Strongest Bonds Built Through Hardship, Uncertainty
by U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Dana Beesley October
14,
2021
Some of the strongest bonds are those built
through hardship and times of uncertainty. For a friendship like the
one shared between sergeants Adilene Sanchez and Brittany Guadalupe,
it began on their first day of Low Altitude Air Defense Course
(LAADGC) at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine
Palms, California.
They were both told at Marine Combat
Training that they would be Aerial Observers /Gunners, also known as
“Door Gunners,” an occupational specialty that involves firing
thousands of rounds a minute, while perched inside a helicopter.
September 24, 2021 - Sergeants Brittany Guadalupe and Adilene Sanchez not only share the bond of being drill instructors together on Parris Island, but also a years-long friendship that dates back to their entry level training at Low Altitude Air Defense School (LAAD). (Image
created by USA Patriotism! from U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Dana Beesley
with inset photos from Sergeants Brittany Guadalupe and Adilene
Sanchez.)
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“We were sitting in the seats of the
schoolhouse under the impression that we would be becoming door
gunners together, and the instructor came out and told us it wasn’t
what we thought,” Guadalupe said.
Luckily for them, they had
already faced a level of uncertainty as brand new Marines - they
both came into the service as “open contract” recruits, and were
assigned a Military Occupation Specialty (MOS) that, until late
2015, was not open to women.
A LAAD gunner’s primary mission is to support the Marine
Air-Ground Task Force commander by providing low-altitude,
surface-to-air weapons fires. They employ the FIM-92 stinger
anti-aircraft missile, a 34.5 pound weapon which is man-portable,
shoulder-fired, and infra-red heat-seeking. The minimum height
requirement to carry the stinger missile is 5 feet, 4 inches -
Sanchez’s exact height.
In addition to being able to pass
the Marine Corps Physical and Combat Fitness Tests, Marines in the
course are required to execute multiple physically exhausting events
in order to graduate. This is where the most Marines attrit,
Guadalupe said.
After successfully completing the
three-month course, the Marines parted ways to their respective duty
stations: Sanchez to 3d Low Altitude Air Defense Battalion in Camp
Pendleton, CA, and Guadalupe to 2d LAAD on Marine Corps Air Station
Cherry Point, N.C. The two wouldn’t see each other again for five
years, but they maintained a close friendship via social media
through multiple deployments.
Both Guadalupe and Sanchez
were inspired by Marines they worked with whom had completed
successful tours at both recruit depots. Drill instructor duty
became a goal for both as they started to look at career options.
“I met a lot of LAAD gunners who had been drill instructors on
multiple tours,” Sanchez said. “I worked with a gunnery sergeant who
was a drill master and other Marines who helped set me up for
success. I came out here with that knowledge and faced my struggles
so I was able to help Guadalupe when she came here.”
Soon
after Sanchez submitted a volunteer package for drill instructor
duty, Guadalupe was motivated to follow suit.
“I think it
was social media that kept us together, and we got even closer
prepping to go to drill instructor school together,” Guadalupe said.
“That motivated me, because we always were tracking on each other.”
Both Marines said they were blessed with solid mentorship and
guidance from LAAD Marines while preparing to attend Drill
Instructor School at MCRD Parris Island.
“After I came back
from the [Unit Deployment Program] in Japan, I was sent to be a
Corporal’s Course instructor where I learned skills in public
speaking and teaching classes,” Guadalupe said. “It helped me a lot
because the staff noncommissioned officer-in-charge was a LAAD
gunner as well and a prior drill instructor. Because of him I was
able to get a lot of the jitters out before coming here, and I still
talk to him to this day.”
Using their experience carrying
heavy equipment, hiking routinely and managing gear, Guadalupe and
Sanchez found that training and mentally preparing for the rigorous
course was baked into their ethos as LAAD gunners.
“I was
always trying to better myself physically to be able to fill that
spot [as a drill instructor],” Guadalupe said. “I think logistically
being in LAAD helped me because in both situations we were in charge
of so much gear, and now we are in charge of a lot recruits AND
their gear.”
Their aspirations of attending the course
together didn’t happen, but as luck would have it the two found
their way back to each other in the months after their respective
graduations. Sanchez’s first cycle as a drill instructor in Echo
Company was also Guadalupe’s ‘partial,’ a term used to describe a
brand new DI’s indoctrination into training recruits. Although they
were separated by different decks, Sanchez said the two were
fiercely supportive of each other from the beginning.
“We
never butt heads, not even because of the fact that we are both LAAD
gunners, but we just get along,” Sanchez said.
Guadalupe
completed the five-week Combat Marksmanship Coach course in early
September and rejoined her platoon for the Crucible alongside
Sanchez. September 24, 2021 was the first graduation the two were
side-by-side, just as they had been six years ago as brand new LAAD
gunners. As a testimony to the life changes they’ve endured on
separate coasts, being drill instructors on the same team solidified
their close bond as teammates and close friends.
“Just to
have someone that I’ve known and kept in contact with since day
one,” Guadalupe said. “It feels like home.”
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