Shipping to Boot
Saying Your Goodbyes
After all of the preparation, it's finally time to head to MCRD Parris Island or San Diego
Your recruiters will arrange for travel to your Depot by air or bus. No matter how you get to there, every Marine arrives on the Depot on a Bus for check-in to the Recruit Depot.
Shipper Sunday
Most Poolees ship on a Sunday, although some will depart on a Monday. Shipping involves all the poolees arriving at the Recruiting Station (RS) with their families and friends to say their goodbyes and link up with all the other shippers.
From the RS, a recruiter will put them up in a hotel and issue out travel itineraries. From the hotel, Shippers will arrive via bus or airplane to either San Diego Airport or Savannah Airport (occasionally Charleston Airport). From these locations, the soon-to-be recruits will find dozens of other enlistees waiting for the bus to the Depot.
They will take the bus to the depot and begin their recruit training, ready to emerge as Marines 13 weeks later.