Staff Sgt. Savannah Pizano, a senior drill instructor with India Company, 3rd Recruit Training Battalion, participates in a battalion commander inspection at MCRD San Diego, Oct. 23, 2024. (Cpl ...

The Marine Corps, which until 2019 trained all female recruits in a single segregated battalion at Parris Island, South Carolina, will need to increase its female drill instructor population by 54 ...

Lt. Col. Mike O’Donnell, the battalion’s commander, said the event is meant to remind drill instructors of the arduous tasks they ask of trainees while serving as a refresher for their own skills.

Sgt. Ikea Kaufman, a drill instructor (DI) with 3rd Recruit Training Battalion, stands in front of the DI Monument at Marine Corps Recruit Depot (MCRD), San Diego, Dec. 16, 2020.

Sgt. Ikea Kaufman, a drill instructor (DI) with 3rd Recruit Training Battalion, stands in front of the DI Monument at Marine Corps Recruit Depot (MCRD), San Diego, Dec. 16, 2020.

Sgt. Ikea Kaufman, a drill instructor (DI) with 3rd Recruit Training Battalion, stands in front of the DI Monument at Marine Corps Recruit Depot (MCRD), San Diego, Dec. 16, 2020.

On Wednesday, Dec. 16, three women made Marine Corps history by becoming the first females to graduate from a gender-integrated drill instructor course at the 100-year-old Marine Corps Recruit Depo… ...