About 85 per cent of the troops forming the detachments arriving at the Overseas Depot for service in France had undergone not less than 8 nor more than 12 weeks’ training at the regular recruit depots of the Marine Corps. The preliminary training received at these recruit depots was such as to fit the men for general service throughout the Marine Corps, and resulted in the men being well disciplined, considering the short time they had been in the service. This facilitated the more advanced and specialized training they were to receive at the Overseas Depot. These detachments were composed entirely of qualified riflemen, having undergone during the recruit period a most thorough and comprehensive course in the use of the rifle. Upon the arrival of these detachments they were organized as outlined above, and the commissioned personnel was assigned to the units from the officers’ school. The schedule and drills and instructions were provided them and were carried out under the supervision of specially selected officers of the tactical department of the Overseas Depot, including the foreign officers. This training continued until the units departed for France. Training in open warfare was given precedence over that of trench warfare from the very beginning in the proportion of about four to one. The following units were organized by the Overseas Depot: Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh Separate Battalions; Second and Third Machine Gun Battalions; Fifth Brigade Machine Gun Battalion; Second and Third Separate Machine Gun Battalions; Eleventh and Thirteenth Regiments; total, approximately, 16,000 officers and enlisted men. The Seventh and Eighth Separate Battalions were organized and sent to France from Marine Barracks, Parris Island, S. C. The following table shows the schools conducted by the Overseas Depot and the number of graduates: -------------------+---------+---------------+---------+------ School. |Officers.|Noncommissioned|Privates.|Total. | | officers. | | -------------------+---------+---------------+---------+------ Officers | 294 | .. | .. | 294 Bayonet | .. | 360 | 220 | 580 Bombing | .. | 200 | 150 | 350 Gas | .. | 180 | .. | 180 Automatic Rifle | .. | 150 | 650 | 800 Scout Snipers | .. | 75 | 375 | 450 Machine Gun | 120 | 145 | 295 | 560 Miners and Sappers | .. | 70 | 80 | 150 Enlisted Staff | .. | 105 | 300 | 405 +---------+---------------+---------+------ Total | 414 | 1,285 | 2,070 | 3,769 -------------------+---------+---------------+---------+------