As a Marine Recruit mom, I'm learning a lot of new things this summer.
I'm learning that, for some reason, I get a little nervous every time the phone rings.
I'm learning that I have a new fondness for our mail carrier and the words to "Please Mr. Postman" keep going through my head.
I'm learning that no news is good news.
And I'm learning lots and lots of alphabet soup. Letters we throw around now as easily as we used to say "formula, diapers, fever, homework, practice, curfew" are now part of our every day conversation as we watch the calendar and mark the days until our recruit is no longer a recruit but a Marine.
USMC
DEP
ASVAB
POOL-E
MEPS
PT
IST
PFT
IT
B-MED
MCRD
MCRD-SD
MCRD-PI
DI
SDI
MCMAP
and finally...EGA.
The EGA - Eagle, Globe and Anchor is the symbol for the United States Marine Corps. Recruits are officially Marines when they are handed their first EGA pin. They earn that at the end of boot camp after surviving the Crucible.
The Crucible is relatively new to Marine Corps Recruit Training - having been added in the 1980's. It is a 54 hour highly intense combat and team building exercise during which the recruits sleep four hours and get two meals.
Four hours sleep and two meals. In fifty four hours.
Those 54 hours are when they learn to depend on each other for success and survival. At the end of the Crucible they are given a Warriors Breakfast where they get to eat as much as they want and actually take time to taste the food.
And then they are given their first EGA.
E. G. A. I suspect in about ten weeks time, those letters are going to be some of the most profound of our son's life.
And mine too.
7 comments:
This is so interesting to me BECAUSE, we (just last night) watched the PBS documentary on the Marines. I thought of you and your son. . .about him heading off on the bus in the dark of night and putting his feet in the yellow footprints. . .about the short, clipped, somewhat impersonal call home to let you know he'd arrived and that he would be contacting you later. . .about The Crucible (they didn't give the 2 meals and 4 hours sleep detail--only the 54 hours and going through the pipe backwards, downhill under water.)
It was a great show, and it made me think of you.
Oh dear Roxanne, I didn't know about the "going through the pipe backwards downhill and under water" thing. They try to keep the crucible very secretive from the recruits. Even when the drill istructors were specifically asked by parents about it at family night, they said "we don't give a lot of details about that..." I will be praying especially hard during Crucible week.
Thanks for your comment and kind words.
First of all, I feel like a heel. I ASSUMED (you know what that does) that since you knew the hours of sleep and number of meals, they MUST have given details.
And it will not make you feel ANY better, but it was a very short pipe. . .like a concrete culvert probably 4-5 ft. in length. . .with drill sergeants RIGHT THERE to encourage them along. Of course, I STILL wouldn't want to do it. . .especially now that I know they are doing it on 2 meals and 4 hours sleep. I told Tony about the hours of sleep and the number of meals. . .especially since we had seen video of some of The Crucible on the show.
So. You may or may NOT want to watch the PBS special (hubs said it was Nova--we got it from Netflix), but it was REALLY good and made me (again) very proud of the men and women who serve our country in this capacity. And if you'll let me know when it is, *I* will pray very hard during Crucible week with you.
Roxanne -
Do not feel like a heel. I know none of boot camp is easy and the Crucible is especially brutal. I have learned not to be worried about things that do not worry my son. He truly was ready to face this head on. He went in very informed and prepared. I think I will look for that special after he graduates. Crucible is the week of Ocotober 4. I so appreciate your encouragement and prayers.
Marking my calendar. . .and, yes, I think it is wise to wait until after he graduates. From what you've said about B. on your blog, I think he is JUST THE TYPE of young man I want guarding my children. Thank you for raising that type of young man.
It is so awesome for me to read about your transition to a new phase with your young man as I venture into my very first small transition with little people. Bless you as you wait for word from him!
And I see the Crucible is coming up. Extra prayers for Blake and all of his comrades as well as all of the parents.
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