Physical Fitness Testing

Marines are expected to always be in shape and in that regard they are tested every few months. The general test consists of three parts; a 3-mile run, crunches (two minute limit), and a flex-arm hang. The flex arm hang requires them to hold themselves for up to 70 seconds in a pull-up position with chin above the bar but not touching it.

Despite the fact that she is supposed to be resting her hip 6-weeks, until the muscle can heal, Lisa apparently decided to participate in the 3-mile run portion of her Physical Fitness Test (PFT) today.

Scoring is based on a maximum of 100 points per each part, or 300 total points. As you can see below they are scored 1st, 2nd or 3rd class by their total points.

Marine Corps PFT Classification Scores - Male and Female
Class	Age 17-26	Age 27-39	Age 40-45	Age 46+
1st	225	200	175	150
2nd	175	150	125	100
3rd	135	110	88	65

With a score of 225 points needed for 1st class Lisa was pleased to qualify with a total of 239 points. It shouldn't be too much longer until it will be time for Lisa to requalify on the Rifle Range. That sounds a lot more fun to me.

A trip to Twentynine Palms Air Ground Combat Center - Part 2

I was able to find the computer cord for my Nikon Camera and download more pictures off of it. You can enlarge the pictures to full size by clicking on them. Below is a picture of the Joshua Tree National Park that gives a better view of the piles of rock that I mentioned in the previous entry.


Below are some pictures of Lisa's living quarters.

That is Cheryl and Lisa standing on the sidewalk.


Lisa's room. Her bed is behind Cheryl.


Her bowling shirt. She made it clear, "I only wear this when sleeping!"


OK, room inspection was the day before. It is apparent that they have several days to forget the neat and clean look.


Lisa and her roommate Chrystal showing us their "Rock Band" video game skills. Their band is the Taxis; it's a long story that involves some red-hot junk food chips made in Mexico.

A trip to Twentynine Palms Air Ground Combat Center - Part 1

"I had to replace one of those engines, it took forever!" ~Lisa

After a long flight and a short night, Cheryl and I got up at 5am to make the 280 mile drive from Phoenix to Twentynine Palms. The base is located out in the desert and all infantry-designated Marines as well as those deploying to Iraq or Afghanistan pass through here for training. Lisa's job as a Motor-T Mechanic is to repair the vehicles that are used in the live-fire training that takes place on the base.





On the way to the base we passed by the Joshua Tree National Park. It is very desolate and Cheryl best described it as looking like someone backed up a giant dump truck and emptied it across the desert. We saw a desert tortoise in the road at one point. I understand they are an endangered species which is easy to explain since they seem to like to playing on the highway.



After arriving at the base you have to go through the paperwork routine before you are allowed to gain access. Lisa guided us in by phone and after a couple of wrong turns we found her room. Below is the barracks where she lives. It consists of a fairly good sized room with a small bathroom and shower. Lisa has one roommate and they are good friends. More like sisters really. They fight one minute, then are best friends the next.



Besides seeing Lisa, the two things I enjoyed the most were meeting her friends and seeing her work site. One of her friends is a young guy named Tommy, pictured below. He is from Ohio, and Cheryl and Tommy's mom became online friends while Tommy and Lisa were going through recruit training in South Carolina. Lisa and Tommy wound up being stationed at the same base for school in NC and now both are at Twentynine Palms. Tommy went to lunch with us and is a really nice kid. One of the things that really hit home hanging around her barracks is just how young these Marines are. They clown around and play video games like other young people but they are not like other young people. They wouldn't hesitate to step into harm's way on a moment's notice. It has given me an even greater appreciation for their sacrifice.



I really enjoyed visiting Lisa's workshop. She worked it out ahead of time to get us into the shop. They said we could take some photos and I've posted several of those below. They are mostly working on Humvees at this time. The row of Humvees parked outside are what they will start working on this Monday. They are stepping up Marine deployments to Afghanistan and so that means they are stepping up training at Twentynine Palms. Lisa said they found out that they will have to work next weekend in order to make sure they get vehicles the maintenance and repairs that are needed to meet that training schedule.





The newest armor plated version


It takes a lot of power to run all the equipment. It also takes a lot of cooling to keep everything working in harsh conditions. Most cars have a single radiator to cool the engine. The armor plated Humvees have separate cooling systems for the engine, the transmission, the power steering and the rear differential. The 200 amp alternator in the picture above keeps all the electronics operating. These units have stealth technology that can make them "invisible" to the enemy. I didn't figure I should post to any pictures of that.


Lisa and another workmate had to pull the engine of one of these units a while back. I was surprised to see that only half of the engine is accessable under the hood. The rest of the engine extends into the cab area as shown above. I had to double check to confirm that they really took out the whole engine and install a replacement. I was impressed.



John is a retired Marine who has worked in the shop for the last 14 years. He has been a real encouragement to Lisa and she says she has learned more from him then anyone else.


Another Humvee getting suspension replacement parts installed.


A good picture of the whole shop. It is kept VERY clean.


Lisa in a smiley moment.


Lisa, while she will not admit it, is pretty proud of her work even though it is not what she wants to do long term. I thought that pride and determination showed up in this picture.

After some time hanging out in her barracks and meeting several more of her friends, it was time to say goodbye. We made it back to Phoenix about midnight.

Saturday visit to twentynine Palms

Just a short note at the end of a VERY long, but very good, day. We had a nice time visiting Lisa. We got to see her room, visit her motor mechanics shop and meet several of her friends. I'll have more to post on Sunday or Monday includimg photos. Lisa looked good and was in good spirits.

Iphone email sent courtsey of Zeke

Challenge Coin Honor

"Everyone wanted to see my coin but I told them no way they are touching it!"

Thus was the text message Cheryl received from Lisa today. Earlier in March Lisa was asked to be a part of a contingent that would travel to Camp Pendleton to participate in a ceremony for a retiring officer. They loaded onto a plane and made the short flight early this morning.

So later in the day Lisa sent a text saying that she was called out in front of everyone and given this challenge coin. The first question Cheryl had was, "what does that mean." Lisa tried to explain that it was given to her by the a Sergeant Major from her base. While you can buy challenge coins online, this is a special coin because not only was it given by the officer, it also carries the rank of the officer on one side and the command on the other side. After more texting it turns out that the female officer is the top Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) for the base where Lisa is stationed.

Challenge coins are given to service members by commanders to boost morale and honor service. When the Sergeant Major started searching for Lisa to bring her up front, as typical, Lisa assumed she was going to be in trouble. haha But she is quite proud, in a Lisa sort of way. Of course I am proud too and look forward to seeing her coin later this weekend.

Here is a short article on the history of the awarding of Challenge Coins in the Marine Corp. I haven't received confirmation from Lisa yet but I believe, based on her text messages, that this is the officer who gave her the coin.

Ten Months In

It has been 9 months since Lisa left for Recruit Training. After 13 weeks of basic training, 4 weeks of combat training and several months of mechanics school, Lisa arrived at her permanent duty station in Twentynine Palms, California.

Many of the friends that Lisa has made along the way reached their duty stations about the same time. Now several of those are being deployed to Afghanistan.

Before going to Recruit Training at Paris Island, Cheryl met Jordan's mom, Tammy, online at one of the message boards for recruit parents. Jordan entered a couple months before Lisa arrived and they eventually wrote back and forth. Jordan was an encouragement to Lisa. Being 8 weeks ahead she was able to prepare Lisa with her first hand experience about what was ahead in the coming weeks. You may not know this but the Marines are very old school when it comes to training their recruits. There is no communication with the outside world other then good old fashioned, handwritten,snail-mail. No phone calls, no computers, internet or email. Not even any discussion outside the platoons that are going through together is allowed. It seemed to me it must have been odd that Lisa and Jordan would occasionally see each other on base during the month they were both there together but were not allowed to talk or even acknowledge each other. Only the letters that they sent back and forth. Now that they are at permanent stations they can call and text each other.

During Lisa's training period in North Carolina Jordan and her mother Tammy were nice enough to drive over to Lisa's base and pick her up for a day of shopping with them. That is them taking a break.

Originally scheduled to be deployed with her unit to Afghanistan at the end of this month, Jordan received 4 days notice that her deployment was moved up. After traveling via a stop in Europe, Jordan was able to let Lisa know that she had arrived in Afghanistan a few days ago. Tammy's husband Rich deployed to Afghanistan several months ago so she now has both her husband and daughter overseas.

If you say a prayer for Lisa and the rest of our troops, please include this family as well.

Bowling

Apparently you can bowl for $1.20 a game including shoes. So when you combine that with the opportunity to leave work early Lisa decided to join the bowling team. She says she is terrible but hey, practice makes perfect and it is a good way to relax and have fun after a long day of work.

Injury Report

Ever since somewhere towards the end of recruit training Lisa has had a pain issue with her hip. Mostly she just did the grin-and-bear-it routine because if you go to medical during Marine Recruit Training you can wind up being moved back to another platoon which means having to try and fit in with a new group of recruits and graduating later then you wanted. The other factor is that going to medical is one way that some recruits use to try and get discharged. When she was in school at Camp Johnson it was common for them to have to run 5-7 miles several times a week and the problem just got worse.

In any case, after several exams and x-rays, her doctor has determined that Lisa has a torn muscle near her hip that needs rest to heal. That is the bad news but the better news is that there are no fractures or issues with the hip joint.

Hip problems seem to be common among the female Marines coming out of Recruit Training and schooling. One of Lisa's platoon mates broke her hip during the Crucible. The packs they have to wear are standard issue and not designed for females the way that you would see in female specific backpacks at REI. As a result the hip belts tend to concentrate the pressure across a narrow band of the hip and according to her doctor the running done with these 40-60 pound packs can effectively mash the muscle up against the hip bone causing the tear. Painful just to thing about!

But at least Lisa now has a good diagnosis and will be starting a therapy program to help her recovery along.

A day at the office

Lisa is a motor mechanic. Yep, just like it sounds. She currently works on Humvees and what they refer to as 7-Tons. The latter is basically a 7-ton flatbed used for hauling supplies and equipment to the front lines.

Twentynine Palms, where Lisa is stationed, is the home to the Marine Infantry Training School. While all Marines get at least 5 weeks of combat training upon completion of basic training, Marines in infantry status get much more extensive class and field training at Twentynine Palms. Lisa's unit is one of those responsible for maintaining and repairing the vehicles used to train these Marines. As you can imagine the equipment is used pretty hard and in constant need of repairs.

These pictures are some that Lisa has sent along. Marines pride themselves on organization. That tool chest above is a good example. I know one thing, my tool chest is in no danger of being mistaken for hers.









PS - Tranny fluid hair conditioner in this last picture.