Marine Recruit Dies During Endurance Test

A Marine recruit has died during "The Crucible" endurance test which every recruit must pass to earn the title, United States Marine.

A Parris Island Marine recruit who died from unknown causes Thursday morning has been identified.

A Parris Island spokesman says Bret Moran, 18, of Bronx, N.Y., was unresponsive when training officers tried to awaken him around 2:30 a.m. for a nine-mile hike to complete the training exercise known as the Crucible. Efforts to revive Moran failed and he was taken to Beaufort Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead about an hour later.

"There's no tougher day in the Marine Corps than a day in which you lose one of your own," said Major Ken White, Parris Island public affairs director.

The Marine Recruit Depot is investigating the circumstances surrounding Moran's death, White said. An autopsy will be done to determine the cause of death, according to Beaufort County coroner Curt Copeland.

"We would hope that the command investigation brings to light exactly what happened to this recruit and, hopefully, what medical conditions contributed to his death," White said.


WSAV.com

Marine recruit training as always plenty tough, but when former Commandant Charles Krulak instituted "The Crucible" the bar was raised even higher while other services were lowering the bar to accommodate mixed training.

Female recruits must negotiate the same training as male recruits, albeit separately.

We are always very saddened by the news of training casualties, especially in this case when the recruit was only hours from the completion of his training.

www.lowcountrynow.com...

One of "The Crucible" tests:


[edit on 04/11/20 by GradyPhilpott]
Mod Edit: shortened link with BB Code



[edit on 04/11/20 by GradyPhilpott]

Don't they receive physicals prior to transfers to Parris Is.??
I thought that was the norm to rule out any underlying physical problems?
Sad, only 18 yrs old...

Yes, all inductees receive physicals. One of the articles posted states that on average one Marine recruit dies in training per year. I guess all medical problems are not easily identifiable.

You can't train for combat without pushing the limits of endurance and even then, combat exceeds any of the demands ever placed on a trainee. It's just a very sad reality.

[edit on 04/11/20 by GradyPhilpott]

I would also point out the shape that most American young adults are in these days. This training is strenuous enough on individuals that are in shape, i can't imagine being overweight and trying to perform them.

Originally posted by goregrinder
I would also point out the shape that most American young adults are in these days. This training is strenuous enough on individuals that are in shape, i can't imagine being overweight and trying to perform them.

There are weight standards that recruits must meet before shipping to training, along with a minimum number of pushups, situps, and run time. When they get to training they are introduced to a physical fitness regime in which things are escalated slowly. Overweight recruits are designated by stripes on their PT gear and are on reduced rations until they are good weight. Also, at the physical training there are always Corpsmen (medics) there. The Drill Instructors also make sure the platoon is hydrated, etc. I remember one year a recruit died simply from freak blow to the head during boxing, and they had 32oz gloves, mouthpieces and headgear in the boxing. Weird stuff happens but Marine boot camp is actually very safe.

Originally posted by goregrinder
I would also point out the shape that most American young adults are in these days. This training is strenuous enough on individuals that are in shape, i can't imagine being overweight and trying to perform them.

Understand that this is mainly in adults - the 25 and under crowd is in shape - well, at least the ones I know

Anyways - THIS IS NOT POSSABLE!

US training is easy!!!! Just ask the Britts

Recruits get innoculations too...and i wouldn't put it past one of those being the culpret.

It has been shown that some of them can contribute to those "mysterious" deaths that all branches of the Military find that they can't satisfactorily explain.

Originally posted by American Mad Man

Originally posted by goregrinder
I would also point out the shape that most American young adults are in these days. This training is strenuous enough on individuals that are in shape, i can't imagine being overweight and trying to perform them.

Understand that this is mainly in adults - the 25 and under crowd is in shape - well, at least the ones I know

Anyways - THIS IS NOT POSSABLE!

US training is easy!!!! Just ask the Britts

Physically it's pretty easy. The mental adjustment is a bit hard as Riddick Bowe (who dropped out of recruit training there) can attest to.

This is truly sad, but these things happen quite often, actually -however mostly to athletes etc. If one has a potentially weak heart, for instance, you can never tell if it will suddenly stop beating. The kind of stress, lack of rest and food on this socalled "Crucible" is extreme and no physical can tell for sure that the body suddenly won't give in. I've been on what we in Norway call the "Hell Week", which is similar to the "Crucible". I was taking pictures and was on the "enemy forces" during this -and maaaaaan, I saw some tired, worn-out faces. They all survived though, but I could clearly see that a little more stress on some of those soon to become officers could certainly have proved fatal.

Thoughts @ family and friends of the deceased...