Joint Civilian Orientation Conference
United States Senate Youth Program
Marine Corps Business Executive Forum
Educators Workshop
Presidential Classroom
Close Up Foundation Educational Seminar
The National Youth Leadership Forum
Why We Serve Speakers Program
Joint Civilian Orientation Conference
The Joint Civilian Orientation Conference (JCOC) is a program sponsored by the Secretary of Defense for civilian public opinion leaders interested in growing their knowledge of the military and national defense issues. JCOC is the oldest existing Pentagon outreach program and has been held since 1948.
The conference is hosted in April and October of each year. JCOC participants attend Pentagon briefings by Department of Defense (DoD) military and civilian leadership and then join the military in the field observing exercises, firing weapons, and participating in training.
The Marine Corps can nominate up to 20 candidates to attend each conference. Any Marine Corps general officer can nominate candidates through the Marine Corps Office of Community Relations, Division of Public Affairs.
For more information, please visit the JCOC website at: http://jcoc.dod.mil/
Civilians interested in being nominated can email the Marine Corps Office of Community Relations, Division of Public Affairs at: hqmc.comrel@usmc.mil
United States Senate Youth Program
The United States Senate Youth Program is an annual program managed and funded by the William Randolph Hearst Foundation. The program provides 104 outstanding high school students from across the nation an opportunity to learn firsthand about the functions of government during a week long program in the nation’s capital. Delegates hear major policy addresses by senators, cabinet members, officials from the Departments of State and Defense and directors of federal agencies, as well as participate in a meeting with a justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Marine Corps supports the program each March by providing officer mentors (number and gender determined by DoD) who serve as counselors, facilitators and ambassadors of the military services. Any Marine command can nominate candidates through the Marine Corps Office of Community Relations, Division of Public Affairs.
For more information, please visit: http://hearstfdn.org/ussyp/
Marine officers interested in this program can email the Marine Corps Office of Community Relations, Division of Public Affairs at: hqmc.comrel@usmc.mil
Marine Corps Business Executive Forum
The Marine Corps Business Executive Forum is an outreach initiative that exposes senior business representatives around the country to Marine Corps interests. The forum convenes semi-annually allowing members to spend one day in the National Capital Region to meet with officials from Headquarters Marine Corps at the Pentagon, examine operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and discuss critical concepts and programs central to the Marine Corps. Members also have the opportunity to fire weapons systems, participate in hands-on demonstrations and tour various places in D.C. with significant Marine Corps ties.
Executives interested in this forum can email the Marine Corps Office of Community Relations, Division of Public Affairs at: hqmc.comrel@usmc.mil
Educators Workshop
There is a place on the South Carolina and California coast where high school graduates undergo a life-changing transformation. It is a place where fears are conquered, discipline is instilled and leaders are born. These are the training stations of the Marine Corps Recruit Depot at Parris Island and in San Diego.
Each spring and summer, the Marine Corps Recruiting Service hosts a four-day, all-expense-paid tour of Marine recruit training called the Educator's Workshop. The trip is designed to educate and familiarize school faculty and community leaders with today's Marine Corps.
The tour is primarily for those who have little or no exposure to the military and want to increase his or her knowledge of the Marine Corps. At the recruit depot (boot camp), educators observe firsthand how a young man or woman becomes a U.S. Marine. Educators have the opportunity to see the recruits' living quarters, sample what they eat, and see how they are trained from day one through graduation. They have the option to participate in actual training evolutions, like firing an M16 rifle, and navigating the obstacle course and confidence course. They also learn about the many aspects of being a Marine, like day-to-day life, military benefits and more.
For more information or to reserve your spot on a future workshop, please contact the Marine Corps Recruiting Command at 703-784-9454 or email your request to mcrcpa@marines.usmc.mil
Presidential Classroom
At Presidential Classroom, students examine the federal government beyond the marble buildings. During each week-long program, high school students from the United States and abroad interact with members of Congress, presidential appointees, senior military officials, top business leaders and journalists. Students also observe the United States Congress in action, visit renowned sites and debate key issues with their peers.
Presidential Classroom draws volunteer instructors from around the United States and the world. They have diverse professional backgrounds in the federal government, the military, business and U.S. high schools and colleges. Marine Corps officers and staff noncommissioned officers with at least an undergraduate degree are eligible to volunteer. If selected, these Marines become a part of a group committed to the Presidential Classroom philosophy of hands-on education for active citizenship.
Volunteer instructors serve in one of the 15 week-long programs hosted at Georgetown University. Two instructors supervise each caucus or working group of about 40 students, facilitate student discussions and guide them through program activities. Volunteer instructors also act as role models, sharing their own career experiences and insights with students.
For more information, please visit: http://www.presidentialclassroom.org/
Marines interested in this program can email the Marine Corps Office of Community Relations, Division of Public Affairs at: hqmc.comrel@usmc.mil
Close Up Foundation Educational Seminar
Each year, more than 20,000 students, teachers, and other adults take part in Close Up programs in Washington, D.C. Since the inception of its Washington-based programs in 1971, the Close Up Foundation has welcomed nearly 650,000 students, educators, and other adults to the nation’s capital.
The high school program brings students to the heart of Washington to see their government in action. Throughout the week-long seminar, students get face-to-face with members of Congress and their staffs, leading policy experts, and influential lobbyists during question-and-answer sessions and debates. Plus students visit the city’s famous memorials and meet their peers from across the country and around the world, all while learning about their important role as citizens in a democracy.
Military personnel are involved in this seminar from January through mid-May. At each session, one member from each of the five military branches serves as a panelist to provide insight regarding their military background and experiences on various current topics.
For more information, please visit: http://www.closeup.org/
Marines interested in this seminar can email the Marine Corps Office of Community Relations, Division of Public Affairs at: hqmc.comrel@usmc.mil
The National Youth Leadership Forum
The National Youth Leadership Forum, conducted in Washington, D.C., is an educational organization founded to help prepare young people with scholastic merit and strong leadership potential for their future professional careers. Its mission is to bring various professions to life, inspiring young people with the confidence to make well-informed career choices. Time is spent exploring the fields of national security, diplomacy and other related career areas. Now in its fifteenth year, NYLF/NS exposes America’s brightest high school scholars to a myriad of exciting and challenging careers available to them in these vitally important fields. It gives students a sense of the academic preparation needed for a career in government service. Through NYLF’s hands-on interactive and integrated curriculum of site visits, speaker topics and simulation exercises, participants obtain a truly meaningful educational experience.
NYLF enrolls high school sophomores, juniors and seniors from diverse backgrounds who possess academic promise, leadership potential and a strong interest in the area of defense, intelligence and diplomacy. Students are nominated to attend the program by educators, youth organization advisors and participating institutions. They are also chosen through the National Research Center for College and University Admissions’ Talent Identification Program, a voluntary pre-college classroom survey. Over 100,000 students have attended NYLF programs.
Military personnel are involved in this seminar throughout the year. At each session, one member from each of the five military branches serves as a panelist to provide insight regarding their military background and experiences on various current topics.
For more information, please visit the NYLF web site at www.nylf.org
Marines interested in participating in this forum can email the Marine Corps Office of Community Relations, Division of Public Affairs at: hqmc.comrel@usmc.mil
Why We Serve Speakers Program
Why We Serve, is the Department of Defense’s premier speakers outreach program intended to connect the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces with the American people they serve and allow first-hand accounting from the front lines. Selected speakers relate their own experiences with the public to offer them a glimpse of the military service from their point of view. All services have two members who are representative of their respective service’s contribution to the Global War on Terror (GWOT). These members are representative of the diversity found in each service and speakers range in grades from E-5 to O-4 and have all served in Iraq/ Afghanistan for at least 90 consecutive days within the past nine months. These representatives possess solid interpersonal communication skills and have a story to tell of their time spent in Iraq/ Afghanistan as well as their life in the military as a whole.
For more information, please visit http://www.defenselink.mil/home/features/2007/WhyWeServe/
Marines interested in this speakers' program can email the Marine Corps Office of Community Relations, Division of Public Affairs at: hqmc.comrel@usmc.mil