Before Female Infantry Officers Serve In The Marines, They Have To Survive This Killer Course
'No Easy Day': Day 1 is about as easy as it gets.
Day 2 will be brutally early for everyone, and so will every day after that.
"They drop you off in the woods, zero five in the morning, hand you an envelope, and say 'Go!," one officer tells us.
This is the indoctrination test, or indoc.
The indoc is just to see if you have what it takes to do 15 to 20 miles of land navigation (land-nav), while carrying a rifle and necessary gear.
There's a reason the weight of the M-16 strap is on the Sergeant's exam: Every ounce matters.
They'll wear you down to your most ragged physical point, then hit you with strategic decision tests.
Decisive navigation is elemental for Marine leaders.
Defining points on a map, following them in real time, while simulating hostile conditions is called "grunt stakes." Each stake tests a slice of infantry training.
- Calling for fire
- Calling a casualty evacuation (CASEVAC)
- breaking down and rebuilding weapons
Most of it's literally done on the run. It's a timed course, and most finish by noon the same day.
The load out for infantry is heavy, and it doesn't change with gender.
All candidates carry everything they need for the day, upward of 70 pounds: food, ammunition, water and weapons.
Candidates help each other out, but, "these guys are all at the end of their rope, so there's only so much they can help each other," says one officer. He said there's a team mentality, but at the edges of exhaustion, animal instincts kick in and the weak are left behind.
Strict food and water rations make things even harder in the field.
The only time to rest is brief, in an air conditioned room, taking written tests through heavy lids.
One Marine officer who'd passed the course told us: "Rest is synonymous with test."
Right at the most dog-tired and exhausted height of training, Marine commanders will issue a written exam.
The tactic isn't so much to measure intelligence as it is to quantify endurance.
Male or female — sound decisions while exhausted will always save lives.
The Infantry's mission demands everyone carries weapons enough to defend themselves.
Not just weapons enough to survive, but weapons they can carry.
And often it's not just carrying, it's all out running with a bunch of heavy firepower.
"The events get more and more brutal," says another Marine officer. The weapons course is a "15 miles hike, doing it with all crew served — 50 caliber, 81 mm mortars, 240 medium machine guns, then setting up the weapons and conducting a live fire."
The renowned "vehicle appreciation hike" is just the beginning of the crew-served weapons portion.
Carrying just the ammunition on this hike is enough to grind most Marines into the dirt.
They're required to carry everything they'll need for a complete heavy assault, plus some in reserve. Yes, the weapons are heavy, but so is ammo.
Again, a combination of brains and brawn. It's not enough to just carry the weapons, they must be effectively deployed when the march concludes.
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