In Their Boots; Air Station Spouses Train like Marines

April 26, 2012

By Pfc. John Wilkes, Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort

MCAS BEAUFORT,S.C. — Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron and Marine Air Control Squadron 2, Detachment A, held an “In Their Boots” event April 21 aboard the Air Station.

The event gave Marine family members a glimpse of some of the training and duties their Marine performs daily.

“This is an opportunity for them to gain some perspective in what it takes to be a Marine,” said Lisa Montanez, Headquarters and Head­quarters Squadron family readiness officer. “It’s a tough job and our Marines have worked hard, and continue to work hard to be the ul­timate fighting force our nation has to offer.”

Family members participated in events such as: a modified obstacle course, a tour of the air traffic con­trol tower, a modified combat fitness test, aircraft rescue firefighting ac­tivity stations and Marine Corps Martial Arts Program instruction.

According to Montanez, the events were selected based on opportuni­ties available at the Air Station, how informative the event would be, en­tertainment value and most impor­tantly, safety.

The obstacle course was the event I enjoyed most, said Sherry Cato, a spouse who participated in the event.

“The CFT was much more diffi­cult than I thought it would be,” said Cato. “I was surprised by how heavy the ammo cans were.”

Montanez stated her belief on why it was im­portant for the spouses to experience the CFT.

“Now when their Ma­rine comes home and says they just got a 300 on their CFT, they will know that is a good thing and how dif­ficult it was to actually ac­complish,” said Montanez.

Being a Marine is more difficult than it sounds, said Cato.

A static display of air­craft and rescue vehicles used by the Marines on the Air Station were made available for spouses and family members to see. The participants watched demonstrations of explo­sive ordnance disposal and working dog handling.

“They also learned the meaning behind the train­ing, so that if their Marine deploys they will know the Marine Corps has trained them for situations they may face,” Montanez said.