Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego -- Recruits face new obstacles daily during training, and they must learn to prepare themselves for each challenge. Preparation is a key to success in recruit training, and it is what is needed to build the confidence for what is to come.
To prepare for the Obstacle Course II event on Oct. 8, recruits of Alpha Company, 1st Recruit Training Battalion, Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, have conducted daily physical training sessions with their drill instructors since arriving at the depot.
The purpose of the rugged course is to prepare recruits for what they may face in their futures as recruits, and eventually as Marines. Often times in combat situations, Marines encounter troubling terrain and they may need to utilize certain skills to get to their destination.
“I think this event will help us develop good cardiovascular skills, and it will help us develop better upper and lower body strength,” said Recruit Mark J. Robinson, Alpha Company. “We’ll be needing that.”
They have conducted the course once before, and this iteration is to mark the progress they made since the first time they conducted the event.
“I’m excited for the new challenges that we’ll face,” said 20-year-old Robinson. “Since we’re doing this course more than once, I can benchmark my experiences. I can see the progress I’ve made in hopes that it’ll get easier as I go on.”
Recruits tackled high logs, high bars and finished the grueling course with a rope climb. When recruits reached the top of the rope they yelled out their name, platoon number and senior drill instructor’s name as part of their motivational climb. This final obstacle was omitted the first time they maneuvered the course, so recruits experienced more fatigue this time around.
“[A challenge I see the recruits face is] fatigue,” said Sgt. Eliud J. Reyes, drill instructor, Alpha Company. “Sometimes you can tell that they struggle with not having enough confidence in themselves, but we want this course to be like a stepping stone. We want them to get more comfortable with it for when it comes time to face future obstacles.”
Eventually the recruits will continue through training and participate in other events and courses that will build them up even more.
“I notice the weak recruits at first, and I like being able to see them keep trying,” said Reyes, originally from Dominican Republic. “It inspires you a little [to see that]. They came here looking for a challenge, and this is where they’ll find it.”
Completing the course is what will ultimately prepare the recruits for similar events they’ll come across during the Crucible, the final training event for recruit training.
“When I get there, I want to be able to pass with flying colors,” said Robinson, a native of Bellevue, Wash. “When we get to the fleet, or depending on our [military occupational specialty], we don’t know what kind of obstacles we’ll face. This, too, is preparation for that.”