Rct. Oscar Kuria, Platoon 2008, Echo Company, 2nd Recruit

Rct. Oscar Kuria, Platoon 2008, Echo Company, 2nd Recruit Training Battalion, practices a bayonet technique during a Marine Corps martial arts session Nov. 14, 2013, on Parris Island, S.C. Recruits learn various martial arts techniques from the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program during the first four weeks of boot camp. The techniques recruits learn on Parris Island develop their fighting skills and facilitate their growth into the Corps' next generation of honorable warriors. Kuria, an 18-year-old Atlanta native, is scheduled to graduate Jan. 31, 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. Octavia Davis)