Marine Barracks Washington

[thedrifter]

Marine Barracks Washington



Marine Barracks Washington, also known as "8th & I," is the oldest active post in the Marine Corps. Located on the corners of 8th & I streets in southeast Washington, D.C., the Barracks supports both ceremonial and security missions in the nation's capital.

The selection of the location of Marine Barracks Washington was of national and strategic interest. President Thomas Jefferson accompanied by the second commandant of the Marine Corps, Lieutenant Colonel William Ward Burrows, searched for a suitable location to station the Marines within proximity to the Washington Navy Yard and within "an easy marching distance of the Capitol."

The Body Bearer Section is a unit within Bravo Company, one of the ceremonial drill companies at Marine Barracks, Washington, D.C. The section is comprised of 15 Marine infantrymen whose primary mission is to conduct funerals for Marines, former Marines and Marine family members at Arlington National Cemetery and the surrounding cemeteries in the Washington, D.C., area.

The road to becoming a body bearer is not an easy one and has great physical requirements. A typical day for a body bearer includes ceremonial burial practice and hours of weight training and conditioning. The remainder of the day is spent attending infantry proficiency training classes.

The United States Marine Drum and Bugle Corps performs martial and popular music for hundreds of thousands of spectators each year. The Corps of more than 80 Marine musicians, dressed in ceremonial red and white uniforms, is known world-wide as a premier musical marching unit.

Throughout the summer months the unit performs in the traditional Friday Evening Parades held at the Marine Barracks, Washington, D.C., and in Sunset Parades at the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial (Iwo Jima Monument) near Arlington, Virginia, every Tuesday evening.

These "Parades" are not street parades but are dramatic military ceremonies which are a symbol of the professionalism and discipline of the United States Marines. The Drum and Bugle Corps travels more than 50,000 miles annually, performing in excess of 400 events across the nation and abroad.



Learn More About Marine Barracks Washington

http://www.mbw.usmc.mil/default.asp

Ellie

[DevsDad]

Thank you Ellie for posting this. The 8th & I is quite the place. I have an aireal view of it in my profile gallery. The Body Beares are incredible specimans to say the least! Just.. well.. MASSIVE. Nice guys and great Marines to! They have a very difficult yet important duty to perform sometimes several times a day. The caskets can weigh up to 1000lbs. Add to that that Marines only use 6 bearers instead of the standard 8 and carry at shoulder level accross uneven and sometimes slippery ground. Simply amazing!