19 minute read
Making Marines
Senior Drill Instructor Staff Sgt. Christopher Carlisle leads Platoon 3001, Kilo Co., 3rd RTBn., during a graduation practice.
USMC photo by Lance Cpl. Darbonda V. Hall
MAKING MARINES
History and traditions foster spirit and resolve in Leatherneck recruits By Clarence A. Robinson, Jr.
They come from all over – small, rural towns and large metropolitan cities, farms and barrios. Initially, they are strangers with only one thing in common. Each has accepted a challenge. This ordeal will irrevocably alter the rest of their lives in ways they cannot possibly fathom.
Their reasons for signing enlistment contracts to become U.S. Marines are vastly different, personal and private; however, each individual understands they are about to undergo 13 weeks of the most intense training of their young lives. They also know they will soon embrace a warrior’s ethos.
The Marine Corps recruits those who enlist specifically for combat training, not for technical skills. Some may later acquire specialized training by attending service schools to meet the needs of the Corps. But every Marine is first a rifleman, and could eventually move into the line and fire at an enemy, regardless of skill level.
Each recruit beginning boot camp is not yet a Marine. That title must first be earned, along with the right to wear the distinctive Eagle, Globe and Anchor emblem of the Corps. This insignia is elusive, out of reach for the next three grueling months, and not everyone will measure up and earn the title Marine. Recruits will soon learn the meaning of a French phrase, esprit de corps – the spirit of the Corps. It is ethereal, profound, and contagious. Once acquired, it lasts a lifetime. The “once a Marine, always a Marine” aphorism expresses it well.
Recruits also learn a new language, one full of nautical terms honed over years of operations at sea with the Navy, fighting from ships and seizing objectives ashore. Called “Boots,” recruits are often referred to as “maggots.” They are told that they are lower than whale feces at the bottom of the ocean. The only grudging recognition they will ever gain is by performance, doing the job better than anyone might expect. And for weeks to come they will hear “heels, heels, heels,” at 120-steps-per-minute cadence, as recruits dig their heels into the grinder marching for hours on end. In rare moments, Boots are exposed to sardonic wit, the unique gallows humor of the Corps.
Whether asked five or 50 years later what it means to be a Marine, the memories that come flooding back are of boot camp and that first encounter with the drill instructor (DI). His name and mannerisms will become indelibly etched in their memories for the remainder of their lives. The smart ones listen carefully, react rapidly, and learn from the DI. His job is to teach them how to become Marines through discipline, the art of warfare, and an indomitable will to prevail, regardless of the odds.
Pfc. Riley F. McNeal, Platoon 2058, scales a cargo net. This was the last obstacle before Company F men hiked the Reaper. Boot camp for prospective Marines is as tough, or tougher, than ever.
USMC photo by Lance Cpl. Dorian Gardener
Staff Sgt. Ysid R. Gonzalez, drill instructor, Platoon 2082, Company H, explains to a recruit from Platoon 2083 the importance of discipline. Drill instructors are a formative and lasting influence on Marines.
USMC photo by Lance Cpl. Edward R. Guecara Jr.
Peter Pace General, United States Marine Corps, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Boot camp is a shared Marine experience. Duty stations, overseas or stateside, will also color what it individually means to be a Marine. Assignments, whether in
Arriving recruits quickly depart the bus, follow yellow footprints painted on the ground, form ranks, and stand at attention, even though they are still wearing civilian clothing. They form ranks facing the drill instructor, with the tallest on the right and the shortest, or “feather merchants,” on the left. The first rule learned is to always speak of themselves in third person when addressing other Marines. Most important of all, they do not address anyone other than another recruit without first asking permission. For example, while standing at attention, the recruit states: “Sir, Private Jones [or Smith] requests permission to speak to the Drill Instructor, Sir.” And never enter the drill instructor’s doorway without first loudly knocking three times and requesting permission to enter.
Before recruits look through their rifle sights, marksmanship instructors teach proper weapons handling and techniques. The credo “Every Marine a rifleman” remains as important today as ever.
USMC photo by Lance Cpl. Dorian Gardener
Over the years, field uniforms have changed from the gray-green herringbone utilities, split-leather, ankle-high “boondockers,” and canvas leggings of my era to today’s computer-designed camouflage uniforms and high-top desert boots. The object is the same – work clothing for combat, to find, close with, and destroy an enemy.
DIs, however, are sharp in appearance, their crisp uniforms and shined shoes, commanding presence, and booming voices immediately setting an example. They wear the traditional “Smokey Bear” hat with the brim low, just above their eyebrows. Many DIs have already experienced combat, and their no-nonsense attitude is hardly subtle. Over the coming weeks they will spend countless hours teaching recruits how to march smartly in formation and execute the manual of arms with the rifle. There is even a creed for the rifle: ”This is my rifle. There are many like it, but this is mine. I must master it as I must master my life. My rifle without me is useless. Without my rifle, I am useless … ”
Gunnery Sgt. Coleman Kinser, senior drill instructor, Platoon 1061, Company B, inspects a Co. C recruit's rifle.
USMC Photo by Cpl. Jess Lewis
Continuous close order drill on the “grinder,” or parade deck, teaches recruits the importance of teamwork and to instantly obey commands. Drill forges a cohesive unit without individuals. There is also competition with other recruit platoons for excellence in performing drill; marksmanship, the key to combat success; bayonet; handto-hand combat; physical fitness, a way of life; swimming; and myriad other military skills. Competition is a Marine Corps constant. After boot camp, wherever a Marine is stationed, training continues, including annual rifle qualification.
Along with close order drill and the manual of arms, recruits learn how to properly wear and care for their uniforms. They also attend classes on the history and traditions of the Marine Corps, which help instill pride in their legacy. The Marine Corps way of doing things – its uniforms, insignia, and history – make it a distinctive organization set apart from the other services. If they can measure up, recruits will earn that Marine title and assume the mantle from their forbears. Wherever assigned afterward, they will find strong bonds and camaraderie.
From this boot camp crucible Marines are forged and tempered, trained to perform under fire with courage. The Corps’ history and heroes are the DNA of would-be Marines. That title is within their grasp through superb training in the fundamentals of being a rifleman, and the tried and true traditions of having grit to find, close with, and destroy an enemy with whatever weapons are available.
Starting in boot camp, and throughout their association with the Corps, recruits hear a “do something, even if it’s wrong” refrain. This concept is about deciding rapidly on an imperfect course of action to gain momentum, rather than developing a more perfect plan too late to be effective. The concept is sometimes called a 70- percent solution. The attitude helps make the Corps an agile, almost freewheeling, adaptive force that can handle dynamic and complicated challenges with alacrity. Adaptability and flexibility under demanding conditions are so effective that U.S. companies in highly competitive environments study Marine Corps management practices.
After several weeks of a demanding training schedule, the all-important marksmanship and rifle qualification cycle begins. Whether recruits in the old Corps qualified with the Springfield ‘03, M1 Garand, M14, or M16 rifles, the tenets of shooting remain the same. Shooters learn every aspect of the weapon; tearing it down, cleaning it endlessly, and reassembling it in jig time. They also practice proper breathing, taking up the slack, and squeezing the trigger. Before the first round is fired, recruits spend endless hours snapping in, practicing all of the shooting positions – standing, sitting, and prone, the most accurate, especially at 500 yards.
They learn about a six o’clock sight picture and how to adjust windage and elevation. They will soon zero the weapon, firing rounds to determine how much windage and elevation to add or subtract to find the V-ring, the center of the bull’s-eye in the target. Under the watchful eye of expert rifle coaches, shooting begins in relays. Each recruit fires a prescribed number of rounds in a specific period of time. Spotters mark each round from the butts. Hits in the bull’s-eye are marked with a white disk and those in the outer rings of the target with a black disk. When a shot misses the target, the red-faced recruit is greeted with a flag called “Maggie’s Drawers,” waved across the target for all to see.
Safety is paramount, and coaches react swiftly to any infraction of the rules. After each relay fires, the command to cease fire, check the chamber is empty, pick up brass (shell casings), and move back to the 300- or 500- yard line echoes over the range. After days of shooting, qualification day arrives as recruits vie for expert, sharpshooter, and marksman ratings. Their shooting badges will be worn on the uniform at graduation and throughout their enlistments, until requalification changes that ranking. Rifle proficiency also is considered for promotion.
The importance of this proficiency with the rifle is evident throughout the history of the Corps, but one of the earlier examples came at Belleau Wood during World War I. Ordered to plug the line where a major German offensive was streaming through French troops, Marines boarded trucks to be deployed.
Even before the Marines could reach the woods, an endless stream of refugees and remnants of French combat units in blue uniforms were fleeing the advancing Germans. Filthy, weary, and wearing looks described in a later war as a 10,000-yard stare in a 3-foot room, they moved in shock.
A high-ranking French officer called Marine Capt. Lloyd W. Williams aside and told him a full retreat had been ordered and to withdraw his men. “Retreat hell,” Williams exploded. “We just got here.” The Marine regiment kept moving forward, marching toward the sound of gunfire. By 5 p.m. an enemy attack began with Ludendorff’s Imperial Army moving forward in columns. Marines adjusted their rifle slings, and setting their elevation and windage, opened withering, deliberate, and wellaimed rifle fire. More than 600 yards away, German soldiers began to fall at an alarming rate.
–Sgt. Maj. John R Massaro, (USMC-Ret.)
The Germans concluded the men they faced were armed exclusively with machine guns and gave the order to hold up and dig in. The Germans halted their advance for the day, not realizing they would go no farther.
This emphasis on marksmanship is evident even in an example of Corps humor that took place during the Korean War. After months in combat, Marines came off the line into reserve. One night, an old black and white Bette Davis film was shown outdoors in a cold, driving rain. Nevertheless, the makeshift theater was packed. Wearing helmets and ponchos, Marines sat on sandbags to view it. Partway through the movie, the actress pulled out a pistol and pumped several shots into her cheating lover. Realizing what she had done to the man she loved, the actress emotionally screamed, “What will I do, what will I do?” From the back of the crowd came a loud retort: “Pick up your brass and move back to the 500- yard line.”
Officers too must periodically qualify with the rifle and also with the pistol. College graduates, or those about to graduate, who opt to become Marines attend officer candidate school at Quantico, Va. Like enlisted recruits in boot camp, they are known as candidates, not yet Marine officers, and undergo training equally as rigorous, with the emphasis on leadership and resolve. After three months and commissions as second lieutenants of Marines, the newly minted “nuggets” begin an arduous nine-month Basic School course of field exercises and classroom work to learn how to lead Marines in combat and triumph.
The pages of Marine Corps history reveal the true Leatherneck spirit. World War II heroism and combat prowess by Marines at Wake Island, Guam, Midway, the Solomons, the Philippines, Saipan, Tinian, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and Guadalcanal thunder through the ages as eternal monuments to the Corps and to all the men who are part of its history. An iconic military symbol, the Mount Surabachi flag-raising on Iwo Jima is arguably the world’s most famous war memorial. This statue honors those Marines who overcame a determined, dug-in enemy and prevailed.
Col. John W. Ripley, (USMC-Ret.) 1957-1992
With the establishment of the American Navy, Congress authorized formation of two Marine battalions on Nov. 10, 1775, the birthday of the Marine Corps. That date is celebrated every year, no matter where Marines are serving, usually with a cake, even in combat. Recruits also learn about the feats of Corps heroes whose exploits are true but also legendary. They set the example.
One birthday cake-cutting the writer witnessed took place in Vietnam. The sound of pouring rain mingled with an air of anticipation and the smell of food. A large sheet cake with white icing and a scarlet and gold emblem had been baked. All was ready for the 189th U.S. Marine Corps anniversary celebration in two hours.
Pilots and crews of a single Marine helicopter squadron and a small task element were preparing for a party in their compound adjacent to the Da Nang, Vietnam, airfield. It was Nov. 10, 1964. The rain and chilling winds increased as Typhoon Joan moved ashore.
Without much warning, pilots and crews were scrambled to open trucks, heading to their helicopters. They quickly took off into the heavy weather. Battered by wind gusts, the UH-34D helicopters soon began rescuing homeless women and children from raging floodwaters, returning them to the airfield.
An empty hangar readied with floodlights provided a measure of warmth for soaked and shivering children. Many of them, like their mothers, were in shock. Helicopter crews walked among the refugees handing out blankets stripped from their own beds, along with cans of C-ration food. Huddled together, they marveled at their survival, but they had lost everything.
The flights by HMM-365, commanded by Lt. Col. Joseph Koler, Jr., USMC, continued for several more hours as the crowd of survivors rapidly increased. Enemy sniper fire made rescues even more hazardous, but pilots pressed on, realizing people were perishing. Col. John H. King, USMC, the task element commander, met each returning aircraft filled with waterlogged survivors. No one then realized the scope of the storm’s devastation. More than 200,000 Vietnamese would be left homeless.
After flight operations halted for the night, King walked among the refugees, reassuring frightened survivors, and suddenly remembered the Marine Corps birthday cake. He sent a truck driver to retrieve it. Each child received a piece of the cake, brought to the hangar and cut without traditional ceremony or fanfare. Hardened Marines took long breaths to control their emotions. It may not have involved the usual ritual, but this Marine Corps birthday could not have been more meaningful.
At dawn, pilots took off again to resume rescue operations. By day’s end, more than 1,700 women and children had been plucked from raging floodwaters – then the largest helicopter rescue in history. Before his retirement, Koler became a major general.
Recruits studying Marine Corps history also learn of other, more modern-day heroes and their deeds. Some will go on to serve in units commanded by these living legends. Many Corps heroes are self-effacing and taciturn, but don’t let that fool you. When the bullets start flying, observe their leadership and coolness under fire. First Sgt. Jimmie E. Howard, USMC, is an example of tenacity and courage in the face of overwhelming odds. There is much for young Marines to learn from his actions and those of his men.
Your best friend or your worst enemy. When Typhoon Iris left some 200,000 Vietnamese homeless and in danger, personnel of HMM-365 and other Marines were their best friends and saviors.
USMC photo via Clarence A. Robinson
For two days and nights atop Hill 488, 25 miles west of the Marine base in Chu Lai, Vietnam, Howard and his 17- man reconnaissance team called in air and artillery fire on a North Vietnam Army (NVA) battalion operating in the area. At 1,500 feet in elevation, the rock-strewn, barren vantage point was an ideal location to observe. The enemy knew the Marines’ position and was determined to destroy this small unit. A nearby Army Special Forces team with a platoon of South Vietnamese irregulars saw the enemy’s movement and radioed that information.
Aware they were in for a fight against an overwhelming force, Howard briefed his team leaders and readied for battle. At 10 p.m., a lance corporal shot a camouflaged infiltrator from a distance of 12 feet. Close combat was joined. When it was over, every surviving Marine in the unit was wounded. A Medal of Honor, four Navy Crosses, and 13 Silver Stars were added to the Corps’ heritage. The Recon Marines pulled back to a perimeter about 20 meters in diameter with shallow one-man fighting holes and prepared to defend it. Heavy enemy machine guns opened fire; grenades and mortar shells landed in the perimeter. The Marines beat back several well-coordinated assaults, but ammunition and grenades started running low.
On the Marine Corps birthday, Nov. 10, 1964, the unit’s birthday cake was given to tired, frightened, refugee children.
USMC photo via Clarence A. Robinson
When the enemy screamed “Tonight you die, Marine!” as had other foes on Pacific islands, Howard orchestrated boisterous laughter. This hilarity confused the enemy, momentarily delaying their assaults. Howard moved around the perimeter distributing the remaining ammunition, and ordered that only clear, single shots be taken. As grenades ran low, Howard had his Marines throw rocks toward enemy positions. Unable to tell whether a “grenade” might explode, the enemy was forced to dart away. Whenever they moved, Marines shot them.
Sgt. Maj. Joseph W. Dailey (USMC-Ret.)
An extraction was attempted at 3 a.m., but hostile fire was too heavy for helicopters to land. Howard, wounded from a bullet ricochet, was unable to use his legs. Choosing to remain clear-headed, he refused morphine, dragging his radio and crawling from position to position to encourage his men. Throughout the night, Howard continued calling in artillery, helicopter gunships, and fixed-wing aircraft ordnance, often within 25 meters of his own position.
Just before dawn, Howard called out “reveille” to his surrounded unit. Later, with air and artillery support, a Marine rifle company landed below by helicopter and started toward Howard’s position. After a stiff fight, the enemy started melting away, but left 30 of their dead around the reconnaissance team’s position.
When the relief force arrived, there were only eight rounds of ammunition remaining among Howard’s men. Of the reconnaissance Marines, six had been killed and the other 12 wounded. For his valiant leadership and resolute fighting spirit, Howard was awarded the Medal of Honor. His vastly outnumbered small unit is believed to be the most highly decorated in U.S. history. After retiring from the Marine Corps in 1977, 1st Sgt. Howard passed way in 1993.
– Maj. Gen. J. Gary Cooper (USMC-Ret.)
Never loud or profane, Gen. Raymond G. Davis, USMC, was modest in everything and temperate under fire. He received a fourth star and retired as Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps in 1972 after 34 years of service. Having earned a Navy Cross and Purple Heart as an infantry battalion commander on Peleliu, he was credited with being bold and ingenious for saving the invasion force’s left flank. But his battalion also suffered 71 percent casualties, with one company reduced to 90 men. Still, his Marines persevered.
It’s at least 20 degrees below zero. They are surrounded and it is 60 miles to the nearest friendly lines. The Marines smile for the camera. Along with Medal of Honor recipients like then-Capt. William Barber and Lt. Col. Raymond G. Davis, ordinary Marines with determination, courage, esprit de corps and attitude like this have sustained the Corps over its 231 years of history.
National Archives
During the early stages of a later war, surrounded by Chinese Communist forces, Davis again displayed calmness in the face of staggering odds. This action was near Yudam-ni and the Chosin Reservoir during the Korean War. At Toktong Pass, a Marine rifle company, cut off and surrounded by vastly superior numbers of Chinese, fought on and held out.
Then a lieutenant colonel, Davis made a bold dash over frozen ridges through knee-deep snow to engage the enemy in 40-degrees-below-zero temperatures and bone-chilling winds. Shrouded in blizzard-like conditions and encountering enemy fire throughout, his battalion linked up with the stranded Leatherneck company. His unit went on to play a vital role by helping a surrounded Marine division fight its way to the sea against massive Chinese armies. His actions won him the Medal of Honor.
– Brig. Gen. Margaret A. Brewer, (USMC-Ret.)
He immediately revolutionized tactics by seeking out and engaging the enemy. The division’s approach to the war quickly changed, with rifle companies occupying battalion defensive positions, freeing whole battalions as mobile forces to ferret out the enemy. Davis, often called the greatest Marine tactician of the modern era, was considered a division commander without peer.
Dense jungle, high mountains, and great distances between rifle companies caused a Marine Corps battalion commander to establish a forward, or “jump,” command post. Just below the Demilitarized Zone in South Vietnam, this temporary combat enclave was necessary to assist coordination and communications between fastmoving units and the commander.
Rifle companies of the 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, then commanded by Lt. Col. Joseph Hopkins, USMC, were heavily engaged in combat with the 246th North Vietnamese Regiment in the upper Cam Lo Valley. The only security force available for the command post was a recoilless rifle platoon reinforced with clerks, cooks, bakers, truck drivers, and other headquarters personnel from the rear area. The assistant operations officer moved forward and took command of this unit.
The command post was probed by enemy forces and taken under heavy machine gun fire on numerous occasions. These rear-area Marines, reacting with their basic training, quickly repulsed the enemy force, silencing their automatic weapons. Under extremely dangerous conditions, Marines in the command post element performed with courage, enabling rifle companies of the battalion to continue pursuing the enemy. The “every Marine a rifleman first” maxim paid huge dividends when needed most during the heat of battle. Hopkins went on to become a brigadier general before retirement.
Davis, who died in 2003, also conceived of Operation Dewey Canyon, designed to halt the North Vietnamese Army from barreling down along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. A thousand vehicles a day supplied enemy efforts in the Da Krong and A Shau Valleys, building toward a major spring offensive.
The 9th Marine regiment, commanded by then Col. Robert H. Barrow, USMC, was given the task of hopscotch helicopter attacks into the A Shau Valley. The colonel earlier won the Navy Cross during the Chosin Reservoir campaign in Korea, along with a Silver Star during the Inchon-Seoul landing. Later, Gen. Barrow became the 27th commandant of the Marine Corps.
The Dewey Canyon thrust, the most successful largescale operation in Vietnam, captured and destroyed enormous quantities of enemy weapons, including heavy artillery, and cut the enemy’s supply route by ambushing the Ho Chi Minh Trail inside Laos. Traffic slowed to a trickle, with Marines driving the enemy from the valley. Barrow was awarded the Army’s Distinguished Service Cross for extraordinary heroism.
Today’s Marines are just as gung ho and tenacious in going after the enemy in Iraq and Afghanistan. Esprit de corps is alive and well among Marines like Gunnery Sgt. Justin Lehew, Lance Cpl. Joseph B. Perez, Capt. Brian R. Chontosh, and Sgt. Robert J. Mitchell. They each performed with great courage in the face of heavy enemy fire. Upholding the highest Marine Corps traditions, each brought great credit on himself in winning the Navy Cross. Their training and devotion to their fellow Marines paid off. And, as always, it all started with a challenge.
