Marine Corps League — MCL

The League is the Marines' own fraternity, founded in 1923 by the Commandant who led them at Belleau Wood. Its stated mission is to preserve the traditions of the Corps, strengthen the fraternity of Marines and their families, and serve those who wear — or have worn — the Eagle, Globe, and Anchor.

Who it serves

Regular membership is set by the League’s national bylaws: Marines who are serving or have served honorably in the U.S. Marine Corps or Marine Corps Reserve — and U.S. Navy personnel who served honorably with Fleet Marine Force units for more than ninety days and earned the Marine Corps device, or who earned the Fleet Marine Force Enlisted Warfare Specialist Device or the Fleet Marine Force Qualified Officer Insignia. (The FMF Navy route is the corpsman’s and the chaplain’s road in.) Honorable service is read from the last DD Form 214; a General Discharge under Honorable Conditions is acceptable.

Associate membership is the wider door: those not qualified for regular membership who embrace the League’s principles — including veterans of other branches and people who never served — may join through a detachment. Associate members pay the same dues but may not vote on membership applications or elections or hold elective office.

The family’s door is the Marine Corps League Auxiliary. Its regular membership, per its bylaws, is open to the wives, widows, mothers, sisters, daughters, grandmothers, granddaughters, stepmothers, stepdaughters, daughters-in-law, aunts, nieces, mothers-in-law, and sisters-in-law of a Marine (16 and older), and to Women Marines. Women who do not meet the relationship list may join the Auxiliary as Associate members. Note the shape of that list: it is written for the women of a Marine’s family — a Marine’s son, husband, father, or brother joins instead as an Associate Member of the League itself.

What it does

• Accredited claims help — the League’s administrative procedures provide for National Accredited Veterans Service Officers who process claims presented through detachment and department service officers and must follow up with the veteran at every stage. (The League’s site does not state whether its claims help requires membership — ask your detachment.)
• Scholarships — the League’s Foundation grants scholarships to the children and grandchildren of members of the Marine Corps League and its Auxiliary.
• Humanitarian Aid — Foundation grants to individual Marines and families of Marines in difficult positions through circumstances beyond their control.
• Fraternity and service — detachments across the country preserving Marine traditions, honoring the fallen, and running youth and patriotic programs.

How a family uses it

• Start at mclnational.org — national headquarters: (703) 207-9588 — and find the detachment nearest you; membership, regular and associate alike, runs through detachments.
• If your Marine never joins anything, he is still the League’s constituency; if you are his wife, mother, daughter, or sister, the Auxiliary is your membership; if you are his son or husband, Associate membership in the League is yours.

Facts on this page are drawn from the Marine Corps League's own published materials (mclnational.org, its national bylaws, and the Auxiliary's bylaws), checked October 2026. Membership and program rules change; the organization's own site governs. Corrections: care@bowmanwebservices.com.