Marines In The Making - Part 1

[thedrifter]

Marines In The Making - Part 1

Posted: 8:07 PM Mar 9, 2009
Last Updated: 8:27 PM Mar 9, 2009
Reporter: Marie Luby

Appalachian families often have long legacies of military service, but many of us never get an up-close look at what it takes to survive a Marine Corps boot camp.

We take you to South Carolina's Parris Island, where every United States Marine from east of the Mississippi got their start.


New recruits first set foot on Parris Island late at night.

Their steps are hurried, their minds disoriented.

They learn fast they are no longer in charge.

22,000 thousand young men and women take their place on the footprints each year, a symbol of what they are about to become.

Stripped of attitudes and long hair, they scramble to follow orders.

“There's just a lot of stuff thrown at you and you feel like oh my gosh how am I going to learn all this stuff,” David Decker said.

Central Kentucky native David Decker remembers calling home that first night. Each recruit reads the same few lines that tell family members they are safe, and then hanging up. The call lasts only seconds.

But in the days and weeks later, recruits fall into step. Decker is now halfway through boot camp.

“As they learn to negotiate those challenges and those emotions, what you start to see is they gain more and more confidence,” Colonel Peterson said.

But a Drill Instructor's intensity never lets up and they say the screaming and intimidation serve a critical purpose.

“We send that out into combat, and there are little things that we do under tons of stress. We emphasize stress. It's the closest thing that we can do to combat and it saves lives,” Staff Sergeant Enriquez said.

The island has a view of Hilton Head resort, but Drill Instructors like Staff Sergeant Enriquez do everything they can to make sure twelve weeks on Parris Island feel nothing like a vacation.

Video

http://www.wkyt.com/wymtnews/headlines/40997297.html#

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Marine Recruit Training, Part 1

Parris Island, S. Carolina
Posted: 6:24 PM Mar 10, 2009
Last Updated: 7:09 PM Mar 10, 2009
Reporter: Wade Phillips
Email Address: wade.phillips@wtok.com

A trip to Parris Island, South Carolina, is anything but a vacation for the recruits who want to be Marines, or for people who come for a visit to experience what it's like.

Instead of a group of hungry, young Marine recruits, drill instructor, Staff Sergeant Shontae Williams is barking orders to a rag tag group of teachers from Mississippi and Alabama. They're taking part in Marine Educators Workshop.

"We're trying to get people in here that really don't have much experience with the military, certainly not much experience with the Marine Corps, so they can learn what we're about and they can understand better that military service should certainly be an option for a high school graduate," said Col. Andrew Solgere, Recruiting Regiment C.O.

These teachers were put through the paces, learning what the recruits go through, sometimes by observation, other times through participation.

One of the highlights of this event was when the weapons training went from simulated to the real thing. These teachers got a chance to fire off several rounds of an M-16 on the firing range.

For teachers like Denise Lumpkin, it was equal parts frightening and exhilarating.

"At first, it was intimidating," said Lumpkin. "I've never shot anything, so I wanted to make sure to aim and hit the target. But after I got used to it, it was awesome."

In addition to the firing range, the teachers got the chance to take part in the what's called the 'Confidence Course', a series of obstacles designed to overcome fears and build confidence among recruits. Some of them were able to handle it well. Others? Not so well.

The teachers even got a chance to learn some close combat skills. After it was over, you were hard pressed to find any one who was anything less than impressed.

"I just really admire what they do and what they go through," said Paige Cotton of Tallapoosa County, Ala. "And it makes me proud to be a part of this country."

And many of these teachers were ready to go back and recommend the Marines to some of their students.

"Absolutely, without hesitation," said Cindy Knox of Tallapoosa County. "Before, there might have been a hesitation. But now, there's no doubt in my mind, I would give them a lot of encouragement."

In part two, Newscenter 11 takes a closer look at Marine recruit training.

Video

http://www.wtok.com/news/headlines/41056237.html

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Marine Recruit Training, Part 2 Save Email Print


Parris Island, S. Carolina
Posted: 6:54 PM Mar 11, 2009
Last Updated: 7:25 PM Mar 11, 2009
Reporter: Wade Phillips
Email Address: wade.phillips@wtok.com

Marine boot camp is often the most difficult twelve and a half weeks of a recruit's life. But when it's over, the change is evident.

Marines move with their heads held high, voices strong, even in the midst of a three mile run on the next to last day of boot camp, and their families are all there to see them.

But looking like this doesn't happen overnight. To borrow a cliché, it took a lot of blood, sweat and tears. The goal is to turn a bunch of individuals into a team.

Some of these recruits have an easier time with that than others. Two we spoke with seemed to be dealing with it differently.

"As a recruit, we have to refer to ourselves in third person," said Calvin Johnson of Oxford. "'Recruit Johnson'. So your mind is really always thinking, you've just to be quick, fast, speed, volume, an intensity. You're just always thinking."

"The only thing I really don't like about it is the individuals among the platoons," said William Jones, a recruit from Tuscaloosa. "Because,you're supposed to work as a team, and we have a few every once in a while who want to be individuals and do their own thing."

Staff Sergeant Shontae Williams is one of the people tasked with turning
individual recruits into a team of Marines.

"They don't know what they did wrong necessarily," said Williams. "They don't know if it's going to come to an end; they don't know if they made the right decision. They're tired. They're hungry. Recruits think the silliest things."

After they're basically broken down emotionally, mentally, and physically, the drill sergeants begin the process of building them back up. That involves serious physical conditioning, like what you see during a combat fitness exercise.

"I'm hard on them, but everybody's hard on something," Williams said. "Everybody has had a teacher or coach or somebody who's been hard on them. And when it's over, they come back and thank them. And they appreciate me and thank me for that, because I made them a stronger and better person."

The culmination of every recruit's training is 'the crucible', a final exam of sorts that tests their physical, mental, and moral abilities. Make it through, and you can be called a Marine.

During a 56-hour stretch, where they're allowed less than ten hours sleep, and required to go through a variety of physical and mental tests, these Marines are stretched to their very limits. But when it's over, they know they're ready for whatever may come.

For many of them, that will include combat in places like Iraq and Afghanistan. That's something our recruits say they're ready for.

"I want to give back to the country that has held me here for so long, so it'll be an honor to go over there and do the deed for America," Johnson said.

"I've gave it a lot of thought, and it doesn't bother me. My country has given for me," Jones said. "I can give for my country."

But before they get to that, they get to celebrate being a Marine. Those who passed the crucible are taking part in this run now, designed to show their friends and family the new person, one of the few, the proud, the Marines.

In part 3, Newscenter 11 takes you to the most time-honored experiences of boot camp, graduation.

Video

http://www.wtok.com/home/headlines/41120472.html

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Marines In The Making - Part Two: Educators Workshop

Posted: 5:23 PM Mar 11, 2009
Last Updated: 9:39 PM Mar 11, 2009
Reporter: Marie Luby
Email Address: marie.luby@wymtnews.com

The first night of boot camp is a culture shock for marines in the making.
We continue our series with a group of Kentucky educators, who had their own chance to live the experience during a workshop in January.
They left with some surprising facts, and strong impressions from recruits.

These are educators, not recruits, getting a new education themselves on Marine Corps boot camp.

Staff Sgt. Carlos Enriquez, a Drill Instructor, says, "We have to break them down to a very basic level of conforming." He tells educators as he would tell recruits, "Each of you can become a marine if you develop discipline and spirit."

The Educators Workshop gives teachers four days of the recruit experience, including things like completing an obstacle course, shooting an M-16, and learning who joins the marines.

Colonel Jeff Peterson says, "There's a certain amount of folklore about who joins the military. In years gone by you'd hear things like, 'Go into the military or the Marine Corps or go to jail,' things like that. That certainly happened many years ago but today's military is not like that."

In fact, Colonel Jeff Peterson says the bottom 30 percent of American youth, in terms of their aptitude, are not eligible for the Marine Corps. Most recruits score above average on aptitude tests.

Marines say they're not trying to turn teachers into recruiters, but they want educators to be informed.

Teresa Burkhardt, English teacher for Clark County Schools, says, "I expected the Drill Instructors to be maybe even a little abusive, but it's not the case at all."

Teachers tells us they are amazed at how quickly recruits rise above the chaos of their first night.

SKCTC Math Instructor Darrin Clark says, "And from that point, to, you see a recruit seven days in and they're walking in step, their 'Aye sirs,' and you know everything is just amazing, how in sync and disciplined they are."

Lunch with the recruits is a favorite for Burkhardt, who listens as recruit David Decker talks about his mother and little sister.

Burkhardt says, "I was really touched by that and I offered, I said, 'Would you like me to call your mother,' and he was real excited ... well of course she wants to know, 'Is he ok, oh I bet he's lost a lot of weight,' and I said, 'well ma'am he looks pretty fit to me!' "

Hearing his mother's words through Burkhardt keeps Decker pushing to the finish.

Friday we will take you to graduation, and watch as a new marine from Owsley County reunites with his family.

Video

http://www.wkyt.com/wymtnews/headlines/41111947.html

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Marine Recruit Training, Part 3

Parris Island, S. Carolina
Posted: 3:39 PM Mar 12, 2009
Last Updated: 7:06 PM Mar 12, 2009
Reporter: Wade Phillips

When U.S. Marines march in to their graduation ceremony, it's a moment they never forget. In their dress uniforms, backs straight, they are greeted by a cheering throng of family and friends.

Graduation day is a day these Marines look forward to from the moment they arrive at Parris Island. But they're certainly different now than they were when they got here.

"At Parris Island, we strive not just to make Marines, but to make better American citizens," said Col. Andrew Solgere, commanding officer of the Recruit Training Regiment. "And I know, with these new Marines, that we have done that."

The ceremony is full of pomp and circumstance, a chance for the Marines to show off what they've become during their three month boot camp.

A ceremonial inspection is the final step in completing the graduation ceremony, and a chance to celebrate with friends and family follows.

"It feels great. I've accomplished a mission and a dream. This is for me and my family. They've come from Puerto Rico, and I'm now very proud to become a United States Marine," said PFC R.J. Navarro.

"I thought I'd never get out of here, but here I am," said Private Brett Deardorff. "I got out here the first day, I remember seeing people in the uniforms, the service officers, and I said, 'no I'm not going to ever be like that', but here I am. It's like one day and you're there."

And family members can notice the change.

"He seems so confident, and he stands up straight, and he looks you straight in the eye," said Deardorff's mother, Virginia Case.

Most of these Marines will now get a two week vacation, to go home, visit family, and get their affairs in order. Then they'll be off to another round of training, before they enter their specialty, and many of them head to Iraq and Afghanistan.

And though that is never far from any of their minds, this was a day to put it aside and celebrate what has been the most grueling and rewarding 12 and a half weeks of their lives.

Video and pixs

http://www.wtok.com/home/headlines/41167327.html

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Marines In The Making - Part 3

Posted: 8:13 PM Mar 13, 2009
Last Updated: 8:34 PM Mar 13, 2009
Reporter: Marie Luby
Email Address: marie.luby@wymtnews.com
0 comments

Earlier this week, we took you inside the boot camp at Parris Island, South Carolina to see how Marines are trained.

In the final part of our series, we meet a young man from Owsley County.

The new Marine is seeing his family for the first time since arriving on Parris Island.

A run never felt so good for these recruits. It's the day before graduation, and this is the first time they will see their families since coming to Parris Island.

“It's been a long, tough challenge. I'm finally here,” Dustin Combs said.

Owsley County native Dustin Combs says he spent his days before boot camp wondering what to do with his life. His mother Tammy is proud.

“I'm just happy that he chose to do something good with his life. I am so excited to see what it brings him next,” Tammy Combs said.

They reunite in a sea of new Marines.

But Marine Combs joins his platoon once more on graduation day.

Families capture the moments in videos and photographs. Fathers salute their sons, mothers laugh through tears, and this Marine can't get enough kisses.

Marine Dustin Combs says the milestone has changed his long term plans.

“Halfway through the cycle I was thinking, pull my four years and get out, but now that I understand everything and how this works, this is a great opportunity and I don't think I'm going to get out anytime soon,” Combs said.

Whether they don the uniform for four years or a lifetime, Marines at Parris Island say the service is an honor that stays with them forever.

Marine Dustin Combs plans to enter the Marine Corp's Supply and Accounting Field and hopes to finish his college degree.

Video

http://www.wkyt.com/wymtnews/headlines/41239187.html

Ellie