Loren Troyer, 9th, Madrid Jr./Sr. High School, IA, (Fiction

Loren Troyer, 9th, Madrid Jr./Sr. High School, IA, (Fiction)

"The Journey"

“Wake up! It’s the Crucible! Get yourselves ready with your gear and stand at attention outside your barracks! Fifteen minutes, let’s move!” yells my Head Drill Sergeant, Jaime Meek. It’s 0335 and we have fifteen minutes to get all of our gear ready for the Crucible. The pressure is on to become a Marine or risk having to start basic training all over again.

I jump off of my cot and quickly slip on my ruck boots. I run to the bathroom with my battle buddy, Audrey Scott. She reminds me a lot of my mother. Strong and outgoing. I think of all the fun times I had with my mom before leaving for basic training. Everyday she would remind me of how much she believed in me.

“You ready, Erryn?” Audrey asks,pulling me back to reality. We rush back to the barracks and start packing our gear. It’s 0340 and we have ten minutes to get everything together and grab a quick breakfast. Once I’ve shoved all my belongings into my pack, I run to the mess hall with another battle buddy, Maeve Swindon. I stare at the beautiful Parris Island sky while I follow her to mess.

“Keep it up, Clyborne,” Maeve growls. She’s likely the best recruit in our whole company. Though she’s small, she’s very strong. And she comes from a long line of military personnel.

We enter the mess hall and I grab a piece of toast with a glob of peanut butter on it. I need all the calories I can get before the Crucible. I inhale the toast and chug some water. Then, I head out with Avyanna Pearl. She’s one of the toughest recruits I have ever met. She could easily beat up one of the male recruits in the other company. We practically sprint to the barracks again and pull on our packs and helmets. I grab my M16 and run outside.

Meek walks back and forth in front of us. “Listen up you maggots! This is the beginnin’ of the hardest thing you will have to do in Marine BCT! In seven minutes you will begin The Crucible! It ain’t gonna be easy! You’ll have to work together over a 54 hour period where you will complete 36 warrior stations, 29 team buildin’ exercises, and 48 miles of marchin’! All with only 6 hours of sleep and two MRE’s,” I cringe as I remember the taste of dehydrated mashed potatoes and fruit.

“Line up!” We run into our marching formation and start forward together. Meek begins to yell in my face because I’m out of step.

I scream, “AYE MA’AM!” and match my steps to the person in front of me. Then she starts marching next to us and shouts a cadence. We echo after her, returning the favor. We march for a solid three miles, which takes us about thirty-five minutes, until we reach our first warrior station. It’s 0435 and still dark outside when Maeve reads about Beatrice Opal Barnes, the person the station was named after. She was the first woman ever to enlist in the Marines. We get instruction from a Drill Sergeant and head out. First we have to crawl a hundred yards through two inches of water, where we have to climb up a cargo net and crabwalk down some logs attached to a ladderlooking thing.

My heart pounds as we crawl through the water with simulated combat noises all around us. I know it’s fake but it sounds so real. When I see the recruits ahead of me grab the cargo net, I remember the purpose of this exercise and I force all contradicting thoughts out of my mind. I grab the net, keeping my head low, and start to climb. We all instinctively duck our heads as a simulated machine gun round goes over us. When the rest of our platoon makes it over, we begin marching again.

It’s been two more hours of pain, warrior stations, and team building exercises when we sing one of my favorite cadences, Born To Be A Marine.

WHEN I CAME OUT OF MY MOTHER’S WOMB

I FOUND MYSELF IN THE DELIVERY ROOM

WALKED RIGHT IN CALLED ATTENTION ON DECK

LISTEN UP WIMPS I’M IN COMMAND

I WAS COMMANDING OFFICER OF THE BABY BRIGADE

As we were singing, it started pouring down rain. We were all soaked but our drill sergeants refused to let us settle. Twenty minutes of rough rucking had passed when we reached another team building exercise site. Our drill sergeants explain the course and we begin the complex task. Seven recruits climb over the platform and stay on the South side, ready to get the barrels. Two people climb over and stop halfway from the bottom on the South side. Then Avyanna and I climb and stay at the point of the triangle, straddling our legs over it. Two more recruits follow us but stop halfway up the North side. They pass the first barrel up and we grab it by the top and bottom rims and swing it over to the other side. We have to do this two more times. When we finish the exercise, we begin marching again. It’s 1800, about thirty minutes before sundown. As we march, I stare at the tiny Marine Corps flag on Meek’s pack. It’s still raining and the flag is a darker shade of red than normal.

We continued like this for hours. March, warrior station, march, team building exercise, march, march, march… We were screaming cadences the whole time and my throat began to feel raw. We were all dealing with excruciating pain and aggressive hunger. By now we had gone through both our MRE’s and used up our six hours of sleep. Now, it’s time for the final 12k march. We are almost there. We’re almost officially Marines.

We march through mud while it’s pouring down rain. Our uniforms are all caked in mud. Then I see it. The end of The Crucible. I look over at Audrey, Avyanna, and Maeve. Tears of Joy stream down Audrey’s sunburnt cheeks as she accepts the emblem. Maeve stands there, stone faced, but when she turns her head toward Meek, I see a single tear roll down her cheek. I watch as Avyanna smiles and holds her head high with pride. I’m next.

Tears stream down my face as Meek hands me the Marine Corps Emblem, the Eagle, Globe, and Anchor.

“Good luck, Marine.”

Bibliography

MarineParents.com, Inc. “The Crucible During Marine Corps Recruit Training.” RecruitParents.com™, recruitparents.com/bootcamp/crucible.asp.

MarineParents.com, Inc. “Video Boot Camp: The Crucible.” MarineParents.com®, 2014, marineparents.com/videos/bc-crucible.asp.

MarineParents.com, Inc. “2018: 100 Years of Women in the Corps.” MarineParents.com®, 2018, marineparents.com/marinecorps/100-years-women.asp.

Military.com. “Marine Corps Weapons Qualification Course.” Military.com, www.military.com/join-armed-forces/marine-corps-weapons-qualification-course.html.

“Marine Corps Cadences.” DODReads, 17 July 2020, www.dodreads.com/cadences/ marine-corps-cadences/.