Marine Corps Recruit Depot - Yearbook (San Diego, CA)

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SAN DIEGO RECRUIT DEPOT THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE MARINE CORPS raw recruit begins his transformation into a Marine. base at San Diego was initiated by the late Major Gen- The Marine recruit training cycle is chronologically di- eral Joseph H. Pendleton, USMC, in July 1914. He recognized in the harbor and environs of San Diego a strategic point where Marines could be trained for expeditionary duty, and where they could be ready to go aboard ship with all of their stores and equipment for transport to areas in the Pacific where their services might be needed. The first troops moved into the partially completed barracks from a camp in Balboa Park in December 1921. The practical construction was completed in 1924. Much of the land was reclaimed from San Diego Bay, including that portion comprising Lindbergh Field and the adjacent shore area. The Marine Corps Recruit Depot has, over the years, been the home of the famed 4th and 6th Marine Regiments, the site of many specialized schools, and a recruit training center. During World War II it served as a Training Center, Supply Depot and Embarkation Point for thousands of Marines who conquered the Japanese in the Pacific. Approximately 222,300 Marines passed through the portals of the Marine Corps Recruit Depot during those years. The Depot’s post-war mission encompasses both basic and advanced schools training. A Recruit Training Regiment has direct responsibility for the training of recruit Marines, the young men who volunteer for duty with the Corps. During the eleven-week schedule of recruit training, the new enlistees arc carefully indoctrinated in the manner of performance of duty of a Marine. To the recruit facing his initial weeks of training, the most important man is his Drill Instructor, a specially selected noncommissioned officer, chosen for exception leadership ability and military experience. It is through the DI that the Depot Theatre vided into three phases: initial training at the Depot, rifle range at Camp Matthews for thorough training in marksmanship and familiarization with basic weapons, and advanced recruit training at the Depot. Immediately following completion of recruit training at the Depot, the young Marines are assigned to advanced infantry training at Camp Pendleton, California. Following four weeks of individual combat training at Pendleton, they arc transferred to shore stations, to Fleet Marine Force units for duty both overseas and within the continental United States, or to schools for specialized training. Some return to the Depot for further training with the Sea School, Communication-Electronics School Battalion, or Field Music School. The Depot also offers facilities in general education, courses of study leading to procurement of high school diplomas, and all of the correspondence courses from the Marine Corps Institute and United States Armed Forces Institute in vocational and professional training. These include university extension courses. Each year, thousands of new Leathernecks enter the Marine Corps. These men receive their initial training at one of two places. Those in the eastern part of the United States go to the Marine Corps Recruit Depot at Parris Island, South Carolina. Those who come from the Middle West and West are sent to the Marine Corps Recruit Depot at San Diego, California. The modern Marine Corps is a team which operates on land, at sea, and in the air. It utilizes the latest developments in training and equipment. But it retains the esprit de corps” that was tradition over a century before General Pendleton envisioned the San Diego Marine Corps Recruit Depot. Depot Chapel

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Camp Matthews