What has been the most difficult challenge you have ever faced and ultimately accomplished? Ronald Reagan once said, “Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. The Marines don't have that problem”. I was an active duty marine for eight years and I’m sure that any other marine that has served can agree with me when I say; The Crucible, is the most difficult challenge Marines have to face during their time in boot camp. The challenge lasts an excruciating fifty-six hours that are broken down into three days, and has a total of fifty-one miles that have to be brutally hiked before graduating boot camp.
At the beginning of the first day the young men are transported from Marine Crops Recruit Depot (MCRD), San Diego to Camp Pendleton. Since this is the start of The Crucible the Marine Drill Instructors are yelling at the top of their lungs trying to get these men to move with speed and intensity. The terrified men shuffle to grab their gear as fast as they can and move to the
…show more content…
The Marine Drill Instructors seem to roar louder now than ever before; thus motivating the weakened men. The men are rushed to pack all their belongings and break down the tents as fast as their bodies will allow. They scramble into formation to start on a nine mile hike. This hike will lead them to the base of a seven hundred foot hill known as, The Reaper. The reaper is designed by both man and nature with step curves that go up and seem to have no end. This design allows the reaper to push a man to his breaking point . The burned out men have to push through their pain and agony in order to make it to the top of the vigorous hill. Some men collapse attempting the journey up the hill due to heat related injuries, but for others, their minds surrenders to the steepness and length of the reaper making their body’s