NASHUA – The “poolies” weren’t ready for this.

Immediately after their usual monthly physical fitness test, including pull-ups, crunches and a mile-and-a-half run, Troy Rathke got his hands on them.

They sprinted around a large industrial building carrying heavy sacks filled with wood pellets on their shoulders.

They heaved 20-pound medicine balls over their heads and did crunches.

They lugged 35-pound kettlebells up and down the field behind the Marine recruiting station on Amherst Street.

Then they covered the same field doing bear crawls and broad jumps.

Then they did it again.

Then they did it twice more.

Rathke, the owner of CrossFit Earned in Merrimack, visited the prospective Marines’ monthly workout not just to give them a taste of the physical and mental toll that boot camp will take, but to also show and talk to them about what he learned serving in the Marines for four years before starting his own businesses almost two years ago.

“This was my life,” said Rathke, who joined the Marines nine years ago through the Nashua recruiting office. “I’m still very passionate about the Marines. I wish someone had come out there and helped us when we were getting ready for boot camp.”

Rathke was invited Saturday by Staff Sgt. Richard Godfrey, a high school friend, to visit the prospective soldiers the day before the Marines’ 238th birthday, which happens to fall on Veterans Day weekend.

Nashua Police Officer Caleb Gilbert, another former Marine, was also on hand.

“They can talk about how the Marine Corps helped them after being in for four years and learning valuable skills,” Godfrey said.

Core values such as leadership, discipline and respect are what Gilbert said he took away from the Marines. He also learned how to work with and alongside a wide range of people, he said, which is valuable as a police officer.

“It’s more the people aspect,” Gilbert said. “I deal with different types of people every day. The Marine Corps taught me how to work with different types of people.”

Gunnery Sgt. Jason
MacLeod said the prospective Marines join for a wide range of reasons, from those interested in a career in the military to others interested in law enforcement or to pay for college.

He hopes volunteer visits from former Marines such as Rathke and Gilbert impress upon them the other “intangible benefits” of joining the Marines and the brotherhood they’re signing in to.

“We’re trying to show these guys there’s more to it than paying for college. It’s leadership,” MacLeod said.

“I want you guys to understand the Marine Corps extends beyond this,” Rathke said. “It’s more than just a job for four years.”

Joseph G. Cote can be reached at 594-6415 or jcote@nashuatelegraph.com. Also, follow Cote on Twitter (@Telegraph_JoeC).