As thousands of Marines ship out for duty overseas, reservists are arriving at this sprawling base to take their place.

Almost 800 reserve Marines and sailors from New England and Oklahoma have arrived in recent days.

The first priority for these citizen-soldiers is getting familiar with the base and surrounding Jacksonville, said Lt. Col. Rene Gagnon, 41, a construction contractor from Burlington, Vt., who is commanding officer of the 1st Battalion of the 25th Marine Regiment.

Sunday's plans included watching the Super Bowl.

"We plan to get settled on the base first, then we'll grant liberty," Gagnon said. "It's not going to be restrictive at all."

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