Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island ( often abbreviated as MCRD PI ) is an military installation located within Port Royal , South Carolina , approximately south of Beaufort , the community that is typically associated with the installation . MCRD Parris Island is used for the training of enlisted Marines . Male recruit s living east of the Mississippi River and female recruits from all over the United States report here to receive their initial training . Male recruits living west of the Mississippi River receive their training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego , California , but may train at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island by special request . Initial settlements . A French Huguenot expedition , led by Jean Ribault in 1562 , was the first European group to attempt to colonize Parris Island . Earlier Spanish expeditions had sighted the area , and named it " Punta de Santa Elena " , which now remains one of the oldest continuously used European place names in the United States . The French expedition built an outpost named Charlesfort , and Ribault left a small garrison as he returned to France for colonists and supplies . After a long absence , due to Ribault ' s delay from wars in Europe , Charlesfort was abandoned after the garrison mutinied , built a ship on the island , and sailed back to France in April 1563 . In 1566 the Spanish , led by Pedro Menéndez de Avilés founded a settlement named Santa Elena which became the capital of La Florida for the next decade . Spain finally abandoned Santa Elena in 1587 . England took control of the region by the 17th century , and Parris Island became home to British plantations after being purchased by Colonel Alexander Parris , treasurer of the South Carolina colony , in 1715 . From the 1720s to the Civil War , the island was divided into a number of plantations , initially growing indigo , then later cotton . During and after the Civil War , the island became home to freed slaves , and was a site of freedmen schools taught by abolitionists such as Frances Gage and Clara Barton . Union forces captured Port Royal Sound in 1861 , and Parris Island became a coaling station for the Navy . This function was taken up again after the war , thanks in large part to the former slave turned Congressman Robert Smalls , who fought for the creation of a new federal military installation on the island . Military use . Marines were first stationed on Parris Island in 1891 , in the form of a small security detachment headed by First Sergeant Richard Donovan . His unit was attached to the Naval Station , Port Royal , the forerunner of Parris Island . Donovan ' s unit was highly commended for preserving life and property during hurricanes and tidal waves that swept over the island in 1891 and 1893 . Military buildings and homes constructed between 1891 and World War I form the nucleus of the Parris Island Historic District . At the district center are the commanding general ' s home , a 19th - century wooden dry dock and a start of the 20th century gazebo — all of which are on the National Register of Historic Places . On November 1 , 1915 , Parris Island was officially designated a Marine Corps Recruit Depot and training was continued from then on . Prior to 1929 , a ferry provided all transportation to and from the island from Port Royal docks to the Recruit Depot docks . In that year the causeway and a bridge over Archer ' s Creek were completed , thus ending the water transportation era . The causeway was dedicated as the General E . A . Pollock Memorial Causeway in April 1984 . During the fateful December 1941 , 5 , 272 recruits arrived there with 9 , 206 arriving the following month , making it necessary to add the 5th , 6th , 7th and 8th Recruit Training Battalions . As the war influx continued , five battalions were sent to New River , North Carolina , to train , and the Depot expanded to 13 battalions . From 1941 through 1945 , the Marines trained 204 , 509 recruits here and at the time of the Japanese surrender , the Depot contained more than 20 , 000 recruits . On February 15 , 1949 , the Marines activated a separate " command " for the sole purpose of training female recruits . Later , this command was designated the 4th Recruit Training Battalion and it now serves as the only battalion in the Corps for training female recruits , and is the only all - female unit in the Department of Defense . The Korean War began in 1950 when 2 , 350 recruits were in training . From then until the 1st Marine Division withdrew from Korea , Parris Island drill instructor s trained more than 138 , 000 recruits . During March 1952 , the training load peaked at 24 , 424 recruits . The recruit tide again flooded during the years of the Vietnam War , reaching a peak training load of 10 , 979 during March 1966 . On the night of April 8 , 1956 , the Ribbon Creek incident resulted in the drowning of six recruits , and led to widespread changes in recruit training policies . Supervision of drill instructors was expanded , such as the introduction of the Series Commander . On October 11 , 2002 , the Town of Port Royal annexed the entire island , although most visitors still associate the installation with Beaufort , a larger community five miles to the north . Recruit training . Today , the Marines train about 17 , 000 recruits at Parris Island each year . Recruit training for those enlisted in the United States Marine Corps includes a thirteen - week process during which the recruit becomes cut off from the civilian world and must adapt to a Marine Corps lifestyle . During training , the drill instructors train recruits in a wide variety of subjects including weapons training , Marine Corps Martial Arts Program , personal hygiene and cleanliness , close order drill , and Marine Corps history . The training emphasizes physical fitness and combat effectiveness . Recruits must attain a minimum standard of fitness to graduate . This standard includes a Physical Fitness Test and a Combat Fitness Test . Recruits must also meet minimum combat - oriented swimming qualifications , qualify in rifle marksmanship with the M16A4 service rifle , pass minimum curriculum standards and complete a 54 - hour simulated combat exercise known as " The Crucible " . The episode of JAG called " Boot " was set at MCRD