SAN DIEGO -- Over the course of 13 weeks, recruits are transformed from civilian to Marine. It’s during that time they learn numerous ways to strengthen their minds and their bodies. Prior to earning the title Marine, must conduct the 54-hour challenge known as the Crucible, a training evolution that is the culminating event of everything they had learned in the first 11 weeks of training.
Dirty, tired and hungry, recruits of Golf Company waited in the evening’s fading light for the last event of the first night of the Crucible at Edson Range, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, April 28.
The ammunition resupply hike is six-kilometers, and recruits take turns carrying various size ammunition cans filled with dirt simulating the weight of the rounds.
The entire company participated in this resupply hike so recruits learned to work as a unit during simulated combat. Recruits must maintain their composure during the resupply because it helps them complete their mission quickly, said Staff Sgt. Jasper C. Sicz, drill instructor, Golf Company.
Halfway through the maneuver, the ammunition cans were handed over to the company’s follow series to carry back.
During this training exercise the recruits must resupply under the cover of darkness. The ammunition can resupply is designed to teach the recruits how to be tactical at night while practicing light and noise discipline, said Sicz, a native of Virginia Beach, Virginia.
In the deathlike silence, the only noise heard was sound of rocks crushing after each step the recruits took.
Every step was a test of their stamina and endurance while trying to stay together as a group. Along with the ammunition cans, recruits carried a load bearing vest, their M16-A4 Service Rifle, their day packs and two canteens full of water.
“This was our first day of the Crucible,” said Recruit Broden M. Menzies, a native of Half Moon Bay, Calif. “I am the guide of my platoon, and I noticed how exhausted my recruits were when it came time for the hike. I tried to motivate them to the best of my abilities.”
The Crucible is 54-hour training evolution where recruits are pushed to their limits. They hike more than 40 miles, while stopping at stations to read award citations from past Marines and also conduct team exercises under food and sleep deprivation.
After the hike came to an end, recruits seemed to be at their breaking points, tired and sweaty. They looked forward to a few hours of sleep they were allowed before tackling the second day of the Crucible and coming one step closer to the final event, the hiking of the Reaper. Upon completion of the final hike, they received their Marine Corps eagle, globe and anchor, which signifies the completed transformation from civilian to Marine.
“This hike not only strengthens their bodies but also prepares them for what they might see when it becomes real,” said Sicz. “Depending on what their military occupational specialty is this is something that may become very familiar to them.”