June 18, 1997 - The Obstacle Course

970618 - Another difficult day. Had PT which consisted of a 1-mile run + running the obstacle course. The run was easy but I didn't make it through the obstacle course. Mostly because I couldn't get the technique down. After that we had drill. The weather was not too hot and pretty breezy. After drill we had a class on stealing taught by Sgt. M______. What do you know...he is human! We then had chow. After that we went to bldg 602 for First Aid II & III. When we got outside it was pouring outside. We then had a class on personal problems taught by Sgt. V__________. Then chow and the typical evening activities. H__ was on duty tonight so it was for the most part relaxed. I'm very sore and very tired. I just tonight realized the enormity of boot camp and what it meant. 58 days left (or 72...)
In boot camp, I was introduced to many new things. Most of them, I hated initially. Some of them, I grew to like or at least tolerate. One of these was the obstacle course. If my inability to complete 3 pull-ups didn't make it clear already, I was not exactly a jock in school. In fact, PE class was one of the worst classes for me. And in PE, by far the worst thing was climbing the rope. I now have a Master's degree in education and I still have no idea how climbing a rope is somehow a valuable and necessary skill for a high school student to possess. However, I freely admit that the ability to climb a rope might be pretty useful for a Marine. Regardless, I couldn't do it. Like the pull-ups before it, it was another case where my mind stopped me from succeeding long before my body did. Regardless, as it was the final component of the obstacle course, it stood between me and a successful completion of the course.

Here's a picture of the entire course. In addition, you can click here for an explanation of the obstacles.


Eventually (once we got to the "build up" part of boot camp), I was able to complete the entire obstacle course, rope and all.

Fun fact: years later, while I was at Marine Combat Training, I watched an instructor climb the obstacle course ropes. That isn't significant on its own, but he did it after a 5-mile hike. And, he did it with his pack on. And, he did it "superman" style, meaning that he climbed two ropes at once (one in each hand, with legs dangling). It was pretty impressive.

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