Rct. Trakel Ward, Platoon 1073, Bravo Company, 1st

Rct. Trakel Ward, Platoon 1073, Bravo Company, 1st Recruit Training Battalion, practices a horizontal elbow strike during a martial arts training session Aug. 5, 2014, on Parris Island, S.C. The Marines Corps Martial Arts Program is designed to increase the warfighting capabilities of individual Marines and units, enhance Marines’ self-confidence and esprit de corps and foster the warrior ethos in all Marines. The program fuses hand-to-hand combat skills with character development, helping transform recruits into physically strong and morally sound Marines. Ward, 18, from Windsor, N.C., is scheduled to graduate Oct. 17, 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. Jennifer Schubert)