We ask recruits currently in training why they decided to endure 13 weeks of boot camp to earn the title of United States Marine. Here’s what one said:
Rct. Jamie Ferguson, a 19-year-old native of Estill Springs, Tenn., is currently training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, S.C., in hopes of earning the title of United States Marine. Ferguson is training with Platoon 4024, Papa Company, 4th Recruit Training Battalion, and is scheduled to graduate Aug. 2, 2013.
"There is this allure about being in the Marine Corps that I don’t see with the other branches. The military has its benefits, and it’s also a big family. The Marine Corps is all brothers and sisters, and I haven’t really had that for a very long time. When I was little, I was walking through Wal-Mart with my mom, and I saw a male in his dress blues, and at the time, when you’re a little girl, you think ‘that’s a male, that could never be me one day,’ and I just said ‘that’s going to be me.’” said Ferguson.
Approximately 20,000 recruits come to Parris Island annually for the chance to become United States Marines by enduring 13 weeks of rigorous, transformative training.
Parris Island is home to entry-level enlisted training for 50 percent of males and 100 percent for females in the Marine Corps.