thedrifter
08-11-07, 09:08 AM
What does a Marine recruit endure during "The Crucible?"
By TOM DAVIS
Tribune Managing Editor
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. - The Crucible is a three-day physical, psychological and emotional test for each Marine recruit. It involves the recruits being shipped up to Camp Pendleton, which is a massive base bordering the Pacific Ocean just south of Los Angeles.
Its purpose is to teach leadership, teamwork and the importance of pursuing a goal.
"My job is to make the best Marines that I can," Drill Instructor Sergeant Melvin Newlin said. "In Iraq, when they're in combat, it is the attention to details that is the most important thing that they can do to stay alive. So out here (during The Crucible), we teach them to watch for the little things."
The recruits are awakened at 0400, which is 4 a.m. for those of you not in the military, and the recruits embark on a 54-hour journey which will include 51 miles of hiking. On those marches - which are not performed in shorts, T-shirt and tennis shoes - the hiking is done in fatigues with large backpacks being toted.
The hikes are broken up into five-, eight- and 10-mile jaunts, in addition to having to walk everywhere they go throughout the week.
"The last time that they get to ride on anything is when they step off that bus (that brought them up to Camp Pendleton)," one Marine officer said.
The three days consists of working through - as a team - 32 stations and/or obstacles, of which you must accomplish the tasks as a team.
Each recruit is given three MREs for the duration, each containing roughly 2,500 calories. One thing that is not in short supply is water. The "old-school" philosophy carried on by generations of football coaches of "only the weak drink water" is not applicable to the Marine Corps. As a matter of fact, you would most likely find yourself in trouble with your drill instructor for not drinking enough.
"We have too much money invested in these recruits to let them get hurt in some way," Captain Mike McDowell explained. "We care a great deal about each and every one of these recruits. They are assets to us. They are not expendable."
That belief is held throughout the Corps.
"The recruit is going to give up on himself long before the drill instructors will ever give up on the recruit," Colonel Mark Callahan explained. "The Marines will do everything humanly possible to see to it that each recruit succeeds."
Following a day of marching, training and testing your physical, mental and emotional limits, at least the recruits can find a nice, soft bed to rest in while completing The Crucible. Right?
Wrong.
The recruits instead find a nice, soft place on the ground and get around four hours of shuteye before the drill instructor awakens them for their next exam.
"The first day the recruits are pretty much functioning on adrenaline," one Marine officer explained. "But by the third day, they are like zombies."
The completion of The Crucible is symbolic and measurable for the recruits as they now know that virtually any assignment can be completed successfully with determination and teamwork, and it signifies that they have made it two-thirds of the way through boot camp.
"There's been lots of challenges, but so far it hasn't been anything that I can't handle," Recruit Chris Norwalt, an 18-year-old from Fort Wayne, said shortly after helping his team complete a station successfully. "When you work as a team, you can get (The Crucible) done."
Ellie
By TOM DAVIS
Tribune Managing Editor
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. - The Crucible is a three-day physical, psychological and emotional test for each Marine recruit. It involves the recruits being shipped up to Camp Pendleton, which is a massive base bordering the Pacific Ocean just south of Los Angeles.
Its purpose is to teach leadership, teamwork and the importance of pursuing a goal.
"My job is to make the best Marines that I can," Drill Instructor Sergeant Melvin Newlin said. "In Iraq, when they're in combat, it is the attention to details that is the most important thing that they can do to stay alive. So out here (during The Crucible), we teach them to watch for the little things."
The recruits are awakened at 0400, which is 4 a.m. for those of you not in the military, and the recruits embark on a 54-hour journey which will include 51 miles of hiking. On those marches - which are not performed in shorts, T-shirt and tennis shoes - the hiking is done in fatigues with large backpacks being toted.
The hikes are broken up into five-, eight- and 10-mile jaunts, in addition to having to walk everywhere they go throughout the week.
"The last time that they get to ride on anything is when they step off that bus (that brought them up to Camp Pendleton)," one Marine officer said.
The three days consists of working through - as a team - 32 stations and/or obstacles, of which you must accomplish the tasks as a team.
Each recruit is given three MREs for the duration, each containing roughly 2,500 calories. One thing that is not in short supply is water. The "old-school" philosophy carried on by generations of football coaches of "only the weak drink water" is not applicable to the Marine Corps. As a matter of fact, you would most likely find yourself in trouble with your drill instructor for not drinking enough.
"We have too much money invested in these recruits to let them get hurt in some way," Captain Mike McDowell explained. "We care a great deal about each and every one of these recruits. They are assets to us. They are not expendable."
That belief is held throughout the Corps.
"The recruit is going to give up on himself long before the drill instructors will ever give up on the recruit," Colonel Mark Callahan explained. "The Marines will do everything humanly possible to see to it that each recruit succeeds."
Following a day of marching, training and testing your physical, mental and emotional limits, at least the recruits can find a nice, soft bed to rest in while completing The Crucible. Right?
Wrong.
The recruits instead find a nice, soft place on the ground and get around four hours of shuteye before the drill instructor awakens them for their next exam.
"The first day the recruits are pretty much functioning on adrenaline," one Marine officer explained. "But by the third day, they are like zombies."
The completion of The Crucible is symbolic and measurable for the recruits as they now know that virtually any assignment can be completed successfully with determination and teamwork, and it signifies that they have made it two-thirds of the way through boot camp.
"There's been lots of challenges, but so far it hasn't been anything that I can't handle," Recruit Chris Norwalt, an 18-year-old from Fort Wayne, said shortly after helping his team complete a station successfully. "When you work as a team, you can get (The Crucible) done."
Ellie