Pre-Boot-Camp Quarantine Leads New Marine Corps Training Rules

Olive-green face masks are helping to keep Marine Corps recruits from contracting the coronavirus, but quarantines, social distancing, and limited housing have reduced throughput, the Marine Corps said Tuesday.

“We know we will be short,” Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Bill Mullen, the commanding general of training and education command, said at a Pentagon press briefing.

Mullen said that mandatory two-week quarantines at home before they arrive, followed by an additional 14-day restriction of movement upon arrival, COVID-19 testing, social distancing, and mask wearing have all helped to limit the spread of the coronavirus at Marine Corps training facilities in San Diego and Parris Island.

“So far, it’s been working because for the recruits that are showing up, we’re having very, very few test positive,” he said.

Fewer than 500 cases have appeared in the more than 30,000 Marines who have trained this year, Mullen said.

“Of those cases, the majority had no symptoms whatsoever,” Mullen added.

Nonetheless, training has been limited in order to maintain social distancing, especially in barracks.

“The reduced shipping is because of a squad bay capacity, and right now, it’s different on each coast,” Mullen explained.

The Marine Corps recruit depot in San Diego is limited to 325 recruits per company, and Parris Island is limited to 454 men and 120 women due to the different barracks styles, he said.

The Marines have also canceled 10-day leave that follows graduation and limited personnel in high-congestion areas, including mess halls, chapels, physical fitness areas, and classrooms.

No training standards or requirements have been reduced, and recruits must still take and pass the physical fitness test. Active-duty Marines have been waived from that requirement this year.

In March, two Marines working at Parris Island tested positive, and the training facility temporarily halted the intake of new recruits.

Mullen said that new quarantine and isolation practices in place are creating a “protective bubble” that is working, even if it means fewer new Marines at the ready.

The Marine Corps has also suspended shipping Marine recruits from hot spot areas.

“We made the decision that we would not ship from states that got really, really bad that were obviously red with regards to CDC guidelines,” said Mullen. “If we are having a problem from a specific area, we will take a week or two off from shipping to that location.”

Navy training numbers steady but costs rising

At the Naval Service Training Command in Great Lakes, Illinois, coronavirus protocols have not affected throughput, but the costs of maintaining off-base housing have spiked.

“We’ve sent over 8,100 new sailors to the fleet, and we believe we are on track to meet the Navy’s accession goal of 40,800 sailors,” said Navy Rear Adm. Jamie Sands, commander of Naval Service Training.

Naval Officer Training Command in Newport, Rhode Island, has also continued educating new officers unabated during the pandemic, said Sands.

Like Marine recruits, new sailors are asked to complete a 14-day restriction of movement at home and then complete another off-site restriction of movement once they arrive in Chicago.

“The most expensive part of this for us is paying for our off-site [restriction of movement] facilities,” said Sands. “We’re looking now, actively, and having some success in changing our methodology to reduce our expenses over the long term.”

Both the Marines and the Navy training facilities have used COVID-19 supplemental funding to pay for the additional costs, which they could not quantify Tuesday.

Both services also declined to discuss specific coronavirus numbers at their facilities.

As of Wednesday morning, overall coronavirus cases in the Marine Corps stood at 1,600 and at 4,373 in the Navy.

The Navy said it maximizes quarantine time with virtual learning but still relies on hands-on training.

“Think iPads in the rooms where we can push the lessons to the recruits and really maximize the use of that time,” said Sands.

“The majority of our training that we do in the Navy’s boot camp is really hands-on,” he added. “We do reps and sets. We repeat things over and over again to build muscle memory, and it’s that that really enables the proficiency of these basically trained sailors as they head to the fleet.”

by Abraham Mahshie