When Nicole Carlson accompanied a friend during a visit to a local Marine recruiting office, she didn’t see a future in the Corps. Carlson, however, is going to be a Marine.
“The joke is, I ditched my boyfriend for the Marines,” Carlson said Sunday.
The Union High School senior was among a couple of hundred young men and women who got an introduction to Marine drill sergeants Sunday.
The event in the Evergreen school district’s McKenzie Stadium drew future Marines from Vancouver, as well as Oregon teens from Gresham, Beaverton and Oregon City. They were put through their paces by drill instructors from San Diego, home of the Marine boot camp for the western half of the U.S. (The eastern version is in Parris Island, S.C.)
The prospective Marines are “poolees,” said Sgt. Tyler Vernaza, public affairs representative for the Portland recruiting station.
“Some have signed their contracts, some have not,” Vernaza said. “But they’ll all be going to boot camp — some in six months, some as soon as next week.”
The session was designed to “give them an insight into what boot camp will be like,” Vernaza said. Many family members also attended, getting a six-hour glimpse of the process that will turn their sons and daughters into Marines.
While Carlson was involved in one of the sessions, her folks — Rob and Michele Carlson — chatted with the Vancouver recruiter who had signed her up. Sgt. Zachary Scribner said that Nicole was wondering about physical requirements for females. They don’t do pull-ups, so women must meet an alternate standard that involves hanging with flexed arms from the pull-up bar.
Carlson wondered about doing pull-ups.
“You can do pull-ups?” Scribner asked.
“I did seven,” the Union senior said, which is impressive — but not quite good enough for her.
“I need to be at 20,” which is where a male Marine recruit earns maximum points, she said.
Carlson was under coach’s orders to avoid strenuous physical activity Sunday, since she is scheduled to be back at the same stadium today. She is a member of the Union track team and was told to save her strength for district competition. She will compete in the triple jump, long jump and javelin and possibly run a leg on Union’s 4 x 400 relay.
The Marines probably don’t mind if Carlson held something back Sunday. They’ve already decided that she is worthy of a $180,000 scholarship. She will attend Oregon State University on a Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps scholarship.
“I will swear in as a midshipman and graduate as a 2nd lieutenant,” Carlson said. At that point, she said, the Marines might open up some ground-combat-related roles for women. “But for now, my main focus is just becoming a Marine,” Carlson said by phone after the event was over.
The other regional four-year NROTC scholarship also is going to a Union grad, Sabrina Johnson. She is headed for the University of Washington.
Connor Clements, another Union senior, will be achieving a personal goal when he heads for boot camp, his folks said.
Joining the Marines “is what he’s wanted since he was a sophomore,” said his mother, Lisa Lyon.
“He’s doing it for all the right reasons,” Stu Lyon said. “He is doing it for something bigger than himself.”
That spirit was evident on the track, Stu Lyon said, as drill instructors challenged the physical capabilities of their poolees.
“You see what happens when someone falls behind. Other recruits help and show support,” Lyon said. “There are some really great kids out here.”
