Chapter 3: The Games

By the middle of the century the Defense Budget for the United States had grown to where it was unmanageable. Since the entertainment industry controlled the power in the world they decided to kill two birds with one stone. Reality television had taken control of programing. But ideas were coming few and far between for new shows.

ESPN, Fox Network, NBC, and Showtime combined forces and offered to sponsor a show showcasing the finest attributes of the Marines. They proposed an Event where all Marines could compete to join twenty-five elite squads.

The squads were comprised of a Gunnery Sergeant, a scout, a sniper, a medic, a heavy weapons expert, a communication expert, a demolition expert and a redundant (this would be someone expert in at least two of the other specialties.) The squads would be divided in to five platoons of five squads each. In charge of the platoons would be a Lieutenant picked by and agreed to by the squads. A Captain, selected by the platoons, was in charge of all competitors.

These Squads/platoons once selected would compete over a three month period in a contest to determine the best of the best. The prize money was substantial and every member of the twenty-five squads would receive a nice paycheck. The event would be like a great WAR GAME, which would enable the Marines to receive valuable training but not cost the taxpayer. The idea was approved and the Marine Games came to be. The whole event from qualifying to completion would last six months.

First a 51,250 square mile area was set aside for the games in what was the South West. Existing homes, farms, ranches and towns inside this area were condemned and the owners paid a fair price for their property. The existing building would be incorporated into the games. This area consisted of desert, mountains, forests, canyons, and plains. Thus all type of training would be available. After only eighteen months the logistics had been completed and the first games were ready to be staged. This included 750,000 cameras and microphones to record the event.

To narrow the field down to twenty-five squads, there needed to be extensive qualifying events. The qualifying was much like the Olympic of old. There would be almost 400 different events, from which each candidate could pick twelve that he was to participate in. The top four finishes would be totaled, giving his/her a ranking score (For example if they finished 5th 67th 103rd, and 212th in their top four events their score was 387.).

But, as the lowest score in four events, wins; an important strategy was to pick the events that would get you the best score, which would not necessarily be your best event. Let's say you finish at the 10 % position of an event with 10,000 contestants your score would be 1000. But if you finished at the 25% position of an event with 200 entrants you would score a 50. Thus a lower position percentage-wise but a much better score. Once all contestants were ranked the selection process for the platoons would begin. This will be covered later.

The events were divide into categories and the contestants could pick one event from a given category. (Example: running was divided into the 100, 440, 880, and the mile. distance running was 2.5miles, 7.5miles, 12.5miles, and 20 miles.) It was possible to have two events picked from similar categories. (Example: 1 mile and 7.5 mile events.) Usually there were several events to pick from in a given category. The categories encompassed every aspect of Marine life. A few of the categories include running, shooting, unarmed combat, medical practices, first aid, explosives, communication gear, wilderness survival, escape and evade, tracking, logistic coordination, problem solving, and evasion. Some of the categories applied to a certain position in the squad while others applied to everyone. Thanks to electronic communications each participant's efforts was recorded and available for those selecting the squads to review.