Depending on your MOS, your next stop after Marine Recruit Training is either SOI or MCT at Camp Geiger. When I went through in June of 1993, all Marines went through MCT (Marine Combat Training). I still to this day remember checking in at Camp Geiger and getting assigned to a platoon. Although you’re out of boot camp and now a Marine, you’re still a ‘boot’ (new guy with no experience) and the instructors treat you as such. they are respectful of you being a Marine but will put you in check quickly and effectively if needed. Here you get a taste of all the different weapon systems that the Marine Corps employs. You’ll become a jack of all trades with regards to these weapons systems. Upon graduation, you’ll get your orders to your first unit according to your MOS you enlisted for. For me, I went in open 03, which meant they could put me anywhere in the infantry. I ended up getting assigned the MOS 0341 which is infantry mortarman.
The School of Infantry’s training mission ensures “Every Marine is, first and foremost, a Rifleman“. At SOI, Marines with the Military Occupational Specialty of infantry (0300 occupational field) are trained at the Infantry Training Battalion (ITB), while all non-infantry Marines are trained in basic infantry and combat skills at the Marine Combat Training Battalion (MCT Bn). SOI marks a transition in the professional training of entry-level students from basically trained Marines to combat-ready Marines.
*Photo courtesy of marines.mil
