United States Marine Corps

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A combat engineer with Marine Wing Support Squadron 371 maneuvers through a close quarters combat firing exercise at the Western Barry M. Goldwater Range near Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Ariz., June 4.

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Staff Sgt. Christian Fuentes motivates recruits with Company F, 2nd Recruit Training Battalion, as he moves down the rows during the senior drill instructor inspection at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, Aug. 23, 2013. The purpose of the inspection is to provide drill instructors an opportunity to test recruits in multiple areas, to include their uniforms. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Benjamin E. Woodle)

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Three noncommissioned officers from Marine Barracks, Washington at 8th & I, perform during a Tuesday Sunset Parade at the Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington, Va., July 30, 2013. There are seven companies with various sections that comprise Marine Barracks Washington, the U.S. Marine Band, the U.S. Marine Drum & Bugle Corps, Guard Company, Company A, Company B, Headquarters & Service Company, and Marine Corps Institute Company. Â (Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Dan Hosack/Released)

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Sgt. Justin Glenn Burnside motivates a recruit with Echo Company, 2nd Recruit Training Battalion at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, S.C. Burnside, originally a signal intelligence specialist from Bristol Fla., is one of about 600 drill instructors who shape the approximately 20,000 recruits through Parris Island annually into United States Marines. This handful of dedicated DIs is entrusted with sustaining a more than 237-year legacy. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. David Bessey)

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Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 464 assists Marines of 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion conduct special purpose insertion and extraction training aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, N.C., March 13. Â (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Ryan Joyner)

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Old Corps/New Corps Sgt. Chesty XIII, official mascot of the U.S. Marine Corps, right, stares down his successor Recruit Chesty, left, during training at Marine Barracks Washington, D.C., March 20, 2013. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Dengrier Baez) Â

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Marines assigned to Battalion Landing Team, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, conduct a Marine Corps Martial Arts grappling session during a motivational run on Onslow Beach, N.C., March 4, 2013. BLT 3/2, the ground combat element of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, conducted the run to generate esprit de corps and enhance unit cohesion before embarking on their deployment this month. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Christopher Q. Stone)

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Marines with India Company, 3rd Recruit Training Battalion, Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, wait to march onto Peatross Parade Deck during a graduation ceremony aboard Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, S.C., April 13, 2012. The graduation ceremony consisted of five platoons from India Company. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Aneshea Yee)

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Marine Corps Military Free Fall Instructors assigned to Marine Detachment â€” Fort Bragg, release the ashes of Sgt. Brett Jaffe (1971-2012), a Marine rigger, above Phillips Drop Zone at Yuma Proving Grounds, Ariz., on July 26, 2012. "It was an honor and privilege to take this Marine on his last jump and give him a proper hail and farewell," said Staff Sgt. Marty Rhett.Marines in photo (clockwise, starting with the flag): Gunnery Sgt. Brian Boger, Gunnery Sgt. Mike Latham, Gunnery Sgt. Jimmy Smith, Staff Sgt. Lennie Castro, Staff Sgt. Seth Wright, Staff Sgt. Marty Rhett. (Marine Corps photo by Air Force Staff Sgt. Johnny Gunn)

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SgtMaj. Michael Barrett, 17th sergeant major of the Marine Corps, personally thanks every Montford Point Marine in attendance before a Congressional Gold Medal presentation ceremony at the historic parade grounds of Marine Barracks Washington June 28. In 1942, President Roosevelt established a presidential directive giving African Americans an opportunity to be recruited into the Marine Corps. Between 1942 and 1949 approximately 20,000 African American Marines received basic training at the segregated Montford Point instead of the traditional boot camps of Parris Island, S.C. and San Diego, Calif. These men fought for their country with honor and valor that are hallmarks of the Corps, but they were not treated as equals to their white counterparts at the time. Gen. James F. Amos, commandant of the Marine Corps, set out to begin to right this wrong when he invited the Montford Point Marines to the Barracks Aug. 26, 2011 to be the guests of honor at a Friday Evening Parade, bringing their story to the national forefront and starting a chain of events that lead to this historic day.

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Marine Infantry Officer Course (IOC) students await a CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter fast rope drill on the Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Ariz., Auxiliary Landing Field 2, Wednesday, August 18, 2014. The fast rope training instilled in these Marines the skills necessary to complete IOCâ€™s final exercise, Talon Reach IV. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. James Marchetti/Released)

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The Blue Angels, Marine Corps' C-130 Hercules, affectionately known as "Fat Albert," flies over the Silent Drill Platoon at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Ariz., March 4.

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Marines from Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island's rifle salute detail, perform a rifle salute at the funeral of Medal of Honor recipient John James McGinty III, on Jan. 23, 2014, at Beaufort National Cemetery in Beaufort, S.C. McGinty, a decorated Vietnam War hero and Parris Island veteran, died Jan. 17, 2014, at his home in Beaufort at the age of 73. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl.Caitlin Brink/Released)

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Marines Through the Ages Marines with Headquarters Battalion gather in a display of historical pageantry, after a dress rehearsal for the annual Marine Corps Base Hawaii at Dewey Square, Nov. 6, 2013. The uniforms replicate those worn in the periods ranging from the Revolutionary War to the current MARPAT utilities. Each of the uniforms highlights the evolution of the Marine Corps from past to present, showing we still carry the same values and traditions today as we did when it was born in Tun Tavern, Pa. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Matthew Bragg/Released)