Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego -- The Marine Corps is often referred to as the “world’s finest fighting force,” and training the Marines who make that true starts early in recruit training.
Recruits of Hotel Company, 2nd Recruit Training Battalion, conquered their fears, such as heights, during the Confidence Course at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, Sept. 15.
The Confidence Course is designed to help recruits build confidence within themselves and is used to help them learn to motivate each other and use teamwork, according to Sgt. Jorge A. Yepes, drill instructor, Platoon 2170.
“The course takes them out of their comfort zone and challenges them mentally and physically,” said Yepes, a 26-year-old, Atlanta native. “When the recruits see they can do it no problem, then it boosts their morale and gives them more confidence in themselves.”
With anticipation building and hearts racing, the recruits first watched their drill instructor demonstrate the techniques used be using to conquer each obstacle.
Obstacles in the Confidence Course included the Monkey Bridge, Skyscraper, Wall Climb, The Rope Jump and several others. This was the first time the recruits had been challenged -by any of the extreme obstacles on the Course.
After the demonstration, recruits were divided up into groups and assigned a drill instructor who led them through the course.
The recruits sprinted from obstacle to obstacle , and as they waited their turn, they performed various Marine Corps Martial Arts Program techniques.
“We have the recruits do MCMAP techniques while they’re waiting to do the obstacle to reiterate the techniques they’ve learned,” said Cobb.
According to Recruit Donyea A. Newton, Platoon 2169, the remediation and running was what made the course difficult.
“The obstacles are challenging both physically and mentally,” said Newton, a 19-year-old Rialto, Calif., native. “It was exhausting because if we were not working our way through an obstacle we were performing MCMAP techniques.”
One of the toughest obstacles for recruits is the Stairway to Heaven, according to Yepes. It is a 30-foot tall ladder like structure, which recruits climbed. The nerve wracking part comes as the recruit gets higher up the ladder, with each step the gaps become wider.
Recruits will attack the Stairway to Heaven during the Confidence Course II in phase II, where they will also face the Slide for Life. The Confidence Course II ends with the Slide for Life, a 25-foot tall tower that recruits climb up, then descend down via a 90-foot cable suspended over a pool of water. Once they reached the half-way down point of the cable, they are instructed to change directions while hanging over the water. Recruits who fall off land in the water, for a refreshing swim.
Although Company H has completed a step in their journey to become Marines, nothing in recruit training gets easier. From this point, they will build skills and apply them to the culminating event at the end of recruit training, which is the Crucible.