MCB HAWAII -- Grueling physical training, long hours and intense sparring matches — this is the norm for devil dogs trying to be a Marine Corps Martial Arts Program instructor. But the hardest test of the program for recent candidates was Friday during the Battle-Endurance Course.
The BEC is a seven-hour gauntlet that includes 14 events done in a full combat load and pack, testing Marines’ minds, bodies and wills to succeed.
The main events of the BEC are a hike up Puu Hawaii Loa, where Kansas Tower sits, a hike to the obstacle course, the obstacle course three times forward and once backward, a “Last of the Mohicans” run and bayonet sparring drill, the bayonet assault course, multiple sparring and grappling matches in a MCMAP pit, casualty assessment, casualty evacuation from the obstacle course to Fort Hase beach, weapons sparring, beach hike, 40-meter low crawl through sand, weapons sparring again and finally, shallow-water-grappling.
This test isn’t just a rite of passage to become an instructor. It’s also to help the Marines deal with adversity, according to Sgt. Robert Hernandez, MCMAP instructor trainer.
“The reason we’re being so rigorous is because a lot of guys haven’t been faced with a lot of adversity,” he said. “The course is designed to push your body to the limit and force yourself to surpass that limit. In the end you’ve mentally told your body that you can continue, and you do [continue]. It all carries over to combat.”
According to Hernandez, Sgt. Nicholas J. Carson, a scout sniper with 2/3, developed the BEC before leaving a few years ago. He sat down with the previous staff and combined all their ideas to make the course still used today.
Although Carson’s course is just as hard, the Marines from the most recent MCMAP Instructor class were one of the best groups to complete it, Hernandez said.
“I really enjoyed working with all of those Marines,” he said. “They were a really good bunch and did phenomenal on the course. Sometimes you get guys who can think but can’t perform physically and vice versa, but all of the Marines in this group were well rounded.”
Well rounded or not, most Marines from the course have a tough time with the 40-meter-beach low crawl, Hernandez said.
“That sand will break Marines sometimes,” he said. “It’s hot. They’re hot. It starts sticking to their skin and getting in their clothes and after all they’ve already been through, it’s a mental battle to finish.”
But once the Marines do finish, they have an awesome graduation on the other side of the beach.
The graduating Marines execute the last two events of the course in front of the friends and family in attendance and it can be very impressive. First the Marines engage in knife, bayonet and weapon-of-opportunity sparring. The students get geared up so the sparring was nearly full-speed contact.
Then, during the shallow-water grappling event, the instructor tells the Marines to wade out into the water and prepare for combat. But instead they run into the water as fast as they can to see who can be first. To win the match, a Marine must submerge his opponent’s head completely under water for a split-second, simulating being able to drown an enemy in combat.
The Marines finally come out of their last event and form up for graduation.
“It’s a phenomenal feeling,” Hernandez said. “I’ll never forget when I completed the course and I’m sure these Marines won’t either.”