MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- Every step is delicate and fraught with danger. Senses are obscured by dust clouds and dislodged pieces of rock, so reflexes and gut feelings become critical as the summit gets nearer and the ground below gets farther and farther away. It's dirty and it's dicey. But Marine assault climbers choose to endure it anyway.
The I Marine Expeditionary Force's Special Operations Training Group administers a five-week Assault Climbers Course at Camp Horno, where infantrymen from Camp Pendleton and other installations were developing "Spiderman" skills last week, in case the mission ever requires scaling a cliff face or a building the hard way.
"The purpose of the course is to send back a cadre of assault climbers to give their unit's the capabilities of a reinforced infantry unit to scale up a 150-foot obstacle," said Gunnery Sgt. Richard A. Wells, chief assault climber instructor with the group.
Marines and sailors undergo strenuous training governed by the Marine Expeditionary Unit Special Operation Capable skills order. The order dictates that MEUs — flotillas carrying Marines commonly referred to as the nation's "911 Force" — need trained assault climbers to carry out some of their missions.
The course is instructed in three phases — teaching climbers to crawl, in a sense, before they start making their way up rock faces.
"In first phase, students learn 13 knots, rope and mechanical systems and are tested tying these various knots blindfolded. Also, rope installations and anchors are incorporated," Wells said.
"Climbing exercises are conducted during phase two and students learn how to accomplish a lead climb up to a Yosemite Decimal System difficulty level (class) of 5.6."
Class 5 is the highest or steepest level of climbing in terms of difficulty, he said. A 5.6 climb is one of 15 steps within Class 5 and represents an intermediate climb within the class. Several higher-difficulty climbs aren't covered in the course.
The third phase includes urban climbing and techniques for supporting tactical recovery of downed aircraft and aviation personnel, said Staff Sgt. They G. Faber, another instructor.
The training includes field trips beyond Camp Horno.
"Students are required to train two weeks in off-site training areas," Wells said. "The training is influenced by the time of year and environment."
Off-site areas include the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center in Bridgeport, as well as Joshua Tree National Park near Twentynine Palms and Mission Gorge in San Diego.
Wells says the training is applicable not only locally but internationally — including Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom.
"Eighty percent of the world has mountains. The skills learned here equip the unit with mountain mobility capabilities. Service members are exposed to high altitudes in Afghanistan, Iraq and the Philippines," Wells said.
Marines might be called upon to operate at extreme heights and temperatures, complicating an "enormous margin for injury," Wells said. So the Corps makes sure climbers are well-equipped, he says.
"The equipment used is the same as any civilian search-and-rescue or fire department would have," Wells said.
Each unit undergoing the course brings a corpsman in case a Marine is injured — and corpsmen are even starting to take the course, Wells said.
The course's difficulty is reflected in its graduation rate.
"In this class, 16 out of 24 are graduating. It really depends on the screening the unit gives that person. The attrition rate is extremely high," said Wells, who didn't have numbers on overall graduation rates, but said 263 certified assault climbers have graduated from the course since its inception in 1996.
Students now taking the course confirmed its toughness.
"It's been tough in the beginning, but now it's almost over. We learned a lot of stuff that we can use in combat situations," said Lance Cpl. Peter V. Dranitsin, an infantryman stationed at Marine Corps Base Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii.
"A lot of (students) say it has been the hardest school that they have been in, and I agree both physically and mentally," he added.
Another Marine who's a former drill instructor and black belt in the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program says the Assault Climbers Course stacks up in terms of difficulty.
"This by far has been one of the more challenging courses that I've been to," said Staff Sgt. David Rodriguez, a platoon sergeant and scout sniper also stationed at Kaneohe Bay.