THE CRUCIBLE

Our son Daniel has been at boot camp since the beginning of June for the Marine Corps.
He will graduate September 5th but first must complete The Crucible.
It's a grueling 54 hours of pain, starvation, and sleep deprivation which every recruit has to complete to earn his/her right to be a Marine.

If you think about it during that time, please say a prayer for Daniel and all the other recruits. The parents of the recruits have come up with a plan so that there will be someone praying for the recruits at all times for the whole 54 hours. People chose which hour (or more) that they wanted to cover and we have prayer coverage for the whole time. A lot of the time we have 2 or 3 people praying each hour.

Here's an example of how the 54 hours may go - Source: "Into the Crucible" by James B. Woulfe

Tuesday Aug. 25th Starts around 2am (times in California – PST)
Many of the things they do represent what they would be doing on a battlefield/combat scenarios.
3am- hike 5 miles to first station
6am-four hours into the Crucible and already hiked more than 6 miles
630am- 49 hrs. left in the Crucible/moving to warrior station (to learn about medal of honor recipient and do a task that simulates something that warrior went through)
7am-ready to move to next station/ missed first meal
Bayonet assault course (close combat)
1-1/2 mile hike to infiltration course (barbed wire obstacles and culverts) very muddy
Not only negotiate course, but drag heavy ammunition cans (20lb. each) and crates (30-40 lbs) with them.
STILL NO REST BY NOW. Next challenge stretches hundreds of meters
Day movement course-25 minute time limit with booby traps
10am= eight hours since reveille and not even 1/4 done. Will have to clean weapons before anything else. They are hungry, wet, tired, already hiked 10 miles and may already have painful blisters
1030AM, mud caked on, HOT and sweaty, stomachs rumbling, feel miserable, feet hurt
Walked 10 miles already and feel overwhelmed
Learning to work as a team
Reaction course (6 obstacles) requires more decision making and imagination
5PM Awake 15 hours now (continual teamwork) hiked 12 miles and missed their third meal
520PM uniforms filthy, caked with mud, muscles feel empty, temperature dropping, crucible only 15 hrs. old or so and they have been on their feet the whole time, 39 hrs. to go, missed three meals, hiked 13 miles
7PM Crucible 17 hrs. old and 37 to go, covered 15 miles already
Night infiltration course (pitch black and grueling
11pm clean weapons and prep gear and then tend to their feet, sleep 4 hours, drinking water to reduce hunger pangs
Combat scenario next
DAY TWO, WED. AUG.26TH
5AM only 1/2 done with crucible
39 hrs. continuous operations, little food and sleep, hiked 24 miles and missed 4 meals,
Reaction course, extremely tired, impact of fatigue on decision making evident,
1PM 25th mile
230PM 26 marching miles claimed & 37 hrs. a complete blur by now, time no longer exists for them, moving forward instinctively, NO FOOD LEFT!
Confidence course
530PM 1 1/2 miles to bivouac course, clean weapons, focus on feet, medic checks each recruit (may not be able to continue if feet too bad, and won’t have a choice in the matter)
42 hours of continuous operations= pain and discomfort
Almost midnight/46 hours, exhausted, intoxicated with excitement about next day, 4 hours sleep only (3 if guard duty)
Day 3 Thursday Aug.14th
5am already awake an hour, now doing 9 mile hike on hilly trail/several peaks at slow pace, 51 hrs. of almost constant activity already
Final hike= ”grim reaper” Mt. Suribachi, 450 feet vertical
7am hurt but didn't quit, helped the weaker ones up, thighs burn from fatigue, nauseated/dry heaves
10 minutes to first rise of last hill (50 foot plateau), skin stings from salty sweat (drenched), slimy mess, dehydrated (heat stroke threat) chests heave and choke for oxygen
18th minute and 31 minutes to final rise-all hit wall, helmets bite into heads/headaches, nasty, sweaty, smelly
Failure not an option at this point…the point of no return
SERGEANT MAJOR (SENIOR DI) GIVES TITLE OF MARINE TO EACH RECRUIT AND DI GIVES EAGLE/GLOBE/ANCHOR
DELIRIUM/ELATION-
WARRIOR BREAKFAST/CLEAN UP/SLEEP