BIG SPRING, Texas — The Young Marines is national non-profit youth education and service program for boys and girls from elementary school to high school.
It’s been around longer than you might think.
“The Young Marines is an organization for youth that was created in Waterbury, Connecticut in 1959 by a group of marines of the Marine Corps League and dedicated specifically to teaching young people teamwork, leadership, honor, courage [and] commitment for their country and for each other,” said Roger Rodman, unit commander for the Crossroads Young Marines.
They do things like various community services to providing color guards for parades and funerals. Like the scouts, they also teach youth valuable survival skills and do other outdoor activities.
Tessa McKiski’s oldest child has been in the program since they were 8 years old and feels it’s been a good experience for her children.
“It’s been an amazing experience for them," said McKiski. "You know with most preteens and teenagers; you got the struggle of attitude and all those things. It has been great as far as the discipline and teamwork and showing different forms of discipline that may not work. We’ve seen a huge difference within just the first month of joining with attitude, with overall appearance, with self-confidence and all those things.”
But just because the program models itself after the United States Marine Corps doesn’t mean that the kids in it have to join the military later on. According to Rodman, the goal is to prepare them for adulthood, not get them to enlist.
“We teach these young people and give them every tool in life to be a success," Rodman added. "It’s not a feeder into the Marine Corps; what they do after they graduate the program is totally up to them. If they want to go to college or trade school, that’s their choice. But they will have every tool that they need to be a successful adult and a responsible American citizen.”