CVIC welcomes back Sergeants Course star

25 Jun 2004 | Lance Cpl. Justin J. Shemanski Marine Corps Training and Education Command

Every Marine wants to keep up with the high standards set by the Marines who have gone before them.

But for a select few, those standards are not nearly high enough. Throughout their Marine Corps careers, they will model those sacred principles but put forth an effort greater than any of their fellow comrades.

They are the individuals who are always first to volunteer for every extra assignment the Marine Corps can dish out, and they will stop at nothing until their personal goals are achieved.

Sergeant M. Z. Haque, consolidated memorandum receipts clerk for the Depot Combat Visual Information Center, happens to be one of those motivated individuals.

Among other accomplishments and courses he has participated in throughout his Marine Corps career, Haque can now add Sergeants Course.

After nearly two months of sweat and personal sacrifice, he graduated, June 8, first in his class of 111 dedicated NCOs at Camp Geiger, N.C.

Though Haque put forth his best effort throughout the course, he was not expecting to finish as well as he did among his peers.

"At first, I couldn't believe it," said Haque. "I wasn't expecting to finish first ... I just tried to do my best at everything they had us do. But, I think what ended up putting me on top was the knowledge part of the course."

The course, which touches on subjects ranging from leadership development to war fighting tactics, is designed to provide sergeants with the skills and knowledge needed in the Marine Corps to successfully lead Marines and take on roles of greater responsibility, so naturally, it puts heavy stress on learning Marine Corps knowledge among its students.

"There was a lot of classroom time ... it was tough," said Haque, who has been in the Marine Corps for almost six years. "The hardest part was the exams. I think I did well because of my study habits. Once they passed out all the knowledge for the course, that's when I really hit the books."

A total of four exams were given throughout the course, and Haque did exceptionally well on them. He received 100 percent on three of the tests and 97 percent on the other.
Other than brushing up on his Marine Corps knowledge skills, Haque also did quite well in the physical training aspect of the course.

"The PT was awesome... some call it 'PT Academy' and in a way it is," he said. "The majority of the time we ran, but it would be different kinds of running. From the time I started the course until I finished, I took almost three minutes off my run time. It was really competitive out there. There was one sergeant in particular who was around a point behind me almost the whole time. He really kept me on my toes."

Though Haque did admit the course was pretty tough, he would still recommend it to any Marine who has the opportunity to go out for it.

"A lot of what they teach you are things you already know," he said. "They re-familiarize you with a lot of things you don't do on a regular basis and then when you go back to your units, you can go over all those things with Marines in your own section or company. You get a great deal of knowledge and discipline out of it ... I recommend it to everyone. There are rough spots along the way, but if you keep a positive attitude, you'll go a long way."

Upon returning to Parris Island, Haque's co-workers were more than happy to welcome their own honor graduate back into their ranks.

"It's a really big achievement ... I hope I can do that well if I ever go to sergeants course," said Lance Cpl. Jessica Carlough, a fiscal clerk with CVIC.  "I think people around here will have a new respect for him because of how well he did. I know everyone at CVIC is really proud of him and they hope to achieve the same goal that he did if they go through sergeants course."

Marine Corps Training and Education Command