FRIDAY FOTO (July 2, 2021) UPDATE

The Marines are looking for a few good …

(U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sergeant Andrew Jones) Please click on the photo to enlarge the image.

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U.S. Marines with Platoon 3241, Lima Company, 3rd Recruit Training Battalion, stand in formation at Marine Corps Recruit Depot (MCRD), San Diego, on May 6, 2021.

This company of Marines was the first gender integrated company made at MCRD San Diego, previously female recruits were trained in female-only companies at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, South Carolina. The Marine Corps was the last U.S. armed service to cease training male and female recruits separately.

The Marine holding the red pennant is the guidon bearer, or guide. The Marine on the left in dress blues is the platoon honor graduate who will take possession the guidon near the end of the graduation and turn it over to one of the Lima Company drill instructors in a short ceremony before receiving her honor award from the battalion commander. One of the female drill instructors, sword in hand, is visible on the right.

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Updating this post to clarify that: While the Marine Corps has begun forming training companies with both all female and all male platoons, there are no gender-integrated platoons of recruits. This update also corrects that there are no male Marines in the photo of this graduating female platoon.