Photo By Staff Sgt. Jesus Sepulveda Torres | U.S. Marines with Marine Corps Base Hawaii (MCBH) tread water at the base pool during...... read more read more
Subscribe
Reconnaissance is one of the United States Marine Corps’ forces that gather information and raw data that gets handed it in, filtered, analyzed, processed and then given out to the command element of a Marine Air-Ground Task Force.
Reconnaissance Marines train and fight across the world conducting operations involving airborne, heliborne, submarine and waterborne insertions and extractions.
U.S. Marines and Sailors that volunteer for reconnaissance must undergo a screening procedure to prove that they can make it through the rigorous training of Basic Reconnaissance Course (BRC).
Marines with 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion, based out of Camp Smedley D. Butler, Okinawa, Japan, held a quarterly personnel screener aboard Marine Corps Base Hawaii on Sept. 8, 2017.
The purpose of the screener was to evaluate and assess potential candidates to attend BRC and become reconnaissance Marines.
Servicemembers began the screener with a physical fitness test, moving to the base pool to complete various aquatic exercises, then the maneuver under fire portion of the combat fitness test twice, ending with a 6-mile-long pack run with time limit.
“Every part of the day was to evaluate the mental and physical level of the individual Marine to make sure they can make it through BRC,” said Master Sgt. Mickey Eaton, the operations chief for 3rd Reconnaissance. “We need Marines and Sailors to be able to perform all manner of tasks, especially in the pool where we mainly work in.”
Eaton said the standards are high, but evaluators are always looking for something more than just being physically fit.
“You have to meet the physical standard, but it’s not necessarily the individual that’s a PT stud, it’s not the fastest ruck runner or the best swimmer,” he said. “We are looking for heart, looking for drive and looking for that fire in the individual because you just can’t teach that, but what you can teach is to be a better swimmer or a faster runner. We want the Sailor or Marine that wants the desire to become reconnaissance members.”
Lance Cpl. Robert Cortez, a rifleman with 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, participated in the screener.
“I feel exhausted, but proud that I took the chance and tried out for reconnaissance,” he said. “Unfortunately, I didn’t meet some of the time hacks for the screener. I look at this not as a failure, but another way to improve where I am struggling.”
Cortez said he was given advice and help from the evaluators and also said he had motivation to try out again the next time a screener will be held.
“The instructors were really smart and told me how to do improve myself.” he said. “Learning from these guys, makes me want to keep trying because I don’t want to be an average Marine.”
Cortez said he strives to be one step ahead when compared to his peers and wants to be a reconnaissance Marine.
“My cousin is a scout sniper and I’ve always told him that I’ll do something better than you so I went infantry,” he said. “I want to be better than everyone else, not just my cousin, which is my drive to come back in a heartbeat.”
| Date Taken: | 09.08.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 09.15.2017 15:42 |
| Story ID: | 248182 |
| Location: | MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII, HI, US |
| Web Views: | 149 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Hawaii Marines push through reconnaissance screener, by SSgt Jesus Sepulveda Torres, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
LEAVE A COMMENT