Past Activities of Our Unit
SSC Director Scott Moore explaining the program
at the end of the Day to YM and parents
On 10 July 2010, 61 Young Marines attended the demonstration/pistol shoot at the Oak Ridge Sportsman’s Association Range. Scott Moore, the Director for the new Scholastic Steel Challenge (SSC) pistol competition, flew in from Arizona to put on the demonstration and explain the SSC Program. After the demonstration, each Young Marine got to shoot two different stages of the competition. Many of the YM are excited by the prospect of being on our Unit’s SSC Team to compete in this new national pistol competition.
1-6 June 2010 – 55 of the older Young Marines and six adults participated in the unit’s summer trip to Washington, DC. Ten Young Marines and two adults left early in the unit’s van on Saturday, 29 May, to participate in the Rolling Thunder parade on Sunday, 30 May, and the Memorial Day Parade in Washington, DC on 31 May. They then joined with the rest of the Young Marines when they arrived in a commercial bus on Tuesday, 1 June, and remained with them for the rest of the week. Everybody stayed at a campground of the Prince William Forest National Park outside the Marine Base at Quantico, VA and ate some of their meals at the dining hall on the base. During the trip, they were usually up by 0600 every morning until getting to their bunks about 2200. During the week, they took a tour of the US Capitol and the Pentagon. They got a briefing at Ft. McHenry, MD and got to unfurl a smaller version of the flag that flew over the fort when our national anthem was penned. They spent an afternoon at Baltimore Harbor, where they got to visit four different ships maintained in the harbor, including an old sailing ship, a submarine, and a US Coast Guard cutter. They got to meet and talk with LtCol Mike Kessler, the National Executive Director of the Young Marines, when he joined us for lunch one day. Ten of the Young Marines and two adults got to see the Friday Evening Parade at Marine Barracks, 8th & I, where they saw the Silent Drill Team and the Marine Band perform. All the Young Marines visited Arlington National Cemetery, where four of our senior Young Marines got to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. They visited the Air and Space Museum and toured many of the memorials around the Mall in our nation’s capital, including the Marine War Memorial (Iwo Jima), the Vietnam War Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial and the Korean War Memorial. While in DC, they were able to locate the gravesite of the grandfathers of two Young Marines in Arlington National Cemetery and locate the name of another Young Marine’s grandfather on the wall of the Vietnam War Memorial. At Quantico, they toured the National Museum of the Marine Corps and got a tour at the FBI Academy, as well. On the bus on the way back from Washington on Sunday, 6 June, they had a short chapel service conducted by one of the Young Marine Chaplains in the unit. Everyone came back tired but pleased by a very successful trip.
29 May 2010 – Young Marines were split into a number of locations on this drill date. One group assisted with the celebration of the 100th anniversary of Old Knoxville High School. They presented the colors at a ceremony at the school in the morning and at another ceremony in the afternoon at the Tennessee Theatre in downtown Knoxville. They also performed other jobs to assist the event organizers. Another group of ten Young Marines with two Adult Leaders left in the unit van for Washington, DC to participate in Memorial Day weekend ceremonies there. The remaining Young Marines attended regular drill where those going on the DC trip the following week had their gear checked. They also practiced color guard drill. Speakers were selected and other preparations were made for the two ceremonies they will participate in on Memorial Day, 31 May 2010.
Some of our Young Marines helped out at the 2010 Knoxville Law Enforcement Run on 8 May 2010 and were given a trophy by the event organizers for their assistance with the race every year since its inception three years ago.
Young Marines present colors at start of race.
On 19 Sept. 2009, about 60 Young Marines, Adult Leaders, and YM parents assisted the Marine Corps League and the Marine Reserve Company put on the 6th Annual Marine Mud Run, a 5K cross-country race in Knoxville, TN that had more than 1200 registered runners. Four YM presented the colors at the beginning of the race and helped hand out awards to the race winners in each category at the conclusion of the race. Between those activities, the YM also helped with registration, helped prepare the fruit, bagels and drinks available to runners after the race, helped hand out water to runners at two water points during the race, collected race timing chips, picked up trash, and helped in numerous other ways. Eight YM, chosen based on their most recent PFT scores, got to run the race in two teams, courtesy of the Marine Corps League. The race was a collection point for Toys for Tots so the Marine Reserves got about 250 toys for that program. The YM also handled registration for the Kids Mud Run after the main race when about 60 kids got to run a race that ended in the large mud pit. A great day was had by all.
Young Marine Team crosses finish line & Young Marines hand out water to runners. 
Learning proper rowing techniques
8 August 2009 - 52 Young Marines (YM) participated in a “Rowing Adventure” at the Smoky Mountain Rowing Center on the Tennessee River west of Knoxville. Under the leadership of rowing coach Sarah Arms, members of the East Tennessee Rowing Organization (ETRO) showed the YM on rowing machines the proper technique to use in rowing in the racing boats or “shells.” Then the YM were shown the eight-person racing shells by Roger Hubbard, the President of the Smoky Mountain Rowing Center, and told how the “riggers,” “oarlocks,” and other parts of the boats help the rowers get maximum speed out of the boats. Finally, each of the YM, and several of the Adult Leaders, got to go out on the water with ETRO volunteers to see what it’s like to participate as a member of an eight-person team rowing the racing shells. After helping the members of ETRO put away the boats and equipment, and enjoying some watermelon, the Young Marines went home tired but much more knowledgeable about the sport of rowing and appreciating the total body workout this sport provides.
Awaiting the coxwain’s instructions
7-12 June 2009 – 47 Young Marines and six Adult Leaders participated in the annual summer trip. They first drove to Patriot’s Point, Charleston, SC. At Patriot’s Point, the YM took a boat ride around the Charleston Harbor before eating chow on the USS Yorktown (CV-10), the famous “Fighting Lady” of WWII, and staying the night aboard the dry-docked aircraft carrier. The next day, they got up to tour the other sights at Patriots Point (the Coast Guard Cutter “Ingham”, the Clamagore (SS-343) submarine, and a replica of a Vietnam War-era Naval Support Base) before heading over for a tour at the Citadel. A Marine Major told them about the school and about military scholarships that are available to help kids pay for college.
The YM then loaded up for the trip to MCRD, Parris Island. Upon arrival there, the YM met DI SSgt Paul Gravelle, who would be with them through the rest of the visit. They also met the 13 YM from the Southeast Tennessee Area (SETA) Unit who would do everything with them during the visit. From that Monday until Friday, 12 June, they learned what a Recruit has to go through to become a Marine. During the week, all but four of them got to go down the 49-foot rappelling tower that Marine Recruits must complete, fired on the ISMT, participated in a Leadership Reaction Course competition, learned how to do a low crawl on their stomachs and on their backs, and how to eat a “square meal” in the mess hall. And, of course, they got in a lot of time for drill under SSgt Gravelle’s tutelage. They generally got up at 0500 and were in their racks at 2100 each day. They did get a chance to relax a few times – they made a visit to the PX and went bowling on the last night at PI. When they got back to Knoxville at 1800 on Friday, 12 June, they were a tired but happy bunch of kids – the Adult Leaders were just tired!
6 June 2009 - Some of our Young Marines escorted about a dozen wheelchair-bound veterans from the Ben Atchley State Veterans Nursing Home at a veterans celebration at Island Home Airport in Downtown Knoxville. It was a great day filled with patriotic music, including echo taps and bagpipes and the Air National Guard Band and a Barbershop group. There were also remembrances from the days leading up to the D-Day invasion from the founder of Remote Area Medical Foundation. The event concluded with a re-enactment of the paratroopers jumping into France with a fly over. There was also a very stirring ceremony honoring those missing in action.
