Pumping Iron: Marines stay fit on the road

Photo By Staff Sgt. Alfred V. Lopez | U.S. Marine Gunnery Sgt. Carlos Aguilera, a platoon sergeant with Echo Company, 1st Light Armored Battalion, and 31-year-old native of Los Angeles, works out with Ahlim, a linguist with Echo Co., using portable suspension training equipment during an overnight post here, April 26, 2012. Due to the high operational tempo required of Echo Co., Aguilera and his fellow Marines have spent nearly their entire deployment on the road. After a rigorous day of patrolling or holding a vehicle checkpoint, the Echo Marines utilize their mobile gym to maintain the Marine Corps standard of fitness.  

KHAN NESHIN DISTRICT, AFGHANISTAN

05.03.2012

Story by Cpl. Alfred V. Lopez 

I Marine Expeditionary Force

KHAN NESHIN DISTRICT, Afghanistan – Brows soak in hard earned sweat.

Iron moves rhythmically through the air, synchronized to the bass lines flowing from a portable speaker system.

Blood moves frantically from a Marine’s heart, through his pulsing veins, and pumps oxygen into muscles, gasping for a break.

As the setting sun’s light faded from the glowing sand dunes, Marines and sailors with Blue Platoon, Echo Company, 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance, were hard at work, pumping iron and staying fit.

After a day’s labor, the platoon sets up a defensive coil near a well-travelled road, and known smuggler’s route between Khan Neshin district and Pakistan.

“Our main mission is to provide overwatch on a main resupply route,” said Gunnery Sgt. Carlos Aguilera, the platoon sergeant for Blue Platoon and a 31-year-old native of Los Angeles. “We watch out for insurgents emplacing improvised explosive devices.”

Since October 2011, Aguilera and his Marines have been charged with keeping the road secure and insurgent free for Khan Neshin locals and coalition forces. Their mission requires Blue Plt. to live on the road, only returning to their home base, Combat Outpost South Station, to resupply and refuel.

“Living out of a vehicle is normal, because that’s what we do in 1st LAR,” said Aguilera. “All of the deployments I’ve done have been like this, so it feels normal now.”

Upon settling at their overnight post, the Marines begin setting up their mobile gym. Barbells and weights usually seen in an air-conditioned gym hit the warm desert sand, as they’re unloaded from a mine resistant ambush protected vehicle.

“Our first sergeant let us sign them out,” said Aguilera. “I just had to find a safe spot on the vehicle to put them in, so they won’t go flying everywhere in case we hit an improvised explosive device.”

The vehicle is unrecognizable, as a makeshift pull-up bar protrudes from the rear, and portable suspension training equipment and resistance bands hang from various hooks and handles. Weights litter the ground, waiting for a lift.

“I can pretty much do what I do in a gym with what we have,” said Cpl. Joshua Liserio, a light armored vehicle crewman with Blue Plt. and 24-year-old native of San Antonio. “I try to do as much as I can, but sometimes you kind of have to make your own tools too.”

The platoon’s mobile gym, which sometimes sports a makeshift weight bench made out of a box and a plank of plywood, provides a small but welcome relief from the daily grind of patrolling and vehicle checkpoints.

“I’ve always been an athletic person, staying fit has never been a problem” said Liserio. “I’m planning on going to college and trying out for the football team when I get out, so it helps me with my goals.”

It also provides them the motivation to maintain the Marine Corps’ fitness standards, even while deployed in an austere environment.

“Being a Marine gives me a rush,” said Aguilera. “Part of that is upholding the fitness standards and setting the example for my Marines. If they see me work out, they get on the wagon too and start raising their (fitness) level.”

Despite the spartan conditions and limited equipment, the platoon finds ways to vary their workouts and push their limits.

“The workouts that we do focus on keeping the upper body strong,” said Aguilera. “Cardio takes care of itself, you get used to the conditions when you go out on patrol.”

The Marines and sailors of Blue Plt. plan to continue pumping iron until their deployment comes to an end.

“We’re not done here until we’re gone,” said Aguilera. “Staying fit is what we do, that’s why we’re Marines.”

Editor’s note: First Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion is part of Regimental Combat Team 5, 1st Marine Division (Forward), which works in partnership with the Afghan National Security Forces and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to conduct counterinsurgency operations. The unit is dedicated to securing the Afghan people, defeating insurgent forces and enabling ANSF assumption of security responsibilities within its area of operations in order to support the expansion of stability, development and legitimate governance.

• Date Taken: 05.03.2012
• Date Posted: 05.03.2012 05:18
• Story ID: 87778
• Location: KHAN NESHIN DISTRICT, AF