SAN DIEGO -- MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- Marines of Company A, 1st Recruit Training Battalion, Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, Calif., used collaboration and teamwork to complete the Leadership Reaction course during the Crucible at Edson Range, April 30.
The Crucible is a 54-hour test of endurance in which recruits must conquer more than 30 different obstacles all while experiencing food and sleep deprivation. During the Crucible, recruits utilize small unit leadership skills they’ve acquired throughout training.
“The event builds camaraderie throughout the fire teams, which is important for mission accomplishment,” said Sgt. Richard C. Hernandez, Platoon 1010. “Communication will be the most important thing as well as keeping each other positive to get the challenge done.”
Before starting each event, Marines receive a set of tools and instructions to complete a specific mission. While under time restraints, they must closely follow the rules, otherwise they will fail the event and restart.
“We make sure they’re doing each mission correctly,” said 28-year-old Hernandez, a San Bernardino, Calif. native. “If recruits failed the mission or did something incorrectly, they were instructed to restart the mission from the beginning.”
Each stall has a specific set of instructions, but, one rule that remains the same for all stalls is that no part of a recruit’s body can touch red-colored parts of the obstacle. Touching any red meant the recruit was considered to be dead. If recruits were considered dead, they had to run 100 yards with 30 pound ammunition cans. Once they completed that, they returned to the stall to attempt the mission again with their team.
In stall two of the course, recruits had to make their way across a rope using teamwork. Recruits had to come together with a plan to get a simulated injured Marine and barrel across the rope along with the rest of the Marines and gear.
Camaraderie is important for a unit to achieve mission accomplishment, explained Pfc. Alexander C. Gaston, Platoon 1010.
“The main objective other than mission accomplishment is communication within the unit,” said 24-year-old Gaston, a Mesquite, Texas native. “Small unit leadership within fire teams will need to step up and give commands and communicate with everyone to keep the fire team aware of what’s going on with the mission at all times.”
Drill instructors, field instructors and the company commander watch from a platform to ensure recruits are applying the fundamentals of leadership for each mission and performing within safety regulations.
After completing the Crucible, Marines of Co. A will continue their initial training by attending Marine Combat Training or the School of Infantry, depending on their military occupation specialty. They will learn basic combat skills, then attend a school particular to their MOS.