In their boots: Air station spouses train like Marines

By Pfc. John Wilkes
Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron and Marine Air Control Squadron 2, Detachment A, held an “In Their Boots” event April 21 aboard the Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort. 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, which stands for Combat Fitness Test, a required fitness test that is taken once a year.
“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.