US Marine Corps Recruit Depot - Yearbook (Parris Island, SC)

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MISSION AND VISION Mission We make Marines who are committed to our Core Values in service to the country. Vision We are a cohesive team of Marines, Sailors, and civilians committed to upholding the legacy and operational relevance of the Corps by attracting qualified young men and women and transforming them mentally, physically and morally into US. Marines. GUIDING PRINCIPLES We are guided by our Core Values of honor, courage and commitment. Recruiting 5:33:13 We are committed to: - Pursuing quality - Being good stewards of resources and the environment . Ensuring the professional development of our people - Fostering positive community relations . Promoting an atmosphere that relies on teamwork and integration - Fostering an environment of decentralized decision making . Achieving a balance between our mission and quality of life - Being accountable for mission accomplishment, our people, and ourselves Base Operations Strategy To support our mission of Making Marines who are committed to our core values while serving the country in the 21st Century, our strategy reflects an integration of the many elements that go into making a basic Marine. 31 Recruiting Starting with our links to the local commuunities in the Eastern United States, the Marine recruiter seeks young men and women who meet established standards and have the ability to be transformed into enlisted Marines and Marine officers. These same recruiters prepare the future Marines for recruit training and Officer Candidate School and maintain close ties with their families. Recruit Training Once these future Marines arrive for training, the Marine Drill Instructor begins the important task of providing progressive and demanding training and instilling in them the core values of Honor, Courage, and Commitment. This demanding training is not done in isolation, but is supported by the various units and sections of the supporting establishments that work side- by-side with the trainers to mold future Marines, physically, mentally and morally. Base Operations Making Marines involves many people and organizations. It creates a synergy of leadership, values, and commitment to the Marine Corps, our duties, our families, and our fellow Marines, Sailors, and Civilian Marines past and present. Our strategy embraces these ideas; our strategic goals and guiding principles keep us focused on the mission at hand- the making of a basic Marine-for service to the Nation and our Corps.

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DEPOT HISTORY Marines were first stationed on Parris Island in 1891, in the form of a small security detachment headed by First Sergeant Richard Donovan. His unit was attached to the Naval Station, Port Royal, the forerunner of Parris Island. Donovanis unit was highly commended for preserving life and property during hurricanes and tidal waves that swept over the island in 1891 and 1893. Military buildings and homes constructed between 1891 and World War I form the nucleus of the Parris Island Historic District. At the district center are the commanding generalis home, a 19th century wooden dry dock and a turn-of-the- century gazeboeall of which are on the National Register of Historic Places. On November 1, 1915, Parris Island was officially designated a Marine Corps Recruit Depot and training was continued from then on. Prior to 1929, a ferry provided all transportation to and from the island from Port Royal docks to the Recruit Depot docks. In that year the causeway and a bridge over Archer's Creek were completed, thus ending the water transportation era. The causeway was dedicated as the General E. A. Pollock Memorial Causeway in April 1984. During the fateful December 1941, 5,272 recruits arrived there with 9,206 arriving the following month, making it necessary to add the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th Recruit Training Battalions. As the war influx continued, five battalions were sent to New River, North Carolina, to train, and the Depot expanded to 13 battalions. From 1941 through 1945, the Marines trained 204,509 recruits here and at the time of the Japanese surrender, the Depot contained more than 20,000 recruits. On February 15, 1949, the Marines activated a separate command for the sole purpose of training female recruits. Later, this command was designated the 4th Recruit Training Battalion and it now serves as the only battalion in the Corps for training female recruits. The Korean War began in 1950 when 2,350 recruits were in training. From then until the 1st Marine Division withdrew from Korea, Parris Island drill instructors trained more than 138,000 recruits. During March 1952, the training load peaked at 24,424 recruits. The recruit tide again flooded during the years of the Vietnam War, reaching a peak training load of 10,979 during March 1966. Today, the Marines train about 17,000 recruits at Parris Island each year.

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