Rct. Rikki Dominey, Platoon 4016, November Company,

Rct. Rikki Dominey, Platoon 4016, November Company, 1st Recruit Training Battalion, puts on a flak vest before a pugil stick bout March 20, 2014, on Parris Island, S.C. The recruits wore mouth guards, flak vests and helmets to protect from the blows of their opponent’s pugil stick, a large padded baton that represents a rifle with an affixed bayonet. Dominey, a 23-year-old from Odessa, Texas, and her fellow recruits used the rifle and bayonet techniques they learned earlier in training. November Company is scheduled to graduate May 23, 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)