From staff reports
The deactivation ceremony for 4th Recruit Training Battalion will be held at 9 a.m., Thursday, June 15 aboard Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island at the Peatross Parade Field.
The event is free and open to the public.
Since 1949 and until recently, Parris Island has served as the sole point of entry into the Marine Corps for all enlisted female Marines. Since that time, female Marines have trained under multiple guidons, with 4th Recruit Training Battalion transforming Marines since 1986.
Male recruits began training within 4th Battalion in 2020. Today, recruit training standardization makes an all-female training battalion unnecessary, as all recruits have been training in gender-integrated companies since 2022.
The Marine Corps will realign personnel between the service’s two recruit training locations – MCRD Parris Island and MCRD San Diego. MCRD San Diego is scheduled to train approximately half of the female Marine population by fiscal year 2024.
“On 1 November 1986, 4th Recruit Training Battalion was established as the Corps’ only unit through which women could earn the title of U. S. Marine,” Brig. Gen. Walker M. Field, Commanding General of MCRD Parris Island and the Eastern Recruiting Region said in May. “Since then, those Marines have transformed thousands of young women, and since 2021 men, through rigorous basic training and our Corps’ cherished legacy, preparing them to win our nation’s battles. On 15 June 2023, we will bid farewell to 4th Battalion in a deactivation ceremony that concludes her glorious tenure, closing the final chapter of integrating recruit training. We are forever grateful to the Drill Instructors, staff, and legions of Marines who so proudly call 4th Battalion home.”
The Visitor’s Gate to the base will open at 7 a.m. and all vehicles will be subject to inspection. Marines and signage will direct all visitors to the Peatross Parade Field upon entry to the base.
The ceremony will begin at 9 a.m. and should last approximately one hour.
Following the conclusion of the ceremony, transportation from Peatross Parade Field will be provided for all guests who would like to tour 4th Recruit Training Battalion.
From 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., guests will have the opportunity to tour the barracks, participate in/observe a drill competition, and fellowship with current/former 4th Recruit Training Battalion staff.
For more information about this event, please contact Sgt. Kathryn Karamitros at 4thBN_DeactivationCeremony@usmc.mil or 843-228-2916.
