MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII -- Base Safety Directorate personnel, along with Lee Parks’ Total Control Advanced Riding Clinic hosted the Marine Corps Base Hawaii Total Control Track Clinic on the P-3 Ramp aboard the base, March 14, 2014.
Only MCB Hawaii Marines, sailors and active-duty reservists are eligible for this level three clinic. The clinic allows students to learn techniques that complement their specific style of bike. In addition, students must complete the level one Basic Riders Course and the level two Experienced Riders and Military Sport Bike Riders Courses prior to registering for this course.
Lee Parks came to MCB Hawaii to train three Base Safety staff members to instruct the riding course’s curriculum for a week before the actual course was held.
“A week of instructor training, and after (March 14), the base is pretty much self-sufficient,” said Lee Parks, chief instructor and creator of the Total Control Advanced Riding Clinic.
Curriculum for the riding course was originally designed to be taught over a two-day period, but due to the needs of MCB Hawaii, it was condensed to half a day.
The course did not teach them to ride. Rather, it advanced their knowledge in real-world street-speed riding skills. The class focused on techniques including body movements, speed maneuvers, mechanics and positioning.
“His material is very analytical,” said Mario di Prete, a safety specialist with Base Safety and one of the three specialists Parks instructed to teach the course. “Lee Parks is down in the nuts and bolts in why you think the way that you do.”
For example, motorcyclists are commonly taught in the courses that whichever way their head is turned is the way they are going to go. This course explains to the students why this is true instead of leaving it up to common knowledge.
Sgt. Michael Horn, a student in the course, is an avid rider and relies on his motorcycle daily to get him to and from work. He said the course was a great experience.
“It is worthwhile to come out here, just to get the extra instruction,” Horn said. “I’ve definitely improved because of it. This is my main mode of transportation. The more I know about it, the more comfortable and safer I am riding.”
The Marine Corps instilled level three training after suffering large numbers of motorcycle fatalities among its ranks.
Parks said the military makes up around 50 percent of his clinic’s business. He said training his civilian customers is very different from his military ones, so much so, his instructors require military-specific training.
“When we teach civilian classes, we take a lot of time to push them to face their fears,” Parks said. “Marines have the opposite problem. What makes you a good Marine (makes) a dangerous motorcyclist. They are all accidents waiting to happen until they get training.”
David Bianco, motorcycle safety program manager from Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., and a contractor with Parks for the clinic is a prior Marine with 32 years of riding experience. He said keeping Marines safe and teaching them more about motorcycles is not only a job but a passion.
Bianco also said he understands the urge Marines have to ride.
“Marines ride for a lot of the same reasons they enlist,” he said. “They like to take risks and manage risks.”
The advanced course is not required, but is encouraged for riders who wish to gain more confidence on their vehicles.
“This is the best training available on the market,” said di Prete, a retired Marine. “I wish I had this as a young Marine.”
For more information on how to get involved in the course, call Base Safety at 257-1830.