The United States military offers an expedited path to US citizenship for lawful residents who commit to service. In 2024, while filming the US Marine Corps boot camp in Camp Pendleton, California, chief video correspondent Graham Flanagan followed one recruit taking advantage of this opportunity.
Twenty-four-year-old Ralph Dahilig immigrated to the US from the Philippines during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although he holds a bachelor's degree in information systems, Dahilig struggled to find a job in the tech industry, which led him to pursue a career in the Marine Corps.
At 5 feet 4 inches tall, Dahilig is not what many might picture as the prototypical US Marine. He had to learn to think outside the box to make it to The Crucible, the 54-hour culminating event of the 13-week boot camp. All recruits must endure it before they receive the Eagle, Globe, and Anchor pendant, symbolizing their official transformation from recruit to US Marine.
Twenty-four-year-old Ralph Dahilig immigrated to the US from the Philippines during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although he holds a bachelor's degree in information systems, Dahilig struggled to find a job in the tech industry, which led him to pursue a career in the Marine Corps.
At 5 feet 4 inches tall, Dahilig is not what many might picture as the prototypical US Marine. He had to learn to think outside the box to make it to The Crucible, the 54-hour culminating event of the 13-week boot camp. All recruits must endure it before they receive the Eagle, Globe, and Anchor pendant, symbolizing their official transformation from recruit to US Marine.
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00:00These recruits just made it through Marine Corps boot camp. After 13 weeks of
00:12basic training in Southern California, they're receiving their Eagle Globe and
00:16anchor pendants, symbolizing their transformation from recruits to Marines.
00:23While we were filming these new Marines, one stood out, Ralph Lance M. Dahilig,
00:32a 24 year old man from the Philippines who immigrated to the U.S. during the
00:36COVID-19 pandemic. At 5 foot 4, Dahilig is far from what you might think of
00:43when you think United States Marine. For context, here's a picture of Dahilig
00:48and me, and I'm only about 6'1". My name is Ralph Lance M. Dahilig, but what do they
00:53call you here? Warbag, sir. What do they call you? Warbag. Warbag. Warbag! Warbag! Use your brain, Warbag! Go Warbag! Warbag! Warbag! Get up, Warbag!
01:05Why do you call him that? We have a bag that's used for PT and for class, so we
01:10call that recruit, like the shortest recruit, Warbag, because they're the one
01:13responsible for that bag. In April of 2024, we followed Warbag and his fellow
01:19recruits from Alpha Company at Camp Pendleton, just north of San Diego, during
01:24the crucible, the 54-hour culminating event of boot camp. This is your boot camp reach, man! Because if you can't reach, Marines aren't gonna die!
01:32Despite his size, the diminutive Dahilig survived boot camp, and today he is a
01:41United States Marine. Good to see you, man. Good to see you, too. How's it going? It's been good. I caught up with
01:49Dahilig about seven months after he graduated from boot camp. He's now
01:56stationed in Japan. You got a lot more hair since the last time I saw you. Oh, yeah.
02:00I really miss my hair. You got good flow. Thank you.
02:06Growing up, did you always feel like you were on the smaller side? Yes, but to be
02:11honest, I was, like, insecure about, like, height and stuff, but as time passed by, I
02:16learned to accept, like, I cannot change that. Being small doesn't mean, like, you
02:21can't, you can't be a Marine. The Marine Corps' minimum height requirement for men
02:26is four feet ten inches. With your recruiter, once you actually started that
02:31process, did your height ever come into the conversation at all? To be honest, it
02:36was the first question I asked them, like, is my height good enough for you
02:40guys? And they told me, like, I was fine as long as you can do a pull-up.
02:46You need to find a rhythm. It's like everything we do is for a reason. Yes, ma'am. Imagine that. Let's go.
02:53Come on, come on. Warbag, execute.
02:55Aye, sir.
02:57Aye, sir. Warbag!
02:59No, go over here. Go down.
03:01Warbag, what?
03:03Warbag! What's this?
03:05Second log. Aye, sir. Do it again.
03:07Aye, sir.
03:09Use your momentum as you swing down from this one. Aye, sir.
03:15What are you doing? At least get to the third log. Aye, sir.
03:19Low profile. Put this arm underneath.
03:23Oh, my. Aye, sir.
03:25Warbag! Aye, sir.
03:27Go over there with freaking delay. Aye, sir.
03:29Everything in the crucible,
03:31whatever event you may not be able to finish, there is a consequence. So if
03:35they're not able to execute the weaver, they go out to the side and we do something that's called
03:39fireman's carry. It's where you take a buddy and
03:43you put him over your shoulders and then you carry them from one point to another.
03:47Go, Warbag! Go, Warbag!
03:49What do your parents think about your choice to join the Marine Corps?
03:53First, they were afraid of me joining the military.
03:57I told them that I really wanted to do this and
04:01I really want to prove it to them that I'm able to do it, sir.
04:05What were some of the reasons that they didn't want you to go? What were they worried about?
04:09They were trying to convince me that it was too hard.
04:13Then I did some research on the Internet and I was like,
04:17Marine Corps, it says the hardest boot camp
04:21and the longest one. And I was like, I need to try it first before
04:25I give up. But I didn't give up. I just
04:29pushed myself. Aye, sir.
04:31When Dahiligan enlisted, he was classified as a lawful permanent resident,
04:35a status that allows people to join the military
04:39and puts them on an expedited path to becoming U.S. citizens.
04:43Under U.S. military policy, once eligible recruits
04:47complete their training, they gain citizenship.
04:51This was the case for about 1.5 percent of the nearly 11,000
04:55Marines who graduated from the San Diego boot camp in 2024.
04:59Since 2020, more U.S. military members from the Philippines
05:03have attained citizenship by serving than from any other
05:07country.
05:09I was born in the Philippines in like 1999.
05:13I lived there and studied there until like elementary.
05:17Then I migrated to Italy with my dad and my mom.
05:21I went back to the Philippines and go to high school. After going through high school,
05:25I attended like Bachelors of Science in Information Systems.
05:29I studied like programming, web development.
05:33My mom was a nurse. They needed nurses for COVID. She was able to convince me
05:37to come to the U.S. I was able to find a decent job.
05:41At first, I was struggling since I really don't have
05:45connections here. If you wanted to join a high-end company
05:49like Amazon, Apple, Google, you need to go through
05:53a process, a lot of internships. I was able to get two internships
05:57but it's not paid. I need to have a stable
06:01income. That's when I decided to find
06:05a military job, like Marine Corps.
06:35Maybe you should use your belt, put it around the freaking thing
06:39that way you can hold it.
06:43Try it, see what happens.
06:47Sometimes we just give them, like throw them a bone,
06:51try to help them out a little bit, think outside the box. Try to get them to think like a
06:55Marine. If you have someone who is short like him, like you still need to
06:59accomplish the mission no matter what.
07:03When you pass by, this recruit sees that he's improving and he's gaining
07:07more strength and he can do the stuff that other
07:11recruits can't do. Back in boot camp, we were told to
07:15present ourselves in third person, so we weren't able to
07:19talk with I. After becoming a Marine,
07:23we were allowed to use the word I.
07:27Let's go!
07:31Oh!
07:35It's the pugil sticks where recruits fight with each other.
07:39Are you looking forward to this? Yes, sir.
07:43Let's go!
07:47Oh!
07:51There's no beef with each other. I mean, there's some
07:55bickering a lot of times. It's really nothing personal, sir.
07:59I did get my
08:03ass beaten though. I was like on the floor
08:07most of the times.
08:11I can remember it really well.
08:15So Dale, he's a good recruit.
08:19Mind your business. You know, I see a little bit of myself
08:23in him sometimes. Why do you say that? Because he's very enthusiastic.
08:27When I was a young recruit, I was very enthusiastic. I was never really
08:31down about it. I wanted this, and it seems like
08:35he wants this, and that's what's important.
08:39All of you, on your gear, ready, move.
08:43Run!
08:47This was the final day of the
08:51crucible. The recruits had to overcome one more
08:55obstacle, climbing a steep hill known as the Reaper.
08:59Run!
09:03Run!
09:07Run!
09:11Get up, Dale!
09:25I
09:29think for every challenge, every sacrifice
09:33that we made during boot camp, it's just like collected
09:37in one spot. Thinking about our families,
09:41our sacrifices, the things we did at that point,
09:45it's just like emotionally draining.
09:49If I die in combat zone,
09:53box me up and send me home.
09:57There was just one thing left for Warbagg and his fellow
10:01recruits before they became Marines,
10:05receiving their Eagle, Globe, and Anchor pendants.
10:09Pretty much every single Marine
10:13there has tears streaming down their face.
10:17What is it about that moment? What did you feel in that moment?
10:21It was emotional for us. It was a really happy moment.
10:25Congratulations.
10:29We became like a family, in a sense.
10:33We've been together for three months, and I was so proud
10:37of that moment.
10:41We are proud to claim the title
10:45of United States Marines.
10:49I am a sergeant!
10:53Hoorah!
11:05What was that like to be back with your family?
11:09It was a very proud moment in my life. I was showing off, specifically to my sister,
11:13since I want to show her, look at me, I can do that too.
11:17Ralph! Ralph!
11:21Dahilig is now stationed in Okinawa, Japan,
11:25where he works as a utility systems technician.
11:29I'm having fun here. I have two roommates right now.
11:33We've been in boot camp. Ralph, come here.
11:37You and Ralph are roommates?
11:41Yes, sir. How is Ralph as a roommate?
11:45It is a pleasure to have him as a roommate. I couldn't ask for a better roommate.