Recruits with Echo Company, 2nd Recruit Training Battalion,

Recruits with Echo Company, 2nd Recruit Training Battalion, perform vertical knee strikes during a Combat Conditioning Exercise at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, Feb. 6. One of the purposes of the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program is to teach recruits how to defeat the enemy using hand-to-hand combat. Annually, more than 17,000 males recruited from the Western Recruiting Region are trained at MCRD San Diego. Echo Company is scheduled to graduate April 12.