3rd Recruit Training Battalion at Parris Island MCRD Patch

The two swords crossed on this patch are the two a Marine can carry, the Mameluke sword of an officer and the NCO sword of the sergeant, and the campaign cover under them belongs to the drill instructor who starts a recruit down the road to either one. That is the whole idea of Third Battalion in one picture. Recruits who arrive at Parris Island with nothing leave as Marines who may someday wear one of those swords. The red scroll between them reads SPIRIT and DISCIPLINE, the two things the battalion runs on. Anyone who earned the Eagle, Globe and Anchor on Third Battalion's parade deck has looked up at a campaign cover from about four inches away.

Parris Island has been making Marines since 1915, and the 3rd Recruit Training Battalion was first formed there on 7 August 1940, as the depot geared up for World War II. It was deactivated on 18 June 1947, trained draftees from August 1948 to January 1949, and in February 1949 was reactivated to train women Marines exclusively. On 7 May 1954 the women's mission went to a separate Woman Recruit Training Battalion, later the 4th Recruit Training Battalion, and the male recruits and drill instructors carried the Third Battalion name forward. After more stops and starts the battalion was permanently re-established in 1958, and it worked from its Wake Boulevard area for decades before moving to a new complex with its own parade deck and physical training field in June 2011. Quebec Company was stood up from 2007 to 2009 to help train an additional 28,000 Marines, and today India, Kilo, Lima, Mike and November Companies each average six platoons of 60 to 80 recruits.

The patch is shaped like a pointed arch, 3.25 inches wide by 4 inches tall, trimmed with a cut edge that follows the outline and finished with an iron-on backing. A silver-gray outer band with a black rim spells out THIRD RECRUIT TRAINING BATTALION, PARRIS ISLAND and MCRD, separated by black dots. Inside, a blue field carries a big white numeral 3 over the crossed swords, the Mameluke on the left with its white grip and gold cross hilt and the NCO sword on the right with its brass hand guard. The red SPIRIT DISCIPLINE scroll runs behind the blades. At the base sits the olive drab campaign cover with its gold strap, set on a green line like the brim catching the light on the parade deck.

Every Marine remembers his battalion at the depot, and the men and women of Third Battalion remember theirs by the sand fleas, the squad bays, the Crucible and the drill instructors whose voices still show up in their heads decades later. Third Battalion has trained men and women both, and its own history follows the Corps through World War II, Korea, Vietnam and every year since. Platoon numbers, senior drill instructors' names and the day the cover came off are details no Marine forgets. Families who stood on the reviewing stands at graduation remember the battalion too. It is the place where the transformation actually happens.

Put it in a shadow box with a graduation photo, a platoon book and the first set of dress blues ribbons, or sew it to the vest worn to Marine Corps Birthday Balls and platoon reunions. It also makes a good gift for a new Marine fresh off the parade deck, or for the parents who watched him or her march past on Family Day. Third Battalion stays with a Marine for life.