Editor’s note: Our reporter, Shawn Skager, spent a week observing the U.S. Marine Corps during recruit basic training in San Diego. Here, he follows Stormy Starkey, a Kent Phoenix Academy graduate.

By SHAWN SKAGER

sskager@auburn-reporter.com

They come for a myriad of reasons.

Some come for the chance to challenge themselves physically and mentally.

Some come for the opportunity to receive an education.

For some, it’s an escape from poverty.

For Stormy Starkey (inset photo), a 20-year-old Covington resident and graduate of the Kent Phoenix Academy, it was a chance to pursue his dream of becoming a police officer and an opportunity to serve his country and earn the title of U.S. Marine.

“About a year ago I decided to join the Corps,” Starkey said. “Throughout high school I was pretty much deciding which service I wanted to join. I talked to Army and Marine recruiters and I just felt such a strong sense of pride from the Marine recruiters. That just got my attention. They really got me into it and kept talking to me, and I just felt that would be the best route for me to go.”

Last September, Starkey signed on the dotted line, offering up the next eight years of his life – four years of active duty and four years as a reserve – for the chance to serve and hopefully earn his Eagle, Globe and Anchor.

“It took awhile to go because they want the best so they have to check everything,” Starkey said. “It was three or four months for me to get cleared medically.”

Like many recruits, Starkey used the time wisely, getting physically prepared for the rigors of the 13-week basic training.

“Back home I actually go to the gym a lot, that’s my thing,” Starkey said. “I go every day to relieve stress. So strength wise I thought I was more than ready. So I kind of thought it was going to be a breeze. That wasn’t the case though.”

On Jan. 28, Starkey joined 39 other recruits, lining up in the Yellow Footprints at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, where all male enlistees west of the Mississippi train.

Let the training begin

It was at that moment Starkey and his fellow recruits got their first taste of the infamous Marine Corps Drill Instructor (DI).

Fresh off the bus recruits are swarmed by DIs, they are informed that they no longer live by civilian laws but are now governed by military justice. They are warned that if they leave the depot without authorization, the punishment will be severe. A few hundred yards away planes at San Diego’s bustling Lindbergh Field take off every few minutes, symbols of a freedom the recruits will not taste for the next 13 weeks.

The recruits are ushered inside the building through silver hatches (the Marine Corps uses Naval terminology because of their association with the U.S. Navy). Inside they divest themselves of the material possessions of their civilian lives. Wallets, cell phones, reading material and MP3 players all go into bags, to be returned once the recruits finish training.

They receive their first set of government-issued clothing and a pair of tennis shoes. Boots come later and must be earned. They are quickly ushered into the telephone room where they make a brief, scripted call to their parents or guardians, letting them know that they have arrived safely. Then their heads are shaved and they are ushered through a myriad of medical and psychological exams.

For Starkey, the reality of having to work his way through the high towers of the depot’s obstacle course provided a wakeup call.

“I came here scared of heights,” he said. “But they really push you to overcome your fears. It only took me once to realize I can do it. There is no real reason to be scared. I was pretty worried about some of the higher obstacles, but I did them.”

Now in the second phase of three phases of recruit training, Starkey spent his sixth week at Camp Pendleton, 49 miles north of San Diego, where he and his platoon mates were introduced to the M16A4 service rifle and the rigors of full 80-pound pack hikes.

“We did our first three-mile hike with the packs,” Starkey said. “And I thought it was going to be really hard, but if you just think about the scenery and stuff like that it just flies by. I’m excited for our five-mile hike.”

Soon, at week 12, it will be time for Starkey to fully earn the title of Marine.

Daunting Crucible

During a grueling 54-hour field exercise test called The Crucible, Starkey will operate on just four hours of sleep a night and eat three times. He will march more than 40 miles and face several physical and mental tasks aimed at simulating the rigors of combat to determine whether the recruit has absorbed the extensive training he has received for the past 11 weeks.

At the end, he will hike for nine miles, including a culminating 700-feet ascent of The Reaper. If he reaches the top, he will earn his Eagle, Globe and Anchor and officially become a Marine.

“This is it, this is everything they have learned, and they are tested on it,” said Col. Robert W. Gates, Chief of Staff for Marine Corps Recruit Training San Diego. “It all goes toward determining if the recruit has the mental toughness to become a Marine.”

Although the end of training might seem like a long-time away for Starkey, he admits that he is already aware of the transformation he is in the midst of.

“I’m grateful for the opportunity,” Starkey said. “I don’t regret it at all. You don’t really see any kids here who do. It’s a life-changing experience. I can already feel myself changing for the better as far as growing and becoming disciplined. I’m definitely changing as a person. But I love it here.”