QUANTICO, Va. - It’s a course that fits its name perfectly, pushing bodies to their limits and then some.
It’s called the Endurance Course and it proved to be a worthy challenge for Marines from India Company, the Basic School, as they completed their final ran at the course for score at Camp Barrett on March 23.
“The purpose of this endurance course is to test the Marines mental and physical strength,” said Capt. Kevin Fallon, the staff platoon commander for 5th Platoon, India Company, TBS.
The course starts off with an obstacle course, and continues with a five-mile run, in full combat gear with individual obstacles along the way.
Laid throughout the course are the names of Marines who have given their all to the Corps. These names help motivate the students to give their all on the course.
Just finishing the course isn’t enough. To add to the toughness of the course, Marines are timed, with 60 minutes being a perfect score for males and 70 minutes for females.
Their final score is a part of their military skills grade which is one-third of their overall grade in TBS.
This grade is important to the warrant officers because, the better their grade is, the better their lineal standing in the company is.
Completing the course with the combat gear not only adds to the physical strain of the students, but helps put the students in a combat mindset, Fallon said.
To prepare the Marines did everything from running in boots and utility uniforms to spending their off duty time tackling the obstacle course.
“Because most of the course is full of hill, I do a lot of hill sprints,” said Chief Warrant Officer Alejandro Pulido, 8th Platoon, India Company, TBS.
“The initial mile is a heart crusher,” said Chief Warrant Officer Elias Ariel, with 8th Platoon, India Company, TBS. “There’s nothing you can do to fully prepare for this thing [E Course]. You just have to pace yourself and take advantage of the down hills.”
Physical preparation is not enough to get you through the course though. Warrant officers can easily psyche themselves out before even starting the course.
“As officers, we lead from the front, this course prepares them for that by forcing them to perform under mental and physical stress,” Fallon said.
“If you give 110 percent out here, then when you’re in combat and things get heated, you know you’ve got that extra inside of you to keep going, because you pushed yourself here,” Ariel said.