Rct. Mauricio Melendez Jr., Platoon 3008, India Company,

Rct. Mauricio Melendez Jr., Platoon 3008, India Company, 3rd Recruit Training Battalion, checks the rim of a culvert for simulated booby traps Jan. 24, 2014, while on a combat training course on Parris Island, S.C. This course is part of Basic Warrior Training and develops recruits’ newly learned combat skills such as tactical communication and movement. Held during the ninth week, Basic Warrior Training introduces recruits to basic field-related skills all Marines must know. The basic combat training recruits receive while on Parris Island will be broadened after boot camp at advanced training in Camp Lejeune, N.C. Melendez, 19, from Whittier, Calif., is scheduled to graduate Feb. 14, 2014. Parris Island has been the site of Marine Corps recruit training since Nov. 1, 1915. Today, approximately 20,000 recruits come to Parris Island annually for the chance to become United States Marines by enduring 13 weeks of rigorous, transformative training. Parris Island is home to entry-level enlisted training for 50 percent of males and 100 percent of females in the Marine Corps. (Photo by Cpl. Caitlin Brink)