Rct. Ethan Mawhinney, Platoon 1041, Bravo Company,

Rct. Ethan Mawhinney, Platoon 1041, Bravo Company, 1st Recruit Training Battalion, jumps from a bar on an obstacle course May 14, 2014, on Parris Island, S.C. Recruits pull themselves up and over a series of logs and bars that make up the course. This training is designed to improve recruits’ strength and stamina to meet the tough physical fitness standards of the Marine Corps. Mawhinney, a 19-year-old from Pittsburgh, is scheduled to graduate June 20, 2014. Parris Island has been the site of Marine Corps recruit training since Nov. 1, 1915. Today, approximately 20,000 recruits come to Parris Island annually for the chance to become United States Marines by enduring 13 weeks of rigorous, transformative training. Parris Island is home to entry-level enlisted training for 50 percent of males and 100 percent of females in the Marine Corps. (Photo by Cpl. Octavia Davis)