The Marine Corps Recruiting Depot in San Diego, CA, is the first stop for recruits on their way to becoming a member of the world’s finest fighting force, but the process is by no means easy. Men and women from the South Plains join the Marine Corps for different reasons, but once they step off the bus and onto the yellow footprints, their life changes in an instant.
The Marine Corps Recruit Training is a 12 week training program each Marine must complete in order to serve in the United States Marine Corps. Staff Sergeant Matthew Valle said this grueling training program is designed to test the recruits physically and mentally.
“There’s three phases of recruit training,” Valle said. “The first phase is just trying to brush the dirt off and make everyone the same and equal. The second phase builds on the first phase and the third phase is where you really see a change.”
Adam Solis, a recruit from Lubbock, played football on the college level and saw the Marine Corps as a way to be a part of something bigger than himself and grow as a person. He said he’s created bonds with other recruits that are unlike any other.
“You sweat together, you bleed together, you’re pushing together through all of the stuff they make us do and it really just creates that bond,” Solis said.