Devil Pups

Devil Pups is a leadership camp comprising 10 days of challenge, teamwork, discipline and education for boys and girls between the ages of 14 and 17. The 10-day program is a combination of outdoor physical exercises, inspirational classroom lectures and demonstrations of Marine Corps operations. The activities during both increments are overseen by our Encampment Commander and his executive staff (employees of Devil Pups, Inc.). Oversight of each platoon of 50 teens (5 male platoons, and 1 female platoon per increment) is carried out by non-commissioned officers (Marines) and Navy Corpsmen who give up their “leave time” to be instructors for the program. Each day, the running, diving, and hiking exercises are balanced with inspiring classroom session from “Role Model Speakers". Before they can graduate on Day 10, they must conquer the most challenging obstacle Camp Pendleton has to offer…Ole’ Smokey. It’s the tallest peak on the 125,000 acre Marine Corps Base; the same peak that the new Marines hike to the top off at the end of Boot Camp. In a sunset ceremony on the mountain’s summit, they are officially christened as Devil Pups with the gift of a challenge coin, awarded with a firm handshake by their instructors. On the final day of the camp, we hold a graduation ceremony that friends and family are invited to. We hear stories every year from parents that couldn’t believe the positive change they saw in their child when they picked them up at the graduation.