Crestview native Rct. Charles Bishop, 18, is training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, S.C., in hopes of earning the title of United States Marine.
Bishop — training with Platoon 3097, Lima Company, 3rd Recruit Training Battalion — is scheduled to graduate Dec. 13.
“I decided to join the Marine Corps because I have always been competitive in life, and the Marines gave me the challenge of a lifetime. So I accepted that challenge," Bishop, a 2013 Crestview High School graduate, said. "I heard the Marine Corps can give me the discipline and self-confidence I need."
Approximately 20,000 recruits come to Parris Island annually for the chance to become United States Marines. They endure 13 weeks of rigorous, transformative training.
Parris Island is home to entry-level enlisted training for 50 percent of males and 100 percent of females in the Marine Corps.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Accepting the challenge: Crestview High graduate training for Marines