Frosted Windows, Shower Signs: What It Took to Get the Marines San Diego Boot Camp Ready for Female Recruits
New Marines in Platoon 3241 complete tasks in their squad bay before boot camp graduation in April 2021 at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, California. (Hope Hodge Seck/Staff)
22 May 2021
MCRD San Diego When Marine leaders defend the Corps historic resistance to further gender integration of recruit training, they often bring up infrastructure as a major challenge. The two Marine Corps boot camps, built in the 1910s, are simply not built to accommodate companies integrated by gender.
Gen. David Berger, commandant of the Marine Corps, even suggested last year that the service would have to close down its existing training bases and build new ones to carry out a congressional integration mandate.
Acclimation Period Before Marine Corps Boot Camp Could Stave Off Recruit Crud
Marine Corps recruits make phone calls to inform their next of kin that they have arrived safely at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina, June 25, 2020. The recruits are now ready to begin training after spending two weeks in quarantine as a protective measure against COVID-19. (Daniel Johnson/U.S. Marine Corps)
15 May 2021
MCRD San Diego On a recent American Airlines flight from Dallas-Fort Worth to San Diego, the pilot took to the public address system to salute the dozens of young recruits onboard for starting their rigorous journey to become U.S. Marines as soon as tonight.
This Change to Boot Camp Training Could Cut Recruit Injury Rates
Recruits with Mike Company, 3rd Recruit Training Battalion, conduct a 5K Hike Aug. 25, 2018 on Parris Island, S.C. (Dana Beesle/U.S. Marine Corps)
3 May 2021
MCRD SAN DIEGO When the first-ever platoon of female Marine recruits landed here at the Corps West Coast recruit depot earlier this year, their training was just as difficult as that of their male counterparts but differed in one small, important way.
Lima Company, the platoon s parent unit, was one of two recruit companies selected to participate in a study assessing a progressive approach to hiking under a combat load, a key component of training. The two companies each swapped out one high-impact running event, such as a track-style workout, for a hike. The length of the hike and the weight of the load progressed stepwise: As the weight increased, the length would decrease temporarily to allow recruits bodies time to adapt.
Female Marines are first women to take-on grueling, three-day boot camp called the Crucible at base in San Diego that used to only train men
A total of 53 women trained in the first-ever coed company at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego
Their final task was to complete what the training base calls the Crucible, a mammoth boot camp which began on Tuesday and wrapped-up on Thursday
The Crucible s tasks include target practice, an obstacle course, and a grueling 9.7 mile hike while carrying a 60 pound backpack