 By
Cpl. Aaron Rooks , 2nd Marine Logistics Group
MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C.
A cold breeze whisked through the air as the Marines lined up in groups of
four in front of the water-filled culverts. The temperature
slowly dropped as the Marines of Headquarters and Service
Company, Combat Logistics Regiment 27, 2nd Marine Logistics
Group stood quietly, looking upon the muddy terrain.
Then they began, diving quickly into the large cylinders that
marked the beginning of the Battle Skills Training School
Endurance Course. Little did these Marines know that this
3.4-mile course would be one of the most physically and
mentally challenging events they’d ever take on.
The BSTS E-Course has broken off thousands of Marines for more
than 10 years. The course features a multitude of natural and
artificial obstacles that vastly outweigh the difficulty most
Marines are used to. Participants are required to conquer
muddy walls twice to three times their size, crawl through
trenches filled with thick sludge and water, swim through deep
swamps and run along rocky streams, just to name a few.
Master Sgt. Joel Morgan, director of BSTS, said it can take
Marines anywhere from 41 minutes to one hour and 43 minutes to
complete the course.
"This is the type of training most Marines come into the
Marine Corps to do," Morgan said. "They want to train, get
dirty and do challenging things like this to test themselves."
Morgan, a native of Fairmont, W.Va., has served on the BSTS
training staff for the past year and eight months. During that
time, he has seen more than 100 groups of 12 to 150 Marines
take on the intimidating course.
BSTS Instructor Sgt. Robert Millar said the purpose of the
course is to physically test Marines, provide combat
conditioning and foster unit cohesion.
"The course is huge on teamwork," the Phoenix native said.
"There are many obstacles that require the groups to work as a
team. If they choose to not work together, it will be a very
long 3.4 miles."
Millar added that most of the course's difficulty revolves
around mental toughness. He said participants are constantly
pushed to their limits in a variety of ways, which is
something he sees affecting Marines throughout the course,
especially now in the colder seasons of the year.
The beginning of the course misleads Marines, Millar said,
referencing the first few obstacles offered along the course.
Participants first must crawl through waist-high culverts,
then run along a 1.5-mile trail, jump over a 6-foot wall, then
run a little further until they reach their first mental
challenge - an unexpected long, dark swamp.
"This is where the intimidation factor begins to kick in,"
said Millar, who's an infantry mortar man by trade. "They get
trumped when they see something they're not used to like the
swamps. That real mental unknown then kicks in and remains in
their minds."
Capt. Catherine Deleal, commanding officer of H&S Company,
agrees, stating that the course isn't something Marines can
train for or expect. The Staten Island, N.Y. native said
everyone just has to ask themselves if they're going to give
in or make it through.
Millar explained that this is the point where teamwork really
comes into play. Many Marines become afraid to cross the murky
water and literally begin to freeze. Other smaller Marines, in
Morgan's words, "can't touch the bottom and breathe at the
same time." Without help from fellow teammates, some Marines
won't last to the end.
"The most challenging part of the course was the swamps," said
Queens, N.Y. native Staff Sgt. Carlos Malagon, a Marine with
2nd MLG Communication Operations. "It just sucks you in. One
person actually thought he was dehydrated while he was going
through one of them. That just shows how mentally and
physically difficult they are and how much of an effect they
have."
The remainder of the course features a 10-foot rope climb,
eight 6-foot hurdles and a 1.5-mile creek run.
"The water level along the creek varies from knee-high to
waist-high," Millar explained. "The creek really exhausts the
Marines. No matter how hard they push themselves, they will
all be broke off by the time they pass the creek."
As they make their way toward the finish, Marines confront
more swamps, creeks and their newest challenges - sludge under
low lying barbed-wire. Millar said everyone has to get
extremely low to the ground to get through, so low that some
people can't fit.
Gunnery Sgt. Marlon Hayes, managerial accounting chief, 2nd
MLG Comptroller, managed to keep his face clean the entire
course up until the point when he was forced to literally
submerge himself deep into the sludge to slide under the
wires.
"I was having fun until then," the New Orleans native said.
"That horrible smell got into my nostrils and never left ...
it sucked."
Marines barely have enough energy left to reach the finish
after they complete this final portion of the course, but
eventually, they all make it.
"We're Marines, we have to adapt and overcome no matter what
we face," said Gunnery Sgt. Keith Priest, the H&S Company
gunnery sergeant. "It takes that same confidence to get
through each of these obstacles. In turn, every individual who
completes this course can apply that same confidence to their
everyday lives."
The instructors at BSTS agree that the course brings out both
the best and the worst in most individuals. It takes
participants to their physical and mental limits causing many
to break down along the way. The key is that they pick
themselves up as a team and make it through to the end. |
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