MCRD/ERR PARRIS ISLAND, S.C. -- "Forging trust and Confidence" is the Corporal's School creed, and that is exactly what it does. Through four weeks of drilling, sword manual, uniform inspections, testing and rigorous physical training, corporals learn the skills needed to become better leaders of Marines.
The school, located at MCAS Beaufort, has enough seats to accommodate 40 students. However, only around 16 to 24 students actually enroll for the course, said Sgt. Nicholas Hewitt, senior instructor of Corporals School, who is on his sixth training cycle.
According to Hewitt, commands need to encourage more of their corporals to attend the school because, "the quality of the leader that you get back is a far greater asset to the command than if they don't come here. Productivity goes up, morale goes up and esprit de corps goes up."
Students must pass a series of graded events in order to graduate, ranging from uniform and wall locker inspections to drill and techniques of military instruction.
One of the hardest things about the school is balancing the physical and mental demands of the course on a day-to-day basis, said Cpl. Justin Kaput, a Corporal's School student.
"[The hardest thing is] doing the intense physical training, then the uniforms, then class work and balancing it all out," he said.
The hard work is worth it in the end, he said, because it teaches students "how to be a better NCO [who knows] how to really do PT ... learning how to be in front of your Marines and give classes, helping them prepare better for the next ranks."
The sooner corporals attend the school, the better, said Hewitt.
"With the operational tempo in Iraq focusing more on the small unit leader, it's important that they get the information at the earliest possible stage in their career," he said.
Even those Marines who think they are good enough as they are can learn something new at the school.
"You can always better your skills," said Kaput. "This course will do that. It really shows you the in's and out's of how to lead Marines."
The physical training aspect of the course is "definitely a push," said Hewitt, but it is designed to show Marines the importance of physical training and how to lead a physical training session of their own once they return to their respective work sections. Physical training incorporates running, the obstacle course, the confidence course, track work, log drills and the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program, which was just added to the curriculum.
In addition, the school also recently started using paintball guns during the two-day field evolution "as a more realistic combat simulation," said Hewitt.
The school, Hewitt noted, will also add Military Operations on Urban Terrain (MOUT) training into the curriculum next cycle to better prepare NCOs for an urban combat environment.
As far as Hewitt knows, the Corporal's School at the Air Station has the longest curriculum of any other Corporals School in the Marine Corps - four weeks instead of two weeks.
Although the course is challenging, say students, Hewitt said the four weeks is necessary to properly train NCOs to lead Marines.
"I'm not going to send any NCO to the battlefield who I don't feel that I'm training to 100 percent of my capabilities, and that takes four weeks," Hewitt concluded.
Class 6-05 graduates Aug. 5, and the next Corporal's School class is slated to pick up Aug. 11.
For more information, call Corporal's School at 843-228-7919.