Spartans show they have what it takes to be one of The Few, The Proud, The Marines

By Sgt. Eric-James EstradaSeptember 2, 2014

Spartans show they have what it takes to be one of The Few, The Proud, The Marines
1 / 6 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Paratroopers with the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, along with Airmen of the 3rd Air Support Operations Squadron assigned to the Spartan Brigade, participate alongside Marines during the Marine Corps' Combat Fit... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Spartans show they have what it takes to be one of The Few, The Proud, The Marines
2 / 6 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Paratroopers with the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, along with Airmen of the 3rd Air Support Operations Squadron assigned to the Spartan Brigade, participate alongside Marines during the Marine Corps' Combat Fit... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Spartans show they have what it takes to be one of The Few, The Proud, The Marines
3 / 6 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Paratroopers with the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, along with Airmen of the 3rd Air Support Operations Squadron assigned to the Spartan Brigade, participate alongside Marines during the Marine Corps' Combat Fit... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Spartans show they have what it takes to be one of The Few, The Proud, The Marines
4 / 6 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Paratroopers with the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, along with Airmen of the 3rd Air Support Operations Squadron assigned to the Spartan Brigade, participate alongside Marines during the Marine Corps' Combat Fit... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Spartans show they have what it takes to be one of The Few, The Proud, The Marines
5 / 6 Show Caption + Hide Caption – A paratrooper with the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, observes U.S. Marine Gunnery Sgt. Pete O'Brien (right), the company gunnery sergeant for Headquarters and Service Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment,... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Spartans show they have what it takes to be one of The Few, The Proud, The Marines
6 / 6 Show Caption + Hide Caption – U.S. Marine Gunnery Sgt. Pete O'Brien (left), the company gunnery sergeant for Headquarters and Service Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, explains to paratroopers with the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

CAMP HANSEN, OKINAWA, Japan - Arctic Warriors were given an opportunity to experience Marine combat training while participating in Exercise Ulchi-Freedom Guardian (UFG) 2014, an annual joint/combined command post exercise designed to enhance the Republic of South Korea's defensive capabilities in the face of an aggressor threat.

Paratroopers with the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division along with Airmen of the 3rd Air Support Operations Squadron assigned to the Spartan Brigade, home-stationed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, participated in the Marine Corps' combat fitness test (CFT) to build esprit de corps and learn more about the Marines' training requirements.

"Since we're here at Camp Hansen and Camp Courtney conducting the UFG exercise and we're doing joint operations with the Marine Corps, we thought it would be a great way to understand some of the Marine mentality," said Maj. David Nelson, operations officer for the 1st Battalion (Airborne), 501st Infantry Regiment, 4/25 IBCT (ABN).

The CFT is taken once a year and includes a sequence of physical exercises that evaluates a Marine's ability to perform several combat-related activities. The CFT was designed to complement the physical fitness test (PFT) in order to provide insight into a Marine's overall fitness level.

Before the inception of the CFT in 2008, Marines took the PFT once every six months. The Marine Corps then changed it up a bit, shifting more towards a combat fitness-type test.

Since 2008, between January and June, the Marines run a PFT, which consists of pullups, crunches and a three-mile run for males. For females it consists of a flexed arm hang, crunches and a 3-mile run. Between June and December a Combat Fitness Test is conducted.

"I think it's excellent. Running three miles, doing 20 pull-ups, doing 100 crunches, becomes normal," said U.S. Marine Gunnery Sgt. Pete O'Brien, the company gunnery sergeant for Headquarters and Service Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, who also facilitated the CFT for the Arctic Warriors.

"This mixed it up and now there's a whole bunch of things we have to start working on," said O'Brien, a Boston native. "You have to work on your combat conditioning, your flexibility, your upper body strength and things like that."

The CFT consists of three events:

-An 880-yard "Movement to Contact" run in boots and utility pants.

-Two minutes of lifting a 30-pound ammo can over the head, earning two points for each number done in the time limit.

-A "Maneuver Under Fire" drill, that is part obstacle course, part conditioning and part combat test, which consists of the following:

-10-yard sprint

-15-yard crawl (low then high crawl)

-Hauling a simulated casualty using two different carries - drag and fireman's carry - over 75 yards while zig-zagging through cones

-Sprint while carrying two 30-pound ammo cans over 75 yards through the same cones

-Throwing a dummy hand grenade into a marked circle 22.5 yards away (five seconds added to total time if missed)

-Three pushups and a sprint with the ammo cans to the finish line.

"It's a pretty good assessment," said 1st Lt. Jonathan Razack, a Dallas native assigned to the 1-501 IN, 4/25th IBCT (ABN).

Razack compared the event to the Army's Ranger Physical Assessment Test, noting the similarities of running in boots and utilities with body armor on.

"I definitely think it's a good measure of combat fitness and it's something a little different," said Razack. "It's good for team building."

"Learning to see how [the Marines] train and actually [execute] the training are great lessons learned and maybe we can take some of this training and incorporate it with our own units," Razack added.

O'Brien said the scores were right on par with the Marines. Noting that like everything else in a unit, there are high scores and then there are scores that indicate areas for improvement.

"I think they are doing pretty good," said O'Brien. "If you took these scores and put them next to a Marine's score, you wouldn't know who ran what from the score."

This is Nelson's second time participating in the event.

"I did it last year with another group of Marines," said Nelson. "It's a smoker, but I think it's a great test of your ability to execute some of those tasks that have to be done in combat."

"It's great [physical training] and it's a good way to understand a little more about what the Marines do and learn about their mentality."