Marine Corps Recruiting Command The Marine Corps Recruiting Command is a command of the United States Marine Corps responsible for military recruitment of civilians into the Corps . In addition to finding volunteers to join , it is also responsible for preparing them for United States Marine Corps Recruit Training , Officer Candidates School , or the United States Naval Academy . History . With the founding of the Corps in 1775 , the first recruiting drive was held at Tun Tavern in Philadelphia . At the time , the recruiting of volunteers was the responsibility of the various barracks commanders scattered throughout the United States to guard naval installations and man ships . Recruiting posters through to the American Civil War promised prospective recruits of bounties and prizes for service at sea . After the end of the draft in the United States in 1972 , recruiters had to shift from merely processing recruits to actively seeking and encouraging them to join an all - volunteer force . Because there are Marine installations in relatively few states , Marine recruiters are typically the public face of the Corps , seen most commonly by the civilian population . Recruiting . Recruiters serve as the entry into the Corps through a variety of means . While the majority of accessions are enlisted , those who qualify can attempt to earn a commission and become an officer . All potential recruits are screened by recruiters for physical standards and fitness , adequate education ( a high school diploma or equivalent , such as a GED for enlisted , and a bachelor ' s degree for officers ) , lack of significant civil conviction s , lack of significant drug use , and other qualifiers . The Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery is administered to determine qualifications for a job field ( known as a Military Occupational Specialty ) . Enlisted Marines who qualify and successfully process through a Military Entrance Processing Station can ship to recruit training . Recruits from the 1st , 4th , and 6th Marine Corps Districts will attend Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island , while males from the 8th , 9th , and 12th will attend Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego . All enlisted females attend recruit training at Parris Island , regardless of district . Officers can be sourced from several veins : Officer Selection by Recruiting Stations , Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps , and enlisted commissioning . The vast majority will train at Officer Candidates School , but some will attend the Naval Academy instead . Structure . For the purposes of recruiting Marines , the United States is divided into two regions . The Eastern Recruiting Region mostly covers districts east of the Mississippi River . The Western Recruiting Region predominately covers districts west of the Mississippi . The two regions are divided into three districts each , each comprising several states . These are subdivided into Recruiting Stations ( RS ) located in large metropolitan areas , with smaller Recruiting Sub - Stations ( RSS ) covering smaller cities and rural areas . Some Recruiting Sub - Stations ( RSS ) have even smaller satellite offices called Permanent Contact Stations ( PCS ) often manned by a single Recruiter . The Marine Corps Recruiting Command has approximately 3 , 000 recruiters operating out of 48 Recruiting Stations , 574 Recruiting Sub - Stations , and 71 Officer Selection Sites across the continental United States , Alaska , Hawaii , Puerto Rico and Guam . 1st Marine Corps District . The 1st Marine Corps District covers the northeast United States , including New England . It has the following Recruiting Stations : 4th Marine Corps District . The 4th Marine Corps District covers the Rust Belt and some of the South Atlantic States , and is headquartered in New Cumberland , Pennsylvania , the only district to have a headquarters located outside of its jurisdiction . It has the following Recruiting Stations : 6th Marine Corps District . The 6th Marine Corps District covers Southeastern United States ( mostly the Deep South ) , as well as Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands . It is headquartered at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island , in South Carolina . It has the following Recruiting Stations : 8th Marine Corps District . The 8th Marine Corps District covers the southern half of Central United States and southern Mountain States , and is headquartered at NAS Fort Worth JRB on the west side of Fort Worth , Texas . It has the following Recruiting Stations : 9th Marine Corps District . The 9th Marine Corps District covers the majority of the Midwestern United States . and is headquartered in Kansas City . It has the following Recruiting Stations : 12th Marine Corps District . The 12th Marine Corps District covers much of the Western United States , Alaska , Hawaii , and Pacific territories , and is headquartered at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego . It has the following Recruiting Stations :