Sit up a little straighter in your seats! You’re now passing the Parris Island Drill Instructor School on your left, cradle of the famed Drill Instructors, or DIs. Known as Crawford Hall, it is named in honor of Sergeant Major Leland Crawford, former DI and Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps. Thousands of DIs have graduated from the school since its establishment in 1951. Prospective DIs must first pass a rigorous evaluation and then complete an intensive 11 1/2-week course of instruction. After graduation, DIs have earned the right to wear the coveted Campaign Cover, also called a Field Hat. On your right is the former site of Building 172 which was constructed in 1945 to serve as a corpsman barracks. It was located conveniently near Building 286, the Medical Dispensary at the time. In 1976, the base turned the building into quarters for bachelor enlisted Marines. It briefly served as the Drill Instructor School and Barracks in the 1980s, then housed support program offices and general use space until its demolition in 2019.
Continue on Santo Domingo Street. 4th Recruit Training Battalion is on your left.
