| Join Marine Family Network |
Marine Family Network (MFN) is an online community made up of Marine parents and recruit parents just like you. It serves as a safe haven where you can connect with others that are experiencing the same feelings and concerns you are. Join groups dedicated specifically to where your child is in his/her Marine Corps career.
Click here to get connected to your Marine Corps family today. |
San Diego
Graduation Dates
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Visit the Recruit Parents pages on Marine Family Network. Click your recruit's graduation date:
June 22, 2012June 29, 2012July 6, 2012July 13, 2012July 20, 2012July 27, 2012August 3, 2012August 10, 2012August 24, 2012August 31, 2012September 7, 2012September 14, 2012September 21, 2012October 5, 2012October 12, 2012October 19, 2012Marine Family Network is OPSEC compliant.
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Parris Island
Graduation Dates
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Visit the Recruit Parents pages on Marine Family Network. Click your recruit's graduation date:
June 22, 2012June 29, 2012July 13, 2012July 20, 2012August 3, 2012August 17, 2012August 24, 2012August 31, 2012September 7, 2012September 14, 2012September 21, 2012October 5, 2012October 12, 2012October 19, 2012Marine Family Network is OPSEC compliant.
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| Recruit Parents
Book Club
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If you're like many Recruit Parents, you want to read or watch everything you can find about boot camp and the Marine Corps.
 We want to share that thirst for knowledge with you by offering a place where you can share your thoughts about books and videos, read books together and make recommendations.Click here to check out the book club on Marine Family Network. It's still in development, but you can help move it along by joining and staring a discussion!
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| Recruit Chat Nights | |
Monday and Wednesday
8:30-10 p.m.
Central Time
For additional information about the Chat Room, please see:
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What's After Boot
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Important links:
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| Support RecruitParents.com | |
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| Sign Up for the Newsletter |
Don't miss our Marine Parents Newsletter!
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Greetings Recruit Families!
We're glad you've joined us for this issue of Recruit Parents! This newsletter is sent twice each month and is for the support of families with a Marine recruit in boot camp.
 | Support your recruit with this T-shirt.
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We need your help shipping 1,800 care packages to Marines in Afghanistan on July 28. Scroll below to read about how you can help. You're on a new journey to becoming a Marine Parent. The pride is indescribable, but you may feel you are in an unfamiliar world with a whirlwind of emotions and never-ending questions. If you've been looking for answers to your questions, we can help. __________________________________________________
Do you have a Marine in the making?
Display your pride for your recruit with this T-shirt we designed just for parents and family of recruits! Buy now. |
Two bits, four bits, six bits ...
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A Dollar (Campaign Needs You)
One dollar, coin style: 100 Lincolns, 20 Jeffersons, 10 FDRs, four Washingtons, two Kennedys, one Sacagawea or one Susan B. Anthony. One dollar, greenback style: One Washington. One dollar, MarineParents.com style: One more contribution that gets us closer to reaching our goal of $20,000 needed to send 1,800 care packages on July 28 to Marines in Afghanistan. One dollar. Something so little can do so much. Click here to read more ...Click here to donate through the EGA Shop ... |
| Operational Security ... Now? | | |
Becoming a Marine Parent
In this series of articles, we've talked a little bit about privacy and respect, noting that both are important concepts to learn as a recruit parent. As your recruit nears graduation, the concept of Operational Security becomes just as important to understand.
As a family member of the military community, you are a vital player in their success. You might not know it, but you also play a crucial role in ensuring your loved ones' safety just by what you know of the military's day-to-day operations. You can protect your loved ones by protecting the information you know. This is known in the military as "Operations Security," or OPSEC.
OPSEC is important to us as family members during recruit training because we need to understand it fully before our Marine goes into the fleet.
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| History of the Marine Corps | | |
Learning More About the Corps
 The Marine Corps started as the "Continental Marines" during the American Revolutionary War, formed by a resolution of the Continental Congress on November 10, 1775, and first recruited at Tun Tavern in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
They served as landing troops for the recently created Continental Navy. The Continental Marines were disbanded at the end of the war in April 1783 but re-formed on July 11 1798. Despite the gap, Marines celebrate November 10 as the Marine Corps Birthday.
Historically, the United States Marine Corps has achieved fame in several campaigns, as referenced in the first line of the Marine Corps Hymn: "From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli."
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| Supporting You Through It All... | | |
Guidance Through Your Marine's Career
It is Marine Parents' mission to help support you and your Marine throughout his or her entire career in the Corps.
RecruitParents.com guides you through what to expect from boot camp, and once your child has graduated, MarineParents.com provides you with the information and resources a new Marine's family needs.
Marine Family Network acts as your support system through it all. Whether you're a recruit parent or a Marine parent, on MFN you will connect with others with whom you can share your experiences and emotions.
 The EGA Shop is the Marine Parents' online store, and it carries Marine Corps items relevant to you and your Marine from the time they become recruits until the time they become veterans.
Our Marine Corps megastore has everything: Graduation apparel, "Proud Marine Mom/Dad" shirts and accessories, items related to support during deployment, and Marine essentials that your son or daughter would love to receive in a care package.
Each time you make a purchase from The EGA Store, all proceeds are used to fund the programs and services offered by Marine Parents, Recruit Parents and our outreach programs.
Thank you for supporting the organization that supports you!
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| Becoming Familiar With the Corps | | |
Resources For New Marine Parents
 Your best resource for all things boot camp and recruit training are the official USMC websites. Find links to official USMC sites in the Recruit Parents website.
Recruit Parents was begun as a complement to information available on official Marine Corps websites. We provide well-researched and accurate information about boot camp as well as later phases of your Marine's career.
Did you know the USMC has a website dedicated specifically to new Marine parents and mentors? It's a great resource for families trying to familiarize themselves with the Marine Corps as well as for what to expect now that your son or daughter has made the decision to become a Marine.
Click here to visit the website ...
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| Legendary Yellow Footprints | | | Marine Corps Recruit Receiving
 The following is an excerpt from an April, 2009 Marine Corps article.
Parris Island through the eyes of new recruits
As the air brakes hiss, hearts beat faster, palms sweat, breaths become shorter and a bus of hopeful recruits are unified by the fear of the unknown.
These are the experiences of so many recruits who have passed through Parris Island's main gate.
Upon arriving, recruits are greeted by a drill instructor and ordered to get off the bus and onto Parris Island's legendary yellow footprints.
These are the words all recruits hear once they are on the yellow footprints:
"You are now aboard Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island South Carolina, and you have just taken the first step toward becoming a member of the world's finest fighting force, the United States Marine Corps."
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| Initial Drill Evaluation | | | Training Phase I - Getting Started
 The Initial Drill Evaluation tests each platoon's ability to listen to the orders of its Drill Instructor, and it is a demonstration of the unit's degree of discipline and esprit de corps.
Drill is used as one of the first methods of transforming these recruits from civilians into Marines, and it plays a large part in their development of teamwork and unit cohesion.
One Marine Mom says, "On Family Day and graduation you will be amazed when you see the new Marines marching out onto the Parade Deck. They will be marching in perfect rows ... perfectly in step ... pivot perfectly in time with each other ... and will be a sight to behold!"
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| Rifle Range Safety Rules | | | Training Phase II - In the Midst
 A Combat Marksmanship Instructor, or CMI, teaches recruits the fundamentals of weapons safety with their M-16A2 service rifle.
During Firing Week, which is the second week of marksmanship training, recruits hear the four rifle range safety rules several times each day. Recruits will hear these safety rules frequently for the rest of their time in the Marine Corps, and many Marines remember them for the rest of their life.
The first rifle range safety rule is:
Treat every weapon as if it were loaded.
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| The Crucible | | | Training Phase III - The Final Stretch
 The Crucible is a test each recruit must go through to become a Marine. It tests every recruit physically, mentally and morally and is the defining moment in recruit training.
The Crucible takes place over 54 hours. It includes food and sleep deprivation and more than 45 miles of marching. The Crucible pits teams of recruits against a barrage of day and night events requiring every recruit to work together to solve problems, overcome obstacles and help each other along the way.
The obstacles they face range from long marches, combat assault courses, the leadership reaction course, and the team-building warrior stations.
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| Base Access and more... | | | About Boot Camp Graduation
 Do you have questions about Marine Corps Recruit Depot gates? Security? Accessing the Depot?
Are you looking for contact information for the Recruit Depot?
We're here to help. Use the links below to find information about base access and more.
San Diego Parris Island
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