SAN DIEGO --
Marine Corps
recruit training is difficult and many times recruits are put through
situations that are unfamiliar to them. By completing these exercises, they
learn to push themselves to limits they never thought possible.
Expanding their limits, recruits of Kilo Company, 3rd Recruit
Training Battalion, conducted their first Combat Fitness Test at Marine Corps Recruit
Depot San Diego, July 15. The event consists of an 880-yard run, timed 30-pound
ammunition can lifts and a maneuver under fire drill.
The
CFT is a training requirement for all recruits as well as an annual requirement
all Marines. It is conducted in the Marine Corps Combat Utility Uniform and
boots to simulate combat environments. All three events in are each worth a
maximum of 100 points, leading to a perfect score of 30
The
first event of the CFT began with recruits running the 880-yard timed run.
Wearing combat boots makes the sprint around the track difficult for some
recruits. The purpose of the run is to simulate moving quickly through a combat
situation. In order to gain 100 points on this event, recruits must complete
the run in less than 2 minutes and 45 seconds.
The
second event was the ammunition can lifts. The ammunition cans weigh 30 pounds
and were used to conduct overhead presses. Each recruit performed as many
presses as he could in two minutes, attempting to reach 91 repetitions to
achieve a perfect score of 100.
The
final event of the CFT was the maneuver under fire. The maneuver under fire is
a course that covers 75 yards, which requires recruits to perform exercises
such as sprints, ammunition can carries, fireman’s carry and throwing a
simulated grenade at a marked target. Recruits were timed as they ran through
the course and needed to finish it in less than 2 minutes and 14 seconds to
receive 100 points.
“The
CFT teaches us how to push ourselves to limits we never thought possible,” said
Recruit Travis J. Garska, Platoon 3236. “It is meant to put you under high
stress and have you still put your best out there even when you feel like
giving up. In combat we might face the same adversity.”
The
initial CFT is taken in first phase of training, but it is just to familiarize
the recruits with the course. The final CFT is taken toward the end of training
and is recorded in their basic training record.
“We
try to prepare recruits for things they will see in their careers,” said Sgt.
Daniel A. Mendibles, drill instructor, Alpha Company. “Teaching them the
correct techniques and familiarizing them with the course is our main goal.”
Recruits
are put through several physical training sessions leading up to the final CFT
to prepare them, explained 28-year-old Mendibles, a Tucson, Ariz., native.
“We
have trained enough leading up to this event,” said Garska. “Marines have to be
ready for anything that is put in front of them.”
Gaska explains that after recruit
training he will continue to train his body and mind to attempt a perfect score
on his CFT every time he takes it.
“It helps you be a better all-around
Marine,” said Gaska. “I will do whatever it takes to become better.”