Just because you become a non-commissioned officer doesn’t mean life becomes any easier. As you rise through the ranks, the responsibilities become heavier, and the physical training is just as brutal as ever.
“As NCOs we are supposed to be able to take a deep and honest look at ourselves before we even begin to think about our role in cultivating junior Marines,” Sgt. Steve Ezzell said in a Marine Corps news release after a rough NCO PT session in Quantico, Virginia. There, Marine NCOs learned not to rest on their laurels because “their work never stops.”
Sometimes, taking an honest look at yourself as an NCO means getting your shit rocked by fellow Marines, unit commanders, and a little pepper spray. And lucky for us, the military stores photos of NCOs getting wrecked for all the public to see on its Defense Video and Imagery Distribution System hub. Here are our seven favorites.
Sometimes you get KO’d in a choke hold.
U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Melissa Eschenbrenner
Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Jeremy Meadows holds a Marine in a headlock while grappling at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif., April 22, 2013. A martial arts instructor trainer, Meadows is one of only a few second-degree black belts assigned to the air station.
Martial arts training can make you look like idiot.
(Photo by Jeremy Beale)
Marine Corps NCOs practice martial arts techniques during the physical training session.
Your commanding officer might make you kick a punching bag in a forest.
(Photo by Jeremy Beale)
Marine Corps NCOs incorporate combat techniques from the Marine Corps Mixed Martial Arts Program into their physical training session.
Earning a grey belt can be embarrassing.
Marine Corps photo
Sgt. Franco Loza III, food service specialist, Food Service Company, Combat Logistics Regiment 17, 1st Marine Logistics Group, tests Marines for their grey belt in Marine Corps Martial Arts Program at Camp Pendleton, Calif., April 1.
You might get punched out on someone’s front lawn (or have to pretend to).
Marine Corps photo
Marine Corps Base Quantico, VA – Marines from the Marine Corps Mixed Martial Arts Program take E-9 attendees through an in depth demonstration of combat tactics used in real life scenarios.
Pepper spray straight to the face can really mess up your ability to train.
Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Donald Holbert
U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Bryan Luna, team chief with Detachment N, 3rd Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company, Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force – Crisis Response – Central Command 16.2, conducts an Oleoresin Capsicum qualification course at an undisclosed location in Southwest Asia, Aug. 27, 2016.
But when it’s over, you can hose off and cry at home, alone, in peace.
Marine Corps photo
Staff Sgt. Chad J. Herbert, an operations chief with Golf Battery, Battalion Landing Team 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, rinses his face after being exposed to oleoresin capsicum (a more potent form of pepper spray) during the culminating event of the unit’s public disorder and non-lethal weapons employment training here, Jan. 24.