By YM/ MgySgt Elijah Rico Tarrant County (TX) As all Young Marines know, with rank comes responsibility, as well as more op- portunities,billets,and exciting challenges. As a Young Marine Sergeant Major ready to retire in May, you might think the Young Marines adventures would slowly come to a halt, but that’s where I would have to dis- agree. Recently, the Big D Young Marines unfor- tunately had some troubles within their unit. The Young Ma- rines of the Big D unit would be unable to drill and host unit activities, unless something was to be done about it. The Tar- rant County Young Marines had the opportunity to host the Big D Young Marines at our drill site on NAS/JRB (Naval Air Station/ Joint Reserve Base) Fort Worth. Both units would be drilling at the same time at in the same areas, but conduct the plans of the day separately. By doing so, the Young Marines of both units could inter- act with one another, and achieve their unit goals at the same time. I personally found it fantastic that the Young Marines of the same regiment could work together and work together as a team as if they were part of one unit.As the Regimental Young Marine Sergeant Major, it was my duty to ensure the Big D Young Marines were on the right track and to make sure all would go right. From the start, I felt as if I was part of their unit. They were very welcoming and treated me as if I were one of their Young Marines. I got to introduce the Big D Young Marines to the Tar- rant County Young Marines and let them interact with each other. It was truly amazing to see Young Marines from such different backgrounds come together. It has been a pleasure hosting the Big D Young Marines, they’re extraordinary people, and it’s been an honor to be working alongside them and lend a helping hand. Teamwork: Lending a Helping Hand to Another YM Unit By YM/LCpl Saige Wassink Camp Courtney Young Marines (Okinawa) Last February, my dad drove me to Torii Beach to participate in the first ever Young Marine Pacific Battalion Encampment. I felt excited and nervous at the same time. This was my first encampment. After our first formation we got our first class, which was about Bullying. It was informative, and provided me useful information. We then reviewed the duties of the fire watch. After the classes, we were assigned our tents mates and started to set-up our tents. The night ended with snacks, hygiene time and off to sleep. We woke up Saturday morning and we started our training. The first thing we did was some motivating drill. Drill helps us learn discipline.After drill, we had some PT. PT included a one-mile run and series of physical events that help us build teamwork by combining Young Marines from different units. After all these physical activities, we were hungry! We ate MREs for lunch. Later, volunteers from the hospital gave us a class on CPR. They reviewed the procedures and actions we need to take in case of an emergency.We then had a scavenger hunt which we had to use our land navigation skills to find the hidden boxes. This also helped us build teamwork. The last class we had was on how to build shelters.We built shelters as a team and with few materials.We used a lot of imagination to make a useful shelter; this took a long time! We finished the day with a campfire and shared stories. This helped me learn more about all the Young Marines. This was special because we started to build camara- derie in our Pacific Battalion. My Sunday started with fire watch from 1 AM to 2 AM. This was too early for me! After getting some sleep, we woke up at 6am and had 30 minutes to get ready in our uniform for our Battalion 3 mile hike. We sang ca- dence for fun and to pass the time. Our hike finished on the beach where our warrior’s breakfast was waiting for us. After this hu- mongous breakfast, we had to clean up the beach from our en- campment activities. Unfortunately, we had to pack up, form up and get dismissed, as this was the end of our first-ever Pacific Battalion Encampment. Camp Courtney: The Best Battalion Encampment Ever! 22 YOUNG MARINES ESPRIT