With the founding of the Corps in 1775, the first recruiting drive was held at Tun Tavern in Philadelphia. At the time, the recruiting of volunteers was the responsibility of the various barracks commanders scattered throughout the United States to guard naval installations and man ships. Recruiting posters through to the American Civil War promised prospective recruits of bounties and prizes for service at sea. After the end of the draft in the United States in 1972, recruiters had to shift from merely processing recruits to actively seeking and encouraging them to join an all-volunteer force. Because there are Marine installations in relatively few states, Marine recruiters are typically the public face of the Corps, seen most commonly by the civilian population.
Recruiting
Recruiters serve as the entry into the Corps through a variety of means. While the majority of accessions are enlisted, those who qualify can attempt to earn a commission and become an officer. All potential recruits are screened by recruiters for physical standards and fitness, adequate education, lack of significant civil convictions, lack of significant drug use, and other qualifiers. The Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery is administered to determine qualifications for a job field. Enlisted Marines who qualify and successfully process through a Military Entrance Processing Station can ship to recruit training. Recruits from the 1st, 4th, and 6th Marine Corps Districts will attend Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, while males from the 8th, 9th, and 12th will attend Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego. All enlisted females attend recruit training at Parris Island, regardless of district. Officers can be sourced from several veins: Officer Selection by Recruiting Stations, Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps, and enlisted commissioning. The vast majority will train at Officer Candidates School, but some will attend the Naval Academy instead.
Structure
For the purposes of recruiting Marines, the United States is divided into two regions. The Eastern Recruiting Region mostly covers districts east of the Mississippi River. The Western Recruiting Region predominately covers districts west of the Mississippi. The two regions are divided into three districts each, each comprising several states. These are subdivided into Recruiting Stations located in large metropolitan areas, with smaller Recruiting Sub-Stations covering smaller cities and rural areas. Some Recruiting Sub-Stations have even smaller satellite offices called Permanent Contact Stations often manned by a single Recruiter. The Marine Corps Recruiting Command has approximately 3,000 recruiters operating out of 48 Recruiting Stations, 574 Recruiting Sub-Stations, and 71 Officer Selection Sites across the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and Guam.
1st Marine Corps District
The 1st Marine Corps District covers the northeast United States, including New England. It is the only District within the Marine Corps Recruiting Command to command an installation. It has the following Recruiting Stations:
The 4th Marine Corps District covers the Rust Belt and some of the South Atlantic States, and is headquartered in New Cumberland, Pennsylvania, the only district to have a headquarters located outside of its jurisdiction. It has the following Recruiting Stations:
The 12th Marine Corps District covers much of the Western United States, Alaska, Hawaii, and Pacific territories, and is headquartered at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego. It has the following Recruiting Stations:
