Facilities at MCRD Parris Island are a mix of new and old, with modern mess halls and shooting-simulation galleries right beside old landing strips for World War II-era bombers. Even in these days of tight budgets, modernization and new construction of barracks continue. Parris Island is unique among East Coast Marine bases, having virtually no active Fleet Marine Force units. First, last, and always, Parris Island is dedicated to just one mission: taking raw, civilian recruits and making them into Marines. The core of this process is the Recruit Training Regiment (RTR), commanded in late 1995 by Colonel D.O. Hendricks. His senior non-commissioned officer (NCO) was Sergeant Major P.J. Holding, a veteran of over twenty years in the Corps. The RTR includes a support battalion and four training battalions — three for male recruits, with the fourth reserved for female recruits. At any one time, Parris Island is home to over seven thousand training and support personnel, and some 4,800 recruits. It is a busy place, and you can feel the energy as you enter the base.
The new recruit's first impression of Parris Island comes during the last stage of the bus ride down from Charleston. The MCRD is extremely isolated, connected to the rest of the world by a single two-lane causeway. Except for that, the entire depot is surrounded by salt marshes, swamps, and the sound. This makes security relatively simple, and "going UA" (Unauthorized Absence, the current term for AWOL) virtually impossible. Though the leadership of the Corps only smiles when you mention it, new recruits always seem to arrive in the middle of the night, around 2:00 AM. This intensifies the new recruits' sense of being cut off from their past and the outside world and focuses them on what is to come in the next few months. The buses roll up in front of the "receiving" building. There recruits are dumped onto a stretch of road marked by a line of yellow-painted footsteps. Each recruit stands on a set of the painted prints and takes part in his or her first formation on the way to becoming a Marine. It is a moving, memorable moment. Throughout the next few months of Recruit Training, the recruits will probably never again see this spot. Only afterwards do they always seem to find their way back to where their individual journeys into the Marine Corps began. From the yellow footsteps, they are marched inside the receiving building for a short orientation.
They spend the rest of the night with paperwork, haircuts, and gear issue, before they move on to a holding barracks for some rest. All personal belongings (civilian clothing, CD/cassette players, even combs) are taken from the recruits and placed into storage, to be returned upon completing or leaving Recruit Training. This has a further effect of cutting recruits off still further from their past lives, and makes any attempt by a rogue recruit to leave the island more difficult. Then there is "the moment of truth," where each new recruit is asked, for the last time, whether he or she really wants to be there, and if there is anything in their background which would keep them from serving as a Marine. This is important, for any lies detected after this point can result in immediate dismissal from the Marines. Admission of a past infraction means that if the problem can be worked out, the Corps will do so without damage to the recruit's career. The next few days are spent in further testing, physical examinations, an initial strength test, and appointments with various counselors. These activities are designed to alert the RTR training staff to any physical or psychological problems that might cause trouble with a new recruit. In the case of a physical injury or shortcoming, the RTR staff retains the recruit and tries to place him or her back into the training cycle later.
The other examinations can take a darker turn. Many young people in our society come from abusive families or destructive situations; and such people may choose the military as a way out of these situations. Although the Corps views its role as "making Marines and winning wars," as it accomplishes that it tries to provide a safe, positive place where qualified young men and women can get a clean start on life. Thus, when the RTR personnel find a young recruit with a problem, they work to help the person overcome it, rather than throwing that person back into society's reject bin. Throughout Recruit Training, you find examples of such interventions by RTR staff members. At times they have to physically place themselves between the recruits and dangerous situations. At other times they have to give a young recruit an "assist" or "push" when they hit the "wall" that all recruits seem to hit somewhere in training. Like runners in a marathon, recruits often reach the point where suddenly the end goal seems unattainable; but with a little help and support it comes into focus and sight. Other interventions can be more hazardous, like having to drag a recruit clear of a mishandled grenade on the training range. A lost recruit hurts, and the RTR staff work hard to make sure as many as possible make it through. On another plane, the U.S. Navy Chaplain Corps looks after the spiritual well-being of the recruits, as well as that of the staff and their families. Through a program of lay readers, chaplains manage to cover virtually every religious tradition and denomination. They are a vital link back to the rest of the world for the recruits, also providing a liaison to the Red Cross in the event of a family emergency.
Following the orientation period, recruits are assigned to one of the four training battalions. They are assigned to platoons of about seventy to eighty personnel. Three or four platoons make up a "Series," which is the basic organizational unit within the battalion. Two Series make up a Company, with four companies per battalion. Each series is commanded by a 1st Lieutenant or Captain, with a Gunnery Sergeant as the senior NCO. Within each platoon, a team of four Drill Instructors is assigned to watch over the training and well-being of the recruits. The legendary Marine Drill Instructor (DI) is as revered by the Corps as he is misunderstood by the public. DIs come in two flavors, Senior DIs with their distinctive black patent-leather belts, and Junior DIs with green web belts. The Senior DIs are supervisors, taking charge of each platoon and the other sergeants.
Despite the popular notion that Recruit Training is a program of sadistic torture, and the DIs demented bullies, the truth is surprisingly different. Series commanders and DIs are selected volunteers whose mission is to get as many recruits as possible through Recruit Training successfully and safely. Now, this has not always been the practice of the Corps, and the 1956 incident at Ribbon Creek at Parris Island is always on the minds of DIs. They take care of their recruits the way a mother hawk watches over her young. This does not mean that Marine Recruit Training is easy or enjoyable. It is specifically designed to be neither. It is a tailored curriculum of physical, mental, academic, and skills training, designed to take recruits to their own personal limits, and keep them there for a long period of time.