MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- The sun has yet to peak its head above the tall hillsides
surrounding Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., but the students of the Field Medical Service
Technician Course are poised and ready. In a few moments, the class will kick
off its 6-mile hike around the winding hills. Their packs weigh 60 pounds
and the trail is an uphill climb, yet smiles can be seen creeping upon the faces
of the students.
“We’re still getting them used to hiking to the
standards of the Marine Corps,” says Staff Sgt. Keith Harris, an instructor with
Field Medical Training Battalion West and an infantry platoon sergeant with 3rd
Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment.
“These are future corpsmen for Marine
units, so we get them used to long hikes.”
During the course, students
are required to complete three hikes: a four-mile, today’s six-mile, and finally, an
eight-mile hike. The six-mile stretch Sept. 1, 2015, was their second of a series
that supports their journey to become greenside corpsmen, working alongside
Marines. The day’s trail itself is difficult. It is six miles of rocky terrain
with changes in elevation. It is the same as what corpsmen might traverse in the
field.
“These corpsmen are coming from a hospital environment to being in
the field,” says Harris, a native of Dallas. “It’s a completely different
mentality, hospital work and field work are equally important but being in the
field is much more intense.”
This type of training enforces the concept
that someday the students may have to trek several miles of terrain to render
aid to a wounded service member.
“It means becoming the best,” said
Hospitalman Martyn Duckett, a corpsman and student with FMTB West. “I’ve wanted
to become a greenside corpsman since I joined the Navy.”
The training may
seem grueling, but for the students it means getting to put on the Marine Corps
uniform and possibly save lives on the battlefield.
“Out here, you’re in
the field; it’s way different than being in a nice air-conditioned hospital,”
said Harris. “We got these guys in the dirt and sleeping in tents. Their mind
has to be strong for that.”
Suddenly the expressions of grim
determination and steely resolve give way to the light-hearted smiles they wore
before they stepped out this morning. They have succeeded. Two hikes down, one
to go.
“This type of training is crucial,” said Harris. “Corpsmen with
Marine units are first responders. When a Marine goes down and we don’t have a
properly trained corpsman there, that Marine might not get up again. It makes
the training we do out here all the more important.”