MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII, KANEOHE BAY, Hi -- The Milky Way stars flickered brightly in the black early morning sky, highlighting the serenity of a quiet, moonless night over the Kahuku Training Area.
Suddenly, headlights from a small convoy of buses and high mobility multi-purpose wheeled vehicles and a 5-ton truck pierced the darkness, and the peaceful sounds of nocturnal wildlife were drowned out by the sounds of their diesel engines. The convoy drove off the Kamehameha Highway onto a small, deserted access road.
No sooner had the convoy made its turn, it stopped, and the Marines inside the vehicles filtered out into the cool, dawn air.
Over the next half-hour, the sounds of Marines off-loading packs and weapons dominated the early morning darkness.
With the intensity of the crack of a whip, the command, "grab your gear and form up in platoon order," was given and Marines scrambled to their packs and searched for their order in the march.
For these Marines, the everyday work of fixing electronic gear, repairing tents, radios and a large inventory of Marine Corps vehicles was put aside for some basic ground pounding - a 13-mile hike. More than 70 Marines from Maintenance Co., Combat Service Support Group 3 were ready, not withstanding butterflies in their stomachs knowing the Kahuku Training Area terrain would test their mettle.
Forming in two columns, the company lined the opposite sides of a black road, which led to an incline that told them this day would not be easy. As the vehicles that carried them to the starting point formed in trace, Marines donned the packs that were earlier stuffed to almost 40 pounds. Flak jackets, load bearing vests and kevlar helmets would be their attire for this grueling 13-miler.
For the Marines, this was a continuation of an intense training week that had already included two physical fitness tests.
"We had a Company semi-annual PFT on Monday. After we ran that, we had the Inspector Generals team come through and they wanted to conduct and assess an analysis of our training program within the Group," said Maj. Michael D. Stover, commanding officer of Maintenance Co., CSSG-3. "So we were tasked with running another PFT on Tuesday."
Out of the darkness, the booming voice of the company's first sergeant calls out, "Standby, we're steppin'!"
In sharp contrast to their arrival, the quiet procession of Maintenance Co. Marines stepped off into the blackness.
The rhythmic footfalls and swaying of packs on the backs of these Marines were the only things heard for the first 20 to 30 minutes of the march.
For many, the pain of aching thighs and calves was already upon them. Two days worth of intense physical fitness testing prior ensured them the pain was only going to get worse.
"Tighten it up," out of the darkness came the command. Matching footstep for footstep with the Marine to the direct front became the aid in keeping up.
The battle was on as Marines trekked on through the first three miles, which took them on a continuous up-hill climb into the Kahukus. Eyes became glued to the backs of the Marines who trudged along before them. This was their way of focusing on the task at hand.
Finally, the ascent became easier until level ground was felt under their aching feet.
Slowly, the formation came to a halt signaling the first of three breaks.
One Marine took advantage of the break to fix the straps on his pack.
"Can you help me adjust my straps corporal?" asked the Marine.
A moment later..."They're stuck," was the NCO's reply. "Why didn't you take care of this yesterday?"
The junior Marine didn't say anything, but both knew the answer: he should have had his gear taken care of the day before.
The break was over and the Marines picked up their gear - ten more miles to go.
What CSSG-3 has started to do since late last year is build their endurance with a series of marches that get a little longer each time, said Gunnery Sgt. Donald E. Spidahl, maintenance operations section staff non-commissioned in charge. "We've been on a progressive training plan within the Group to build up our basic warrior skills. The goal we're working toward is displacing the whole Group to the Kahukus to conduct field operations during August 2001, to include a Marine Combat Readiness Evaluation 25-mile march."
Throughout the next two breaks the Marines drank water and tended to the part of their body that took the most abuse - their feet. Moleskin, foot spray and extra socks were in high demand.
The effects of the march could also be seen in the Marines uniforms as the morning grew older.
Cammies that became sweat-saturated green skin showed the results of a swim qualification not that of a long arduous march through a hill infested training area.
While at the last break, the Marines seemed to feel they were near the end of their journey.
Conversation picked up, and the Marines expressed a greater appreciation of what infantry Marines go through on a regular basis.
"As far as the infantry side, this is more along the lines of the individual training standards to keep our Marines familiar with their trigger-puller mentality," said Spidahl, "hence the warrior training."
"This is also just an alternate means of physical training," said Spidahl. "With the physical training order, you go out and run, do pull-ups and do sit-ups, but the physical fitness test is just one gauge of the overall physical fitness of a combat Marine."
"Sure it's tough, but we're Marines just like the grunts, and we should be able to do this training too," said Sgt. Efren Pulido, a fabric repair specialist.
The formation continued to hike until it reached the point from where it had started hours earlier.
The march was over and the wait for the buses to take them back to Kaneohe was now their time to loosen the knots that formed in their backs and arms from bearing the 40-pound packs.
Dropping their gear beside the road, some Marines grabbed their box lunches, while others took off their boots to air their feet.
The end of the hike had come and the entire unit was able to complete the march with only a few blisters, aching knees and maybe a back pain to tend to.
All of the Marines talked about the day's event and its challenges. Only then did some of the Maintenance Co. Marines realize that they had completed their mission.
In three days the unit had managed to perform two PFT's and a 13-mile hump in the Kahuku's without the amount of difficulty or complaining one might consider normal, said Stover. "The Marines did well today. With everything considered, their morale is high, and the Marines are still motivated."
If one were to gauge the mettle of CSSG-3 in completing its training missions by the performance of Maintenance Co., then when the true call of combat rings, this group will be ready to answer.