Albany Young Marines shine with Southeast Regimental Awards

ALBANY – Albany’s Young Marines have been busy in 2025.

You might’ve seen them marching in Veteran’s Day parades, volunteering at food banks or taking home national honors. Now, the group is being recognized among Young Marines across the region in the 2025-26 Southeast Regimental Awards. The Albany unit was recognized as the 2025–2026 Southeast Regiment Unit of the Year for the second consecutive year. Southeast Regiment Senior Young Marine of the Year YM/SSgt Daniel Crump was named the 2025-26 Southeast Regiment Senior Young Marine of the Year. 

A member of the Albany Young Marines since 2020, Crump has completed Senior Leadership School and has consistently demonstrated exceptional leadership, discipline and mentorship among his peers.

Located at the Albany area YMCA, the unit has demonstrated consistent excellence in leadership, community engagement, and mission performance. Earlier in April 2025, the Albany Young Marines were honored as the 2025 National Unit of the Year, a prestigious recognition within the national Young Marines program. 

“We’re doing over and beyond other units that are within our regiment,” Eric Crump, the unit’s commander, said. “We’ve always just tried to do what we’re supposed to do and do it well. We’re not trying to win an award, but it’s because we try our best  and encourage the families to do their best to participate in all the activities and actually work with the community.”

The Southeast Regiment of Division 2 includes 12 units across Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee. The Young Marines organization said this year’s honorees embody the Young Marines’ core values of leadership, discipline, and service, setting a high standard of excellence within their communities and the organization. Their commitment continues to strengthen the mission of the Young Marines and inspire youths to live a healthy, drug-free lifestyle.

Albany’s unit completes a number of community service projects and partners with local law enforcement to provide drug prevention programming. Crump said these opportunities incorporate students outside of the program as well. 

“It’s allowing us to do more than just helping the families that we have,” Crump said. “It gives us a multiplier effect to help other families and other youths in the broader area.” 

The Young Marines is a national nonprofit 501(c)(3) youth education and service program for boys and girls, ages 8 through high school graduation. The volunteer-run organization promotes the mental, moral and physical development of its members and focuses on teaching the values of leadership, teamwork and self-discipline, so its members can live and promote a healthy, drug-free lifestyle.

“I think the community needs a program like Young Marines,” Crump said. “We need to start as early as possible to make a difference with families in the community.” 

The program has greatly expanded since the COVID-19 pandemic. Crump said the unit’s service has become more spread out to other counties in southwest Georgia. The unit also has gained new members from beyond Dougherty County.

The remainder of the Albany Young Marines’ 2025 will be focused on graduating its senior recruits. In January, new recruitment begins. Crump said if families are interested in signing up, they can reach out now. 

For more information, visit the website at https://youngmarines.org/ and find the Albany location. Also visit their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/albanyyoungmarines.