thedrifter
02-22-08, 04:37 AM
Parris Island to absorb Corps swell
Published Fri, Feb 22, 2008 12:00 AM
By DAN HILLIARD
dhilliard@beaufortgazette.com
843-986-5531
http://media.beaufortgazette.com/smedia/2008/02/22/00/991-20080108-NWS-MOREMARINES-02212008-tif.standalone.prod_affiliate.10.jpg
Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island is resurrecting a training company that hasn't been active since the Vietnam War to cope with a national initiative to swell the Corps' ranks by 2012.
Quebec Company, which was disbanded in the 1960s, will join the depot's 15 other training companies April 2, according to 1st Sgt. William Sweeney, the company's senior enlisted Marine.
The company's initial 450 recruits, divided into about eight platoons, will arrive at the depot April 12, he said.
In January 2007, Defense Secretary Robert Gates asked Army and Marine Corps leaders to add a total of 92,000 troops to their active forces -- 65,000 soldiers and 27,000 Marines -- by 2012.
That would take the Corps' strength to 202,000 Marines.
As the only Marine Corps recruit depot east of the Mississippi River, Parris Island shoulders much of the responsibility for training the additional Marines.
In an average year, Parris Island graduates about 20,000 Marines.
No new construction or hires will be required to accommodate Quebec Company, Sweeney said.
The recruits will be housed in the Weapons and Field Training Battalion barracks on the depot's rifle range, where recruits normally stay during their rifle training.
To compensate, Marines will be bused to the range for rifle practice, Sweeney said.
"There won't be any (construction) in the foreseeable future," he said. "We're going to use pre-existing facilities for this."
Drill instructors for Quebec Company will be drawn from the other training battalions, Sweeney said.
No recruit company's training schedule will be changed or abbreviated to accommodate the new company, he said.
It'll just be a matter of shifting available resources, Sweeney said.
"I think everybody's pretty excited about us starting something new," he said. "It'll be a little bit different from what some of them are used to, but we all basically do business the same."
Ellie
Published Fri, Feb 22, 2008 12:00 AM
By DAN HILLIARD
dhilliard@beaufortgazette.com
843-986-5531
http://media.beaufortgazette.com/smedia/2008/02/22/00/991-20080108-NWS-MOREMARINES-02212008-tif.standalone.prod_affiliate.10.jpg
Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island is resurrecting a training company that hasn't been active since the Vietnam War to cope with a national initiative to swell the Corps' ranks by 2012.
Quebec Company, which was disbanded in the 1960s, will join the depot's 15 other training companies April 2, according to 1st Sgt. William Sweeney, the company's senior enlisted Marine.
The company's initial 450 recruits, divided into about eight platoons, will arrive at the depot April 12, he said.
In January 2007, Defense Secretary Robert Gates asked Army and Marine Corps leaders to add a total of 92,000 troops to their active forces -- 65,000 soldiers and 27,000 Marines -- by 2012.
That would take the Corps' strength to 202,000 Marines.
As the only Marine Corps recruit depot east of the Mississippi River, Parris Island shoulders much of the responsibility for training the additional Marines.
In an average year, Parris Island graduates about 20,000 Marines.
No new construction or hires will be required to accommodate Quebec Company, Sweeney said.
The recruits will be housed in the Weapons and Field Training Battalion barracks on the depot's rifle range, where recruits normally stay during their rifle training.
To compensate, Marines will be bused to the range for rifle practice, Sweeney said.
"There won't be any (construction) in the foreseeable future," he said. "We're going to use pre-existing facilities for this."
Drill instructors for Quebec Company will be drawn from the other training battalions, Sweeney said.
No recruit company's training schedule will be changed or abbreviated to accommodate the new company, he said.
It'll just be a matter of shifting available resources, Sweeney said.
"I think everybody's pretty excited about us starting something new," he said. "It'll be a little bit different from what some of them are used to, but we all basically do business the same."
Ellie