Marines pushed through a demanding Marine Corps Martial Arts Program instructor course May 4–22 at Marine Corps Support Facility Blount Island in Florida, enduring weeks of combat conditioning, sparring and evaluations designed to strengthen warfighting readiness.
Sgt. Dylan Burge, Blount Island Command’s command physical training representative and a Marine Corps Martial Arts Program instructor trainer, led the rigorous three-week course, which challenged Marines physically, mentally and emotionally while testing their ability to teach, mentor and lead under stress.
The course culminated May 21 with a grueling final event beginning before sunrise on Blount Island’s physical training field. Marines repeatedly ran the obstacle course, carried a stretcher loaded with ammunition cans and a water jug simulating the weight of a casualty, completed a ruck movement to the sand ramp at Navy Point and finished with weapon-integrated free sparring and force-on-force rounds inside an expeditionary clamshell structure.
Sweat covered the mats as exhausted Marines fought through the final rounds while instructors evaluated composure, aggression, technique and the ability to continue fighting while fatigued.
“This is by far the hardest thing I’ve done in my career, physically and mentally,” said Gunnery Sgt. Eric Colon, a Blount Island Command expeditionary airfield chief, after completing the final event.
“It brought me back to the basics — it got me into that warrior mindset,” Colon said. “We have to be ready to fight, no matter what our job.”
The course began with five Marines and graduated four: Colon, Gunnery Sgt. Cameron Fitzgerald, Staff Sgt. Israel Amador and Sgt. Daren Jones, all assigned to Blount Island Command. Graduates earned instructor certifications authorizing them to teach Marine Corps Martial Arts Program techniques and advance belt qualifications across the Fleet Marine Force.
Burge, of Lawrenceville, Georgia, enlisted in 2018 and later earned the instructor-trainer designation at Quantico, Virginia, qualifying him to certify lower-level instructors and advance Marines through the upper tiers of the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program.
He said the course transforms Marines from practitioners into instructors capable of developing others under pressure.
“It’s really about their transformation into an instructor,” Burge said. “They had a belt, and they knew the techniques, but this takes them to a new level over the three-week period.”
Marines completed written and practical assessments covering anatomy, risk management, instructional methodology and the continuum of force while also leading classes connecting martial arts techniques to Marine Corps leadership traits, core values and combat psychology.
Candidates faced 14 graded evaluations throughout the course.
“Every PT is an evaluation,” Burge said.
Marines must maintain first-class physical fitness standards to earn and retain instructor status.
The course exposes Marines to sustained physical and mental stress designed to build confidence, composure and resilience under pressure.
“When the physical has given up, that’s when the mental drives you through,” Burge said. “In a training environment, we try to emulate that as much as possible and inoculate them to that situation safely.”
Burge and his fellow instructors wore black “One Mind Any Weapon” shirts, visually distinguishing the Marines responsible for evaluating, mentoring and certifying.
“It’s an inoculation to interpersonal violence,” Burge said. “It’s bringing out the warrior spirit in that Marine. It’s about finding the mental fortitude to continue when your body wants to quit.”
“I think four really amazing martial arts instructors can do a lot better than 20 okay instructors,” Burge said, emphasizing quality and standards over volume. He said the course also reconnects Marines with the mindset and purpose that first drew many of them to military service.
“We’re a warfighting organization, and that’s our sole purpose,” Burge said. “I think it’s a great chance to get away, find that original ‘why’ they joined and keep going back to that, even when you want to quit.”
Service members, civilians and leadership gathered May 22 at the physical training field for the graduation ceremony, where the newly certified instructors completed the obstacle course before receiving their instructor belts.
The graduating class included two new brown belt instructors, Amador and Jones, and two black belt instructors, Colon and Fitzgerald.
Sgt. Maj. Shonor Burton, Blount Island Command’s senior enlisted leader, spoke to the graduates about the importance of physical and mental resilience in combat, drawing from his own experiences in Iraq.
“Every bruise, every repetition, every difficult moment during training had a purpose,” Burton said. “You learned to push beyond exhaustion. You learned to trust the Marine to your left and right. You learned that confidence is earned through preparation and perseverance.”
“You are Marines, and Marines don’t quit,” Burton said.
| Date Taken: |
05.22.2026 |
| Date Posted: |
05.22.2026 14:34 |
| Story ID: |
566024 |
| Location: |
JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA, US |
| Hometown: |
LAWRENCEVILLE, GEORGIA, US |
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This work, Blount Island Builds Martial Arts Instructors to Strengthen Readiness, by Dustin Senger, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
