SCHOFIELD BARRACKS, Hawaii -- Imagine scaling a 20-foot wooden wall only to rappel down once you’ve reached the top.
Marines assigned to the Provost Marshal Office aboard Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay, donned safety gear and battle dress, scaled the wooden repel tower wall and repelled down, during a training exercise Aug. 4.
“This is the first time that I’ve done this since boot camp,” said Lance Cpl. Marc Cilley, patrolman, Special Reaction Team, Military Police Department, MCBH, Kaneohe Bay. “I was a little apprehensive at first, but I got over my fear and went down.”
The Marines rappelled down the tower three times using safety gear but without wearing full battle dress and then went down again, twice, wearing complete battle dress.
“Rappelling, it’s just sliding down a rope,” said Cpl. Ryan M. Webb, accident investigator, MPD, K-Bay. “It’s easy because you’re in control, and you get to see where you’re going.”
After each of the MPs rappelled down the wall, they moved to the opposite side of the tower to fast rope down – twice without battle dress and once without.
“It’s all about trusting the rope,” said Cilley. “You have to trust your equipment more or less, due to the height factor. Once you’re coming down, you’re going down, and it’s a little trickier once you add the gear, which adds a good extra 60 pounds that gets in the way.”
One aspect of the training that Webb said he thought was great was the fact that the training built up his confidence and noticed that it helped boost unit moral.
“We’ve been doing a lot of drills and weapons training for the past week,” said Webb. “We’re trying to build unit cohesion.
“This was really good training, and I want to get all the good training that I can get.