3 Santa Rosa teens' journey to Marine Corps boot camp together

The Montgomery High grads took advantage of a program which guarantees they stay together in the same platoon at boot camp.|
BYALVIN JORNADA THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
BYALVIN JORNADA THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Keaone Stephens is sweating. The 150-pound log he’s carrying digs into his shoulder despite sharing the load with three other young men. They’re walking along Santa Rosa Avenue in a procession with other groups carrying two massive truck tires and a half dozen ammunition cans weighted with sand.

Marine Corps poolee Keaone Stephens shouts commands to raise and lower the 150-lbs. log he carries along Santa Rosa Avenue with three other poolees during a physical training session with Marine recruiters, in Santa Rosa, California, on Wednesday, July 18, 2018. (Alvin Jornada / The Press Democrat)
Marine Corps poolee Keaone Stephens shouts commands to raise and lower the 150-lbs. log he carries along Santa Rosa Avenue with three other poolees during a physical training session with Marine recruiters, in Santa Rosa, California, on Wednesday, July 18, 2018. (Alvin Jornada / The Press Democrat)

This isn’t the latest workout. These young men and women have another goal in mind for their fitness: joining the U.S. Marine Corps.

A platoon of Marine Corps poolees from Sonoma and Marin counties hike back down Taylor Mountain carrying weighted rucksacks and disassembled pullup bars with their Marine recruiters, in Santa Rosa, California, on Saturday, August 18, 2018. (Alvin Jornada / The Press Democrat)
A platoon of Marine Corps poolees from Sonoma and Marin counties hike back down Taylor Mountain carrying weighted rucksacks and disassembled pullup bars with their Marine recruiters, in Santa Rosa, California, on Saturday, August 18, 2018. (Alvin Jornada / The Press Democrat)

Every journey begins with a first step. For a Marine, that journey can begin months before stepping upon the famed yellow footprints at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, informally known as boot camp.

“I thought the Delayed Entry Program was just going to be a workout on Mondays and Wednesdays,” Stephens said of the Marine Corps’ enlistment program for prospective recruits, “but it turned out to be much more than that. It has truly become a second family and a place I look forward to going to.”

'Show me your war face!' orders a Marine Corps staff sergeant, which spurs poolees, including Keaone Stephens, center, to yell as loud as they can during a hike up Taylor Mountain in Santa Rosa, California, on Saturday, August 18, 2018. (Alvin Jornada / The Press Democrat)
'Show me your war face!' orders a Marine Corps staff sergeant, which spurs poolees, including Keaone Stephens, center, to yell as loud as they can during a hike up Taylor Mountain in Santa Rosa, California, on Saturday, August 18, 2018. (Alvin Jornada / The Press Democrat)

Stephens, his friend and fellow Montgomery High graduate Tyler Cato and Elsie Allen graduate Jose Jimenez, all 18, formed the core group of poolees, the Marines’ name for enlistees, during their monthslong involvement in the program, which allows up to a year to participate in physical training, team-building functions and recruiting events before boot camp.

Marine Corps enlistees, or poolees Keaone Stephens, left, and Tyler Cato, who graduated from Montgomery High School together, perform buddy push ups during a physical training session with Marine recruiters and other poolees at Harvest Park in Santa Rosa, California, on Wednesday, August 1, 2018. (Alvin Jornada / The Press Democrat)
Marine Corps enlistees, or poolees Keaone Stephens, left, and Tyler Cato, who graduated from Montgomery High School together, perform buddy push ups during a physical training session with Marine recruiters and other poolees at Harvest Park in Santa Rosa, California, on Wednesday, August 1, 2018. (Alvin Jornada / The Press Democrat)

Because the three displayed the highest level of motivation and leadership among poolees, Stephens was given the “rank” of poolee guide by recruiters, and Cato and Jimenez were named poolee squad leaders under him. All three chose military occupational specialties in combat arms, the Marine Corps’ spearhead. Cato and Stephens will be in infantry, and Jimenez in artillery.

Marine Corps poolee Keaone Stephens poses for a portrait in his bedroom, which is decorated with the Marine Corps flag and a tapestry, at right, that his great-grandmother created from his father's Marine dress blues uniform, in Santa Rosa, California, on Thursday, August 16, 2018. (Alvin Jornada / The Press Democrat)
Marine Corps poolee Keaone Stephens poses for a portrait in his bedroom, which is decorated with the Marine Corps flag and a tapestry, at right, that his great-grandmother created from his father's Marine dress blues uniform, in Santa Rosa, California, on Thursday, August 16, 2018. (Alvin Jornada / The Press Democrat)

Stephens, Cato and Jimenez gathered at the recruiting station on Santa Rosa Avenue a final time Aug. 19, the same day they shipped out to boot camp, for their bittersweet farewells with families and friends.

Marine Corps poolee Jose Jimenez, right, embraces his girlfriend Andrea Lara while his aunt and uncle Nan and Mike Lax prepare to say their goodbyes, just before Jimenez departs for boot camp for the next 13 weeks, at the Marine recruiting office in Santa Rosa, California, on Sunday, August 19, 2018. (Alvin Jornada / The Press Democrat)
Marine Corps poolee Jose Jimenez, right, embraces his girlfriend Andrea Lara while his aunt and uncle Nan and Mike Lax prepare to say their goodbyes, just before Jimenez departs for boot camp for the next 13 weeks, at the Marine recruiting office in Santa Rosa, California, on Sunday, August 19, 2018. (Alvin Jornada / The Press Democrat)

They will take their first steps as Marine recruits together. They opted to ship out under the Marine Corps’ buddy program, which guarantees they stay together in the same platoon at boot camp.

It’s the beginning of the path that could take them thousands of miles from home and possibly into combat.

Marine Corps poolees Tyler Cato, left, Keaone Stephens, and Jose Jimenez tear into their lunches of cold MRE (Meals Ready to Eat) combat rations after hiking Taylor Mountain with other poolees from Sonoma and Marin counties in Santa Rosa, California, on Saturday, August 18, 2018. (Alvin Jornada / The Press Democrat)
Marine Corps poolees Tyler Cato, left, Keaone Stephens, and Jose Jimenez tear into their lunches of cold MRE (Meals Ready to Eat) combat rations after hiking Taylor Mountain with other poolees from Sonoma and Marin counties in Santa Rosa, California, on Saturday, August 18, 2018. (Alvin Jornada / The Press Democrat)

Upon completion of training, they will truly be able to call themselves brothers, having earned the title of U.S. Marines.

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