MARINE CORPS RECRUIT DEPOT SAN DIEGO, Calif. -- More than 30 students, parents and teachers from Oliver Wendell Holmes Elementary School toured the depot, May 28, as part of a Partnership in Education program that supports student achievement and fosters community collaborations throughout the San Diego area.
The Partnership in Education Program builds upon its strong relationship with the San Diego community while providing positive role models that help keep students in school, off drugs, in shape and out of gangs, according to Col. Carl. F. Huenefeld, Chief of Staff, Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Sand Diego.
As part of that relationship, school officials and MCRD planners coordinated the five-hour visit, which began at 10 a.m. The first part of the tour took the students, along with their teachers and parental escorts, to witness the ceremonial graduation of recruits from Kilo Company, 3rd Recruit Training Battalion, Recruit Training Regiment.
During the graduation ceremony, some students seemed captivated by the precision movements and musical talents of Marine Band San Diego, but were even more surprised when the band let loose during a jazz session performing the jazz standard, “That’s a Plenty.”
After graduation, the group ate lunch by the MCRD boathouse and marina. There, the students were able to get out of the day’s hot sun and enjoy their lunch underneath a gazebo large enough to fit the entire class. They also had time to play a few rounds of basketball in an adjacent court. After lunch and a game of hoops, the group got a chance to visit the receiving center and step onto the famous yellow footprints.
While lined up in formation, the students stood where thousands of recruits have stood before. Here, Marine representatives answered many questions from why recruits get their heads shaved to how many chefs are in the Marine Corps. The students learned that recruits must undergo a week-long processing stage before actually starting recruit training.
The last stop for the day was an hour-long tour of the MCRD San Diego Command Museum where docents and student interns spent the rest of the afternoon helping students learn about patriotism, heroism, and Marine Corps history.