each night and woke up at 4 a.m. every day to take a bus to the depot. Mealtimes were short and structured, beginning and ending when the guide started and finished eating. The guide is the group’s highest-ranking member, in charge of the unit. She finished a meal in about three minutes the first day, Matz said.
Young Marines were required to eat meals with their trays and cups pushed together on the table, one hand on their lap except when necessary to use both hands and minimal talking.
“We were more disciplined than [the Marine recruits],” Matz said with pride.
The Young Marines also marched everywhere and, when spoken to, yelled back to drill instructors.
“We do a lot of marching and yelling here [in Royalton], but it still seemed like a lot. I didn’t have a voice all week,” Baker said.
“We marched on the rifle range where they filmed ‘Full Metal Jacket,’” Hoch said.
The youth participated in PT, or physical training, one day, completing many of the same exercises required of recruits.
But they were sure their training was just an appetizer for the real thing.
“They didn’t even go 30 percent as hard on us as they do on the recruits,” Baker said.
They completed obstacle and confidence courses another day. Hoch explained the obstacle course tested each person’s physical ability while the confidence course, which he and a few others completed, tested each person’s confidence.
Baker, Hoch and Matz were very enthusiastic about Noonan’s Evacuation, a Marine Recruit Crucible exercise. The exercise was named after a Marine sergeant who successfully evacuated other wounded Marines before succumbing to his own wounds.
The teens described it as a timed drill down a three-mile trail. During the drill, the Young Marines followed drill instructors’ orders to hold an imaginary gun and march, drop to their knees and crawl in the dirt with their faces down and legs crossed, and run. Most of those orders changed every four feet or so, the teens said.
Hoch said he didn’t hit the ground fast enough once and was “killed” by an imaginary sniper. He said he was proud of how far he did make it, though.
Matz said she was proud to finish first among the girls in the group. The Young Marines were given 45 minutes to complete the drill, and those in the group that made it through the whole ordeal finished in 42 minutes.
They also sat in on Marine recruit classes and used the Marine Corps’ multi-million dollar video simulator to learn how to shoot an M16-A2 rifle.
“It was basically an electronic gun hooked up a video game, but when it kicks back, it feels real,” Matz said.
She was proud of how much the unit did and how well they did it.
“They told us we accomplished in four days what most recruits do in four weeks,” Matz said. Recruits typically complete boot camp in 12 weeks.
The youth also visited the Marine Corps Museum on Parris Island and relaxed during a casual three-hour tour of the U.S.S. North Carolina battleship memorial.
“It was kind-of creepy, knowing a lot of people died on [the U.S.S. North Carolina]. But it was beautiful, too,” Matz said.
Like others in her group, she felt the trip was well worth the cost in time and money.
“I’ll be back in four years. This trip didn’t change my mind [about entering the Marine Corps]. It just made me want to go even more,” Matz said.
The Young Marines meet at the Royalton borough offices every other Saturday, year-round, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. for drills and other activities.
The group is forming its next recruit class. Applicants should arrive at 1 p.m. on Aug. 11 or 18 to enroll.
Visit www.devilpups.net for more information.
Ellie