Snakes, and Spiders, and Bears…OH MY!

I don’t think I will ever be able to fall sleep again when Jordan is gone out in the field. Not only because of my creepy squash neighbor, but also out of worry for Jordan’s safety. Ignorance WAS bliss. However, over a lovely dinner conversation, I discovered there are real dangers out there in the Quantico woods.  The  Marines are not just simulating battle against one another, they are fighting against Mother Nature’s most ruthless warriors.  Lyme Disease and heat stroke are amongst the most common of injuries out there. Jordan currently has a running total of 28 ticks that he has pulled out of him.  He even found one in his belly button a few days after returning from training in the field! Heat cases are the most terrifying to me. Most days in Virginia, the weather report puts out heat warnings suggesting a dangerous heat index and warns to stay indoors...but the Marines push on with whatever activities are on the schedule for the day, regardless of weather. However, recently an event had to be shut down due to the heat. Heat cases from Jordan's training company had filled up both the on-base medical center AND the local town hospital.  It was actually a very dangerous and scary situation, and I am glad I didn't know about this (or any of the other crazy stories that would become dinner conversation) until after Jordan was safely back at home….

Jordan left for work that morning at 0430. He knew he was going to be in for one miserable day when he saw the car's temperature gauge already showing 84 degrees. The humidity was so thick that there was an eerie steam rising from the road in the pitch black morning.  By 0530, the morning had grown even warmer, and the Marines were on the field ready for their first task of the day, the Endurance Course. 

The Endurance Course consists of running the obstacle course, followed by a 5.5 mile run, dressed in full combat gear (an additional 60lbs) through more obstacles. These obstacles include scaling walls, cargo nets, rope climbs, the bear trap, and low crawling under barbed wire. The terrain is rough, and footing is often an issue. Jordan is in first platoon of Charlie Company (there are a total of 6 platoons, with approximately 50 officers in each platoon).  First platoon led off the E-course at 0530 with the temperature reaching 87 degrees and the humidity now at 100%. Corpsman were strategically placed along the trail in the case of injury or heat exhaustion. 

Jordan had previously run the E-course and had "maxed out" at 60 minutes (perfect score), but upon running it the second time he felt as though he were completely out of shape, and like something out of a bad dream-no matter how quickly he tried to run, he wasn't able to move any faster. It didn't take him long to realize that it wasn't just him having a hard time this second go-around on the course. People were quickly becoming over-heated. Marines were becoming dizzy, and falling off obstacles. One Lieutenant broke his collar bone, and another fell on his head and had to be taken off in a stretcher. Further on down the course, the Marines were becoming more and more delirious. All the corpsman quickly became overwhelmed with injuries and heat cases, resulting in a shortage along the trail. The Lieutenants themselves were stopping to help their fellow Marines in serious conditions. One Marine was found running the wrong way on the trail. When a fellow Lieutenant stopped to help him, the Marine wasn't able to tell him what his name was or where he was. The Lieutenant quickly realized this Marine was in serious condition. While they yelled for a Corpsman, they stripped this Marine down and soaked him in water. When the Corpsman arrived, the Marine had a body temperature of 106 degrees. He was airlifted to the nearest hospital, where he still was unable to tell anyone who the President of the United States was. With only two platoons out on the course, the local on-base medical center and the local town hospital were at capacity with heat cases. When word of this trickled back to the field, they immediately shut down the event.

Jordan was able to finish the course before it was shut down. Coming across the finish line, Jordan himself was delirious and disoriented, more physically and mentally exhausted than he'd ever experienced in his life. He lay in the grass trying to recover for nearly 30 minutes, unable to speak or put a sentence together. It was obvious as the Marines one-by-one collapsed across the finish line, that even those who were able to push past their physical and mental limits and finish the course, were in serious condition, suffering some form of heat stroke. SEMPER FI, do or die-that's the mindset of a Marine for ya! Although most of the Marines that finished were happy they would not have to re-do the course on another day, their final scores (which are a percentage of their overall grade) would be slower than the first time they had attempted the course.

And all the while, here us wives are out to lunch, without a worry in the world, joking that our husbands are just out in the woods "on a nature walk." Although we appreciate that our husbands' training is something more physically demanding than any of us will ever experience in our life, most of us previously did not understand the real-life dangers that accompany their training. In addition to the heat cases, the boys routinely encounter poisonous snakes, and deadly spiders. A Marine once had a spider crawl into his ear and start biting him from inside his ear canal. Apparently the Marine was in such excruciating pain, that he could be heard screaming from miles away. A few Marines have even reported being chased through the woods by bears! After this lovely dinner conversation, not only did we run out the next morning to purchase a few crates of electrolyte-rich drinks, but Jordan also purchased a knife, to defend himself against snakes and bears in the field. Let's all pray he doesn't have to use it!

Jordan in his Combat Gear....they even must carry their rifle during the E-Course!