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thedrifter
12-17-07, 03:35 AM
The foundation for everything

JENNIFER HLAD
December 17, 2007 - 1:01AM
DAILY NEWS STAFF

The Marine Corps recruit depots at Parris Island and San Diego say they "make Marines." But the School of Infantry teaches those Marines the skills they need on the battlefield.

Now, the Marine Corps has expanded that training in an effort to ensure Marines are even more prepared before they report to their first unit.

The School of Infantry (East) at Camp Geiger has three training sections: Infantry Training Battalion, Marine Combat Training Battalion and Advanced Infantry Training Company.

In the ITB, infantrymen learn the basic combat skills they will need to do their jobs. MCT teaches the basics of combat for enlisted Marines who will have other jobs, such as radio operators, legal clerks or combat correspondents. AITC is for seasoned Marines to sharpen their skills or become combat instructors.

Right now, ITB lasts 52 days and MCT lasts 22 days. But at the end of December, MCT will start its first class for a 29-day training cycle. ITB will start its first 59-day class closer to the spring.

The extra week allows more time for instructors to teach and reinforce important common combat skills, said Col. Chad E. Kirkley, commanding officer of SOI (East).

The seven extra days "will allow the combat instructor to further focus on those basic skills, so when the (students) leave here, those men and women are that much better trained."

Already, Marines learn skills like weapons handling, grenade throwing, enhanced marksmanship, land navigation, cultural awareness, rules of engagement, detainee handling, convoys and situational awareness.

It's "the foundation for everything out there in the fleet," said Sgt. Samuel Hodges, a combat instructor at the school. "It's like the college degree for their job. They will be doing this for the rest of their (Marine Corps) careers."

The basics Marines learn at SOI can be applied to a wide variety of situations and environments, said Sgt. Eric Price, also a combat instructor.

"It's always going to be a different environment, a different location, a different set of doors," he said. "We teach them the basic fundamentals, so they can take (that knowledge) and apply it to any situation."

For a combat veteran, it is as rewarding to know the skills Marines learn here will help them survive and thrive on the battlefield, he said.

"You're not just here instructing. You're saving lives," he said.

Though the School of Infantry is considered entry-level training, "it is not phase four of recruit training," Kirkley said. "It is teaching them the combat skills that will allow them to be successful on the battlefield."

While many Marines will receive training once they get to their units and before they deploy, some Marines go straight from SOI to their job - and then almost immediately to Iraq, said combat instructor Staff Sgt. John Nickerson.

But the training they receive at SOI is enough to carry them through, said Sgt. Adam York, also a combat instructor.

In addition to the basic skills, the combat instructors also pass on real battlefield experience.

"We tell them, 'You need to know this, because when I was in Iraq, this happened,'" York said. "They love it when you can equate it to the real world."

The passing on of experience is "probably the most valuable instruction that you can have," said Capt. Adam Hecht, commanding officer of ITB's Bravo Company.

Pvt. Robert Adams, a student at SOI, said he values learning what to do - and what not to do - from those who have been there and done that.

"You realize why they get so mad sometimes: Because they've seen it, and they know what can happen," he said.

Adams and his fellow students have been at SOI for about two months and will graduate this week.

"Before I came here, I was scared," he said. "I didn't want to mess anything up. Now I am more confident because I have the basic knowledge."



Contact military reporter Jennifer Hlad at jhlad@freedomenc.com or 353-1171, ext. 8467. To comment on this story, visit www.jdnews.com.

Ellie