Drill instructors and recruits aboard the San Diego, California, recruit depot are now donning green skivvy-shirt face masks in compliance with guidance from the Department of Defense to help slow the spread of COVID-19.
The Department of Defense has ordered all service members and military personnel to wear some type of cloth face covering when they can’t maintain six feet of social distancing.
The recruit depot aboard San Diego said in a post on Facebook that as of Wednesday all personnel aboard the depot are “required to wear face masks in all plausible situations excluding physical training in order to reduce the risks of contracting COVID-19.”
The California Marine boot camp posted images of recruits and drill instructors wearing the do-it-yourself green skivvy shirt face mask that requires no sewing skills to make.
The Corps recently passed guidance in a Marine administrative message outlining approved face masks across the service.
“Any face covering that is conservative in appearance, not offensive, and conforms to the below CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] guidance is acceptable to be worn in uniform," a recent Marine message reads. The issued balaclava and neck gaiter is also approved.
While the Corps has approved the wear of any face covering that is “conservative in appearance” the Marines are warning service members not to use their camouflage utilities that have been treated with bug repellent.
The Marine Corps digital camouflage utilities can be used for a face mask if they have not been treated with the bug repellent known as permethrin, III Marine Expeditionary Force posted to Facebook.
“Due to the potential of toxicological exposure to permethrin via inhalation, any permethrin treated material should not be used as face protection,” III MEF warned.
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Following the DoD face mask guidance, Marine Corps Combat Service Support Schools headquartered out of Camp Johnson, North Carolina, was one of the first units to post a short image tutorial showing Marines how to make a skivvy shirt face mask.
The recruit depot aboard Parris Island, South Carolina, temporarily halted the arrival of new recruits due to an outbreak of COVID-19.
Shawn Snow is the senior reporter for Marine Corps Times and a Marine Corps veteran.
