About Us
We are the Southeast County Young Marines, located in Midway City, CA, and we are proud to be part of our nation’s premiere, award-winning program for boys and girls between the ages of eight and eighteen. The Young Marines strengthens the lives of America's youth by teaching the importance of self-confidence, academic achievement, honoring our veterans, good citizenship, community service, and living a healthy, drug-free lifestyle. The Young Marines promotes the mental, moral, and physical development of its members, focusing on character building and leadership and encouraging a lifestyle that leads to being productive members of society. The Young Marines is recognized as a premier youth organization in its Drug Demand Reduction efforts.
The Young Marines is open to all youth ages 8 through the completion of high school, with the only membership requirement being that the youth must be in good standing at school. Since the Young Marines’ humble beginnings in 1959 with one unit and a handful of boys, the organization has grown to include units throughout the country and overseas.
The Southeast County Young Marines is led by a diverse team of adult volunteers who serve as mentors, role models, and guardians of the program’s values. Our adults provide the structure, safety, and guidance that allow Young Marines to grow and excel. Our adult volunteers come from many different walks of life, bringing a wide range of professional experience, personal backgrounds, and skills that enrich and strengthen our program. Every registered adult completes an application and background check and commits to living and modeling a healthy, drug-free lifestyle and high moral standards. They support weekly drills and meetings, supervise community service projects and events, and help teach classes on leadership, citizenship, and life skills.
Upon joining our unit, youth begin with a 26-hour orientation program, generally spread out over several weekly meetings, known as Recruit Training. During Recruit Training, they learn general subjects such as Young Marines history, customs and courtesies, close order drill, physical fitness, and basic military rank structure. After graduating from Young Marine Recruit Training, they have the opportunity to learn even more new skills, earn rank, wear the Young Marine uniform, and work toward ribbon awards. Young Marines earn ribbons for achievement in areas such as leadership, community service, swimming, academic excellence, first aid, and drug resistance education.
