NAVY ANNEX STUMPNECK, INDIAN HEAD, MD -- A typical Jane Wayne Day in the Marine Corps consists of spouses firing a machine gun or spending time in their Marines’ workspaces, but not at Chemical Biological Incident Response Force, II Marine Expeditionary Force. CBIRF spouses gathered here Oct. 11, to get a taste of what their Marines do on a daily basis.
Spouses raced against each other in teams of two by dragging mannequins to simulate casualties, demonstrating what CBIRF Marines must do to extract victims from a collapsed structure.
Spouses also learned how to go through a force protection lane, a decontamination line for CBIRF personnel.
They also ventured through confined spaces in “the pancake house”, a confined-space trainer Marines go through during CBIRF Basic Course.
“It’s easy to go home and say what I do, but until you actually get into an M-40 gas mask, (put on mission oriented protective posture gear), drag ‘bodies’ and go to (the decontamination line), you can’t have a good appreciation for it,” said Gunnery Sgt. Rod Shriver, Company A gunnery sergeant.
Spouses donned chemical protective overgarments, M-40 field protective masks and dragged mannequins, which helped put the Marines’ CBC training into perspective.
“To actually see this, I have a better understanding of what you have to go through to graduate (CBC) and become a CBIRF Marine,” said Dara, a Marine spouse.
The day took on a special meaning for Cpl. Gabriel Reyes, training noncommissioned officer for Communication Platoon, Headquarters and Service Company, who was especially glad his wife could participate in the events.
“They can see what we actually go through … She always says I don’t work,” Gabriel said.
CBIRF’s Jane Wayne Day gives the spouses a unique memory as the only place where they played the role of life-saving Marines.