Road Trip: Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, California

[thedrifter]

Road Trip: Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, California



Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego is a United States Marine Corps military installation in San Diego, California. It lies between San Diego Bay and Interstate 5, adjacent to Lindbergh Field and the former Naval Training Center San Diego.

MCRD San Diego's main mission is the initial training of enlisted male recruits living west of the Mississippi River. Over 21,000 recruits are trained each year. The Depot also is the home to the Marine Corps' Recruiter School and Western Recruiting Region's Drill Instructors School.



Marine Corps presence in San Diego dates back to July 1914, but ground was not broken for a permanent base until 2 March 1919, after Joseph Henry Pendleton (for whom Camp Pendleton was later named) successfully fought for a base in the area.

[img]http://images50.fotki.com/v405/photos/3/345978/3383656/480pxPendleton_JH-vi.jpg]

By 1921, the base was formally commissioned and in 1923, it became the primary recruiting center for the west coast. During World War II, the base almost exclusively dealt with recruiting. In 1948, the base was formally named Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego.



Recruit 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 Program, personal hygiene and cleanliness, close order drill, and Marine Corps history. The training emphasizes physical fitness and recruits must attain a minimum standard of fitness to graduate.



This standard includes a Physical Fitness Test. Recruits must also meet minimum combat-oriented swimming qualifications, qualify in rifle marksmanship with the M16A2 service rifle.



Unlike training at Parris Island, recruits must leave the depot to conduct field training. The second three-week phase is spent at Edson Range aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, where recruits fire on the rifle range. At the conclusion, recruits return to San Diego, but will return at the end of recruit training for the 56-hour "culminating" event called The Crucible.

http://www.mcrdsd.usmc.mil/default.htm

The Marine Corps Recruit Depot Command Museum boasts one of the most extensive and comprehensive displays of Marine Corps historical items in the Nation. The Museum has over 150,000 annual visitors and occupies 22,233 square feet of indoor space.




The Mission at the MCRD Command Museum is “To provide an educational setting that portrays the legacy of the Marine Corps for the training of recruits and the continuing education of Marines, that functions as a supporting arm to the recruiting effort, and that serves as a bridge to the civilian community.”

http://www.mcrdmuseumhistoricalsocie...all/index.html

Ellie