U.S. Marines with the Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force – Alert Contingency MAGTF and 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit conduct water survival and rescue drills during a Water Survival Advanced course at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, June 3, 2025. WSA training is a week-long course that prepares Marines and Sailors for execution of emergency activation plans, water survival and rescue scenarios, and risk mitigation employment. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Osmar VasquezHernandez)
CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. – Martial arts and combative sports are a skillset many people use for various ways. Some want to learn how to defend themselves in case they are ever attacked. Others have been involved in these sports for years and compete professionally. For U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Charles Copeland, the fire and effects coordination center chief at the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), martial arts and combative sports taught him how to be comfortable being uncomfortable.
Copeland grew up in a small town in Minnesota . Even when he was younger, he always found himself being told he couldn’t participate in challenging sports because of his smaller stature compared to the rest of the kids around him.
“I just...
