"SPIRIT & DISCIPLINE"

Within 3rd Recruit Training Battalion, there are four companies: India, Kilo, Lima, and Mike. Each company contains an average of six, 60-to 80-recruit platoons.

3rd RTBn. was initially formed on Aug. 7, 1940, and existed throughout World War II until it was deactivated on Jun. 18, 1947. The battalion was reformed the following year and was used to train draftees from Aug. 2, 1948, to Jan. 8, 1949, when it was again disbanded.

In February 1949, the battalion was reactivated and was used exclusively to train women Marines until May 7, 1954, when a separate women's training battalion was formed (4th Recruit Training Battalion), and male recruits and instructors from 4th RTBn. were redesignated as the 3rd RTBn.

On Feb. 28, 1955, the battalion was again deactivated and then reformed on Oct. 15, 1955, only to be temporarily closed on Oct. 25, 1957. Starting in 1958 through the time of the completion of the Depot's first brick recruit barracks in 1960, the battalion was permanently re-established and served the Recruit Training Regiment from that ever-familiar location on Wake Boulevard for 51 years. From 2007 through 2009, 3rd RTBn. re-established Quebec Company in order to facilitate the mandated training of an additional 28,000 Marines. In June 2011, 3rd RTBn. relocated to a new state-of-the-art complex, complete with a new parade deck and physical training field.