Marine Training,

[thedrifter]

Marine Training, Part 2

Parris Island, S. Carolina
Posted: 5:10 PM Nov 13, 2007
Last Updated: 5:10 PM Nov 13, 2007
Reporter: Jon Kalahar
Email Address: jkalahar@wlbt.net

From the time they leave the bus and step on the yellow footprints, the recruits are no longer independent. He or she is now a part of a team; their guidance is from the drill instructor.

And once again, they are all volunteers. They wanted to be here.

"The young Americans that are showing up for recruit training at Parris Island, South Carolina, today are among the most committed youngsters that I have ever seen," said Col. Andy Solgere.

Not much has changed at boot camp. The living quarters are pretty much the same, as they have been for years. Each recruit must learn to handle an M-16, and they all have to survive in the water, whether they know how to swim or not when they get here.

Because the Marines is an expeditionary force, enlistees have to be prepared to go anywhere whether on land or on sea. And all these recruits have to survive in the water in full gear. That means jumping off towers into a pool."

The Marine Corps says it believes it's possible to transform every recruit mentally, physically and morally into a United States Marine.

Recruit Louis J. Beasley of McComb, Miss., said after a few years of college, he decided to join the Marine Corps.

"This recruit was lacking a little bit of direction in life, felt he needed to develop a little more self discipline," Beasley said.

Beasley says he should be a Marine before Christmas. Now compare Recruit Beasley to recent graduate of Parris Island, Private First Class Richard Kendrick of Moss Point, Miss., and you can see what they mean by transformation.

"I said I always wanted to do the best at whatever I did," said Kendrick. "So if I was going to join a branch of the service it was going to have to be the Marine Corps."

One part of boot camp that has changed is the last obstacle a recruit must pass. "The Crucible" is a 54-hour endurance test of everything a recruit has learned to this point. And the challenges are just physical, but mental tests in which each group has to work as a team. Overall they'll cover several miles with minimal sleep and food.

If a recruit makes it through "The Crucible", "The Eagle", "Globe", and "Anchor" await on the other side.

In part three Wednesday, you'll see the elation and celebration of recruit graduation. And a senior non-commissioned officer talks about what the Marine Corps is looking for in a recruit.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Marine Training, Up Close and Personal

Parris Island, S. Carolina
Posted: 2:40 PM Nov 12, 2007
Last Updated: 6:03 PM Nov 12, 2007
Reporter: Jon Kalahar
Email Address: jkalahar@wlbt.net


A group of educators from across the south got a first-hand look of how they turn young men and women into one of the most highly-skilled fighting forces in the world.

Every recruit's worst nightmare may be their drill instructor.


"Head and eyes to the front and your mouth is shut!" said the drill instructor. "I say it again, your mouth is shut."

But he's going easy on this group of educators, just giving them a taste of what it's really like to become a Marine recruit.

Here recruits receive their first briefing, get a free haircut and make their only phone call for the next thirteen weeks.

Through this inside look at Parris Island, the Marine Corps hopes to spread the word about what goes on here, diminish any myths and give these teachers information to go back to their schools and students with.

Col. Andy Solgere heads up the recruit training regiment on Parris Island.

"We take young Americans from all walks of society and we put them through twelve weeks of training and we transform them into U.S. Marines," said Solgere. "And that is a great thing for us to be able to show you."

Parris Island sees over 20,000 new recruits a year. Between two and three thousand of those are women.

All are volunteers into a career where they know there's a good possibility of going to war. That hasn't slowed the flow of recruits, though. The teachers even got to eat lunch with recruits during a break from rifle training.

And the reason they invite these educators and teachers here to Parris Island is so they can get first hand knowledge of what really goes on, and that includes firing the M-16.

"We need to expose the influencers in our society, whether they be parents or coaches or teachers or a member of the media to both the opportunities and the requirements of the U.S. Marines," said Solgere.

And not only did they impress these teachers, they changed a few minds.

"Based on what I've seen this week, I'd recommend highly that every young person do this, even if just one tour," said Steve Domoslay of Grenada High School.

"As educators we should also recognize the fact that everybody's not cut out for school, so the military would be a second option," said Lekeshai Jones of Wingfield High School.

Jackson Police Sgt. Velma Johnson is on this tour looking for ways Jackson youth can get off the streets and move their lives in a more positive direction.

"Sometimes, I find that people just need to get away from their environment and this is a good environment to get in," Johnson said.

The environment that takes a little getting used to but it is one that's proven to work.

In Part 2, we talk with a Mississippi recruit and follow a group as they take the last and most difficult step to earning the title of U.S. Marine. The last 54 hours of training is called "The Crucible".

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Marine Training, Part 3

Parris Island, S. Carolina
Posted: 6:17 PM Nov 14, 2007
Last Updated: 6:17 PM Nov 14, 2007
Reporter: Jon Kalahar
Email Address: jkalahar@wlbt.net

The cheers are loud and boisterous. For some this is the first time these family members have seen their loved ones in 13 weeks. The most recent graduation at Parris Island, South Carolina, involved six companies of Marines. This is their first step to serving their country.

The formations are precise and the uniforms are sharp. It's a far cry from when they arrived here just three months ago. And then finally, it's over.


Families and friends rush the floor. Many of the new Marines barely look old enough to serve. They will now be given the awesome responsibility of defending this country. Something they say they are more than willing to do.

"The whole issue of being deployed, if I don't do it, who's going to do it?" said
PFC Richard Kendrick of Moss Point, Miss. "That's what's running through my head. If I don't do it, who's going to do it?"

Kendrick grew up in a military family. He plans on serving at least twenty years, maybe thirty, he tells me. Kendrick is exactly what the Marine Corps is looking for in a Marine, according to Sergeant Major Adam Terry.

"We just want to know that in their heart they want to be a Marine and if they have a desire, we will make every effort to train them to become a Marine," said Terry of Columbus, Miss.

Terry has achieved the highest rank of a non-commissioned Marine. He says he never gets tired of seeing another class graduate. The fact that in a time of war these Marines would volunteer to enter the corps says a lot about their commitment to our country.

From boot camp, many of the Marines will go directly to infantry training school, then to specialty training or into operating forces around the world.
It usually takes months before a graduating Marine is placed in a combat zone.

Ellie