Face of Defense: Marines Earn Top Honors at Drill Instructor School, Bring Elite Standards Home

Marines assigned to Blount Island Command earned two of three honor graduate spots in their drill instructor school class and brought leadership lessons back to Marine Corps Support Facility Blount Island, Fla.

Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Alexa Vuturo and Sgt. Dylan Burge led Marines through endurance drills in humid morning air Oct. 2 at the installation in Jacksonville, Florida, then turned to the standards they uphold every day.

"It doesn't matter where you are, a standard is a standard," Burge said, kneeling among Marines between an obstacle course and a row of palm trees dedicated to maritime prepositioning ships. "The standard you walk past is the standard you accept."

Vuturo and Burge graduated Sept. 24 with drill instructor school class 4-26 at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina.

Vuturo finished second academically and earned the leadership award. Burge finished third academically and received the Ironman award for physical excellence. Fourteen Marines from the command made the more-than-three-hour drive to attend the ceremony.

Setting the Standards

Both Marines volunteered for drill instructor duty. The 11-week school prepares Marines to train recruits, developing their leadership, instructional skills and physical conditioning. They are scheduled to leave Blount Island in the weeks ahead.

"I wanted to create the standard for the recruits," Vuturo said, "just as it was created for me, by my drill instructors. Plus, I wanted to push myself - get over a hump that I didn't think was possible."

A Marine Corps martial arts program instructor-trainer and the command's physical training representative, Burge led a three-week course in May that certified four martial arts instructors. He said drill instructor school also tests physical fitness, mental readiness and character.

Passing the Parris Island Grit Test

Burge said even an assignment in Florida could not prepare him for the summer heat radiating from the Parris Island parade deck. He had heard plenty about "sand fleas," tiny biting midges found near marshes and nicknamed "flying teeth."

"And the fire ants, nobody tells you about the fire ants," he said.

Back at Blount Island, about two dozen Marines completed shamrock drills, a high-intensity endurance workout, before noncommissioned officers led three small-group discussions on leadership, standards and unit cohesion. The discussions focused on "sustaining the transformation" - reinforcing the values and discipline instilled during initial training throughout a Marine's career.

Upholding Excellence in Global Logistics

Vuturo and Burge apply those standards in their work at Blount Island Command, which maintains, modernizes and distributes equipment and supplies across the Marine Corps' global positioning network.

In the command's aviation branch, Burge manages the individual material readiness list, assessing the support equipment needed to maintain aircraft readiness. Vuturo's supply responsibilities include accountability for forward-positioned materiel in Norway.

For Vuturo, leadership starts with consistent effort.

"You never have to be the best in the class; you just have to give your best every day," she said.

"On Blount Island, there's a lot of moving parts and working with other organizations, units and people in other countries," Vuturo said. "Giving my best will make sure the Marines doing the exercises are getting the best possible experience they can."