Photo Gallery: Marine recruits practice bayonet techniques during pugil stick training

Photo By Cpl. MaryAnn Hill | Rct. Dakota Mertens, Platoon 1076, Alpha Company, 1st Recruit Training Battalion, strikes a winning blow against Rct. William Mcleod, Platoon 1078, during pugil stick training July 29, 2013, on Parris Island, S.C. Recruits such as Mertens, a 19-year-old native of Hattiesburg, Miss., and Mcleod, a 19-year-old native of Jacksonville, Fla., wear helmets, gloves, flak jackets and groin protectors to prevent injuries during the bout. Bayonet training is part of the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program, which combines hand-to-hand combat skills with mental discipline and character development to help transform recruits into honorable warriors. Alpha Company is scheduled to graduate Oct. 11, 2013. 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 for females in the Marine Corps. (Photo by Lance Cpl. MaryAnn Hill)  

PARRIS ISLAND, SOUTH CAROLINA, UNITED STATES

08.06.2013

Story by Lance Cpl. MaryAnn Hill 

Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island           

PARRIS ISLAND, S.C. - Recruits of Alpha Company, 1st Recruit Training Battalion, honed their bayonet techniques as they battled each other during pugil stick training July 29, 2013, on Parris Island, S.C.

Recruits train with pugil sticks, which represent rifles with attached bayonets, to simulate a close encounter with an enemy. Bayonet training is part of the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program, which combines hand-to-hand combat skills with mental discipline and character development to help transform recruits into physically and morally sound warriors. Alpha Company is scheduled to graduate Oct. 11, 2013.

• Date Taken: 08.06.2013
• Date Posted: 08.06.2013 16:52
• Story ID: 111458
• Location: PARRIS ISLAND, SOUTH CAROLINA, US
• Hometown: BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, US
• Hometown: HATTIESBURG, MISSISSIPPI, US
• Hometown: JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA, US
• Hometown: LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS, US
• Hometown: OWENSBORO, KENTUCKY, US
• Hometown: QUEENS, NEW YORK, US
• Hometown: WYNANTSKILL, NEW YORK, US