BMT: The Obstacle Course
The Weaver – the oldest obstacle on the course! [Source] |
One of the most motivating challenges you’ll do at BMT is the obstacle course! I had the opportunity to meet a young woman this last weekend who is considering enlistment. She confided in me that successfully navigating the obstacle course was one of her fears. I reassured her with the same bit of information that I’ll share with you now – the obstacle course is not a graduation requirement. Nope, not required!
As for me, yes, I ended up in the water, but not until the very end with the rope swing. If you hit the water at that point, it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to complete the last obstacle, which is the monkey bars across another pool. I was proud of myself for doing an earlier water obstacle, where we had to ranger crawl across a rope over a pool, You could choose to ranger crawl or dangle and drag your way across, and I managed to successfully ranger crawl! My favorite obstacle was The Weaver, pictured at the top of this post. The Weaver is the oldest obstacle on the course, dating to 1962. I loved the history of that particular obstacle, knowing that my FIL who graduated in 1964 had probably crossed it himself. You lay on your back the entire time, using your arms and legs to propel you over the yellow beams and over the green beams until you reach the top.
Once everyone is finished with the course, you’ll change (if needed) into dry ABUs and march back to the squadron. You’ll awake the next day to discover that you have seriously dark bruises on body parts you didn’t imagine could be bruised. Inner arm, anyone? Yeah, I can thank The Weaver for that one.
The downside to the obstacle course? Your 4WOT PT evaluation is usually the next day or the day after that when you’re bruised and sore from the course. Thankfully this PT eval is not your final one!
2 Comments
Jaleesa Davissaid
having the eval a couple of days later is brutal and giving me shivers. yikes!
Erinsaid
@Jaleesa Davis – You'll be motivated, trust me! The obstacle course is a ton of fun, and definitely worth it.