The recruiting service of the corps was enlarged greatly during the war and it was so well organized and its method of procedure was so efficient that it was able to stand the enormous increase of the corps. The real test of any organization comes when a very great increase is suddenly made and the recruiting service of the Marine Corps passed that test in a commendable manner.
On August 8, 1918, by Executive order, volunteer enlistments in the Marine Corps and enrollments in the reserve were stopped, and from that time until October 1, 1918, no men were enlisted in the corps with the exception of those whose cases were pending when the Executive order above mentioned was issued and some whose enlistments expired and were reenlisted. On September 16, 1918, the Secretary of War approved the terms of a tentative plan proposed in an informal conference by representatives of the Navy Department, the Marine Corps, the General Staff, and the Provost Marshal General’s Office.
This plan in part provided that the Marine Corps was accorded the privilege of individual inductions to the amount of 5,000 men, for the months of October, November, and December, 1918, and January, 1919, and 1,500 thereafter.
As the plan above mentioned operated the men were supplied from the selective draft, but the choice was given the Marine Corps of accepting or rejecting men according to the way they measured up to the Marine Corps standards. The inductees also had a choice in the matter, so they were really “voluntary inductees.” This plan was very favorable and permitted the Marine Corps to maintain its high standard of enlisted personnel.
Owing to the cessation of hostilities there were but few inductions and none of the inductees ever reached France prior to the armistice becoming effective. Regular voluntary inductions into the Marine Corps (through Provost Marshal General) commenced October 1, 1918, and the last man was voluntarily inducted on December 13, 1918. Inductions occurred as follows:
| October, 1918 | 2,787 |
| November, 1918 | 3,880 |
| December, 1918 | 421 |
| Total | 7,088 |
Owing to the signing of the armistice, no more requests were made to the Provost Marshal General for the induction of men after November 18, 1918.
On December 2, 1918, the President, by proclamation, directed that voluntary enlistments of registrants into the Navy and Marine Corps would be permitted without notice to local boards, and the provisions of the selective service law became inoperative so far as the Marine Corps was concerned.
On December 4, 1918, recruiting on a very limited scale was resumed by order of the Secretary of the Navy. On that date also, enrollments in the Marine Corps Reserve were stopped.
Applicants, rejections, enlistments, etc., regular Marine Corps, not including reserves but including inductees, April, 1917, to November, 1918.
| Date. | Applicants. | Rejected by commanding officer.[1] |
Rejected by medical officer.[2] |
Eloped. | Declined oath. |
Enlistments. | Strength Marine Corps. |
| Apr. 1 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 13,214 |
| Apr. 30 | 14,607 | 41 | 11,673 | 10 | 19 | 2,864 | 15,813 |
| May 31 | 15,498 | 74 | 10,039 | 40 | 50 | 5,295 | 20,932 |
| June 30 | 15,905 | 47 | 11,735 | 16 | 34 | 4,073 | 24,772 |
| July 31 | 11,778 | 21 | 8,183 | 22 | 44 | 3,508 | 27,045 |
| Aug. 31 | 6,275 | 37 | 4,006 | 7 | 4 | 2,221 | 29,861 |
| Sept. 30 | 4,846 | 29 | 3,996 | 5 | 5 | 811 | 30,322 |
| Oct. 31 | 4,335 | 33 | 3,661 | 5 | 1 | 635 | 30,576 |
| Nov. 30 | 5,577 | 14 | 4,942 | 2 | 2 | 617 | 30,855 |
| Dec. 31 | 6,788 | 22 | 5,305 | 4 | 5 | 1,452 | 32,016 |
| Jan. 31 | 5,472 | 29 | 3,981 | 5 | 3 | 1,454 | 33,184 |
| Feb. 28 | 5,915 | 31 | 5,772 | 4 | 3 | 105 | 33,045 |
| Mar. 31 | 5,037 | 18 | 4,734 | 2 | 4 | 279 | 33,093 |
| Apr. 30 | 15,958 | 44 | 12,996 | 3 | 5 | 2,910 | 35,690 |
| May 31 | 18,336 | 73 | 12,956 | 7 | 22 | 5,278 | 40,722 |
| June 30 | 23,864 | 70 | 18,609 | 17 | 36 | 5,132 | 45,384 |
| July 31 | 20,162 | 224 | 11,767 | 9 | 10 | 8,152 | 52,712 |
| Aug. 31 | 17,286 | 115 | 11,528 | 5 | 40 | 5,598 | 57,628 |
| Sept. 30 | 16,175 | 199 | 13,484 | 5 | 83 | 2,404 | 59,556 |
| Oct. 31 | 12,176 | 2 | 8,923 | .. | 1 | 3,250 | 62,142 |
| Nov. 30 | 13,284 | 2 | 9,129 | .. | 2 | 4,151 | 65,489 |
| Total | 239,274 | 1,125 | 177,419 | 168 | 373 | 60,189 | |
[1] Rejections by commanding officer include minors whose parents refused consent, married men whose wives refused consent, and men with criminal records or who were otherwise undesirable.
[2] Rejections by medical officer include all rejections at recruiting office as well as those rejected by the medical officer at the recruit depot to which they were transferred.
The following table shows the number of men enlisted in the Marine Corps, not including reserves enrolled but including inductees, between April 1, 1917, and November 11, 1918. These figures do not include the 13,214 enlisted men already in the Marine Corps on April 6, 1917:
| Alabama | 313 | Nevada | 86 |
| Arizona | 210 | New Jersey | 1,251 |
| Arkansas | 290 | New Hampshire | 67 |
| California | 2,527 | New Mexico | 25 |
| Colorado | 1,262 | New York | 6,782 |
| Connecticut | 240 | North Carolina | 488 |
| Delaware | 72 | North Dakota | 225 |
| District of Columbia | 451 | Ohio | 4,968 |
| Florida | 110 | Oklahoma | 384 |
| Georgia | 674 | Oregon | 1,006 |
| Illinois | 4,959 | Pennsylvania | 4,365 |
| Idaho | 508 | Rhode Island | 64 |
| Indiana | 1,182 | South Carolina | 66 |
| Iowa | 607 | South Dakota | 145 |
| Kansas | 673 | Tennessee | 1,418 |
| Kentucky | 592 | Texas | 2,205 |
| Louisiana | 832 | Utah | 898 |
| Maine | 24 | Vermont | 21 |
| Massachusetts | 1,957 | Virginia | 617 |
| Maryland | 867 | Washington | 1,767 |
| Michigan | 2,115 | West Virginia | 598 |
| Minnesota | 2,581 | Wisconsin | 876 |
| Missouri | 3,721 | Wyoming | 92 |
| Mississippi | 297 | ||
| Montana | 1,205 | Total | 57,144 |
| Nebraska | 461 |
Statistics that will show the exact number of officers and enlisted men from each State are being prepared.