| Did Your Marine Graduate? |
A special note for parents of newly graduated Marines:
If your son or daughter has already graduated from Boot Camp, you can opt out of the "Recruit Newsletter" by entering your email address after clicking the SafeUnsubscibe icon at the bottom of this email.
Change your options to remove "Recruit Newsletter" from your selections. Then, make sure to sign up for our Marine Parents newsletter to continue your journey!
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| Parris Island
Graduation Dates
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Visit the Recruit Parents pages on our OPSEC-compliant Marine Family Network. Click your Recruit's graduation date:
April 5, 2013
April 12, 2013
April 26, 2013
May 3, 2013
May 10, 2013
May 24, 2013
May 31, 2013
June 7, 2013
June 14, 2013
June 28, 2013
July 3, 2013
July 19, 2013
August 2, 2013
August 16, 2013
August 23, 2013
August 30, 2013
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San Diego
Graduation Dates
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Visit the Recruit Parents pages on our OPSEC-compliant Marine Family Network. Click your Recruit's graduation date:
April 5, 2013
April 12, 2013
April 19, 2013April 26, 2013 May 3, 2013 May 10, 2013 May 24, 2013 May 31, 2013 June 7, 2013 June 14, 2013 June 28, 2013 July 3, 2013 July 19, 2013 August 2, 2013 August 16, 2013 August 23, 2013 August 30, 2013
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Gunny Pop's
New Book:
Get a Signed Copy! |
 The Ultimate Marine Recruit Training Guidebook was written by a Marine and former drill instructor for young men and women who want to become one of the few and the proud. No one should undertake Marine recruit training without having read this book.
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| Recruit Chat Nights | |
Monday and Wednesday
8:30-10:00pm
Central Time
For additional information about the Chat Room, click "Enter Chat" below:
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What's After Boot
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Important links:
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Support Marines!
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Please take a moment to visit the outreach programs of Marine Parents and support the Marines in service with your son or daughter!
Purple Heart Hero Support
Operation Prayers & Letters
Care Package Project
Team Marine Parents
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| Shop the EGA Shop! | |
Support the organization that supports you!
 Where 100% of the proceeds are used to support the outreach programs of Marine Parents.
   
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| Newsletter Signup | |
Or just text MARINEPARENTS to 22828 to sign up!
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Greetings Recruit Families!
 | | T-shirts for family and friends of recruits. Click here. |
Congratulations to our newest Marines who will be graduating Friday, April 5: 2nd Battalion Fox Company of MCRD San Diego and 2nd Battalion Fox Company and 4th Battalion Oscar Company of MCRD Parris Island. A big Ooh Rah to all of our newly-minted Marines! You're on a new journey to becoming a Marine Parent. The pride is indescribable, but you may feel you are in an unfamiliar world with a whirlwind of emotions and never-ending questions. If you've been looking for answers to your questions, we can help you. __________________________________________________ Do you have a Marine in the making? Display your pride for your recruit with this T-shirt we designed just for parents and family of recruits! Buy now. |
Recruit Training Goes to the Dogs...Literally
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New Marine Mascot Completes "Recruit Training"
Every Marine Recruit's journey begins with recruit training, and the same is true for the Corps' newest, youngest Marine, Recruit Chesty XIV. Rct. Chesty is unique, however, in that he will be the only Marine in the Corps with his MOS--that of official Marine Corps mascot.
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Photo by Sgt. Dengrier Baez/Marine Corps
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After being chosen as the Corps' new mascot in February, Rct. Chesty, then a nine-week-old English Bulldog, went through obedience school and "recruit training" under the watchful eye of his Drill Instructor, and predecessor, Sergeant Chesty XIII, who is retiring after five years as the Corps' official mascot. Rct. Chesty was expected to earn the title of Marine in a public ceremony scheduled for March 29, being commissioned as either a Private or Private First Class.
According to the Marine Corps' website, as the official mascot, "Chesty's responsibilities will include marching in the Friday Evening Parades and supporting various events around the National Capitol Region." Like all Marines, Rct. Chesty will be held to a high, professional standard, as Sgt. Chesty XIII knows all too well, having been busted back in rank on at least one occasion during his time as mascot.
English Bulldogs became the Marine Corps' unofficial mascot in 1918, when a World War I recruiting poster showed a snarling English Bulldog in a Marine Corps helmet, and have been the Marine Corps' official mascot since Brigadier General Smedley Butler signed the enlistment documents of an English Bulldog named Jiggs in 1922. Since 1957, every mascot has been named Chesty after Lieutenant General Lewis "Chesty" Puller, the most decorated Marine in history.
To see more about Pvt. Chesty XIV, click here...
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| Operational Security... Now? | | |
Becoming a Marine Parent
In this series of articles, we've talked a little bit about privacy and respect, noting that both are important concepts to learn as the parent of a recruit. As your recruit nears graduation, the concept of Operational Security (OPSEC) becomes just as important to understand.
As a family member in the military community, you are a vital factor in the success (or lack thereof) of OPSEC. You may not know it, but you can play a crucial role in ensuring your loved one's safety by protecting the information you have of the military's day-to-day operations.
OPSEC is important to you as family members during recruit training because the better you come to understand it during the training process, the less problematic it will be when your Marine goes into the fleet.
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| History of the Marine Corps | | |
Learning More About the Corps
 The United States Marine Corps were founded as the "Continental Marines" during the American Revolutionary War, formed by a resolution of the Continental Congress on November 10, 1775. The Corps first recruited at Tun Tavern in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
During the Revolutionary War, the Marines served as landing troops for the recently created Continental Navy. The Continental Marines were disbanded at the end of the war in April, 1783 but reformed on July 11, 1798. Despite the gap, the Marine Corps celebrates its birthday on November 10 each year.
Historically, the United States Marine Corps has achieved success and notoriety in every major military campaign in American history, beginning with the Revolutionary War, as well as in several smaller conflicts, such as the Barbary Wars, the Mexican-American War, and the "Banana Wars" in the Caribbean and Latin America throughout the 19th century, as well as places like Bosnia and Kosovo in more recent times, amongst others. The Marines' early successes are referenced in the first line of the Marine Corps Hymn: "From the Halls of Montezuma, to the Shores of Tripoli."
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| Supporting You Through It All... | | |
Guidance Through Each Stage of Your Marine's Career
It is Marine Parents' mission to help support you and your Marine throughout his or her entire career in the Corps.
RecruitParents.com guides you through what to expect from boot camp, and once your child has graduated, MarineParents.com provides you with the information and resources a new Marine's family needs.
Marine Family Network also acts as your support system through it all. Whether you're a recruit parent or a Marine parent, on MFN you will connect with others you can share your experiences and emotions with.
 The EGA Store is the Marine Parents' online store, and it carries Marine Corps items relevant to you and your Marine from the time they become recruits until the time they become veterans.
Our Marine Corps megastore has everything: Graduation apparel, "Proud Marine Mom/Dad" shirts and accessories, items related to support during deployment, and Marine essentials that your son or daughter would love to receive in a care package.
Each time you make a purchase from The EGA Store, all proceeds are used to fund the programs and services offered by Marine Parents, Recruit Parents and our outreach programs.
Thank you for supporting the organization that supports you! |
| Becoming Familiar With the Corps | | |
Resources For New Marine Parents
 Your best resource for all things Boot Camp and recruit training are the official USMC websites--you'll find links to official USMC websites in the Recruit Parents website provided to you as a service of MarineParents.com.
The website was begun as a complement to information available on official Marine Corps websites. We provide well-researched and accurate information about Boot Camp, as well as later phases of your Marine's career.
Did you know the USMC has a website dedicated specifically to new Marine parents and mentors? It's a great resource for families trying to familiarize themselves with the Marine Corps as well as for what to expect now that your son or daughter has made the decision to become a Marine.
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| Legendary Yellow Footprints |
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| Marine Corps Recruit Receiving
 The following is an excerpt from an April, 2009 Marine Corps article.
Parris Island through the eyes of new recruits
As the air brakes hiss, hearts beat faster, palms sweat, breaths become shorter and a bus of hopeful recruits are unified by the fear of the unknown.
These are the experiences of so many recruits who have passed through Parris Island's main gate.
Upon arriving, recruits are greeted by a drill instructor and ordered to get off the bus and onto Parris Island's legendary yellow footprints.
These are the words all recruits hear once they are on the yellow footprints:
"You are now aboard Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island South Carolina, and you have just taken the first step toward becoming a member of the world's finest fighting force, the United States Marine Corps."
| | Initial Drill Evaluation | | | Training Phase I - Getting Started
 The Initial Drill Evaluation tests each platoon's ability to listen to the orders of its Drill Instructor at this point in training, and is a demonstration of the unit's degree of discipline and esprit de corps.
Drill is used as one of the first methods of transforming these recruits from civilians into Marines, and plays a large part on their development of teamwork and unit cohesion.
One Marine Mom says, "On Family Day and Graduation Day you will be amazed when you see the new Marines marching out onto the Parade Deck. They will be marching in perfect rows... perfectly in step... pivot perfectly in time with each other... and will be a sight to behold!"
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| Rifle Range Safety Rules |
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| Training Phase II - In the Midst
 A Combat Marksmanship Instructor, or CMI, teaches recruits the fundamentals of weapons safety with their M-16A2 service rifle.
During Firing Week, which is the second week of marksmanship training, recruits hear the four rifle range safety rules several times each day. Recruits will hear these safety rules frequently for the rest of their time in the Marine Corps and many Marines remember them for the rest of their life.
The first rifle range safety rule is:
Treat every weapon as if it were loaded.
| | The Crucible | | | Training Phase III - The Final Stretch
 The Crucible is the final test every recruit must go through to become a Marine. It tests every recruit physically, mentally, and morally and is the defining moment in recruit training.
The Crucible takes place over 54-hours and includes food and sleep deprivation and over 45 miles of marching. The entire Crucible event pits teams of recruits against a barrage of day and night events, requiring every recruit to work together to solve problems, overcome obstacles, and help each other along the way.
The obstacles they face range from long marches, combat assault courses, the leadership reaction course, and the team-building warrior stations.
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| Base Access and more... | | | About Boot Camp Graduation
 Do you have questions about Marine Corps Recruit Depot gates? Security? Accessing the Depot?
Are you looking for contact information for the Recruit Depot?
We're here to help. Use the links below to find information about base access and more...
San Diego Parris Island
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