The Young Marines program is not a recruiting tool for the armed services. It is not a residential program, a program for troubled youth, or a "scared straight" program; The program is for any youth aged 8 - 18. The program focuses on developing a youths' leadership and life skills so that regardless of what choices are made upon graduation from high school, he/she will have the tools be more successful. The longer a Young Marine stays in the program, the more rank can be earned - and more responsibility is given to him/her.

Young Marine Boot Camp is a series of meetings usually totaling about 26 hours of training. Young Marine subjects such as close order drill, individual and military courtesies, rank structure, discipline and citizenship are taught. This training instills a sense of pride and personal accomplishment. Upon successful completion of boot camp, the youth earn the distinguished title of Young Marine. At this time the Young Marines are eligible to wear the Young Marine uniform and begin to earn ribbons to wear on their uniforms and move up in the Young Marine ranks. The Young Marine boot camp does not resemble the U.S. Marine Corps' boot camp, nor does it instruct weapons or combat skills training.

Training varies from unit to unit. Many units participate in parades, community service, hiking, camping and other exciting activities. In addition to unit functions, the members of the Young Marine program are eligible to participate in a wide variety of schools, encampments, educational ad- ventures and challenges. Schools consist of Junior and Senior Leadership, Scuba, Ground Aviation and an Advanced Leadership Seminar. Educational adventures are designed with the younger child in mind, usually from ages 8-13. These adventures have rotating venues on a yearly basis usually with a historical emphasis In contrast, the older Young Marines participate in Challenges which consist of training in areas such as wilderness, survival and water-based activities. Young Marine encampments provide the opportunity for Young Marines of all ages within a region to gather together and train as a larger unit of up to 700 youth at one time.

In addition to classroom instruction at unit meetings, the Young Marines opens multiple new doors to its members. Each year, regional commanders from across the nation are asked for their recommendations for Young Marine of the Year. The 6 youth that are nominated for the award are granted $500 scholarships towards their college education. The member that is chosen as the Young Marine of the Year is awarded a $1,000 scholarship. In addition to the scholarship opportunities, Young Marines that earn the rank of Sergeant or above while in the Young Marine program and choose to pursue the U.S. Marine Corps as a career option are advanced to Private First Class upon successful completion of Marine Corps boot camp.

The Young Marines is the Marine Corps' official youth program for the Department of Defense Youth Drug Demand Reduction program. Young Marines make a pledge to be drug-free and work hard to encourage family, friends, and schoolmates to share in this commitment. The Drug Demand Reduction Ribbon award is awarded to any Young Marine who has displayed leadership, perseverance, visibility and courage in their community, and has either attended 8 prescribed drug reduction lectures or completed a school-based Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) course, given one civic/community presentation on drug demand reduction, and successfully displayed the ideals of a drug-free lifestyle in a newsletter, newspaper or other public media.

There are over 270 Young Marine units nationwide. Each unit is run by adult volunteers. Meeting places and schedules vary from unit to unit. This unit meets weekly for two hours every Thursday night from 6:00pm - 9:00pm at Joint Force Headquarters, 50 Maple St, Milford, MA. This unit also attends encampments on military posts. For encampments, the Young Marines meet at Headquarters and bus transportation is provided by the unit.

If you are familiar with a Young Marine unit in your local area, contact the unit Commanding Officer. Those without a local contact may call the Young Marine National Headquarters in Washington, DC at: 1-800-717-0060. You will be given the phone number of the unit closest to your local area. National Headquarters can also be contacted via email at: ymnathq@aol.com. The Commander for this unit is Mark Sabourin and can be reached at (774) 292-1575 or by email at: sabourinmd@aol.com

The cost for this program is $50.00 for registration, $15.00 a month for dues, and the cost of the complete uniform which is $250.00. The unit does not collect for the uniform fee until after the 3rd week of the program. This gives the parents and the child the opportunity to evaluate the program before a uniform is purchased. All dues and fund raising money is funneled back into the unit to purchase gear and resources for the Young Marines in the program. The cost is lower if more than one child per family is enrolled into the program.

There are many ways that you can help. First, you can volunteer your time to a local Young Marine unit. Adult volunteers are individually screened by the National Headquarters based on background information and recommendations provided with each person's registration. You can also make a difference by providing financial or "contributions-in-kind" to the program. You might consider sponsoring a Young Marine or a group of Young Marines through "boot camp", or sponsor a regional or national school or encampment. Another option is to donate goods or services to a local unit, or to the National Headquarters. At the local level, a sporting goods store could donate camping equipment, or an office supply store could donate copy paper. Donation of services may consist of an accounting firm assisting in maintenance of financial books or a service station offering the use of its parking lot for a car wash. At the national level, a corporate sponsor could donate food services for an encampment, travel services for units to travel to activities, or printing services for Young Marine manuals.