YOUNG MARINES BUILDS CHARACTER

The nonprofit education program of the U.S. Marine Corps is available for boys and girls ages 8 through 18

Standing in formation, the children — one girl and four boys — who are members of the Greater Lake County Young Marines start their meeting by going through a complete uniform inspection.

The Greater Lake County unit is part of the Young Marines, the official nonprofit youth education program of the U.S. Marine Corps available for boys and girls ages 8 through 18.

Ryan Assink, 13, a member of the Greater Lake County Young Marines, is planning a military career and finds this program to be beneficial to him.

“The Young Marines is like my second family,” Ryan said. “It could get kids out of trouble and put them on track for what they want to do later in life.”

Another Greater Lake County Young Marine, Nathan Dubin, isn’t planning a military career, but he would like something that combines law enforcement and government.

Nathan, 11, said the program helps him do better in school.

“It keeps me motivated to do better in school, because if I don’t have good grades I can’t stay in the Young Marines,” he

said.

Core values of the Young Marines are leadership, teamwork and discipline. The group’s motto is “Strengthening the Lives of America’s Youth.”

The program is committed to providing opportunities for building skills to become successful adults; providing a safe and fun environment; fostering communication; building partnerships with parents; and creating a culture of respect, trust and camaraderie. That’s according to the recruitment PowerPoint presentation provided by Tammy Dubin, Nathan’s mother and executive officer on staff for the Greater Lake County Young Marines.

Some of the opportunities for training and recognition available to the Young Marines include Youth Drug Demand Reduction; promotions and ribbons; CPR and first aid; swimming; color guard; maps and compass land navigation; and a chance to attend Leadership University.

The Young Marines Youth Drug Demand Reduction Program is particularly important. In fact, all Young Marines are required to complete four hours of drug reduction training each quarter, and some of those training hours can be teaching others in the community.

Academics also are a high priority for Young Marines, as good grades are a requirement to participate.

The recruits are required to turn in their reports and must maintain a 2.0 gradepoint average and have no F’s. If these requirements are not met, the recruit will need to earn a 2.5 grade-point average to continue.

Community service is a big part of the program and according to Dubin, Young Marines are required to complete at least 50 hours of it each year.

The recruits can either complete the requirement on their on or with their unit.

Some of the community service projects that the unit completes together include placing flags on veterans grave for Memorial Day; taking part in fundraisers; serving as color guards during a parade; Red Ribbon Week; and the biggest one — Toys for Tots.

Some of the activities in which the unit participates are an annual trip to Washington, D.C., which includes a trip to Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia for virtual training; encampments; a ropes course; marksmanship overnight training; and a trip to Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island in South Carolina.

The overall Young Marines program is described as “very paramilitary” by Greater Lake County Young Marines Unit Commander Damion Assink.

“They do drill, they do marching and they learn proper etiquette when addressing adults or other Young Marines who are above or below their rank and the rank structure is similar to the Marine Corps,” he said.

Damion said he believes that the kids in the program benefit from it greatly with the real world education on drugs and the public speaking skills they develop through community interaction,

“They are held to a higher level when it comes to doing what’s right when nobody is looking, doing what’s right inside the program and doing what’s right outside the program,” he said.

He estimates that a fair amount of kids who enter Young Marines go onto to some type of military service,

“We are not here to prep them for the military. That’s not what we do what we do,” Damion said. “It’s close to what we do and a lot of kids like it so they end up going into the military. We would never press them to go into the military.”

Erin Assink, Damion’s wife, is a staff member for the Young Marines program.

They are the parents of Young Marine Ryan Assink.

“They are responsible for their uniforms (recruits wear a military uniform including polished boots) and their community service hours,” Erin said. “It’s not the parents, it’s them. They do reports and presentations. They do things out in the community and it builds their confidence they can do things on their own.”

The program is open to any child who wants to participate.

“If someone wants to be a part of our program they can be a part of our program,” Erin said. “We have had children with all sorts of needs and they are all welcome to our unit.”

Nathan said he would definitely recommend the Young Marines to friends.

“It’s a great way to stay healthy and fit and meet new people and make new friends and help with social skills and leadership,” he said.

KRISTI GARABRANDT — THE NEWS-HERALD The Young Marines taking part in a practice march during one of there meetings.