Former student of President’s College, Jeremy Fraser, and former student of The Bishop’s High School, Mikel Gaul, have made Guyana and their adopted country, United States (US), proud. On May 3, 2024, the two Guyanese graduated from the US Marine Corps Recruit Depot basic training, at Parris Island, South Carolina. Fraser and Gaul were part of the 3rd Battalion, Lima Company, Platoon 3021.
The graduation culminated 13 weeks of training that encompassed various physical and mental challenges and team building exercises at the US Marine Corp Base Parris Island, South Carolina under the guidance of Senior Drill Instructor Staff Sargeant Goodman and his team.
During recruit training, the Marines were exposed to military training and defense instruction. The two Guyanese Marines will now move to the Marine School of Infantry (SOI) at Camp Le Jeune, North Carolina where they will attend Marine Combat Training (MCT), a 29-day course to learn more about warfighting philosophy, offensive and defensive operations, combat maneuvers, and patrolling. Thereafter, the two Marines will move on to the Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) School to specialise in Aircraft Maintenance.
The United States Marine Corp is a separate military service within the United States Department of the Navy. It provides troops for seizure and defense of bases and conduct operations on land and air. It is also responsible for providing detachment for operations on some types of naval vessels and for security of naval shore installations and US diplomatic missions in foreign countries.
The graduation ceremony was a spectacular display of drills in a ceremonial parade attended by many people including the parents of the marines, siblings, and others.