WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
- Parris Island is seeking a purebred female English bulldog puppy to become its next mascot.
- The puppy must be 8 to 16 weeks old, registered and suited for the depot’s heat and humidity.
- The mascot will attend parades, ceremonies and other events while boosting morale for Marines, recruits and families.
- Vendor responses are due Oct. 1, with delivery expected between Dec. 1 and Dec. 15.
The Marine Corps has begun searching for its next recruit at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island in South Carolina.
This recruit will be small, four legged and ready to step into a visible role as the depot’s next mascot.
Parris Island issued a solicitation this week seeking a purebred English bulldog puppy.
The selected puppy must be between 8 and 16 weeks old by the time her paws meet the depot’s iconic yellow footprints.
The future mascot must have white and brown markings, according to the request. She also must possess a “sound and stable temperament,” an important requirement for a puppy expected to appear around recruits, Marines and their families.
Parris Island is also looking closely at the puppy’s family line.
The solicitation requires a lineage with “genetic tolerance to the heat and humidity” found in the swampy environment surrounding the South Carolina recruit depot.
The requirement makes clear that not just any English bulldog puppy will qualify for mascot duty.
Vendors must offer a puppy matching the requested breed, appearance, age, registration, temperament and environmental tolerance standards specified by the Marine Corps.
The future mascot must be female and registered with the American Kennel Club.
The Marine Corps expects the selected puppy to be delivered during a window running from Dec. 1 through Dec. 15.
Once in place, the Parris Island mascot will attend parades, ceremonies and other events held across the depot.
Her role will include boosting morale for recruits, Marines and family members participating in or attending those events.
The current mascot is Cpl. Opha Mae II, who reported for recruit training in March 2023.
She completed that training and graduated two months later, establishing her place among the Marines serving at the depot.
Cpl. Opha Mae II is named for Opha Mae Johnson, the first woman to enlist in the Marine Corps.
The name connects the current bulldog mascot with a Marine whose place in Corps history is specifically recognized by Parris Island.
The search is taking place under a process intended to prevent a mascot vacancy.
According to a 2021 Marine Corps Recruit Depot order, new mascot recruits are obtained no less than three months before the incumbent mascot retires.
That timeline gives the incoming mascot time to arrive before the serving bulldog leaves the role.
For Parris Island, the goal is to avoid a gap in mascot service during the transition from the current Marine bulldog to her successor.
Interested vendors must provide several pieces of information with their responses.
Those requirements include the puppy’s cage code, the vendor’s socioeconomic status and a Breeders Capability Statement demonstrating that every requirement in the solicitation has been satisfied.
Responses must be submitted by Oct. 1. Vendors therefore must document that their proposed puppy meets the Marine Corps requirements before the deadline, including the standards covering breed, sex, markings, age, registration, temperament, delivery timing and lineage.
The eventual selection will join a highly visible tradition at Parris Island, appearing at depot events while supporting morale across the installation.
Before that happens, however, the young English bulldog must clear a checklist built for South Carolina heat, humidity and Marine mascot duty.
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