BGuthrie Photos: CA -- San Diego -- MCRD Command Museum

CA -- San Diego -- MCRD Command Museum:

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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. MCRD_080722_022.JPG: SAN PASCUAL 6 December 1846 In late July 1846, Commodore Stockton moved his base of operations to San Diego and vowed to drive General Castro into Mexico. Meanwhile, Brigadier General Stephen W Kearny, with a detachment of the 1st US Dragoons, marched from Santa Fe, New Mexico over the tortuous Gila Trail. Informed enroute by Kit Carson that Stockton was in firm control of southern California, Kearny sent the majority of his command back to Santa Fe. Captain Gillespie, with 39 men and a 4-pounder, was sent out to greet Kearny and to encourage him to attack the Californians of Captain Andreas Pico hovering east of San Diego. They met west of the desert of California on 5 December. After a night march, the joint force engaged the Californians on the morning of the sixth, but surprise was lost when a scouting party alerted Pico's sentinels. Despite Kearny's superiority in numbers, worn-out mounts, wet powder, and a misunderstanding of his orders, swung the ensuing battle in the enemy's favor. Mounted lancers quickly rent the Americans' initial charge, killing 9 and wounding about 20, including Kearny and Gillespie. Kearny's first cannon in line was captured and, as the second was brought up, the stricken Gillespie staggered about trying to rally the demoralized dragoons. Desperate to turn the line of charging lancers, the cannoneers pleaded for the match to fire the cannon. They found none but according to Gillespie, "I lit my Segar Match as I ordered a Dragoon to put on more Powder, & instantly fired the Gun; as I handed the match to a Dragoon, I fainted." Successive rounds of grapeshot cleared the field and the Californians withdrew, leaving the Americans to encamp on the battlefield and to care for their wounded.
2. MCRD_080722_030.JPG: San Pascual map
3. MCRD_080722_034.JPG: YERBA BUENA (SAN FRANCISCO) 9 July 1846: The US sloop Portsmouth, under Commander John B Montgomery, anchored at Sausalito, on the north shore of the entrance to San Francisco Bay, on 3 June 1846, Although ostensibly neutral, Montgomery nevertheless sent supplies to Fremont on 11 June. About the 1st of July, the Portsmouth moved to a new anchorage across the bay to celebrate the 4th of July, and on the following day sent a launch off to Monterey for news and instructions. Marines were sent ashore on 5 July to protect Vice Counsul WA Leidesdorff and other American citizens. Commander Montgomery received word on the evening of 8 July of the occupation of Monterey by Commander Sloat, and a dispatch followed ordering him to occupy Yerba Buena. The next morning, sailors and Marines in their dress uniforms, accompanied by a drum and fife playing "Yankee Doodle," escorted the American flag to the customhouse, in what is now Portsmouth Square, San Francisco. There was no opposition and an eyewitness reported that on their way through the town they attracted no human followers but were accompanied by a large pack of dogs. They waited at the customhouse until a small crowd assembled and then a proclamation in both English and Spanish was read to the Californians. A 21-gun salute was fired from the Portsmouth to celebrate the event as the flag was raised. Fourteen Marines, under the command of Second Lieutenant Henry B Watson, set up a garrison in the customhouse. Shortly afterwards, Watson was appointed military commandant of the town, and the number of Marines increased to 26.
4. MCRD_080722_042.JPG: HORSE MARINES December 1846: In fitting out an expedition at San Diego to retake Los Angeles, Commodore Robert F Stockton relied on Kearney's dragoons for an experienced shock force. Marines and sailors from the Pacific Squadron formed an artillery company while volunteers under Marine Captain Archibald Gillespie were mounted and served as skirmishers. Sailors formed several companies in the command, for the most part armed with carbines, muskets, pikes, and cutlasses. A few days before the march, it occurred to the commodore to mount his remaining Marines, thus forming a "Corps of Horse Marines." Reluctant citizens were ordered to deliver their horses to the public square. Marine First Lieutenant Jacob Zeilin was not enthusiastic about the experiment, so he paid little attention to the matter of appropriate distribution of mounts. An interested observer described the introductions: "Long Marines got Short Horses, and Short Marines, Long Horses; those who were good Riders got gentle Horses and those who perhaps had never mounted a horse, got the wildest of the Lot... every man got his Horse at last... grasped his musket, and awaited word of command of mount." The comedy that followed convulsed onlookers with laughter. A number of Marines were dismounted in embarrassing disarray, some over the stern of the horses. Marine caps, muskets, horse equipage, and bodies were strewn in promiscuous heaps throughout the town. The doughty commodore and his aides, on the rooftop of Casa de Estudillo, later famed as the fictitious "Ramona's marriage place," looked on in dismay and the venture was abandoned.
5. MCRD_080722_046.JPG: FAUNTLEROY'S DRAGOONS 12 July 1846: After the capture of Monterey, Commodore John D Sloat, in Savannah, ordered his pursuer, Daingerfield Fauntleroy, "noted as a horseman and rifleshot in the east," to organize a company of 35 horsemen from the ship's Marines and sailors and American adventurers on shore to patrol the outskirts of the town and maintain communications with Yerba Buena (now San Francisco). One small detail, led by Marine Lieutenants Henry W Queen and William AT Maddox, captured Mexican General Castro's son and a courier with dispatches for the general. On 12 July, another detachment lay i wait all night for a band of marauding Californians. With Lieutenant Queen in the lead, they charged down a mountainside, taking one prisoner and forced the enemy to abandon their campsite. These forays, coupled with the refusal of the American naval command to negotiate, forced General Castro southward to join forces with Governor Pio Pico at Los Angeles.
6. MCRD_080722_051.JPG: MULE HILL 12 December 1846: The day following the Battle of San Pascual, General Kearny and his ragged force slowly made their way toward San Diego, encumbered by their wounded. Messengers were periodically dispatched to seek assistance from Commodore Stockton. Near the Rancho Bernardo, a party of Californians occupied a large hill in their path. Army Lieutenant William H Emory, and a few of the remaining able men, drove them off. Unfortunately, the expedition's last supply of beef cattle was lost in the skirmish. The main body reached the rocks at the crest of the hill determined to make a stand there until the arrival of reinforcements. On 10 December, Pico's Californian's drove a herd of wild horses against the hilltop position. The animals were turned aside by gun fire and they dined that night on horse and mule meat. Kearny believed his wounded were now able to ride, and, in preparation for departure the following day, burned all of his excess baggage. At two o'clock the following morning, however, Captain Jacob Zeilin and 90 of his Marines, together with 100 seamen under Navy Lt AV Gray, crept into camp through the enemy encirclement and were joyously received. In the face of this larger force, Pico's command began retreating to Los Angeles. The Americans limped into San Diego on 12 December.
7. MCRD_080722_056.JPG: GILLESPIE AND FREMONT AT KLAMATH LAKE 9 May 1946: Two prominent figures in the American conquest of California, each proceeding by diverse routes, joined forces on 9 May 1846. Marine First Lieutenant Archibald H Gillespie had left Washington on 3 November 1845 disguised as a British merchant, carrying with him the President's instructions for a secret mission. He also had private correspondence and dispatched for Captain John C. Fremont, the great surveyor of the west, who was on his third expedition. While Gillespie was sailing by merchant vessel to Veracruz and crossing Mexico by horse, Fremont was marching through Indian territory, seeking a usable wagon route through the Rocky Mountains. The explorer reached his destination first, south of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Confronted there early in March 1846 by an army of Californians under General Jose Maria Castro, Fremont retreated northward into the Oregon Territory. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Gillespie reached the west coast of Mexico in February 1846 and landed 17 April at Monterey. Riding inland, he sought Fremont at Sutter's Fort, but was directed to Oregon. They met on what was to become Denny Creek on Klamath Lake. Gillespie delivered Fremont's instructions and letters and, presumably, intelligence relating to the situation in California and British designs on Oregon. That night, Indians attacked the party, killing three, including mountain man Denny, and wounding several others. Finding the passes into Oregon blocked by snow, Fremont retraced his steps into California while Gillespie sped on ahead to obtain supplies from the US sloop Portsmouth at Yerba Buena.
8. MCRD_080722_062.JPG: CAPTAIN WARD MARSTON AT SANTA CLARA 2 January 1847: As the hostilities in California drew to a close, Marine Captain Ward Marston in Yerba Buena (San Francisco) received word of trouble brewing to the south. Californians had seized a small party of American sailors and were holding them prisoners. Marston collected a tattered group of about a hundred Marines, buckskin-attired volunteers, and a few sailors and began the march toward Santa Clara. The column arrived at a swampy area south of the Santa Clara Mission on 2 January 1847. It had rained earlier in the day and the men sank knee-deep in the mud as they struggled to free their only cannon from the mire. Here they encountered a slightly larger enemy force. The Californians began an attack on Marston's detachment stampeding a herd of frightened cattle toward the Americans and then started their own advance. The Marines, fortunately, freed the cannon and swung it around to meet the charge. A few rounds of grape shot, together with accurate rifle fire, were able to turn the enemy and his animals. In the brief skirmish that followed, Marston's force routed the Californians at the cost of two men slightly wounded. As soon as the smoke cleared, Marston ordered his men forward but the Californians refused to stand and fight. They quickly withdrew to the Santa Cruz Mountains. That evening, Captain Marston met with the leader of the Californians, Francisco Sanchez, under a flag of truce and agreed to an armistice. The Californians laid down their arms and released their prisoners.
9. MCRD_080722_069.JPG: BAYONETS AT SAN GABRIEL 8 January 1847: The die was cast for the battle of San Gabriel on 4 January 1847. That evening, Acting Californian Governor Jose Maria Flores announced that if Commodore Stockton persevered on his match to Los Angeles, his lancers would annihilate the Americans on the plains of San Gabriel. Stockton, undaunted, promised to hang the enemy general. After staggering through two days of a blinding snowstorm, the weary American army emerged a few miles from the banks of the Rio San Gabriel, coming face to face with Flores' lancers. Stockton outflanked this ambush, and ordered his entire force across the knee-deep river at the Bartolo Ford. In the face of sporadic artillery fire, an infantry square, with artillery at the corners and baggage in the center, slowly crossed. Reaching the north bank, troops deployed on both flanks to support the guns. The commodore himself unerringly aimed and fired American cannon into Flores' troops on the opposing hill. At the same time, he directed counterattacks, defeating Californian attempts to drive this force into the river. At last, sensing the enemy's frustration, Stockton drew his sword, waved his chapeau, and ordered Marines and sailors to charge up the slope, crying "New Orleans," in remembrance of Andrew Jackson's repulse of the British the same date 32 years before. Kearny, on the left flank, drew his pistols and threw his dragoons into the charge. Gillespie's artillery roared, and Flores reluctantly withdrew toward Los Angeles. In the 90-minute battle, two Americans were killed and nine wounded; Californian losses were about the same.
10. MCRD_080722_076.JPG: REST STOP AT LAS FLORES 3 January 1847: Commodore Stockton, with General Kearny as second in command, left San Diego on 29 December 1846 with a polyglot expedition of about 607 sailors and Marines, dragoons, and a sprinkling of volunteers. Their mission was the capture of Los Angeles. The force paused at Mule Hull to rebury the Americans killed in the battle of San Pascual whose bodies had been dug up and stripped of their clothing. On 3 January, the little army camped at the mission of Las Flores, Its spring was the source of water for a nearby Indian village and a number of the village's more venturesome braves joined the expedition. The Marines' rear guard, clad in blue woolen coats and caps, white crossbelts, and sky blue trousers showed the strains of the march. An officer and sergeant pointed them to a bivouac area. The Marines' appearance and stamina were remarkable, however, by comparison with onlooking sailors sprawled wearily beside an oxcart loaded with baggage they had pulled and pushed by hand the past six days. Shoes made for shipboard duty had given out, and makeshift canvas foot coverings appeared here and there. Relief from the drudgery was at hand, however, for a local resident whose sympathies had previously been with the Californians, suddenly appeared with a herd of horses. Archibald Gillespie, from horseback, conferred with Marine Lieutenant Jacob Zeilin on the use that would be made of them. All looked forward to a good night's rest. The following morning, much refreshed and better mounted, the army resumed its march toward San Gabriel, La Mesa, and Los Angeles.
11. MCRD_080722_097.JPG: LANDING AT MONTEREY 7 July 1846: The Pacific Squadron under the command of Commodore John D Sloat, USN, on board the frigate Savannah, sailed into Monterey Bay on 2 July 1846. Cautious to the extreme, Sloat was reluctant to occupy the town until reasonably certain that the United States had declared war on Mexico. The arrival, however, on 5 July of a letter from Commander John B Montgomery, sloop Portsmouth, forced his decision. Montgomery reported that Captain Fremont, accompanied by Lieutenant Gillespie of the Marines, had returned to California and was opening supporting Bear Flag settlers in the Napa and Sacramento valleys against the California forces of General Jose Maria Castro. Sloat therefore assumed Fremont was acting on orders from Washington. Captain William Mervine of the Cyane and three other Navy officers went ashore the morning of 7 July to demand the surrender of Monterey. They were followed shortly by a landing party of Marines and sailors. Marines of the Savannah were commanded by Captain Ward Marston and Second Lieutenant Henry W Queen, of the Cyane by Second Lieutenant William AT Maddox, and of the Levant by Orderly Sergeant John McCabe. With gunboats on the flanks and covered by squadron broadside, Marines scrambled unopposed up the rocky shore below the newly-built customhouse. Following the reading of a proclamation to a few Californians and the raising of the US colors, the sailors returned to their ships, and a Marine detachment under Lieutenant Maddox occupied the former barracks of Castro's forces.
12. MCRD_080722_103.JPG: FREMONT ENTERS MONTEREY 22 July 1846: News of Commodore Sloat's capture of Monterey reached Fremont on the Sacramento River on 10 July. Two days later he and Lieutenant Gillespie broke camp and set out for the town. Falling in with Lieutenant Queen and his dragoons at San Juan Bautista, they tarried only long enough to take possession of 9 cannon, 200 old muskets, 20 kegs of powder, and 60,000 pounds of cannon shot. At Monterey, Gillespie reported to Commodore Sloat, who was shocked to discover Fremont had joined the American rebel cause without official sanction. Fremont's proposal for further operations ashore was refused support and he withdrew. The Commodore's ill health, however, apparently hastened his turnover of the naval squadron to Commodore Robert F. Stockton. A few days later, Fremont again entered Monterey. He and Gillespie led 200 mounted men to the customhouse, accompanied by scout Kit Carson and several Delaware Indians loyal to Fremont. An onlooking Navy chaplain, together with garrison Marines in both dress and undress uniform, saw: "Their rifles, revolving pistols, and long knives... over dusky buckskin which enveloped their sinewy limbs, while their untrimmed locks, flowing out from under their foraging caps, and their black beards, with white teeth glittering through, gave them a wild savage aspect." This time Fremont was successful. Commodore Stockton accepted the command as "the California battalion of United States troops" with Fremont as major and Gillespie as captain and second-in-command.
13. MCRD_080722_120.JPG: Ira Hayes
14. MCRD_080722_136.JPG: Navajo Code Talkers medal. Navajo Code Talkers: In February of 1942, Philip Johnson, a World War I Veteran, proposed to Lieutenant Colonel James E. Jones his idea of creating a secret code using the Navajo language. The Colonel was convinced and the result was the top secret Navajo Code Talker Program. On May 5, 1942, twenty-nine specially selected volunteer Navajo recruits arrived at MCRD San Diego begin boot camp. Following boot camp, they reported to Camp Elliot for their special assignment: Code Talking. After three months of intense training, the Navajo Code Talkers were assigned and deployed to the Pacific theater. The Navajo Code Talkers played a vital role in every Marine Corps assault conducted in the Pacific theater from 1942 to 1945. The number of lives saved by these courageous men using their code is impossible to calculate. The Navajo Code talkers achieved what no one before in the history of warfare could: the creation and utilization of an Unbreakable Code.
15. MCRD_080722_150.JPG: Iraq section
16. MCRD_080722_154.JPG: IED (improvised explosive device) model
17. MCRD_080722_178.JPG: Vietnam section
18. MCRD_080722_195.JPG: Model of VC tunnel
19. MCRD_080722_208.JPG: POW uniform
20. MCRD_080722_239.JPG: Model of Vietnam
21. MCRD_080722_267.JPG: The "Atomic" Marines: The Marines the Corps Couldn't Talk About: In 1947, General Alexander Vandegrift, Commandant of the Marine Corps reorganized the Marine Corps to prepare it to take part in an all-out atomic war. The new organization was to provide a testing ground for new methods of weapons of amphibious warfare, as well as continue to serve the fleet in conducting its operations. Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, was called upon to be a part of this new era. From 1951-1956, MCRD's Sea School provided 242 graduates who participated in many of the top-secret nuclear weapons testing operations in the Pacific including Operations "Greenhouse", "Ivy", "Castle", "Wigwam", and "Redwing." When the first hydrogen bomb was detonated during Operation "Castle," Sea School Marines from MCRD were there and on duty. The Marine Detachments were all hand-picked Special Fores with expertise in top-level security methods. The members of these highly trained security forces held top-secret "Q" clearances at the same level as that of the President of the United States. They were sworn to complete secrecy in accordance with the Rosenberg Act. Their primary duty was to transport and guard the nation's secret arsenal of atop and hydrogen test bombs. These "top secret" Marines were stationed aboard a "ghost" ship, USS CURTIS AV-4, a ship that didn't officially exist. It was never listed in any newspaper columns reporting standard ships' activities. It refueled at sea and stayed out of regular ports when on a mission. Many of the men in these special units were Korean War veterans. One of their numbers, SSgt Ambrosio Guillen, was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor in 1953. Many others went on to become Vietnam veterans. First "Atomic Marines": The order for forming the first detachment of the "Atomic Marines" aboard the USS CURTIS AV4 came in 1950 from a memorandum entitled "Secret Assignment Afloat." In June 1950, 64 Marines reported to Sea School, the Marine Detachment was transported to the Hunter Point Naval Shipyard and then loaded on the USS CURTIS. The ship sailed to the Enewetak Atoll of the Marshall Islands and participated as a unit of Task Force 7.3 in "Operation Greenhouse," March 1951. The primary duty of the Marines was to restrict admittance to special compartments aboard the ship.
22. MCRD_080722_276.JPG: USS CURTISS AV-4 bell
23. MCRD_080722_290.JPG: Medallion: USS Curtiss AV-4 Ghost Ship Marine Detachments 1951-1956 Atom/Hydrogen Bomb Test Veterans
24. MCRD_080722_400.JPG: M18A1 DIRECTIONAL MINE: The M18A1, popularly known as the Claymore, is a directional, fixed fragmentation mine which is extremely effective in defense against massed (human wave) infantry attacks. It can be employed as a land mine, controlled weapon or booby trap. The Claymore is generally detonated electrically, but can be rigged to be fired non-electrically. The casualty radius forward is a horizontal arc of 100 meters to a height of two meters, the forward danger radius is 250 meters. The M18A1 has a backblast area of 16 meters to the rear and sides. In this area, backblast can cause injury by concussion and secondary missiles. Up to 100 meters to the rear and sides, all friendly personnel must be under cover for protection from secondary missiles. The Claymore is the mine that most Marines will come in contact with. It is used in the M7 bandoleer which contains the components for electrical employment. The bandoleer has two pockets; one contains the mine and the other contains an M57 firing device, M40 test set and an electrical blasting cap assembly.
25. MCRD_080722_413.JPG: Medallion for the USS Maine, cast from metal recovered the USS Maine
26. MCRD_080722_427.JPG: P1917 Trench knife and scabbard
27. MCRD_080722_475.JPG: Japanese hand grenade
28. MCRD_080722_487.JPG: Distinguished Flying Cross
29. MCRD_080722_492.JPG: Legion of Merit
30. MCRD_080722_498.JPG: Silver Star
31. MCRD_080722_503.JPG: Bronze Star
32. MCRD_080722_510.JPG: Purple Heart
33. MCRD_080722_516.JPG: Sands of Iwo Jima: This is Iwo Jima sand taken from the landing zone of "L" Company, 3rd Battalion, 24th Marine, 4th Marine Division.
34. MCRD_080722_520.JPG: Lieutenant General Lewis Burwell "Chesty" Puller: Lewis B Puller was one of the most highly decorated Marines in the Corps. He served in China, Nicaragua, Haiti, four campaigns of World War II and the Korean War. In China, Puller served as commander of the Horse Marines. In Korea, he led the 1st Marines at Inchon and the Chosin Reservoir, earning his fifth Navy Cross for "superb courage" commanding the rear guard at Koto-ri. Following his return from Korea in 1952, he took over command of the Troop Training Unit at Coronado. His last command on active duty was the 2nd Marine Division at Camp LeJeune, North Carolina. Lieutenant General Puller's awards include five Navy Crosses and the Army Distinguished Service Cross.
35. MCRD_080722_567.JPG: Map of Korea
Wikipedia Description: Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Marine Corps Recruit Depot (Commonly referred to as M-Crud, or MCRD) San Diego is a United States military installation in San Diego, California. It is along the Pacific Ocean and Interstate 5, and adjacent to Lindbergh Field and a former Naval Training Center. MCRD San Diego's main mission is the initial training of enlisted male Marine Corps recruits living west of the Mississippi River. Over 21,000 recruits are trained each year. The Depot also is the home to the Marine Corps' Recruiter School and Western Recruiting Region's Drill Instructors School.

History:

Marine Corps presence in San Diego dates back to July 1914, but ground was not broken for a permanent base until 2 March 1919, after Joseph Henry Pendleton (for whom Camp Pendleton was later named) successfully fought for a base in the area. By 1921, the base was formally commissioned and in 1923, it became the primary recruiting center for the west coast. During World War II, the base almost exclusively dealt with recruiting. In 1948, the base was formally named Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego.

Recruit training history:

The base's main mission is to train new United States Marine Corps recruits, specifically males recruited from west of the Mississippi River, but also from some areas east of the river, such as Wisconsin, Michigan, the Chicago area and New Orleans. All other recruits are trained at MCRD Parris Island in South Carolina. Marines who trained at MCRD San Diego are sarcastically called "Hollywood Marines" by their East Coast counterparts. Likewise, San Diego-trained Marines refer to those trained at Parris Island as "hump-waivers," owing to Parris Island's flatness as compared with the hilly terrain of Camp Pendleton that San Diego recruits must hike.

During basic training, commonly referred to as boot camp, recruits complete drill, physical training, swim qualification and other training possible in a garrison environment aboard MCRD. Recruits are separated into three battalions (First Battalion, Second Battalion, and Third Battalion), which each consist of four companies. Belonging to First Battalion are companies Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta. Belonging to Second Battalion are companies Echo, Fox, Golf, Hotel. Belonging to Third Battalion are companies are India, Kilo, Lima, Mike. Each company is like a class, and all the recruits within any given company begin and finish recruit training together with exception to the recruits who finish later due to medical, physical, or personal issues, as well as the ones who don't finish at all.

The hierarchy of MCRD goes even deeper. Each company is broken down into 2 Series, known as Lead Series and Trail Series. Each Series is led by a Series Commander (also known as a Series Officer) and a Series Chief Drill Instructor (also known as a Series Gunnery Sergeant). Each Series consists of 1-4 platoons and each platoon is designated by a four digit number, such as, Platoon 1061 of Lead Series, Delta Company, 1st Recruit Training Battalion. Each platoon is assigned a team of Drill Instructors. The teams will normally consist of one Senior Drill Instructor, a Drill Instructor known affectionately as the "Strong J", and one or two junior Drill Instructors known as the "3rd Hat" and "4th Hat." (The term 'Hat' derives from the campaign hat worn by Marine Drill Instructors, also known as the 'Smokey'.) Within the platoons, recruits may also obtain billets of responsibility. The recruit who performs the best is often selected by the Drill Instructors (and changed seemingly whenever they want) to be the platoon "Guide." A platoon is further broken into three or four squads, each headed by a recruit squad leader. Some platoons break down squads into three or four recruit units called fire teams (mimicking the composition of a Marine Corps Rifle Platoon). In addition, there are several other billets that recruits may hold, often mimicking positions in Marine Corps Units such as Scribe (S-1), Whiskey Locker (Supply), Witch Doctor (Corpsman), etc.

A rivalry exists between each platoon, as well as each company, to excel in every aspect of training. Recruit training is broken down into four phases, the first phase is four weeks long, and is spent at MCRD, while the second phase is spent at Edson Range aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, where they spend three weeks training on the rifle range, qualifying with the rifle and engaging in field training. At the conclusion of the three weeks at Camp Pendleton, the recruits move back to MCRD San Diego for the next three weeks to complete third phase, and another week back at Edson Range for the 54-hour "culminating" event of boot camp called The Crucible. Upon completion of The Crucible, the recruits are now called Marines for the first time by their Drill Instructors and are given their Eagle, Globe, and Anchor (Marine Corps emblem). The final phase is a week long, is spent aboard MCRD San Diego and is called Marine Week; during this time the new Marines conduct final preparations leading up to Graduation.

While Boot Camp does include a lot of physical activity and improves the general physical fitness of the average person who completes it, getting in shape and becoming strong are not the main purposes of Boot Camp, as many would believe. The main purpose of recruit training is to instill the recruits with discipline and the "Corps Values" of honor, courage, and commitment.

One of the ways that discipline is instilled in recruits is called incentive training (IT). The Drill Instructors can take up to ten recruits at a time to the Quarterdeck and give them exercises to perform for extended periods of time. The Senior Drill instructor is the only one that can use IT on the entire platoon at once. There are rules that the Drill Instructors must follow for the safety of the recruits including the total length of time and the types of exercises that are done so that each muscle group is not over worked.

Tenant organizations and facilities:

In addition to recruit training, MCRD San Diego is also home to the Drill Instructors School for the Western Recruiting Region and the Recruiters School for the entire Marine Corps. Other facilities aboard MCRD contribute housing, medical, and morale welfare and recreation facilities for the large San Diego military community. The Depot is also home of the Marine Corps Band San Diego. The Coast Guard also has a presence onboard MCRD, with the Pacific Area Tactical Law Enforcement Team and the Maritime Safety and Security Team, a new anti-terrorism team homeported to protect local maritime assets. The base is also home to the MCRD San Diego Command Museum.

Possibility of closure:

Many politicians have pushed for the closure of MCRD San Diego, primarily because it occupies what is now extremely valuable land adjacent to the city's harbor and airport. Although the installation was not on the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure list proposed by the Pentagon, the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission asked the Pentagon for a written explanation as to why MCRD San Diego was not proposed to be closed and consolidated into MCRD Parris Island.

The Commission noted that the Navy and Air Force had successfully consolidated training facilities without risk to the mission or risk of loss of "surge capability" (the ability to quickly increase the rate of recruit training if circumstances make that necessary). They also noted that the military value of MCRD San Diego is lower than MCRD Parris Island due in part to encroachment and land constraints.

Closure meets heavy resistance from the Marine Corps, because of the status of the parade deck as a memorial to veterans of WWII, Korea, and Vietnam, and Iraq, as well as the cost of relocation of the Depot. In a July 14, 2005 public response to the Commission, Gordon R. England, the acting Deputy Secretary of Defense, the Pentagon noted that it had looked at that possibility, but did not recommend it because it would create a single point of failure, vulnerable to hurricanes among other threats. The Pentagon also noted that the payback on such a closure would take over 100 years due to the need for new construction at Parris Island and the need to relocate rather than eliminate personnel from San Diego.
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