San Diego -- While carrying a fellow recruit on their backs, recruits of Company G, 2nd Recruit Training Battalion, pushed their bodies with determination to the finish line during the final Combat Fitness Test aboard Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego Jan. 31.
The CFT is an annual requirement designed to test a Marine’s combat fitness and includes up of three fast-paced events, which are meant to simulate movements in combat.
First recruits complete the movement-to-contact, which is an 880-meter timed run. Then they perform two minutes of ammunition can lifts followed by the maneuver under fire, that consists of several combat carries, crawls and obstacles which are timed.
During maneuver under fire, recruits have to reach a simulated casualty by having to low crawling, then high crawl and sprinting, maneuvering left and right around cones to get to the casualty. Next, recruits buddy drag the casualty and fireman carry him back to the starting point.
For the last part of the maneuver under fire, recruits had to pick up ammunition cans and run with them to the end of the course, throw a simulated grenade, do three push-ups and then run back with the ammunition cans back to the starting point. If the grenade landed in the designated area, the recruit would get five seconds deducted from their overall time. If not, five seconds would be added.
Maneuver under fire is the most difficult part of the CFT, according to Sgt. Christopher A. Sanchez, senior drill instructor, Plt. 2150, Co. G, 2nd RTBn.
“The most challenging part of the CFT is maneuver under fire. They are maneuvering in high and low crawls, and it’s all combat related. The recruits are already exhausted from the movement-to-contact and the ammunition-can lifts,” said Sanchez. “When you look at the course it looks like a bunch of agility drills and cones. But, when you are actually doing it, it’s a real challenge. It looks easier from the outside in.”
Two weeks prior, Co. G recruits did an initial CFT. This helped drill instructors determine their recruits’ fitness levels and helped the recruits improve the events they struggled with. Some recruits are picked for additional training. If their first score was categorized as low, then drill instructors would use incentive training, better known as ,‘IT’ to get recruits in shape.
“I spent a lot of time with the drill instructors during incentive training time because of my first low CFT score,” said Recruit Jonathan S. Herrera, Plt. 2149, Co. G, 2nd, RTBn. “The CFT helps by testing combat fitness levels and to make sure Marines are prepared for combat operations. It’s also a score that helps with promotions, so I needed to prepare for it”
The CFT plays an essential role in every Marine’s career by impacting promotions. It is important that recruits prepare for this event as much as possible.
For recruits of Co. G, the CFT was a test of grit and strength. They will move, on to the next challenge in recruit training. Their last challenge will be the Crucible, a 54-hour indoctrination event all recruits must endure in order to earn the title “Marine.”
“Marines are basic riflemen and are ‘first to fight’,” said Herrera. “Every Marine needs to have a certain standard of physical fitness regardless of their job.”