4 all-male platoons graduate boot camp at formerly all-female batallion
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U.S. Marines graduate recruit training aboard Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, S.C., on March 26. Photo by Samuel Fletcher/U.S. Marine Corps
April 15 (UPI) Four all-male platoons have graduated from boot camp at a historically all-female training battalion, according to the U.S. Marine Corps.
In a press release issued Wednesday, the Marine Corps said the March 26 graduation marked the first time male recruits have completed training at Papa Company, 4th Recruit Training Battalion, at South Carolina s Parris Island.
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The men graduated alongside two all-female platoons.
PARRIS ISLAND, S.C.
On March 26, Papa Company, 4th Recruit Training Battalion completed recruit training with four male platoons and two female platoons; the first time ever that male recruits have graduated from the battalion.
During training the platoons were segregated by gender and maintained separate sleeping and bathing facilities inside of their respective squadbays. Training events conducted outside of the squad bay were conducted in a gender integrated environment.
Per the training order, platoons, both male and female, are the primary formation for initial training, and they progressively combine for larger training events as the program continues. This model enables appropriate acclimation to the training environment, development of relationships with drill instructors, and focus during the transformation of young women and men into United States Marines.
First male Marine Corps recruits graduate from previously all-female boot camp battalion 2 hours ago Marines with Papa Company, 4th Recruit Training Battalion, graduate recruit training aboard Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island South Carolina, Mar. 26, 2021. (Lance Cpl. Samuel C. Fletcher/Marine Corps) The previously all-female 4th Recruit Training Battalion has graduated four of its first-ever male platoons alongside two female platoons and included the first male drill instructors assigned within the battalion. On March 26, Papa Company, 4th Recruit Training Battalion, completed training and graduated with the coed mix at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, South Carolina, according to a Marine Corps statement.