Single Marine Program acts as oasis of fun in desert

Photo By Cpl. Nicole Lavine | Marines with Marine Wing Support Squadron 374 participate in the Hawaiian hula run...... read more read more

Photo By Cpl. Nicole Lavine | Marines with Marine Wing Support Squadron 374 participate in the Hawaiian hula run event during a barracks bash hosted by the Single Marine Program at the MWSS374 barracks Sept. 21  see less | View Image Page

TWENTYNINE PALMS, CA, UNITED STATES

09.25.2009

Story by Cpl. Nicole Lavine 

Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center

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MARINE CORPS AIR GROUND COMBAT CENTER TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. — "What do you want to do?"

"I don't know. What do you want to do?"

How many Marines and Sailors here have had this very conversation on any given night of the week? A solution to their boredom lies in plain sight, tucked between Lance Cpl. Torrey L. Gray Field and Taco Bell. No, it is not the bar, it is the Single Marine Program.

The SMP, hosted by Marine Corps Community Services, offers single Marines and sailors opportunities to participate in recreational activities, travel, become involved with their communities, learn life skills and achieve career progression, according to the MCCS Web site, http://www.usmc-mccs.org.

The Combat Center SMP is one of the most active in the world, said LaVonne Lessard, the SMP coordinator, who has worked for other SMP offices across the globe since 1999.

"On a slow month, we get an average of 10,000 to 15,000 guys in here," Lessard said of the SMP facility dubbed 'The Zone'.

Lessard said since drinking is not permitted at The Zone, is reduces the chances of Marines getting into trouble.

"This is a place they can feel a sense of family," she said. "Many of the regulars are very close to our staff. It's their home away from home — and that was our goal."

The Zone features various activities and recreational pastimes such as pool tables, a jukebox, a "den" with PlayStation 3 and other interactive games, old school arcade video games and a cable TV with lounge chairs. It even boasts its own theater with rows of leather sofas and two 48-inch and one 60-inch plasma flat-screen TVs with Bose surround sound.

Pfc. Garrett MacLeod, a student with Company A, Marine Corps Communications-Electronics School, and native of Las Vegas, is a regular at The Zone.

"This is a relaxing place you can come to when you want to talk to people, listen to some music or just watch TV," he said.

MacLeod said since he is so close to home, he uses the SMP Las Vegas trips not only to have fun with friends, but also to see his family.

Cpl. Edwin Clay, a motor vehicle operator with the Tactical Training Exercise Control Group, also makes frequent visits to the place that waits for him with "open arms."

"It's nice to come here after work and get away," said the St. Louis, Mo., native. He said the facility helps boost his morale, and like Lessard mentioned, keep him out of trouble.

In addition to its in-house entertainment, SMP also steals Marines away on weekend trips to theme parks, big cities, outdoor events, talk shows, shopping trips and more. Lessard said other West Coast installations offer trips once a month, whereas the Combat Center SMP offers trips to single Marines and sailors every weekend.

For Marines with a taste for volunteer work, the SMP here is the only one to perform Desert Mail call, a monthly effort involving the Morongo Basin community to gather and send 40 to 60 boxes of care-package supplies to Marines and sailors deployed overseas.

The SMP also runs a courtesy shuttle across mainside to give single Marines and sailors who don't own cars a way to get to locations such as the bowling alley, golf course, Marine Corps Exchange, commissary and back to their barracks buildings.

"We have one 10-passenger van that runs the Marines around," Lessard said. "On a slow month, we'll have no less than 8,000 Marines who use it."

Even when Marines and Sailors do not come to her, Lessard will go to them during events called "Barracks Bashes".

Barracks Bashes, which happens only four times a year here, help service members warm up to SMP by bringing the fun home through interactive activities, games, prizes, and 120 boxes of free pizza.

SMP hosted their most recent bash at the Marine Wing Support Squadron 374 barracks Tuesday. Lessard coordinates with unit leaders to decide what the bash will include and when it takes place.

"This unit is preparing to go to WTI [Weapons and Tactics Instructor course], and there has been a lot of prep in equipment, communication, gear and themselves," said Sgt. Maj. John J. Elliott, the squadron sergeant major. "They've been conducting field day every day and will continue to do that until we leave. I think they needed a little break."

The wing Marines and Sailors enjoyed activities such as the Whip the Chip, which involved whipped cream, poker chips, hula hoops, and the unfolding and wearing of a frozen T-shirt. They also had events which required them to wear adult diapers loaded with water balloons, a pogo stick race and a Hawaiian hula run.

Lance Cpl. Tyshan Bentley, a logistics and embarkation specialist with MWSS-374, was happy to take part in each activity.

"Things like this release the stress of your day-to-day jobs," said Bentley, a Vidalia, Ga., native. "Leaders are really stressing suicide prevention these days and this is a good way to enforce that."

Cpl. Joshua Hatchet, an administrative clerk with Headquarters and Service Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, was invited to the bash despite being in another unit.

"This gives you the chance to get to know the Marines in your unit on another level," said Hatchet, a native of Brooklyn, N.Y. "You feel less tense around your higher ups when you see them have fun. I think you'll be more willing to approach them if you have a problem when you know how cool they can be."

The long hours Lessard and her staff put in day after day pays off when they see Marines enjoying themselves, she said.

"I've been doing this a while, and this group of Marines here in Twentynine Palms is by far the best group I have had the pleasure of working with," she said. "I know it sounds typical, but I really am honored each day I can do something for them."

For more information on SMP, visit The Zone for a calendar of monthly events, or call 830-4767.