MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII, KANEOHE BAY, Hawaii -- With the holidays rapidly approaching, units aboard Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay, are conducting safety stand-downs and giving safety briefs that emphasize safety, on and off duty.
On Dec. 9, Marines and Sailors assigned to Marine Corps Air Facility aboard K-Bay combined their safety briefs with rappel-tower and obstacle-course training.
During their stand down, approximately 45 Marines and 15 Sailors met at the rappel tower at Landing Zone Boondocker, K-Bay, where some climbed the tower and underwent rappel training while those on the ground were given safety briefs.
For some of the Marines and Sailors, this was their first time climbing the tower and going down the rope.
“This was my first time doing this,” said Cpl. Joseph Hallars, weather technician, MCAF. “It was pretty scary at first, but it was fun, once you go through it.”
But the 21-year-old Chicago, Ill. native said that he was not nervous about going down — that is, not until he got up to the top and looked down.
“When I was finally up there looking over the edge, I realized how high up it was,” he said. “Once you’re up there, you realize that the only thing that is keeping you from falling is the rope.”
This was not only the first time down the rope for Hallars, it was also the first time for most of the Sailors.
“I was really excited to do it,” said Senior Chief Petty Officer Kenneth Kimple, senior advisor, MCAF. “It was great way to help motivate the Marines and Sailors.”
When Kimple was on top of the tower and, reportedly, excited about going down, he said he started to get second thoughts about being so high up. But, once he took his first steps off the edge, he said everything the instructors briefed them on fell into place.
“When I finally hit the ground, my first thoughts were that I have achieved something I have never done before,” said the 38-year-old Madison, N.J. native. “Today the Marines gave us Sailors the chance to do something that they have to do all the time, like the rappel tower and the obstacle course.”
Kimple said that it was a great having a joint-training session, since MCAF is comprised of both Marines and Sailors.
“Next time, we’re going to have the Marines go through the wet trainer,” he said. “We should do stuff like this more often.”
Marines and Sailors were separated into two groups for the rappel tower. While one group was going down the tower, the other group was getting a safety brief on suicide awareness as well as the obstacle course.
“This whole exercise was part of a safety brief, since the holidays are coming up,” said Gunnery Sgt. Julio Somoza, operations chief, MCAF. “We wanted to do something different than just give a brief. So we decided to have them do the rappel tower and run through the ‘O’ course.”
The 36-year-old Douglas, Ariz. native went on to say that the overall exercise went very well. It gave Sailors the opportunity to do the rappel tower.
“I thought that it was great,” he said. “It brought out the camaraderie in both the Marines and Sailors.”