First photo is of 1st Platoon MCI Company in 1970. The Platoon Sergeant is SSG Dorough and I'm not sure who the Platoon Commander is. I am on the top row third from the left. Corporal Foreman at the time.

The second photo is of 1st Platoon MCI Company at the IWO Memorial. This was in 1970 prior to parade season, note the dress blue trousers. I am the right guide for the platoon, (Cpl Foreman)

I served in the 1st platoon, MCI Company from November 1969, when I returned from Vietnam, until my separation from service in August 1971. I am on the back row in the picture submitted by Elmer. The picture is not clear enough for me to tell which one I am. The platoon commander is Lt/Capt. Dan Williams. Also in the picture somewhere is future Sergeant Major Gary Weaver(now deceased), future First Sergeant Jim Randall, along with Mike Hoffman and Preston Wayte.

Don Williams, Former Corporal, MCI Company, 1st Platoon Nov.1969-Aug. 1971, Colorado Springs, CO

(Submitted by 8th & I Marine Elmer Foreman, MCI Co., 1st Plt., 1970-71, Edmond, OK)

This was my final sunset parade, ergo, I am w/the sword. The platoon was the first ceremonial platoon. Lt Bar is in the front.
S/Sgt Buzz Sawyer was the platoon sgt. The bottom pic is me in front of Commandant's house.

(Submitted by 8th & I Marine Herman Bigi, MCI Co.)

The Platoon Picture on the Parade Deck with the Commandant's House in the background is 2nd Platoon, MCI Company and was taken in the summer of 1969 or 1970. The other picture was taken of a "Pass in Review" during a Tuesday Parade at the Iwo Monument in 1969. The platoon is again 2nd Platoon, MCI Company. I was the 1/4 Man in the platoon at the time.

Al Kovarik, Sergeant, MCI Company, 2nd Platoon, April 1969 to September 1970

My first duty station was Marine Barracks 8th & I in Washington, DC from Nov-1966 - Dec 1968. I stumbled upon your website while searching for old articles about the 1968 DC riots when I spent 2 weeks guarding the Capitol building and remember sleeping on the basement floor. I was assigned to MCI Company and was assigned to the Barracks Guard. Above is a photo of me on duty at the main gate.

Submitted by Gene Szczepinski

I was 1st PltSgt. MCI Co from 1972-73. SNCO on The Parade Staff, 1973-'75. I was the Honorary PltSgt. for the SNCO parade in 1975. That had to be one of my finest moments to march with the Drill Team from Bldg. 58 to the Barracks and then out onto the Grass. In the attached pictures you will see MGySgt. Jamison, Drum Major. That is me at the end of the 1st.Plt, 3rd Sqd, MCI Company (to the right of flag pole). The last picture is from an article in the Quantico paper before I retired in 1984

Submitted by James Conover

2-22-15 .... 8TH & I MARINE EDWARD J. "JIM / MUSTANG" LAND, MCI DETACHMENT, CA. 1954 .... FOUNDER OF MODERN MARINE CORPS SNIPER PROGRAM

USMC Sniper Rifles: Hands On History
by James O.E. Norell - Friday, March 18, 2011

2-26-15 .... 8th & I Marine Gordon Ferrie, 1960-62 .... USMC SNIPER PROGRAM

Further to your article, while Land is known as you say as the founder of Modern Day Sniper Training, I thought you might be interested in some additional information. During my duty at 8th & I, I was a 'Shooter' as Match Competitors were called. These activities were coordinated at and through MTU at Quantico. In the summer of 1961, I shot a regional match at Camp Lejune which is a three-day event over the Rifle and Pistol National Match Courses. On the last day, Sunday, after cleaning gear we relaxed over Hot Dogs and Beans and some Beer. Carlos Hathcock and I were shooting on the same relay just 2 or 3 places removed. The top shooters in the Corps were concentrated at Quantico and two leading personalities at that time were John T. Boitnot (2nd Mar Div in CID) and General Van Orden. These and a few others kept the sniping idea going when there were no formal programs, schools or even an MOS.
That Sunday a 2X Ammo Carrier drove over and a Sergeant ordered Hathcock and I to get on board with no explanation. We were driven out to a hay field and the driver left. A few minutes later a 1949 Plymouth Coup bounced accross the field with an old woman in a print dress driving and 'Top" Boitnot was riding shotgun in a Campaign Hat and carying a Match Conditioned M-1 with a 4x power scope. We knew Top as one of our top snipers from both Korea and WW2. A North Carolinian with a Handle Bar Mustache he walked up the trail to us and gave a hand signal to 'hunker down'. He walked up and said: "God has given you a gift, and I am going to show you what to do with it!" With that he started, but did not finish, a personal training period for Hathcock and myself. The following Spring, I was ordered with Hathcok and about 20+ others to Teach Shooting at the US Naval Academy the summer of 1962 after I finished up at 8th & I. We spent the summer at the ranges with many of our top shooters at that time including Sgt Creech, the Marine Corps expert in instinctive shooting with a handgun. We lived together in a de-commisioned Brig at the Range. Carlos joined the Corps in May of 1959 and I joined in April of 1959. We were slated to keep on the same road but MARCAD and Marine Corps Intelligence took me down another path. I remember Land, Gen. and Mrs Van Orden, V.D. Mitchell, Sgt Barker and many others of this period as going on to outstanding Service. It was very hard for these men to keep the sniping activities alive until Viet Nam when formal schools could be created and established. I have the greatest respect for them and was privledged to know them.

Submitted by - Gordon Ferrie, L/Cpl, 8th & I, Ceremonial Guard Co., 2nd Plt., 1960-1962 and HqBn, 2nd MarDiv FMF, Chapala Jalisco, MX

David Skonieczny's 1950's Memories Of MCI Company

2-14-13 ... Many of those same duties that were reported by 8th & I Marine Richard "Dick" Doyle, 1952-1954, Long Beach Island, NJ, refer to Memories of the 50's , were the responsibility of MCI Company. I remember going to Camp David on several occasions, serving on burial assignments, and onstage at least fifty times. Participated in the detail that buried IRA HAYES, cordon duties for visiting dignitaries, weekly sunset parades (the 100's of hours of practice in Anacostia Community Park), assignment to attend Embassy parties (to prove other countries were democratic, inviting two enlisted from each. Branch). I was chosen to escort MISS GENERAL TIRE OF 1955 to a evening of fine dining at the SHORHEM HOTEL, participated in the dedication of THE MARINE CORPS WAR MEMORIAL in Arlington, VA, etc. All the while serving as an instructor of Military Justice at the MCI Building, Naval Gun Factory, Washington, DC. THE BEST YEARS OF MY LIFE!

Sgt. David Skonieczny, 8th & I, MCI Company, 1954-1956, Naples, FL

MIKE OLEJARZ' LATE-1950'S MEMORIES OF TWO DETAILS WHILE AT 8TH & I

7-30-15 ...Afternoon guys,

DB Wright's note triggered two arrivals that remain burned in my memory. Being assigned to MCI we were called out for arrival parades and stood at parade rest on the streets of DC. The first one was when Kruschev arrived and was met by President Eisenhower. We lined the parade route trying to look as ceremonial as the next guy,and always had to chuckle,when the S/NCO in charge would remind us to remember to come to attention when the guest of honor came in front of us and not to salute the mounted DC police. One of the disturbing incidents, there were many during K's visit, was a black Cadillac with a skull and cross bones on its sides. It was driven and manned by a group of Hungarian refugees who had escaped Hungary before the Russian tanks,ordered by K, to crush the Hungarian Revolution. We could see the car trying to cut into the parade route but was held at bay by the USSS and the DC police. K and IKE rode nicely by in the bubble topped Lincoln and never missed a wave to the crowd.

The second one was when,after the Cuban Revolution, Fidel, Raul and Che Guevara plus their cadre of guerrillas, came to visit the White House. IKE assigned Richard Nixon to handle the visit as he was against Castro's revolution. This was primarily because Castro closed down the AT&T office in Cuba plus several other huge American companies who were major contributors to IKE's political campaign. It was a low key visit and quick. However that Friday night after the parade, myself and a few of the guys from MCI ( who lived in #10 room) made our way down to 14th street,hitting Benny's and Rand's, which were two of our favorite haunts. Rand's had excellent R&R music and a guy who played the guitar like Duane Eddy-remember his "Twangy guitar music-"Rebel Rouser". Anyhow, as we entered "Rand's", we saw the whole Cuban delegation clad in "cammies", smoking big fat cigars, at a table that was loaded with bottles of rum plus every "bimbo" that ever walked 14th Street. It was a once in a life-time sight. Oh,they were also armed, carrying their semi-automatics holstered on their belts. They were too busy drinking and enjoying themselves to notice us Marines. We did not stay long,as we usually closed the place. On a return visit the following week, we learned the Cuban government rented the place for the night with the club making a bundle. From DC,they went onto New York.

I have to admit, there were very few dull moments while at the Barracks. Regards. Semper FI.

Mike Olejarz, MCI Company, 1958-60, Haymarket, VA

1957 ... R. Paul Woofter Developing Pictures In The MCI Photo Lab, Navy Yard, Washington, DC

Submitted by 8th & I Marine R. Paul Woofter, MCI Company / Barracks' Photographer, 1957-1959, Milford, DE

Marine Corps Institute Staff (a part of the 1961, 8th & I Yearbook)