The National Museum of the Marine Corps and Heritage Center: Boot Camp Experience

Friday, May 16, 2008



Overview • Construction Photos • Take a Tour • Boot Camp Experience • Fast Track • Era Galleries • Exhibit Master Plan

BOOT CAMP EXPERIENCE

From the moment you enter the Central Gallery, you will understand that the facility is devoted to the experience of serving in the Corps.

After viewing a short introductory film about the Corps and its history, you will find yourself in a replica of a recruiting station. You will board a bus with television screens windows transmitting real Marines recounting their feelings on the verge of Boot Camp.

As you step down from the bus, you will findyourself standing astride the famed "yellow footprints," familiar to all who ever went through boot camp. Suddenly, you will hear the dreaded roar of a drill instructor issuing the first of many instructions and commands to come! Other key aspects of the boot camp experience are recreated faithfully and with delight.

As you go through the boot camp experience, you will better comprehend the process by which disaparate American youngsters are transformed into self-disciplined, courageous, cohesive comrades-in-arms forever woven into the historic fabric of the Marine Corps. You will better appreciate how this heroic culture and its values have helped to carve into the heart of every Marine the beloved motto:

Always Faithful, "Semper Fidelis"