Drill Instructor Spotlight Academic Instructor Platoon

Approximately 550 Marines have the massive responsibility to shape more than 17,000 recruits who come to Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego annually into basically trained United States Marines. Drill instructors are entrusted with sustaining a more than 240-year legacy of transforming recruits into the next generation of Marines. Get to know one of the Corps’ finest.
Name: Staff Sgt. Joseph Wooden
Position: chief drill instructor, Academic Instructor Platoon
Joined the Marine Corps in 2005
Military Occupational Specialty: infantrymen
Wooden became a drill instructor in 2013 and served six training cycles with Bravo Company, 1st Recruit Training Battalion, before becoming an instructor with the Academic Instructor Platoon where he serves as the chief drill instructor
“I joined the Marine Corps to be a Marine and carry on a family legacy. I became a drill instructor to instill core values and to influence the future generation of the Marine Corps because I believe in the mission and our values.”