Corpsmen tested in new roles

[thedrifter]

Corpsmen tested in new roles
October 01,2003
ERIC STEINKOPFF
DAILY NEWS STAFF

http://www.jdnews.com/Photo/100103_roles.jpg

John Althouse/Daily News
Testing themselves: Navy personnel carry a Zodiac boat along a wooded trail after navigating a water course.


Marines might say it takes a special sailor to serve in their ranks, but special wasn't good enough for some Navy corpsmen who are proving this week that they are as tough as the few and the proud.

Five- and six-person teams of camouflage-clad corpsmen, known as "devil docs," raised 300-pound Zodiac boats onto their shoulders Tuesday and trudged through the Camp Lejeune woods during II Marine Expeditionary Force's sixth annual Battle Skills Competition.

Because so many of them have technical desk jobs deep within the confines of local naval hospitals or clinics, this week's four-day competition is a first for many of these young troops, ranging in age from 19 to 25.

"It's a feat that they are even competing at all," said Petty Officer 1st Class Laurie Varner, 32, a Navy corpsman from Matton, Ill., assigned to the family care clinic at Cherry Point Air Station's hospital.

The competition was the first in which the Zodiac boat race was among the seven events, which include an endurance run, a Marine Corps physical fitness test, pistol qualification, a 12-mile march, practical combat skills and written tests.

"They double-time down here, transition and pick up the boat," explained Chief Petty Officer Mark McNeil, 34, as the corpsmen in combat boots plodded along the path with labored breath.

"They do a high boat carry and double-time down to the water," said McNeil, a corpsman from Richmond, Va., assigned to 2nd Force Reconnaissance Company.

The team waded quickly through the muck and grassy swamp to the New River shoreline and fought off the involuntary gasp as they entered the sudden chill of deeper water.

"We're looking to see how they work together as they go out to the channel marker, come back and portage the boat," McNeil said.

"You can see this team is out of unison," he pointed out as one group tried to paddle out into Stone Bay but had trouble stroking at the same time.

Early morning sun glistened on waves that teams battled along with wind and current, determined to let nothing slow them down.

Cries of "stroke! stroke!" drifted from supporters on the far bank of New River as the team finally set the paddles into coordinated motion.

Two teams were from the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, two from the 2nd Marine Division, four from 2nd Force Service Support Group and one from the II MEF command element.

All of them competed under the watchful eyes of their leadership, chief petty officers and leading petty officers from local commands.

"Come on New River! Come on Cherry Point!" Varner yelled to boats on the river.

Organizers said that last year's winner was a team from 2nd Force Service Support Group, but on Tuesday it was too early to tell if any group was in the lead.

This year's winners will be acknowledged in a special ceremony Thursday.

"This is good for teamwork and they are the best of our best," said Master Chief Petty Officer Joseph Manifold, 51, a navy corpsman and senior enlisted sailor in II MEF.

"These guys have a lot of heart."


Contact Eric Steinkopff at esteinkopff@jdnews.com or at 353-1171, Ext. 236.

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Sempers,

Roger

[the humper]

I ever saw a corpsmen do, was our job and theirs too!!!!!
SF
NC