MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- As twelve hundred aspiring corpsmen are trained at Field Medical Training Battalion West each year to save wounded Marines in combat, the students are now also taught the fundamentals of the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program. This addition to the curriculum has entitled the school to a MCMAP pit and the Seabees of Amphibious Construction Battalion 1 have come to the school’s aid.
The Seabees of ACB-1, Naval Construction Force, have recently finished a MCMAP pit near Field Medical Training Battalion West at Camp Del Mar, Camp Pendleton, to provide a training environment that will reduce injuries and better train sailors.
“We were using the baseball field nearby to do our martial arts training,” said Chief Petty Officer Roy T. Dimapilis, logistics chief, S-4, FMTB-West. “The field is full of hard dirt and rocks which made it difficult to effectively train without greater risks of injuries.”
The corpsmen will benefit from the new pit but the Seabees have also gained valuable training in their job field as construction workers.
“The Seabees have really benefitted from this project,” said Navy Lt. John H. Beattie, operations officer, Public Works Department and Facilities, assistant chief of staff, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton. “It’s given them a chance to explore the different aspects of their job while saving the base money on labor costs. Individual equipment operators are also gaining experience with different construction equipment.”
The pit’s construction began by digging inside a 70-foot by 40-foot perimeter one foot into the ground.
“Once we dug up the ground, we leveled the surface out,” said Petty Officer 2nd Class Dylan A. Ellis, project supervisor, Alpha Company, ACB-1. “Then, we laid a two inch layer of gravel, followed by a two inch layer of sand and then an eight inch layer of mulch. We finish it off by surrounding the perimeter with tires for safety.”
The final layer of mulch consists of a large quantity of recycled tires that will provide a soft place for the corpsmen to land when they get tossed around during MCMAP training.