MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- Imagine dangling from a helicopter, zipping along at more than 80 miles an hour, with a crystal clear view of the coast and Marines on the ground looking like ants.
That’s how Marines with 1st Force Reconnaissance Company spent their day July 28 — literally hanging by a thread to brush up on SPIE-rigging (special purpose insertion extraction) and “fast-roping” techniques.
The training was held to requalify those who train Marines in such skills.
Fast roping is the “main means” of inserting Marines quickly when a helicopter can’t land, said Sgt. Scott A. Pettus, a parachute rigger with 1st Force Reconnaissance Company. It’s also used for mounting search-and seizure-missions aboard ships, and for landing on roofs to wage top-down assaults, said Sgt. Michael J. Zimmerman, a secondary rigger with 1st Force Recon.
SPIE-rigging is a technique used to insert or extract Marines when a helicopter can’t be close to the ground because of anti-aircraft fire, or in dense forests or jungles, and over water or rocky terrain, for example, Pettus said.
The training also gave Pfc. James L. Cardinale, an administration clerk with eight months in the Marine Corps, a chance to experience firsthand what “Recon Marines” do.
Cardinale, who was “scared, nervous and all that stuff,” participated in both fast roping and SPIE rigging. His goals were to learn new skills and “to get that adrenaline rush in.”
He fast roped more than 30 feet in just a few seconds — but that wasn’t his only “rush” of the day. He also sailed through the air, SPIE-rigging beneath a UH-1H Huey helicopter. After his feet left the ground and the helicoptor reached about 500 feet, he and several other Marines floated as though weightless on a single rope. The helocoptor flew forward, triggering the sound of rushing wind and flapping cammies.
The helicoptor flew an elliptical path before slowing to a hover and lowering the Marines back to earth.
“Awesome,” was Cardinale’s first utterance after his feet hit the ground.
Only in the military can an “adrenaline junkie” actually serve national security and get an amusement-park-type fix all at once.