- Joined
- Feb 2, 2008
- Messages
- 3,059
No, as my 2nd LT explained to me, "you train like you fight". As a parent, this is just part of the learning process I'm going through in the transition from a USNA student parent to a Marine Officers parent. Like I said, I was surprsed to learn that even with a heat index of 126 to 128 last Friday all TBS physical training went on as scheduled. Part of the reasoning is as officers, they are expected to perform in all conditions but also at this point in TBS they are in peak physical condition and can handle the discomfort and perform.
Yet at the same time the Marine Captain in charge of my 2nd LT's platoon informed her that if the platoon were enlisted Marines still in bootcamp and he ordered them to do the same training he would likly be releaved and face a potential court martial for endangering the health and safety of his men.
I find the dicotomy of those statements interesting.
To a point you train like you fight. But for example when you call fire or air support- in training - Danger Close is NOWHERE near what it is in combat. Why? Because the benefit is significantly dwarfed by the risk inherent in close in fires. Training in live fire exercises is limited by range and safety constraints because casualties are not acceptable. So you "train as you fight" to the extent practicable.
Because a soldier has to hump a mountain in 100+ degree heat, doesn't mean that there is a reason to risk life in a training environment. BTW I am not saying that was the case in Quantico at TBS last week (as I rather suspect that they did make some accommodations to the weather and just didn't tell the Lts) but rather I am stating absolutely that there is no justification in a training environment to ignore common sense precautions and risk soldiers lives. And that's why the Captain told those Lts that he would be relieved if he did this with a platoon of enlisted Marines. The officer who ignores Cat 5 heat warnings and drives on with training without effective precautions and then has a Soldier or Marine become a heat casualty has- at best- trashed his career. That would be true if it was an E1 or an O1 by the way so this Captain was kind of clueless to say this in front of a platoon in the midst of what was a brutal heat wave.
And as far as that Navy LtJg and his year of humping in 1972- well he wasn't going to get any better at it by becoming a heat casualty in Panama before he got to Vietnam. Aviators btw also have peacetime limitations on what they do in training for exactly the same reason- a dead or injured pilot who got that way pushing the envelope because he might be called upon to do so in a combat environment does nobody any good. It's a foolish argument made basically to be cantankerous and is not what the Marine corps, Army, or any of he other services believes or practices (see tpgs comments in previous post). It is a demonstrable fact that exposure to heat injuries does not train you for more- it just weakens your ability to deal with future exposure. And as I said before- the heat is not something you can stud out- anymore than a nonswimmer can stud out watersurvival without flotation devices. Both are deadly and are treated that way and I sure hope that the guys running TBS did treat it that way.
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