Company I shapes up on Circuit Course

Photo By Cpl. Crystal Druery | Company I drill instructors motivate their recruits while they perform leg lifts aboard Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego March 29. Leg lifts were one of the 14 different stations Company I endured on the curcuit course after getting their heart rates up with two-and-a-half miles.  

SAN DIEGO, CA, UNITED STATES

03.29.2012

Story by Cpl. Eric Quintanilla 

Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego     

MARINE CORPS RECRUIT DEPOT SAN DIEGO - Sweat runs down dirty faces as recruits’ arms struggle to lift their body weight up to perform a pull up. War cries can be heard on the circuit course at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego while recruits give every ounce of strength they have to complete the course.

Company I overcame the circuit course March 29 aboard the depot to help build their physical strength. The course consists of two-and-a-half miles of running to warm the recruits up, followed by 14 various stations that require strength endurance.

“This course gets the recruits in shape,” said Staff Sgt. Dustin Sansoucie, senior drill instructor, Platoon 3209, Co. I, 3rd Recruit Training Battalion. “To be prepared for a combat situation they have to be in shape so they can take care of themselves and others.”

Recruit training takes young adults and turns them into basically trained Marines that are capable of handling combat situations. Though having the knowledge of what to look out for is a large part of combat preparedness, without physical and mental strength, Marines wouldn’t be able to fulfill their duties.

“These stations on the circuit course get the recruits thinking about different scenarios they might encounter as Marines,” said Sansoucie.

The stations include military presses, dips, crunches and pull ups. Company I recruits were split into different groups and followed a drill instructor to each station. Drill instructors ensured each recruit was performing the exercises correctly and gave them extra motivation to push through the pain. They stayed at each station for short, timed periods. At the sounds of a whistle blow, they then moved to the next station until recruits had gone through the course multiple times.

“I enjoyed this course, it’s kind of like cross-training,” said Recruit Nicholas Kinzel, Platoon 3209, Company I, 3rd RTBn. “Running from one station to another gets your heart rate up, yet when you stop, you have to think about what needs to be done to accomplish the station.”

By bringing the recruits heart rate up, then requiring them to think and perform at each station simulates what combat might be like for them if they’re ever exposed to it, said Sansoucie.

“This course is good training,” said Sansoucie. “It gets the recruits thinking about doing more than just one set thing and makes them realize different scenarios they might one day encounter.”

Company I will get more in-depth with combat training the following week during combat conditioning exercises. Over the 12 weeks of training the recruits will become proficient physically and mentally, earning the title ‘Marine’, if they have what it takes.

• Date Taken: 03.29.2012
• Date Posted: 04.05.2012 16:50
• Story ID: 86327
• Location: SAN DIEGO, CA, US