Training for combat: Delta Life Fitness hosts fifth Sweat with a Vet event

Participants completed the Marine Combat Fitness Test, run by future Marines enrolled in the branch's Delayed Entry Program.

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Delta Life Fitness members train hard — and the studio's fifth Sweat with a Vet event was no exception.

Held on Saturday, May 11, at Nova Community Park, the event was held in conjunction with the U.S. Marine Corps Recruiting Station in Daytona Beach. Participants completed the Marine Combat Fitness Test, run by future Marines enrolled in the branch's Delayed Entry Program who are waiting to graduate high school and be shipped to recruit training. 

The event is usually held around Memorial Day, which falls this year on Monday, May 27, to help the community commemorate fallen soldiers. DLF Ormond Beach studio owner Bobby Wise, who is a Marine Corps veteran, said one thing he's noticed is that there are less people these days willing to enlist. Events like Sweat with a Vet, Wise said, can provide the community with increased access to the military.

"I think it's a good idea to have programs like this where the general community can interact with the military, particularly kids in the Delayed Entry Program, to see they come from all walks of life," Wise said. "There are a lot of opportunities within the United States military and the Marine Corps and it might not be what you think it is when you think about it."

A combat fitness test may sound very intimidating at first, Wise said. Then you see women in their 30s, 40s, 50s and even 60s doing the test, and one realizes it is an accessible feat, he added.

Some of the exercises completed by participants at the event included an 800-meter sprint, the carrying of ammo cans (anywhere from 35-45 pounds), and what Marines know as a maneuver under fire, which includes carrying another Marine. 

Five Marines and about 30 teens enlisted in the branch participated in the event. Sgt. Justin Harrison, the senior Marine Corps recruiter in Daytona Beach, said the event was a "phenomenal experience."

"It impressed me a lot," Harrison said. "There's some Marines still in the Marine Corps that the test gives some trouble too. I've been in for about eight years and I still have some troubles on that test, and to see these young ladies come out and absolutely dominate that combat fitness test, it was very impressive."

It's good to have the community acknowledge that there are local teens stepping up to serve, Wise said. With the upcoming Memorial Day holiday, he added, it's a good time to remind people freedom still has a cost.

"It still requires people that are going to step up and go do that, and some of those people are not going to come back home and that's something that everyone should remember," Wise said.

Recruiting is one of the most difficult jobs in the Marines, Wise said. Harrison agreed.

"A lot of people have their own impressions of what the military is prior to speaking to a military representative like myself," Harrison said. "So getting out there and being able to be involved in the community and really show them what it takes, it does wonders, not only to the services themselves, but to the communities in order to get them better knowledge on exactly what our job is."

 

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