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Crossroads of the Marine Corps

Rain or shine, it's devil dog time

11 Apr 2013 | Cpl. Paris Capers Marine Corps Base Quantico

While some might take a rain check from unit physical training on account of bad weather, the Marines of Inbound Section at the Installation Personnel Administration Center train - rain or shine - with the use of a little Marine ingenuity.

Sgt. Stephany Rector, inbound noncommissioned officer-in-charge, and the Inbound Marines work to stay in shape year round by never missing an opportunity to train. On a recent snow day, the Inbound Section Marines shifted the furniture in the television lounge at Singleton Hall to make space for their workout.

The workout Rector used is the ‘Insanity’ workout.

“With Insanity, each day is a different workout,” said Rector. “We did Pure Cardio. It’s a 45-minute session of continuous exercises with no breaks.”

Rector has 11 Marines in her charge, and knows Barber Physical Activity Center is often crowded on mornings with bad weather. It would have been easy to cancel training, but if they wanted easy, they wouldn’t have joined the Marine Corps.

“We moved the furniture, I popped in the DVD and I still worked them,” Rector said. “The [physical fitness test] is coming up, so you can’t just say ‘bad weather, go to work.’”

According to Rector, skipping physical training and slacking off during workouts sets a bad example for junior Marines.

“If you skip those training days you lose all of that endurance you’ve gained,” said Cpl. Sean Duncan, one of Rector’s Marines. “Plus, we can’t do pull-ups in the barracks anymore, so you have to keep up with those, too.”

The noncommissioned officers running the section physical training make sure to keep up the work ethic for the sake of their Marines.

“If I start slacking off, then they might see that and start making excuses,” said Rector. “I could make excuses, and say ‘It’s cold out. Let’s skip it,’ but slowly that ‘let’s do it tomorrow’ attitude would bleed into things such as field day for my Marines. That’s no good, so we adapt and overcome.”

As the NCOIC of her section, Rector makes sure her Marines are always on the ball when it comes to physical training, especially when it would be easier to opt out.

 “Why skip? There’s always a different solution to every problem, including bad weather,” said Rector. “If it’s raining outside, go inside. There are indoor workout circuits that don’t take up a lot of room.”

Correspondent: Paris.Capers@usmc.mil


Marine Corps Base Quantico