Photo By Lance Cpl. Javarre Glanton | Lance Cpl. Diana Delacruz, a fiscal clerk at the depot finance office, watches her...... read more read more
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PARRIS ISLAND, S.C. - Headquarters Company and Service Company each took to Page Field Aug. 24 for company physical training.
While Headquarters Company headed to the Leadership Reaction Course, Service Company went to the Combat Endurance Course.
Usually after the unit PT the company commanders have a few words with their Marines then everyone departs and goes their separate ways. Capt. Rodney Burks, Service Company commander, had a different agenda in mind to end the PT session – the re-enlistment of one of his Marines.
“Cpl. Michael Wensjoe came to me and said he wanted me to be his re-enlisting officer and he wanted to do it at the endurance course,” explained the 32-year-old native of Kansas City, Mo. Burks said the Combat Endurance Course is an obstacle-laden trail through the woods that Marines enjoy because of the unique nature and physical challenge of some of the obstacles present.
“We all came to the Marine Corps and had a vision of some of the stuff we’d be doing,” Burks said. “We see it in the movies and history books and it’s Marine-type stuff. So I wanted to challenge them with some of the things they wanted to do,” he said.
On the other side of Page Field, Headquarters Company Marines negotiated the obstacles of the Leadership Reaction Course.
“The idea was born out of trying to find new and interesting things to do for PT. So I started looking toward things that were organic to the depot that we could use,” said Capt. Sean Keenan, 37-year-old Headquarters Company commander from Raleigh, N.C. “The company gunny and I worked on it together, but it was originally Capt. Burks’ idea.”
The course is comprised of different scenarios in which the Marines split up into four-man fire teams to work on the obstacles together.
“We usually get only three PT events a month. So the idea is to try not to do the same formation runs or three-mile individual runs all the time,” Keenan said. “We want to try to do things that incorporate physical fitness, leadership skills and fun.”
The two companies of Marines regularly step out of the box to find PT sessions that give the Marines something more than the norm.
“I wanted the more junior Marines to lead their more senior Marines in a complex situation, reinforce the importance of teamwork in a tangible way,” Keenan added. “My motivation was to complete the task of the objective through teamwork and ingenuity and to challenge my core strength. I hope my presence during the event helped motivate the Marines out there.”
Unit camaraderie influences the focus of each PT session.
“The purpose of unit PT once a week isn’t to prepare them for the Combat Fitness Test and Physical Fitness Test,” Keenan said. “My goal is to improve morale, esprit de corps and teamwork. My goal is to make them more well-rounded, not just as Marines but as people.”
| Date Taken: | 09.01.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 09.01.2011 15:45 |
| Story ID: | 76319 |
| Location: | PARRIS ISLAND, SOUTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 124 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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