United States Marine Crucible

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The United States Marine Corps Crucible is the final test a Marine Corps recruit must pass before becoming a Marine. Designed to emphasize the importance of teamwork in overcoming adversity, the Crucible is a rigorous 54-hour field training exercise demanding the application of everything a recruit has learned in their previous 13 weeks of recruit training. Throughout the Crucible, recruits are faced with continuous physical and mental challenges that must be accomplished before advancing further.

During the Crucible recruits are only given two or three MREs each and only allowed eight hours of sleep — four hours each night, unless given extra night duties such as firewatch. Depriving the recruits of sleep and food simulates the stress of the battlefield. Initially, it may seem like an impossible task to complete. However, compared to real combat, the Crucible is much less stressful. At MCRD Parris Island, the final crucible event is a ten mile march, in full combat gear, uphill and down hill. At the end of the final march, the recruits see a replica of the famous Iwo Jima flag raising and the drill instructor hands out the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program (MCMAP) tan belt to the recruits.

Following the ceremony of handing out their MCMAP tan belt, the recruits are treated to a "warrior's breakfast" and look forward to the graduation ceremony where they will then be formally recognized as Marines.

[edit] External links

• "The Crucible", U.S. Marine Corps. (Retrieved on 2006-06-20.)
• Garamone, Jim (14 January 2003). "The Crucible". Rite of Passage: Making Basic Training Tougher. Armed Forces Press Service, United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2006-06-20.