August 21, 1997 - The Crucible

970823 - Thursday at 0200 we got up and were stepping off for the crucible by 0230. After a 3-mile hump we arrived at our C-huts where we dropped off some of our gear and stepped off for our first event. Before I go on, I'll explain that the Crucible is broken up into 6 events which last 4 hours each. Our first event was the Combat Re-supply Course, a Core Values class, and several warrior stations. The CRC was a combat course in which you had to high-crawl w/ ammo cans about 200 yards through barbed wire and other obstacles. It would have been much easier but for the fact that the entire course was mud and 6" of water. The warrior stations are obstacles where the team has to work together to accomplish a mission. They were fun. Our second event consisted of a 3-mile hump to the rifle range, firing on multiple targets at multiple distances and a casualty evacuation. The casualty evacuation is when you have to take one of your teammates out of the combat zone as quickly as possible. After that we humped 3-miles back to the crucible site. Our 3rd event was several different obstacles called "react stations" because they really require teamwork and quick thinking. 
I feel like I actually summed up the Crucible pretty well in my journal, so I don't have much to add here. I will clarify a few things that might be unclear:

  • Warrior Stations: these were small obstacles that the team needed to complete together. The team was to assign a leader for the task and then complete it within the time limit. Afterward, the team would sit and discuss the outcome (were we successful, what could have gone better, etc.) with a DI facilitating the discussion. An example of one of these was that we had to get a tire (maybe more than one) around a post that was about 15' high. I remember this one in particular, because our group did it in about 3 minutes. The DI was stunned, and we had the remaining 22 minutes (after the 5-minute debrief) to take a nap.
  • The DIs treated us like Marines. We still spoke in third person, but they no longer yelled. In fact, there were times that we even joked around together. It was weird.
  • Carrying casualties is harder than it sounds. We had to carry a fellow recruit (chosen by a DI) in a two-man carry, a fireman's carry, or any other carry to get them out of the combat zone as quickly as possible.
  • It's not easy dragging a large ammo crate through 6 inches of water and mud. The crate sinks, and so do you.
  • I don't really remember the react stations. I'm sure they were nice.

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