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Week after week, recruits face different challenges of recruit
training. They must learn to work together and are tested daily on
the skills they learn as they grow as recruits.
Recruits of
Charlie Company, 1st Recruit Training Battalion, honed important
team building and leadership skills by participating in 12 Stalls
event of the Crucible at Edson Range, Weapons and Field Training
Battalion, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California on Sept. 23,
2015.
The Crucible is the culminating event of training that
allows the recruits to apply all the skills and knowledge they
learned during training. They spent nearly 12 weeks working up to it
by conducting events such as the Bayonet Assault Course, the
Obstacle Course and the Confidence Course, which developed problem
solving, physical conditioning and teamwork skills.
The 12 Stalls is a set of 12 different challenges designed to
test the recruits' mental strength. The recruits are formed in to
squads to complete the challenge and are given only the task, basic
equipment and minimal guidance from the drill instructors.
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Recruits of Charlie Company, 1st Recruit Training Battalion, carry a barrel over a wall during the 12 Stalls event of the Crucible at Edson Range, Weapons and Field Training Battalion, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, CA Sept. 23,
2015. For every task given, recruits were instructed to avoid the areas of the obstacles painted red. If the recruits or any part of their equipment touched the red areas, the squad was required to start the challenge over. Today, all males recruited from west of the Mississippi are trained at MCRD San Diego. The depot is responsible for training more than 16,000 recruits annually. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Angelica Annastas)
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“It allows them to utilize the skills they've been taught
throughout training,” said Sgt. Jon E. Austin, drill
instructor, Charlie Company. “It gives them the chance to
think outside the box.”
Before the event, drill
instructors briefed the recruits on overall expectations for
mission success. Recruits were required to work together to
complete the missions ahead of them.
The responsibility of being squad leader changed with
the different challenges, allowing different recruits the
opportunity to be in a leadership position. For some, taking
leadership roles was a new experience.
“12 Stalls is
important because it is the definition of small unit
leadership,” said 29-year-old Austin. “It forces the
recruits to participate in a leadership role, and for some
it can be challenging, especially when trying to effectively
execute a plan.”
It is not uncommon for recruits to
argue during this event. Often times, each recruit believes
his way will be the most successful. That is where
leadership comes into play. Squad leaders had to bring their
team together to try and make sense of their next task. The
squads contemplated different plans of action and tried
several different methods until the challenge was
successfully completed.
“It had a lot to do with
discipline and trust,” said Recruit Joshua W. Harvey,
Charlie Company. “All this teamwork helps us build patience
with one another, and it's important that we learn how to
communicate as a team. It's not easy, but we're learning.”
Some of the obstacles involved standing on high pillars
and figuring out how to cross them with only a plank of
wood. In one case, the challenge was to get the squad and a
barrel over a wall using nothing but a rope that was
attached to the top of the wall.
To make the
challenges a bit trickier, certain obstacles had red areas
painted on them, and recruits who touched the areas with any
body part or equipment became a casualty. All casualties had
to be moved to an evacuation point, leaving fewer members of
the squad to complete the challenge.
At the
evacuation point, the casualties were required to run a
marked course with 30-pound ammunition cans before returning
to their squad.
“I think it's good to have the
mindset to never give up because our bodies can always push
us further than we think they can go,” said 18-year-old
Harvey. “It's also the fact that we get to say we've done it
that makes it that much cooler.”
With just a handful
of days until Charlie Company graduates, the company drill
instructors believe the recruits are ready to move on to
their next stage of training.
“It's interesting to
watch their transformation and to just see how far they've
come,” said Austin, native of Minneapolis.
More photos available below
By U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Angelica Annastas
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2015
The U.S. Marines
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