From The Past: January 10, 2008
For those of you who don’t have a clue what the Crucible is (I didn’t know either until a friend went through it a few years back), I have listed the information under this opening statement. Each day I will tell you what Andrew is doing. Everyone should have some idea what a person suffers through to become a United States Marine. Not everyone can do this.
Knowing military time will help you have a better understanding of what you will read. This first entry is long just because it describes what the Crucible is before going into what they are actually doing.
The following information was provided on the Parris Island website.
The Crucible is the defining moment of recruit training. The Crucible is designed to evaluate a recruit’s mental, moral, and physical development in order to validate the transformation into a United States Marine. For most, the Crucible will be the first time they reach the limits of their mental, physical, and emotional endurance. They will know that they are capable of much more than they previously believed. They will know that they can exceed their own personal limitations through teamwork, perseverance, and courage. The Crucible, once experienced, will be a personal touchstone and will demonstrate for each and every recruit the limitless nature of what they can achieve individually and, more importantly, what they can accomplish when they work as a team.
The Crucible consists of 54 hours of intense, physically demanding training, under conditions of sleep and food deprivation. During this time, recruits will be forged in the furnace of shared hardship and tough training that is the time-tried and battle-proven trademark of Marine recruit training. There will be night forced marches, a tough night infiltration movement, a combat resupply event, a casualty evacuation drill, and combat field firing. Any recruit who quits will not bear the title Marine.
Recruits will encounter unique obstacles, each bearing the name of a heroic Marine from our illustrious history, which can only be negotiated with teamwork. Once each obstacle is overcome, the drill instructor mentors the recruits, critiques their efforts, and retells the story of the Marine for whom the obstacle was named, bringing to light how that individual exemplified our core values. . . . . . . Honor, Courage, Commitment.
The Crucible is the culminating event in recruit training, and in order to become a Marine, all recruits must complete and pass the entire evaluation. Capping the already tough challenges of the previous two days is a 9 mile march with full packs and all of their personal equipment. It is the final event designed to see who has what it takes, and all recruits must complete the march to pass, and those that do not pass are sent home. At the end of the march the recruits participate in the Emblem Ceremony. This is the moment when the legacy is handed down, they earn the title “Marine,” and the newest Marines are presented with the Corps’ emblem, the Eagle, Globe, and Anchor, by their drill instructors.
Basic Facts:
- Recruits will travel 42 miles on foot during the event.
- There are 29 problem-solving exercises during the Crucible.
- It consists of 36 different stations.
- The recruits will have three meals, ready-to-eat (MREs) during the 54 hours.
- The recruits will be required to carry ammunition cans up to 50 pounds and dummies up to 100 pounds during the Crucible in addition to 782 gear, uniform and M16 A2 service rifle weight.
Day 1 (Thursday)
Reveille (0200)
Night Movement (0300)
Recruits conduct a 6-mile hike to the Crucible site.
Events 1-3 (0600-1800)
Event 1 – Day Movement resupply course
A one-hour event in which teams resupply water, ammunition and MREs through a course which consists of trenches, wire fences and walls.
After the resupply course, teams negotiate the warrior stations below:
Pfc. Jenkins Pinnacle
Teams cross two horizontal cable-supported logs.
Pfc. Garcia’s Engagement
Individuals demonstrate their knowledge of hand-to-hand combat skills, and then participate in a warrior case study of Pfc. Garcia.
Sgt. Basilone’s Challenge
Teams of two climb over an eight-foot high horizontal log.
Event 2 – Leadership Reaction Course
A three-hour event in which the teams perform six reaction course problems which test their ability to work as a team to solve problems.
Some of the problems include:
- Using three wooden boards to cross a number of stumps without touching the ground.
- Negotiating a water hole using the same wooden board concept to get from point A to point B.
- Transporting a large container over a wall using the limited resources available.
- Once completing the events, the teams of two face off in a pugil stick bout.
Event 3 – Core Event and Warrior Stations
A one-hour event which can hold a maximum of six teams working concurrently.
Noonan’s Casualty Evacuation
The team will recover a downed pilot and another recruit “shot” by a sniper and transport them over a mile of wooded terrain.
Enhanced Obstacle Course
The recruits carry a dummy casualty on a stretcher and ammunition cans from one end of a standard Marine Corps obstacle course to the other, going over all obstacles.
Nuclear-Biological-Chemical (NBC) Trail
The recruits move along a 500-meter trail increasing from Military Operational Protective Posture (MOPP) 0 to MOPP 4.
Marine Corps Martial Arts Program (MCMAP) Strikes Station
Recruits are required to demonstrate and conduct five-minute MCMAP strikes.
Core Values Station
Recruits sit inside a hut and receive information on a particular core value from their drill instructor.
Night Event (1800-2200) Five-mile night hike with a time limit of three hours.
Sleep (0000-0400)
This is what it would be like if the American Gladiators visited hell. Know what I mean?