Parris Island squad competition: “Marines are just natural beasts”
There’s no such thing as a friendly competition at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island.
A squad competition held there Wednesday was grueling, dirty and fierce — and that’s just how the U.S. Marines like it.
“Marines are just natural beasts,” Gunnery Sgt. Ieremiah Pa’u said while supervising a team attempting to navigate an obstacle course while carrying a weighted stretcher.
Wednesday's competition pit 14 five-member teams against one another in a series of timed events involving a rappelling from towers, assembling and dissembling M16-A4 rifles, firing at targets in a faraway field, and simulating rescue missions.
The competitors “are Marines, not recruits,” Staff Sgt. Greg Thomas said. “These are all guys who have been through the wringer before.”
“This (competition) is going be even more of a wringer,” he said. “... these guys can take it — they’re professionals and every one of them is tough.”
The Marines, along with a few U.S. Navy sailors participating in the competition, must perform a series of strenuous exercises between each of the competition’s eight events spread over a 7-mile area — all the while lugging their rifles and packs weighted down with gear.
The events, which can sometimes take all day to complete, are designed “to get the Marine’s heart rates up and (simulate) the adrenaline they would get in a combat situation,” Thomas said.
Sgt. Timothy Kuklis said the events provide a wide range of combat training scenarios “from the jungle environment to urban environments.”
The squad competition didn’t simply test Marines’ brawn and edurance. There was strategy involved as well.
Some teams sprinted from event to event, while others opted to try to conserve energy for particularly strenuous activities.
Sgt. Matthew Stratton said. “We are going to try to make our time up at the events and not so much in the movement between (event sites) — that’s our strategy.”
There is no prize at the end of the squad competition.
There are no trophies, plaques or novelty-sized checks to give out — only pride and bragging rights.
But bragging rights among their fellow Marines “is worth more than that other stuff anyway,” Thomas said.
Gasping for air after an obstacle course run, Sgt. Donovan Robinson said, “We want to win. Our mindset is to finish strong and work as a team, but we’re playing to win.”
Despite the intense competition, the Marines displayed teamwork and cooperation.
When the event supervisors weren’t yelling at the participants to run faster and jump higher, they were encouraging them on, shouting profanity-laced cheers punctuated with a hearty “Oorah!”
Lucas High: 843-706-8128, @IPBG_Lucas
Oct. 25, 2015 A special report on the past and present of Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island on its 100th anniversary | READ
This story was originally published May 18, 2016 at 6:26 PM with the headline "Parris Island squad competition: “Marines are just natural beasts”."