Story by Lance Cpl. Javarre Glanton
A recruit sights in, in the prone position to provide cover for the rest of his squad during the Crucible at Page Field. (Photo by Lance Cpl. Javarre Glanton)
The recruits of Mike and November Companies overcame the last few obstacles standing in their way during
the Crucible at Page Field.
The Crucible is a 54-hour ordeal made up of several events that test the recruits’ endurance, strength and overall teamwork, as they face the stress of limited food and sleep,
and exhaustion. It is the final test recruits must pass before they earn the title Marine.
“This is the future of the Marine Corps, so we have to make it count for them,” said Cpl. Joshua Watts, a Crucible instructor. “We have to make it a challenge. They need to know how to work as a team and to never leave a Marine behind. The squad is only as strong as the weakest recruit.”
A recruit prepares to catch a simulated casualty during the Crucible at the combat training area on Parris Island, S.C. (Photo by Lance Cpl. MaryAnn Hill)
The events of the Crucible are made up of various team-oriented challenges and obstacles that simulate combat scenarios. After a little more than two days of strenuous testing and hardships, the Crucible concludes with a nine-mile hike from Page Field to the Peatross Parade Deck.
Once at the parade deck, the drill instructors hold a ceremony for the recruits, in which they present them with their Marine Corps emblems. This ceremony symbolizes the point when trainees cease to be recruits and become full-fledged Marines.
“They need to stay motivated, no matter how hard things get, ”Watts said. “Later on down the line, they might find themselves in combat where they may not get the time to eat or sleep, and they’ll [have to work] in that state of mental and physical stress when other Marines are depending on them.”
“We tell them it’s the culminating event of recruit training,” said Staff Sgt. Ramarie Moore, a drill instructor with Platoon 4007, November Company, 4th Recruit Training Battalion. “I tell them it tests everything they’ve learned in recruit training.”
A Drill Instructor briefs his squad of recruits on a Crucible event, during the Crucible. (Photo by Lance Cpl. Javarre Glanton)
During the Crucible, the recruits must use everything they
learned throughout recruit training to finish on their own.
“All we do during the Crucible is observe how they’re doing – we don’t teach them,” said Moore, 30-years-old, of Patterson, N.J. “We’ve taught them as much as we could, and now they have to show us that they’ve learned and retained it all.”
Although males and females stay separated during recruit training, during the Crucible they use the same training areas simultaneously.
“I like doing the Crucible with the males,” Moore said. “It shows them that the females do the same exact things, and it motivates the females to see their doing what the males are.”
The hardships of the Crucible are designed to help recruits overcome doubts about themselves and build
trust in one another. Recruits from both companies must keep in mind the goal they set out to achieve the
night they raised their right hands and swore to defend the Constitution of the United States.
A recruit hands her fellow recruits weapons on an obstacle during the Crucible at the combat training area on Parris Island, S.C. The 54-hour culminating event is designed to emphasize teamwork and adherence to the Marine Corps’ core values under arduous and stressful conditions.(Photo by Lance Cpl. MaryAnn Hill)
“I’ve never been a quitter, so I always try to go as hard as I can,” said Pfc. Corey Robinson, Platoon 3018, Mike
Company, 3rd Recruit Training Battalion. “I refuse to stop even if I’m in pain because I keep my goal in
mind.”
Sometimes recruits push through the hardship by looking forward to seeing their families at the end
of training. “I really hope they see a change in me,” said Robinson, 20, of Tampa, Fla. “I can’t wait to
give my mom a hug on family day; it feels almost unreal how close it is.”
