The year 1970 began with a continuation of the major construction projects that had begun in 1967 as the third of the five new recruit barracks received its first occupants. Ground breaking ceremony for the last two barracks occurred on 27 January 1971 with completion and subsequent occupation on January 1972(1). Additional barracks had not been authorized or funded for after the initial five. Subsequent planners did see a need for at least one more. Any further barracks construction would have to wait until facility planners had developed appropriate plans and when authorization for such a project could be obtained.

With the completion of the new barracks, the Marine Corps Recruit Depot had no use for the several hundred quonset huts formerly utilized for recruit billeting. Declared excess in 1970, the Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Western Division, at San Bruno, California, arranged for disposition of the excess huts. The majority of these huts had been disposed of by June 1974 to such diverse agencies as the U. S. Forestry Service, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the Fort Apache Agency in Arizona for use as schoolrooms, storehouses, and living quarters(2). Planning had already begun for use of the former hut areas for expansion of the area utilized for the conduct of recruit physical fitness training.

Adjacent to the football and baseball field, the Depot bowling alley had been constructed in 1945. Considered unsafe and outdated, construction on a new bowling alley began in December 1971. Constructed at a cost of $820,000, "Leatherneck Lanes" officially opened on 15 January 1972, when the Commanding General, Major-General John N. McLaughlin, rolled the first ball(3). Quite unexpectedly, the old bowling alley, now closed, caught fire and burned to the ground. Completely destroyed by the fire, the burnt out shell remained undisturbed until demolished in 1973. The new bowling alley has been constructed near the permanent personnel billeting areas and has become a popular recreation center for Depot personnel.

As the Marine Corps Recruit Depot developed over the years, the dental requirements of base personnel had been accomplished in the original facilities built prior to World War II. Finally, the need for new and better dental equipment, plus an increase in the population of both recruits and permanent personnel, pointed out the need for a new facility. In March 1972, contract signing for the construction of a new dental clinic occurred with construction work beginning in May 1972. Completed on 2 September 1973, the new clinic is categorized by the Naval Dentists assigned to duty at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot as one of the most modern in the system. Built at a cost of $1,081,220 and with $600,000 worth of dental equipment, the facility has 45 dental operating rooms, a prosthetic laboratory, 40 oral hygiene stations for preventive dentistry training, and administrative offices. Staffed by 34 dental officers, 58 dental technicians, and 3 civilians, the new clinic stands as a vast improvement over the old wooden building clinics it replaced(4). The construction contract called for demolition and clearins of the old dental buildings and for landscaping of the ground upon which they had occupied. Located adjacent to the depot industrial area, this project enhanced the beauty of the area in which the clinic is located. The acceptance of the dental clinic from the builder in 1973 marked the last of the major construction at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot(5).

In 1973 the last major facility project contracted for at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot involved the resurfacing of the parade deck. The combinations of weather, endlessly marching recruits, and subtle shifts of the landfill necessitated occasional restoration efforts over the years. The Naval Facility, Western Division, opened bids in June, 1973 and work began in July. This time, however, an asphaltic curbing would be laid around the entire parade deck to prevent vehicular movement upon the new surface. The curbing provided for a reduction of actual parade area and, at the same time, an increase in automobile parking area for Depot personnel. The entire project cost $229,312 and the Naval Public Works Engineers accepted the completed project on 13 November 1973(6).

While major modifications of the recruit Depot's topography took place via construction, significant organizational and tenant changes also occurred. Three new tenant organizations arrived at the base and the technique of accomplishing recruit training underwent a rather significant revision.

On 13 May 1971, Headquarters Marine Corps began a study for the establishment of a Recruiters School at San Diego. The initial concept did not involve a permanent school but, rather, a temporary supplement to the Marine Corps Recruiters School at Parris Island, South Carolina. This plan received a change, however, when on 8 June 1971, Marine Corps Headquarters introduced the concept of permanently moving the Recruiters School to the west coast. After studying the possible gains from such a move, the Commandant of the Marine Corps directed the accomplishment of the plan. On 14 September 1941, the Commandant directed the establishment of a Recruiters School at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, commencing 2 November 1971(7). Plans called for six classes of 160 students each year and the facilities required would be provided from present assets. The move has proven to be a popular one for both the staff and the students as the enjoyment of winter in San Diego replaced the Parris Island snows and blistering summers. With graduation of Class 6-74 on 21 June 1974, over 1,751 recruiters have completed their preparation for recruiting duty at the San Diego School.

Marine forces assigned to the war in Vietnam withdrew from that war during the 1969-1972 period. One of the very last Marine units to depart the combat zone, the 1st Anglico Company, (Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company) Fleet Marine Force, Pacific, returned to the continental limits in 1971. Trained to provide liaison assistance to U. S. Army and friendly nation combat divisiona, the reduction in U. S. military aid to Vietnam permitted Anglico's return home. Marine planners, in searching for a suit- able site upon which to home base the unit, chose the San Diego base. On 15 May 1971, the first elements arrived to set up housekeeping for the first Fleet Marine Force tactical unit to return to the San Diego Marine Base since the establishment of Camp Elliott in 1942. As with the other new tenants to the base, no additional construction had been authorized to accomplish the relocation(8). Again, needed facilities came from already crowded assets.

In April 1970, the Marine Corps began a Human Relations Research Project in conjunction with the American Institute for Research (AIR). The purpose of the project aimed at determining methods and conditions for improving relations between Marines. Specifically the project sought to develop and test a guided, integrated, oriented, educational, and individual action program designed to improve attitudes among Marines. To accomplish this, an instructor training course came into being at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot to train Human Relations specialists. The first class of 90 students convened in September 1971 and ran for three months. While the first class progressed, the Commandant of the Marine Corps made the decision that a permanent training course would be developed to provide a pipeline for new specialists and to provide refresher training for existing specialists. To accomplish this training requirement, the establishment of the Marine Corps Human Relations Institute occurred at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, with opening ceremonies on 18 January 1972 (10). The Institute provided excellent instruction for students as well as serving as an overall focal point for the supervision and assistance of the entire Human Relations Program of the Marine Corps. On 19 July 1974, the disbandment of the Human Relations Institute occurred in San Diego and its function transferred to the Marine Corps Education Center in Quantico, Virginia. As in the case of the other new units arriving at Marine Corps Recruit Depot since 1970, no new construction or major developmental actions had occurred. In spite of the short life of the Human Relations Institute, it had been an active and innovative tenant in San Diego.

The conduct of recruit training has gone through several evolutions since August 1923. The specific manpower and skill needs for combat in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam had each brought about changes in either instructional content, length of training time, or both. Recruit training is not designed to transform an awkward, undisciplined civilian into a totally prepared, aggressive, combat ready Marine. Instead, the training serves to provide indoctrination in the fundamentals of military life, to instill pride and self-confidence, and give the recruit the basic skills needed by every Marine. At the close of World War II, the Marine Corps had an eigh-t-week recruit training cycle. On 15 February 1947, the relaxation of emergency troop requirements permitted the introduction of a ten-week course of instruction. The Korean War brought about the return of the eight-week schedule on 1 September 1950 and the start of further basic infantry training at the Training and Replacement Center at Camp Pendleton, California(11). In June 1951, Congress, aroused by stories of untrained troops sent into combat in Korea, passed a law designed to insure that all draftees would receive proper training before being ordered over- seas. In its final form, Public Law 51 directed that no serviceman, whether enlisted, inducted, or appointed could be assigned overseas until he had completed four months of service. This law still governs overseas assignments of the new Marines. In 1952, the Marine Corps planned to modify the infantry training system by keeping all recruit platoons intact after graduation until four weeks of additional infantry training had been completed(12). Neither recruit depot had facilities for such a course, however, and effective 15 August 1952, the Commandant directed that all recruits, except those ordered directly to replacement drafts, would attend a fourweek Individual Combat Training Course (ICT) at Camp Pendleton, California(13). This basic system of training remained in effect until late in 1971 when the last modification of recruit training occurred.

In November 1970, Headquarters Marine Corps began a study to re-evaluate recruit training in search of achieving the maximum level of training for the least cost. After analyzing several alternatives the one course of action that provided the best solution to the study called for the combination of the nine-week recruit training and the four-week ICT into a single eleven-week period. Basically, two weeks of selected individual combat subjects, previously taught at ICT would become a part of the Recruit Training Syllabus. On 1 November 1971, the Commandant directed the establishment of the new and highly effective eleven-week Sequential Training Syllabus for the conduct of recruit training. In San Diego, with the limited training area at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, the need to conduct part of the course at Camp Pendleton developed. The training schedule called for three phases:

Phase I - 3 weeks - Marine Corps Recruit Depot for introductory basic subjects and drill.

Phase II - 5 weeks (2 weeks marksmanship at Edson Range; 2 weeks Infantry Training School, Camp Pendleton; 1 week Mess and Maintenance duty).

Phase III - 3 weeks - Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Graduation and reassignment to duty(14).

With the introduction and continued conduct of Sequential Training, the last visible episode in the development of Marine Corps Recruit Depot became history.

In 1916, the initial steps were taken to cause a Marine Expeditionary Base to rise from the tidelands of San Diego Bay. In 1974, the former "Dutch Flats" had disappeared and in its place sat a major military base, an aircraft plant, and a large municipal international airport. Major construction projects have built permanent buildings and lesser projects had caused the erection of hundreds of temporary buildings. In area the Marine Base had, through land acquisitions, grown in size to 890.136 acres of dry land and tidelands. In 1974, the total recorded Marine Corps Recruit Depot area had been reduced to a size of 479.292 acres. (Appendix 7). Urban development on all sides, but specifically through the expansion of Llndbergh Field, the San Diego International Airport had caused the major portion of the size reduction. This condition is not still -- it is alive and working to reduce even further the training area of the recruit depot. What effect this will have upon the continuation of recruit training at San Diego is not known. The Marine Corps Recruit Depot is fully developed and operational and as such performs a major function in both the readiness level of U. S. Marines and in the economic stability of San Diego. The Depot's contribution in both areas is projected to continue into the future with the same productive results that have been evident in the past.