The Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego received welcome news Tuesday about the time breakfast was being served: The Marines had slightly exceeded its corps-wide recruiting goal for the three-month period ending Dec. 31. It sought 2,088 recruits and got 2,204.
The largest recruiting classes are logged from June through September, in the months just after high school seniors graduate. But the late-in-the-year classes are important to the Corps’ goal of training about 37,000 recruits a year.
The infusion is essential to the Marines’ ability to serve as an expeditionary force that primarily travels by sea, with sizable help from its air assets. The Defense Department is expanding the Marines’ presence in the Indo-Pacific to counter a buildup in Chinese forces.
Slightly more than half of new Marine recruits are trained at MCRD, which draws its recruits from west of the Mississippi River. The rest are trained at Parris Island in South Carolina.
Boot camp lasts 13 weeks, during which time MCRD recruits spend some of their time at Camp Pendleton learning specific skills, notably how to use a rifle.
There is fierce competition for new recruits among the armed services, which regularly tweak the incentives they offer. The Marines also have to compete with the business world, as 60 visiting high school educators were told Tuesday during a workshop that’s meant make them part of the Corps’ larger recruiting efforts.
The competition includes fast food companies like Chipotle, which has been increasing the financial and health benefits aimed at members of Generation Z.
There are nearly 33 million Americans between the ages of 17 and 24, the age range from which the Marines draw most recruits. But only about 7 million meet the Corps eligibility requirements, and the number truly open to joining is a fraction of that.
The Marines revel in their exclusivity. One officer smiled and said Tuesday, “We only do training when it’s raining.”
It was raining outside just then.
