— Graduation guides · Marine Corps
Parris Island and San Diego run the same 13 weeks and the same Family Day and graduation rhythm. These are the questions families ask the week before, with what differs between the two depots. Checked against official sources in September 2026.
— Questions families ask
Recruits make one call the night they arrive to say they made it, then everything is by letter. The first letter home comes 7 to 9 days after arrival at Parris Island and within about two weeks at San Diego, and it carries the company and platoon number with the full mailing address. Do not guess the address from an older post; the platoon number changes every cycle. If a recruit is injured, dropped to another company or separated, they get one call to tell you, and if they cannot reach you the recruiter is called. For questions about contacting a recruit, the recruiter is the official contact. For a true family emergency, American Red Cross Emergency Communication Services at 877-272-7337 delivers the message. Source
No pre-registration or event pass at either depot. At Parris Island you show ID at the front gate and can stop at the Douglas Visitors' Center for help. At San Diego every visitor vehicle enters through Gate 5 on Washington Street, which opens at 6:30 a.m. on Family Day and graduation, and vehicles and people are searched. Drivers need a valid license, registration and proof of insurance at both. Plan for long gate lines; both depots warn that graduating companies and their guests are larger than they used to be. Source
Everyone 18 and older needs a REAL ID license or an approved alternative such as a current U.S. passport; San Diego asks for photo ID from everyone 16 and up. An expired passport is not accepted. If your license is not REAL ID, MCCS San Diego says bring a valid state photo ID plus one secondary document in the same name, such as an original birth certificate or Social Security card, with a marriage certificate if the name changed. Foreign nationals need a valid, unexpired passport plus proof they are in the U.S. legally, such as a visa or entry stamp. Source
Family Day is Thursday, graduation is Friday, both outdoors. Parris Island: Motivational Run at 7 a.m., Family Day Ceremony at 9:30 a.m. on the Peatross Parade Deck, then liberty; Friday, Morning Colors at 7:45 at Barrow Hall and graduation at 9 a.m. on the parade deck. San Diego: Motivational Run at 8:30 a.m., briefs in the Depot Theater, liberty until 5:30 p.m.; Friday, gate opens 6:30, optional Colors 7:30 to 8:30, be seated by 9:45, ceremony 10 to 11:30 on Shepherd Field. Trams run from 7 a.m. at Parris Island and you will walk a lot at both, so arrive early and wear comfortable shoes. Source
New Marines must stay on the depot during liberty. They can eat with you, shop at the Exchange, bowl, make personal calls and use the internet, and at Parris Island walk to the Yellow Footprints, the only time walking there is allowed. Off limits at both: the barracks and chow halls, obstacle courses, the Crucible area, housing, and anything barricaded. Firearms and fireworks are prohibited on the depot, and alcohol is banned in the San Diego picnic areas. Neither depot publishes a list of what a new Marine may keep, so ask at the Family Day brief before you hand anything over. Source
Parris Island families stay in Beaufort, South Carolina; MCCS's travel office at 843-228-3557 helps find a reputable hotel, and Inns of the Corps at MCAS Beaufort is about 8 miles from the depot. San Diego has the Marine Lodge on the depot itself, about 200 yards from the events, open to graduating families Wednesday to Saturday of graduation week only, at 619-524-4401, with Old Town, Point Loma and Mission Valley hotels a short drive to Gate 5. Both depots graduate almost every week, so book the day you get the date. Source
San Diego streams graduation only on its official YouTube channel, and recordings are posted on DVIDS; check facebook.com/mcrdsd the week of graduation for the link. Parris Island posts graduation video through its official Facebook page and MCCS's Parris Island Recruit Families page and streams when it can, and MCCS sells an official graduation DVD that ships 4 to 6 weeks later. Both are free to watch; anyone asking for a card number is not official. Source
About 13 weeks: roughly a week of receiving, then 12 weeks of training ending with the 54 hour Crucible, where recruits earn the Eagle, Globe and Anchor. Graduation is the Friday of week 13. Official class schedules with ship date, Crucible date and graduation date are posted by both depots, and the depot pages below list every published date. Source
At Parris Island, MCCS Recruit Photo still has platoon pictures going back decades even when the yearbook is gone: email sc.recruitphoto@usmc-mccs.org or call 843-228-1555 with your name, platoon number and graduation month and year. At San Diego the MCRD Museum Foundation holds platoon books from mid-1953 on: call 619-524-4426 or email marketing@mcrdmhs.org with your platoon number and year. Your own service record, which lists the platoon, is free from the National Personnel Records Center at vetrecs.archives.gov. Source
The night-one call is only to say they arrived. The first letter home, with the company and platoon number and full mailing address, comes 7 to 9 days after arrival at Parris Island and within about two weeks at San Diego. After that everything is by letter until liberty in week 13. If a recruit is injured or dropped to another company they get one call to tell you, and the platoon number in the address changes, so wait for the new letter before mailing. Source
San Diego posts recorded ceremonies on DVIDS and streams on its official YouTube channel, so both stay available afterward. Parris Island posts graduation video through its official Facebook page and MCCS's Parris Island Recruit Families page, and MCCS sells an official graduation DVD that ships 4 to 6 weeks later. Screen recordings shared in groups are unofficial. Source
Sandboxx is a paid third-party app that prints your letter and mails it to the depot; it is optional, and stamped mail to the address in the first letter works the same. Either way, do not mail until you have the letter with the platoon number, and do not send packages; recruits cannot receive anything but letters and photos, and MCCS asks families not to use the recruit's address for any order. Source
— By post
Every graduation photo becomes a numbered keepsake card, front and back, with the unit, the base and the date. You get a video and one page the whole family can open. Graduated a while ago? It is not too late.