Force Recon Marines hike 237 miles

[HellsCanyon]

Doesn't look that easy.... I imagine better footwear may if helped significantly.

Thoughts/comments?

http://www.oafnation.com/marines/2014/3/27/recon-marines-complete-237-mile-hell-hike

 

[Darren Best]

I'm surprised they had such a rough time of it, I would of thought they would of been much better prepared.

 

[tipsntails7]

No offense to any mil vet, and I'm personal friends with quite a few marines, but that article makes them look bad. I've heard stories from buddies that were much worse then "walking on a paved road" the entire time. Not what I expected to read. Blisters after the first day?

 

[SJ-AK]

A couple thoughts. First they were Recon Marines, not Force Recon Marines. There is a difference in missions and screening. Secondly the blisters are most likely caused by the footwear. I know they have better boots now than when I was in. However you don't get to go try on a bunch of boots and choose the best one like we commonly do. I assume most of them were probably wearing their issued boots.

18.5 miles a day for 12 days is no cake walk regardless of any other factors. Especially when you haven't specifically trained for it. No shame in not coming out of it unscathed.

Semper Fi.

 

[HellsCanyon]

My mistake on the recon vs force recon. I was surprised they had that rough of a time as well. 35 lb packs and 18+ miles a day like you say is no cake walk, but for some of our elite I thought the results would've been a bit different. Zero disrespect meant here as well. Unlike us they don't get to choose the fanciest best fitting gear...

 

[Hoot]

"Walking on a paved road" is harder on your body, especially feet/ankles and knees, than a lot of other hiking is. I'm not surprised they had such feet issues, as I have little feeling in my feet after four years in army recon. I would get rather large blistering after just a 12 mile ruck march, GI boots aren't the greatest...

If you think that article makes them look bad, or you're surprised they had a rough go of it, I challenge you to try for yourself, using GI boots, ruck, Body armor, LBE etc. and let me know how many days in a row you make it walking on a paved road...35lbs plus combat load carries A LOT different than even 60lbs in a kifaru/SG/insert name brand pack here...

No disrespect taken, but I'm willing to bet 95% of Roksliders barely make 1/4 of the distance these marines made...

 

[7mag.]

I'm not surprised at all about the issues with their feet. Marine issue boots are blister making machines. I still have nagging foot issues, and I've been out for 12 years.

 

[tipsntails7]

I meant no disrespect in my post, I just thought the article tried to paint them In a negative light especially when comparing them to the Korean soldiers. I'm sure I could not do it. One of the few regrets I have is not joining the service, I took a scholarship for baseball at Hawaii instead.

 

[Backpack Hunter]

Not a lot of people I'm familiar with are tough enough or "equipped" enough to hike that far that fast in below freezing weather conditions. Good job.

 

[HellsCanyon]

Some pretty hard guys no doubt and I agree the majority of us here couldn't do it. Especially in their gear! I wonder what kind of food/water setups they had...

Mike

 

[fillthefreezer]

Some pretty hard guys no doubt and I agree the majority of us here couldn't do it. Especially in their gear! I wonder what kind of food/water setups they had...

Mike

sub par would be my guess...
"thanks obama"

 

[jcodyc40]

This is exactly why I have made it a point to never question another's experience. Unless I was there rubbing elbows embracing "the Suck" I really have no idea what they went through. Anyone completing 237 miles in 12 days in sub-zero conditions has my respect.

sub par would be my guess...
"thanks obama"

I have served under the last 5 administrations and I have never had inadequate nutrition or hydration. That is the 1SG's job and we take our job very seriously!

 

[bobhunts]

Standard food if they carried it I would suspect would be MRE"s. Water in the canteen if they still use them? Don't know? I have seen that they have a newer pack made by Arcteryix I believe, not sure if that is the standard ruck or some other. Those packs can be found all over for cheap and are supposed to be a pretty good deal. Been out of the Army for 20 years and almost none of the stuff I was issued is still in the the theater today. Maybe someone else that has been in the Corp could pipe in as to what those marines would have used. I spent a year in Korea and it is a country that is very full of mountains everywhere and damn cold. The standard issue boots I suspect would be no better than what I got issued. First thing I did when I had some change in the pocket was get a good pair of boots. Those guys did one hell of a job and If they had blisters on there feet they earned all of them. Those guys did an amazing job. I do not miss that place at all. Bob.

 

[Coyote Commander]

There were some pretty impressive troop movements during WWII that one would have had to have been a tough SOB to partake in. Modern military footwear sucks, I cant imagine beating feet in 1940s era stuff!

Heck, the Germans ate up ground pretty good (a lot on foot) with the Russians nipping at their heels after Stalingrad. Of course, they had a little more motivation no doubt.

 

[Mike7]

Not sure what pace these guys kept, but I have done a fair number of "forced marches" with Marine Infantry units, and it is a different kind of hard on the feet compared to regular hiking in the mountains.

The couple of battalion commanders we had liked to keep a 3 mile per 50 minutes pace with 10 minute rest/water stops before taking off again. That felt fine at first, but depending upon the load a guy was carrying and how long his legs were and level of fitness, we would have guys starting to "fall out" within 6-9 miles for sure. We started our battalion workup at 3 miles and slowly increased throughout the year to finish with a 25 mile forced march. The pace was constant and on pavement for 50 minutes at a time and feet would get hot and moist whether a guy was wearing black Hi-tec hiking boots, jungle boots, or Danner's. I never get blisters while backpacking, but would get hot spots or blisters on these forced marches if I didn't take the time and effort to put on dry socks every 6 miles or so regardless of how tired I was.

For our forced marches in and around the base, we would start at 2AM to avoid some of the heat and humidity. It was easy to carry extra dry socks for our hikes close to home, but I am guesssing that these guys above didn't have that luxury of extra dry socks.

 

[Madnik]

A 237 mile forced march in notoriously wintry conditions following additional winter training? Hard core.

 

[Rucker61]

I have served under the last 5 administrations and I have never had inadequate nutrition or hydration. That is the 1SG's job and we take our job very seriously!

That was my first thought. It doesn't matter who is in charge at the top, all the way down to the platoon level, the NCOs take care of the troops.

 

[realunlucky]

They have my full respect. Winter adds a whole other aspect to grinding those miles out

 

[fillthefreezer]

I have served under the last 5 administrations and I have never had inadequate nutrition or hydration. That is the 1SG's job and we take our job very seriously!

its a joke, look up earl dibbles jr

 

[Hoot]

This is exactly why I have made it a point to never question another's experience. Unless I was there rubbing elbows embracing "the Suck" I really have no idea what they went through. Anyone completing 237 miles in 12 days in sub-zero conditions has my respect.


I have served under the last 5 administrations and I have never had inadequate nutrition or hydration. That is the 1SG's job and we take our job very seriously!

Undoubtedly, these marines had food and water resupplied regularly. Thanks for your years of service Top(I gather from your post)

Not to turn this into a political rant but our military is not as disciplined of a force as it once was, ROK soldiers and marines are hard core, so if it he article appeared to paint them a little more hard core than our marines, there's some merit to that....I doubt ROK army and marine leaders struggle with political correctness and a weakened force. I doubt their recruits get stress cards and liberty passes and cell phones/social media while attending basic training. I'm not downplaying our military's capability, but our force is not what it was even 8 years ago when I served...