Reserve News - Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Reserve ...

The Explorer Leadership course number 3 was conducted August 20
-24 at USMC Base, Camp Pendleton. We had a total of 43 dedicated
explorers in attendance.
After arriving at the Corporal’s Course barracks on the Base we had
the Explorers unload their gear, assigned them a rack and had them
store their gear in their designated locker. They then fell out onto the
grinder into a platoon formation. The Explorers were then marched to
the rear of the barracks and given a demonstration from the USMC
K-9 unit. After this great demonstration we drove the enthusiastic
Explorers to the Mess Hall to eat some of that great Marine Corps
chow. Actually, the food was great and the Explorers never went
hungry. After dinner we returned to the barracks and fell back into
platoon formation. The class practiced several marching techniques.
Once this was done and all the marching bugs were gone, the class
was instructed to get their PT gear on. Apparently some of the
Explorers thought that they were on a family vacation.
I want to give a special thanks to Sergeant Bill Schuessler, our own
EMT, for following us on each and every run throughout the encampment.
The staff and class went on a short 4.5 mile night run. To our
surprise, half- way into the run it began to rain very hard. We ran in
the rain until we completed the run and then all of a sudden the rained
stopped. It mimicked the movie “Forest Gump.” We didn’t have one
drop of rain after that. LIGHTS OUT!
DAY 1 The Marines assigned to the Corporal’s Course instructed the
Explorers on the elements of leadership and briefed them on safety
issues related to the barracks and base. They also instructed the
Explorers in physical fitness and nutrition. After this course of
instruction we went on a second run which was approximately 4
miles. We were lucky to have the Marines running with us singing
their jodies. They took the class on a run to the beach. It was a very
nice day and everyone was enjoying the run. Some of the Explorers
were in a daze while running on the shore line. So we decided to let
them feel like one with nature and stopped the run and began doing
push ups in the surf. We completed our run and returned to the
barracks. After a great lunch we traveled over to the “O” (obstacle)
course where the Marines demonstrated the importance of physical
fitness once again. The Explorers were allowed the opportunity to run
the “O” course. During this process we had a once in a life time experience.
Directly to the south of the “O” course was a very large dirt
field.
Explorer Leadership Institute
By Sergeant John Rueff
We were told that a couple of CH53 “Echo” Sea Stallions would be
landing on the field. As we continued our program, we heard a loud
roar coming from the south over the ocean. We watched as they circled
overhead and flew in from the north approaching the “O” course.
Having served my country in the Navy and being assigned to a
squadron I had pretty good idea what was coming next. The first
helicopter flew directly over everyone, I watched as the crew chief
leaned out of the fuselage and was sporting a very big smile while
waving kindly to all of us. As the first helicopter began to hover over
the field, Sergeant Marc Saunders said, “I am going to get some pictures,”
I told Marc I thought it would be a great idea. I smartly found
myself a real nice place behind the 8 foot wall, crouched down and
watched how everything around me got dusted by the first helicopter.
As many of the Explorers attempted to run for cover, Sergeants
Causey and Brookwell sat nicely and comfortably in their van watching
the entire incident. That was only the first helicopter, with no
place to run the second helicopter began to land. Captain Roberts,
who was out with us for the day, thought to herself “I am not going
through this a second time” and started to look for cover. She looked
at a couple of Porta-Potties and for a split second thought, “Hmm,
that might be a good place to seek cover.” Fortunately she didn’t get
in, because it was blown over by the second helicopter. After the
helicopters landed, we watched as the Marines exited and walked
over to their barracks. After the dust had settled and we could see
again everyone began to laugh about the entire incident. We
completed the course and returned to the our barracks. After
cleaning up we got in marching formation and with the assistance of
Deputy Marascola we marched until chow time. After returning from
chow Sergeant Causey and I gave a class on the importance of
integrity, values, choices, and principles. LIGHTS OUT!
DAY 2 We had an early morning rising at 0400 hours. Everyone was
in platoon formation at 0430 hours in PT Gear. We went on a 4.5
mile run in darkness. While passing through the campsite area we
decided to sing a couple of jodies. Little did we know that we
weren’t allowed to do this until 0700 hours. After being informed of
this by a bleary-eyed Marine Corps Colonel, we ran in silence until
we got back to the barracks. We went to chow and then headed over
to the Helicopter Flight Simulators. The Explorers were given a tour
of the hangar. 1st Lieutenant PeZa gave a thorough overview of the
entire H-46 helicopter. At the conclusion of the tour we headed over
to the actual flight simulators. Everyone had an opportunity to
experience the simulator. We returned to the Corporal’s barracks,
went to chow and returned for some additional marching. Sergeant
Causey and Deputy Martinez tested the explorers on radio codes,
spelling and formations. LIGHTS OUT!
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Page 20 Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deparment November - December 2003