There’s Always Something To Learn: 2023 Educators Workshop

Photo By Lance Cpl. Payton Goodrich | U.S Marine Corps Capt. Abigail Wall, officer selection officer with Recruiting Station Fort Worth and Aaron Vogel, the student success specialist at the University of New Mexico run the maneuver under fire portion of the combat fitness test at the Officer Candidate School on Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va., on June 14, 2023, to showcase the physical standards that are expected of Marines. The Educators Workshop gives college educators from across the country the opportunity to see how Marines are recruited, trained, and developed into leaders. Upon completion of the workshop, attending educators will return to their schools and community equipped with a better understanding of the Marine Corps and the ability to tell the Marine Corps story. (U.S. Marine Corps Photo by Lance Cpl. Payton Goodrich)  

QUANTICO, VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES

06.14.2023

Story by Lance Cpl. Payton Goodrich 

Marine Corps Recruiting Command           

Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va.- College educators from across the country gathered at Marine Corps Base Quantico, from June 13 to June 16, 2023, for the Educators Workshop hosted by the Marine Corps Recruiting Command. The event allowed the educators to experience a week at the Officer Candidate School and The Basic School and learn what hard work and discipline it takes to become a Marine Corps Officers, in the hopes that upon completion of the workshop, attending educators will return to their schools and community equipped with a better understanding of the Marine Corps and ability to tell the Marine Corps story.
“I’m Coming in with an open mind, and from what I’ve heard from coworkers who have come to this before is that it’s an amazing experience of all the conferences I had the chance to go to; I chose this because of all the good things I have heard about it,” said Ryan Murray, the director of graduate studies at the University of Missouri.
During the Educators Workshop, the educators had a chance to visit the Officer Candidate School, where they received the same welcome aboard speech that all officer candidates received when they first met their sergeant instructors. The educators also had the chance to watch Marines run the Quigley, a grueling obstacle course meant to test the mental and physical endurance of all who run it. Educators were given the option to run a partial Combat Fitness Test and some of the Leadership Reaction Courses, which all candidates must pass, to see the kind of physical toughness and intellectual ability all officer candidates must have to complete OCS.
“Watching those Marines run the Quigley shows the mental and physical toughness Marines need to have, and I can imagine a number of my students who would love to do this,” said Greg Jackson, a professor at Utah Valley University, “after trying to run just one part the CFT it just shows how tough Marines are because as someone who takes good care of themselves and works out every day the Marine here are running circles around me.”
Educators also had the chance to ride in MV-22B ‘Ospreys,’ tiltrotor aircraft that can take off like a helicopter yet fly like a plane. The educators rode the ospreys to The Basic School, where they received a brief class on the history and mission of TBS. The obstacle course was an event in which the educators were allowed to physically partake after a quick demonstration from Marines to test their endurance and see if they could complete the course—the day at TBS ended with a trip to the indoor simulated marksmanship trainer, which involved a quick weapons handling course and a demonstration of the ISMT before the educators could partake in the simulated situations. Educators waiting to use the ISMT also had the chance to speak with instructors of the scout sniper school and see a few of the different weapons systems used by Marine Corps scout snipers.
On the last day of the Educators Workshop, the educators visited the Marine Corps University to learn about the opportunities the Marine Corps provides its Marines to further their education. Educators also visited the Marine Corps Museum, where they could further explore the long and storied history of the Marine Corps. The workshop ended with a trip to Marine Barracks Washington, where the educators watched the evening parade and saw the professionalism, dedication, and discipline that the Marine Corps puts into its proud traditions.

• Date Taken: 06.14.2023
• Date Posted: 06.30.2023 09:59
• Story ID: 448298
• Location: QUANTICO, VIRGINIA, US