1st Marine Corps District -- Recruiting Station New York, Garden City, NY -- Recruiting Station New York’s annual Sergeant Major’s Cup kicked off bright and early on May 20th, with poolees from New York City and Long Island competing for bragging rights and the coveted cup.
Poolees came prepared for a night in a shelter-half, a snooze in a sleeping bag and some good old-fashioned Marine Corps chow. What most were not prepared for however, were the two ferocious, unrelenting drill instructors who gave the poolees a taste of what they will be getting in boot camp.
The drill instructors, on weekend loan from PI, provided bite and a true sense of a recruit training environment as they prowled the playing field, looking for the next poolee to chomp on. With no competitions scheduled on the first day of the Cup, the drill instructors had plenty of time to tear through each and every poolee as they made their way to each recruiting sub-station’s area.
The first day of the Cup offered classes on first-aid, camouflage and Marine Corps history. Poolees also saw static displays of weapons, communications equipment and vehicles. The chow line being formed for dinner was a welcome site to poolees as Applebee’s provided burgers and hot dogs for all.
Day two provided much excitement as the RSS’s competed against each other for bragging rights and the title of champion.
After a day full of tough competition and “individual training” sessions with the drill instructors, the poolees from RSS Patchogue put an exclamation point on their victory with a dominating performance in the tug-of-war.
Although RSS Patchogue’s poolees were not the biggest or the strongest, they combined teamwork and determination to pull-off the biggest upset of the Cup, beating perennial powerhouses such as RSS’s East New York and Flatbush.
“Motivation,” said Gunnery Sergeant Matthew Krasinski, RSS Patchogue station commander. “That’s how we took the tug-of-war. Even though we were not the biggest station out here, we had the most heart.”
After destroying the field in the tug-of-war, the Patchogue poolees were crowned champions and were whisked away by a helicopter that was brought in to give the champions a ride around Long Island Sound.
“Our young men and women displayed at lot of dedication and toughness out here today” said Gunnery Sgt Jody Wiemholt, senior recruiter in Patchogue. “A helicopter ride is a fine reward for these warriors.”
Though the tug-of-war is always the crowd favorite, the Cup featured many other events as well. RSS Manhattan, whose poolees looked like they had been training on the bar for some time, dominated the pull-up challenge. Events such as the relay race, sit-up challenge, dizzy-izzy and a Marine Corps knowledge event rounded out the competition.