Community Corner

Cartersville Native, Marine Corps Recruit Trains at Parris Island

He is set to graduate in November.

Rct. Andrew Patterson, a 25-year-old native of Cartersville, is currently training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, S.C., in hopes of earning the title of United States Marine.

Patterson is training with Platoon 3088, Kilo Company, 3rd Recruit Training Battalion, and is scheduled to graduate Nov. 22, 2013.

“I’ve always wanted to join the Marine Corps. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do for myself. I went to college and got an engineering degree. It wasn’t about the money or schooling. It was more about me wanting to become an officer one day. I wanted to enlist first instead of going straight officer. I felt like it was more respectable,” said Patterson, who graduated from Woodland High School located in Cartersville in 2006 and from Southern Polytechnic State University in Marietta in 2013.

Approximately 20,000 recruits come to Parris Island annually for the chance to become United States Marines by enduring 13 weeks of rigorous, transformative training. Parris Island is home to entry-level enlisted training for 50 percent of males and 100 percent for females in the Marine Corps. 


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