Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, S.C. -- Bravo Company learned first-hand what endurance was Feb. 1 when they made their way to the Crucible's Event 1.
The recruits began the event by patrolling the woods.
Each fire team was required to practice different squad formations as they patrolled, from one tactical formation to another.
There were signs in the tree line that stated different battle formations that the recruits are required to form while patrolling, explained Sgt. Michael A. Hedges Jr., a black-shirt instructor with Weapons and Field Training Battalion.
Recruits also have to high crawl, low crawl and back crawl under barbed wire after completing the formation portion of Event 1.
Simulated gunfire immediately told the recruits to put their heads down and low crawl. In addition to the obstacles they faced, recruits also had to keep an eye out for their comrades.
"It's everything they learned in Basic Warrior Training," said Hedges. "It develops teamwork."
The recruits had to learn that the survival of the team depended on looking out for their fellow recruits.
"The low crawl and worrying about your teammates were the hardest things," said Pvt. Emannuel C. Brown, a recent graduate. "I think it helped me to become more war-oriented."
Recruits made their way through the trees, barbed wire and walls before facing their final mission to engage the enemy at the opposite end of the course.
Each fire team carefully moved down an open sand field taking cover behind mounds of dirt. The recruits moved one-by-one as others in the rear provided security.
One wrong execution of the procedure and the drill instructor would pick a casualty.
"They rushed and actually low crawled to cover properly," said Staff Sgt. Matthew T. Hafner, one of the platoon's drill instructors. "They remembered what they were taught."
Tired, sweaty and muddy, the recruits completed the course successfully.
Pvt. Frank B. Heitzman, a recruit graduate of Platoon 1013, Bravo Co., 1st RTBn, said the course was fast-paced and unpredictable.
The different obstacles forced the recruits into leadership billets as the simulated casualties occurred.
But the recruits made sure the wounded weren't abandoned.
"It helps you become more of a leader," Heitzman said. "You can't leave a Marine behind."