Airmen train with USMC

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Carolyn Viss
  • 7th Bomb Wing Public Affairs
DYESS AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  Boots pounding dirt. Water flowing from the hoses of camel backs. Cadence being sung in the background. These are the sounds of a 5-mile hump.

About 73 Marines from Detachment 1, Motor Transportation Maintenance Co., stationed at Dyess, brought 13 Airmen with them for a three-day field training exercise at Camp Bowie, Texas, Aug. 3 to 5.

The evolution started with the hump and continued over the weekend with M16 and M9 qualification and familiarization training, group calisthenics, land navigation, Marine Corps Martial Arts Program exercising, and lessons from leadership.

"We wanted to invite Airmen to join us this year to give them the chance to see what the Marine Corps does in a training environment," said 1st Sgt. Alfred Sly, MTMC first sergeant.

Although some of the leadership was concerned that perhaps the Marines and Airmen may not integrate immediately, the evolution was flawless, said Chief Warrant Officer 2 George Williams, MTMC inspector-instructor.

"In the end, you couldn't tell an Airman from a Marine except for the difference in uniforms," he said. "They all hit 'execute' and got the job done. The best part was being able to see them all worn out, but still with smiles on their faces. They were challenged, but their attitudes and spirits were unstoppable."

Dyess first sergeants agreed that Air Force training is sufficient for the demands of the mission here, but joint training is always valuable.

"Airmen aren't going to necessarily be leading a squadron in the field, but the exposure to the real-world operations is great," said Master Sgt. Todd Krulcik, 7th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron. "Combining strengths of both branches to make the total force stronger can result in lives saved, real-world."

Seeing the demands the Marine Corps places on NCOs was eye-opening to Airmen and the first sergeants.

"The Marines have not only a strong respect for rank but also a strong brotherhood," said Senior Airman Brandon Allen, 7th Communications Squadron. "And as far as their training is concerned, well ... it was tougher than what I'm used to, and their PT doesn't compare to ours, really."

Staff Sgt. Leucio Welch, 436th Training Squadron video production journeyman, said it was good to get out of the office and back into some heavy-duty training. As a prior Army servicemember, he said sometimes he misses heavy training. Sleeping in tents, going three days without a shower, and humping all his gear didn't seem to phase him - rather, he said it sort of re-vamped his "blue."

"Life's a competition," he said. "If you don't keep pushing yourself, and comparing yourself to people who are at a higher level of skill than you are - regardless of whether it's professionally, physically or what - you'll get dull."

As for the Marine Corps reservists, Lance Cpl. Joseph Blake said he hadn't done anything that "hard-core" since basic training in 2004.

"It was a great refresher of all the ground we covered in boot camp," he said. "The Marine Corps is all about functioning in a group, and this exercise not only sharpened our skills, it also built good teamwork and camaraderie that is hard to get when you only see your fellow Marines once a month."

He also enjoyed the Airmen's presence and said the training "breathed fresh air" in to the unit as a whole.

Part of what accomplished that re-motivation was the leaders' emphasis on mentorship, he said.

Master Sgt. Jeff Urbanski, 317th AMXS, agreed, "I think a misconception we sometimes have of the Marine Corps is that they're all about getting the work done, no questions asked - but in reality, there's a lot of mentorship going on here." Specifically, he mentioned Marine Staff Sgt. (first name) Torres' speech one evening on the importance of synergy in McMAP training.

"Their core values - honor, courage, and commitment - are apparent in every bit of training they conducted," he said.

The feeling was mutual.

"The Airmen who came out here this weekend were of an extremely high caliber," CWO2 Williams said. "Both First Sgt. (Sly) and I were very impressed with their performance, and that of the Marines. Overall, it was good training."