OtherUS Marine Corps Recruit Depot Norfolk VA
Cachets should be listed in chronological order based on earliest known usage. Use the postmark date or best guess. This applies to add-on cachets as well.
HISTORICAL NOTE
In 1911, Commandant William P. Biddle standardized a mandatory two-month recruit training schedule (including drill, physical exercise, personal combat and intensive marksmanship qualification with the M1903 Springfield rifle) and set up four depots at Philadelphia, Norfolk, Puget Sound and Mare Island. In 1915, the Norfolk depot was shifted to its current location at Parris Island SC, while the Philadelphia and Puget Sound depots were closed and merged with the two remaining depots. As the United States entered World War I, the number of recruits being trained surged from 835 at any given time to a peak of 13,286, while follow-on training was provided at Quantico and in France. During the summer of 1923, the West Coast recruit depot was moved from Mare Island to its current location in San Diego CA, and the training program was modified to include three weeks of basic indoctrination and three weeks on the rifle range; the final two weeks were occupied in bayonet drill, guard duty, drill and ceremonies.
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1913-12-26 |
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Opened 1911 - Closed October 1915 |
From the Greg Ciesielski collection.
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