FReeper Canteen ~ Road Trip: Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, SC ~ July 31, 2012

Serving The Best Troops and Veterans In The World !! | laurenmarlowe

[Kathy in Alaska]

 

 

~The FReeper Canteen Presents~

Road Trip: Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, South Carolina

Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island is an 8,095 acre military installation near Beaufort, South Carolina tasked with the training of enlisted Marines. Male recruits living east of the Mississippi River and female recruits from all over the United States report here to receive their initial training. Male recruits living west of the Mississippi River receive their training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, California, but may train at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island by special request.

Parris Island is located in the southeastern corner of South Carolina’s Low Country within Beaufort County, 70 miles south of Charleston and 45 miles north of Savannah, Georgia. Its 8,095 acres (of which 3,263 are habitable) are picturesque.

The island is named after Alexander Parris, a descendant of English colonists who purchased the island and eight small surrounding islands in 1715. Marines were first stationed here in 1891 in the form of a small security detachment that guarded a U.S. Navy coaling station. Parris Island was established as a Recruit Depot on 1 November 1915 and has continued to train recruits ever since.

Initial training for those enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, also referred to as boot camp, includes a thirteen week process during which the recruit becomes cut off from the civilian world and must adapt to a Marine Corps lifestyle. During training, the drill instructors train recruits in a wide variety of subjects including weapons training, Marine Corps Martial Arts, formation drilling, and Marine Corps history.

The training emphasizes physical fitness and recruits must attain a minimum standard of fitness to graduate. This standard includes a PFT (Physical Fitness Test) that consists of a three-mile (5 km) run, pull-ups and crunches. Recruits must also meet minimum combat-oriented swimming qualifications, qualify in rifle marksmanship with the M16A2 service rifle, and pass a 54-hour simulated combat exercise known as "The Crucible".

In addition to the enlisted recruiting mission, the Eastern Recruiting Region is responsible for the accession of over 1,200 new officers through the Platoon Leadership Course, Officer Candidate Class and the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps scholarship program. Furthermore, the ERR is responsible to MCRC for maintaining all Marine Corps quality standards as they pertain to new accessions. In October 2003, the ERR received the additional mission of conducting Prior Service Recruiting in the eastern United States. The Prior Service Recruiters are responsible for joining over 1,900 former Marines to selected Marine Corps Reserve Units each year.

The recruiting mission mirrors the mission of Marines everywhere - to locate, close with and enlist young men and women of character to fill the ranks of the 21st Century Marine Corps. Recruiting qualified young men and women of character is the lifeblood of the Corps. It is the foundation for all the Marine Corps does to “Make Marines, Win Battles, and Return Quality Citizens to Society.”

In 2007, ERR enlisted and shipped 19,500 new recruits to Parris Island. This was over 1,300 more recruits than were shipped the previous year. This trend of increasing the annual ship mission will continue for the next few years as the Marine Corps
continues to grow the force to 202,000 in order to support the Commandant’s guidance. In addition to the increasing missions, ERR is also growing the size of its recruiting force.

Forming the bedrock of any Marine’s character are the Core Values of Honor, Courage, and Commitment. These values are incorporated into every aspect of Recruit Training and result in basically-trained Marines who will be better citizens when they return to their local communities upon the completion of their service to this country.

Learn More About MCRD Parris Island Here!

The Depot is home to the Marine Corps' first Command Museum, the Parris Island Museum. Thanks to the efforts of then Commanding General Robert H. Barrow, under the authority of the Marine Corps History and Museum Division, the museum was dedicated on 8 January 1975 by Commandant of the Marine Corps, Robert E. Cushman, Jr.

Today, the museum's over 8,000 square feet of exhibit galleries serves as a focal point for assisting in the training of recruits about the long and honored history and traditions of the Marine Corps. Marine families, veterans, and the general public will also find inspiration from the stories told through artifacts and images of Marines who served our nation during some of our most challenging times.

Learn More About The Parris Island Museum Here!

FR CANTEEN MISSION STATEMENT~Showing support and boosting the morale of our military and our allies military and the family members of the above. Honoring those who have served before. 

Please remember: The Canteen is a place to honor and entertain our troops. The Canteen is family friendly. Let's have fun!

We pray for your continued strength, to be strong in the face of adversity.

We pray for your safety, that you will return to your families and friends soon.

We pray that your hope, courage, and dignity remain unbroken, so that you may show others the way.

God Bless You All ~ Today, Tomorrow and Always

 

 

[SkyDancer]

~ Hi All And Greetings ~

~ Our Ladies Rock ~

[luvie]

Thanks, Galz, for a great Road Trip! Wish I could really go to all those neat places we “travel” to here on the Canteen! :)

[fatrat]

beautiful beaufort by the sea 26 miles from yemassee.

I retired from Naval Hospital Beaufort (just around the corner from PI) in 1982.

SEMPER FI

[Kathy in Alaska]

Thanks, Families, for your service to our country.

Thanks, unique, for the perfect woohoo.

John Conlee ~ They Also Serve

[Kathy in Alaska]

And rounding out the top "three"....Hawaii bags the bronze!!

[Semper Mark]

I had quite a bit of “counseling” while I was there. :)

UR RAH!

[Iron Munro]

USMC Receiving Barracks, Yemassee, SC

In 1915, the Marine Corps developed a recruit-receiving station in Yemassee, in coordination with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad. A receiving facility was leased for incoming recruits to stay the night before being shipped to Parris Island. When the Receiving Station was closed in 1965, more than half a million recruits had passed through the railroad junction on their way to Parris Island.

Back in the day recruits travelled by train to Yemassee on their way to boot camp at Parris Island?

I went through there in 1960.

How many other Freepers went through Yemassee and the USMC Receivng Station on their way to P.I.??

[Kathy in Alaska]

Thanks, Nana Hope, for today's Pledge…((HUGS)) Thanks, AfghanMan and Penguin Girl, for your service to America.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Welcome to the Canteen, fatrat. Thanks for sharing your history.

And we thank you for your service to our country.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Welcome to the Canteen, oldsaw....we thank you for your service to our country.

[Wings-n-Wind]

Being an OCS @ Quantico graduate many years earlier....

Watching my oldest son graduate from Parris Island in '96....
Was quite the family event....
OOOh-RAH!

Semper Fi...

[fatrat]

Thanks Kathy. I seriously considered making Beaufort my retirement home but the Sand Fleas drove me away. I felt so sorry for the recruits there having to endure those sand fleas but i guess that helped to toughen them.

[ottbmare]

Thanks for posting that. That’s where my kid is going!

[Kathy in Alaska]

YIKES! I have limited experience with sand fleas, but they are high on my list to avoid.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, Sand...((HUGS))...any cleaning to do before the girls come home?

[Phosgood]

I can still hear the brakes being applied to the wheels of that ACL passenger car as it was approaching Yamassee station. It was 3 AM and dark outside. It was going to get a lot darker soon!
(20 July, 1956)

[Kathy in Alaska]

Aloha, Hawaii...((HUGS))...rain most of today, and threatening now.

Sun for you? Any good news?

[Forty-Niner]

“Few of our “leaders” today would be fit to polish his boots.”

When I was in the Marines there were many senior NCO’s just like your father still in, or getting ready to retire. From personal observation I’d say your comment is 100% spot on.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening/morning, Mayor...thank you for today’s sustenance for body and soul. ((HUGS))

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good morning, ML...((HUGS))...busy day, but went well. Hope your Monday went well, too.

Happy Tuesday!!