Photo By Sgt. Michael Ito | Recruit Paolo Villa, platoon 2173, Company H, drops through the “hell hole.” The...... read more read more
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SAN DIEGO -- Courage, as taught in recruit training, is the moral, mental and physical strength to do what is right, to adhere to the highest standard of personal conduct, and to make tough decisions under stress and pressure. Ask any of the recruits of Company H, and dangling 100 feet in the air supported by a rope a half inch in diameter qualifies as stress and pressure.
The drill instructors of Instructional Training Company hosted the recruits of Company H at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego’s rappel tower, Feb. 24. The rappel tower is one of the last obstacles recruits must overcome before moving on to the Crucible, a 54-hour practical test of everything they have learned during recruit training.
The rappel tower is a 100-feet-tall structure with two rappel walls and a “hell hole,” a hole in the top of the platform that drops directly to the ground below, according to Staff Sgt. Gustavo Hernandez, a drill instructor for ITC.
“Because of the inherent risks of plummeting from 100 feet in the air, safety is of the utmost importance,” said Hernandez.
Due to those risks, the recruits are given an extensive training class before even gearing up to climb the tower. They are briefed by ITC staff on proper behaviors on and off the tower, the importance of awareness of what’s going on around them and procedures should an accident occur.
Hernandez noted that with the class the recruits receive, the safety of the gear they’re using, and the supervision and guidance they get from training and ITC drill instructors, the dangers are minimized. There hasn’t been an accident at the rappel tower since Hernandez has been at ITC. Unfortunately, that does not lessen the fear of the some recruits.
Despite our collective anticipation of this event, said Pfc. Cody Henneke, guide for platoon 2170, there was still a lot of encouraging to be done. There were quite a few recruits that were nervous about the height.
After the recruits were briefed on safety expectations, they started tying their rope harnesses. Each recruit was given a rope and re-briefed on how to correctly tie the harnesses so that their weight was properly supported. The recruits were then triple checked by their drill instructors and lined up to begin the ascent up the tower.
“We started to go up the stairs and that’s where you really started to see who needed the extra confidence boosts,” said Zackary Salaun, guide for platoon 2171. “A lot of people were really ready to do an event like this. They were ready to be tested and put directly against their fears.”
Once the recruits climbed the stairs and reach the top of the platform, they were directed to one of three stations; either one of the two rappel walls or the hell hole. Once at their station, the recruits were given a last minute refresher of procedure and then sent down.
“Going down the rappel walls simulates how a Marine would descend a mountainside or a building,” said Hernandez. “The hell hole is the same experience that a Marine would face demounting a helicopter into a combat zone.”
One by one, the recruits ran down the walls or free-fell through the hell hole and the tower was conquered without incident.
“It was exhilarating,” said Henneke. “It was much more fun than I imagined. The training was easy to recall and will be very useful later.”
The instructors are used to seeing the recruits respond to their fear, but each nervous recruit that successfully completed the obstacle saw a personal victory once safely on the ground again.
“Those recruits that were scared at first showed that they can accomplish anything, even if they weren’t certain before,” said Salaun. “It’s awesome things like this are included in recruit training to build the confidence that Marines can use later.”
Once the mission was accomplished, the recruits were de-briefed and sent on with training.
“We did what we came here to do,” said Hernandez. “The recruits got to do something cool, but at the end of the day, they got over their fears and they gained confidence in themselves, the process and the equipment.”
| Date Taken: | 03.11.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 03.14.2011 10:51 |
| Story ID: | 67030 |
| Location: | SAN DIEGO, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 73 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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