Desperate to escape a life of poverty on his desolate home planet, Ryck Lysander enlists in the United Federation Marine Corps, hoping to make a better future for himself. However, Ryck soon discovers that the Corps is more than a means of escaping his former life as he is pushed beyond the very limits of his strength and willpower. From bootcamp brawls to skirmishes with galactic pirates, Ryck's new life presents him with unimaginable adventures and forces him to prove his mettle as he forges his new identity and fights to earn his place as one of the Brotherhood of Marines.

Located northwest of downtown San Diego, the Marine Corps Recruit Depot (MCRD) is rich in the history and traditions of the US Marine Corps. The base was born in part of the perseverance of Col. Joseph H. Pendleton and the efforts of Congressman William Kettner. MCRD San Diego was commissioned in 1921 and officially designated as the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in 1948. It is the oldest operational Marine Corps base on the West Coast and graduates over 20,000 new Marines every year. MCRD San Diego is one of only two Marine Corps recruit-training bases in the United States and is responsible for the basic training of all male recruits west of the Mississippi River. Every Marine begins his career by participating in a 13-week training period that isolates him from the civilian world. Basic training at MCRD San Diego emphasizes physical fitness and adaption to the Marine Corps lifestyle.

Marine Recruit: Tears in the Sand is an epic novel of a Marine Corps boot camp (San Diego); a compelling, unabridged account of recruit training as told by the drill instructor. Author of chronicles of a marine rifleman, retired first sergeant, Herb Brewer, USMC, now brings to life this outstanding, all-encompassing, witty, honest, caringly brutal, human, and timeless narrative. Combining two stories into one, he takes you all the way from the grueling view of the recruit to the panoramic mission and perspective of the Drill Instructor. At MCRD, you can count on two things: the recruit is green, the marine drill instructor is legendary. First Sergeant Brewer captures the essence and awareness of what it means to be both. Marine Recruit is a rare and unparalleled look into MCRD. Enter now the revered birthplace of the Marines where every drill instructor was once a recruit.

This is the omnibus version of the first three books in The United Federation Marine Corps series. It follows Ryck Lysander from his time as a recruit up to his service as a lieutenant. Ryck will make appearances in the next two books in the series, but these three focus on him. Book 1: Recruit Desperate to escape a life of poverty on his desolate home planet, Ryck Lysander enlists in the United Federation Marine Corps, hoping to make a better future for himself. However, Ryck soon discovers that the Corps is more than a means of escaping his former life as he is pushed beyond the very limits of his strength and willpower. From bootcamp brawls to skirmishes with galactic pirates, Ryck's new life presents him with unimaginable adventures and forces him to prove his mettle as he forges his new identity and fights to earn his place as one of the Brotherhood of Marines. Book 2: Sergeant Ryck Lysander has proven himself as a Marine, as a warrior. As he is promoted to sergeant, though, his responsibilities expand beyond merely fighting to leading other Marines into battle. When an old ally becomes a new enemy, one well-equipped and trained, Ryck is pushed to his very limits as he tries to keep his Marines alive while fulfilling his mission of defeating the enemy on the field of battle. Faced with extraordinary challenges and grueling missions, Ryck discovers love, loss, brotherhood, and dogged inner strength as he learns what it means to be a sergeant in the United Federation Marine Corps. Book 3: Lieutenant As a certified Federation "hero," Sergeant Ryck Lysander is offered a commission as a second lieutenant. Only, he doesn't feel like a hero, and his tendency to jump into a fight himself is at odds with his mission as a junior office. Accepting his commission might have been a big mistake. When contact with an alien species is finally made, that contact is not peaceful, and Ryck is thrust back into combat, combat that does not end well and plunges Ryck into an emotional crisis. Thrown the lifeline of transferring to Marine Reconnaissance, where he is back to being a fighter and not responsible for as many subordinates, this is Ryck's last chance to determine if he has what it takes to be a leader of Marines.

Inside the marine corps and what it takes to become "One of the few, the proud, the Marines."

Just before the dawn of the Global War on Terror, Kieran Michael Lalor left his career as a high school social studies teacher, endeavoring to fulfill his lifelong dream. Lalor followed his father and brothers footsteps into the United States Marine Corps. This Recruit presents Lalors nightly journal entries, beginning with the uneasy trip to the recruiters office and the eerily quiet midnight bus ride to Parris Island. Lalor describes the wicked combination of fatigue, nerves, disorientation, misery, loneliness, and homesickness that conspire to keep him from his goalalong with the hours of close order drill, push-ups, hand-to-hand combat training, the pit, and the unrelenting mind games. Witness the nasty recruit-on-recruit infighting that results when young men struggle to survive while being pushed past their limits physically, mentally, and emotionally. Gaze at the target from the five hundred yard line on Qualification Day, when failure means at least an extra two weeks on the island and the added humiliation of failing the quintessential test of a Marine. Experience the rappel tower, night firing, the infiltration courses, and long, back-crushing humps. Struggle with Lalor and his platoon as they try to overcome the Crucible, the final obstacle before claiming the title of United States Marine.