thedrifter
10-16-04, 06:57 AM
10-14-2004
Has Marine Corps Training Gone Soft?
By Matthew Dodd
Earlier this summer, I wrote about the Marine Corps launching an investigation of drill instructors at its Parris Island boot camp after a reporter-turned-recruit wrote a newspaper article describing his experiences in detail as a Marine recruit (see “Say It Ain’t So!” DefenseWatch, July 15, 2004).
Reporter Bill Cahir’s article included accounts of his D.I.s using profanity and in some cases physically touching and striking him. He also praised his D.I.s and stated that he did not think he was verbally or physically abused. Officials at Parris Island nonetheless opened investigations into these “allegations” of mistreatment by those D.I.s involved.
I opened and closed my article with a simple question that had been asked countless times over the years, but which begged to be asked in lieu of the official Parris Island response to the situation: Is Marine Corps recruit training really going soft?
I asked for reader feedback, and the responses were immediate, very personal in many cases, and almost unanimous in partially answering my simple question. Let me share with you some representative comments from the heavy volume of reader feedback, and some of my analysis and observations of what was said and what was not said.
In retrospect, I believe my simple question was more complex than I originally thought. I asked readers to compare two different eras of recruit training, when all most readers could reasonably be expected to have is one – their own personal experiences. The only way to answer if boot camp is going soft is to know what boot camp was like and to know what it is like now. Readers needed a “before” and “after” to answer my simple question. Unfortunately, my article did not even come close to providing a complete “after” perspective for those readers who wanted to discuss their “before” experience.
Still, I am happy to say that readers responded quite well to my question, despite all its shortcomings.
The overwhelming majority of readers who responded were older Marines, or former Marines. Many served in Vietnam, a few even talked about their Korean War-era experiences, and some served in the 1980s-90s including service in the 1991 Gulf War. Most noticeable to me was an almost complete lack of response from Marines who went through boot camp – as recruits or as D.I.s – within the past three to five years. Their assessments may have allowed me to answer my own question with an understanding of the “after” perspective to compare to the “before” experiences and perspectives shared by the older and former Marines.
A good number of readers had very strong opinions about the role of D.I.s in molding recruits into Marines ready to endure the stresses and demands of combat. The vast majority said that boot camp needs to be very tough and stressful, and they implied that today’s boot camp is not tough and stressful enough for the modern realities of war. Here is a cross-section of comments on this aspect:
“The D.I.’s most important job is to ensure that the recruits they are training are fit to be Marines. Part of this is to make their lives extremely stressful. Combat is without a doubt one of the most stressful situations mankind experiences and as such, the need to duplicate the mental and physical stress levels onto these recruits is evident. No Marine in their right mind will ever say that Boot Camp is too hard.”
“To be honest, everything short of lasting physical damage and death should be allowed in the current Marine Corp and Army recruit training …. The point is simple .… Basic Combat Training and Marine Boot Camp are there for one and one reason only ... to prepare young men and women for combat as we understand it in the 21st Century. And that is the only mission. And those with the combat experience, and the proper training for that mission should be left alone to do it. And provided that recruits are not damaged beyond temporary pains or killed, they should be allowed to conduct their mission.”
“It sounds like something has been lost. DIs who can’t cuss out recruits? Is this the end of civilization as we know it? … And I don’t think today’s recruits are being done any favors by being insulated from the ‘language arts’ practiced by DIs since time immemorial.”
“I did the PI [Parris Island] tour Summer/Fall 1983. At 23, I found it very challenging on many levels. We started with about 76 recruits and 12 weeks later graduated 44. What I see now are platoons of 85 and 88 recruits graduating. Actually I noticed this in the late 90’s …. I'd like to know why the attrition rate has fallen off. Oh, and all this PC **** about ‘harsh language’ ... the seven dirty words are nothing till you hear grown men crying for their mothers or screaming in pain. Combat’s the obscenity. If one’s ears and sensibilities are intruded upon by curse words, ‘stand the f**k by’ when you have to go hand to hand in some desert rat-nest.”
“My brother (a [Gunnery Sergeant] serving in Afghanistan at the moment) has told me many times that the kids they get straight out of [military occupational school] are immature, disrespectful and undisciplined. He and his contemporaries blame the recruit depots for it.”
A good number of readers surprised me by questioning the judgment and character of the reporter-turned-recruit who wrote the original article. I was surprised for I had not once considered him to be part of the problem. Obviously, it was his article that ignited the controversy that ultimately led to the investigation. However, I was even more surprised and disappointed with how the Marine Corps chose, or was forced, to respond to the article’s content.
“The one problem I had was the author/boot writing crap that likely would cause trouble. He was 34 years old for Christ's sake and knew exactly what he was doing …. ”
“I can’t imagine what that idiot was thinking when he wrote his story for publication. He states in the text that he had to sign three times that he had not been abused. Well, what did he think they meant by abuse? What the hell did he think would happen when he wrote a story like that? He’s got a lot to answer for in my book.”
The most colorful response I got also attacked the judgment and character of the reporter-turned-recruit:
“My background, I am the wife, mother and mother-in-law of Marines. My husband did 30 years and has been retired for some time .… My son did a total of 10 years and my son-in-law just retired on 20. What did he expect by making allegations, he should know that in this day and age all allegations are investigated and proper action is taken. Poor little baby got cussed at and a little hands on. This could not have been the first time he was hollered at or touched. As a parent when raising kids I used a few words to my kids that perhaps were not politically correct and smacked them when the need was there and their little egos did not get damaged and they have gone on to become responsible adults. This little crybaby should be sent home to his Mama so she can cut his meat for him …. ”
By far the most analytical response I got was from a retired colonel who went through Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego in 1958. Truly from the “Old Corps,” his comments were straight from the heart and certainly worthy of serious reflection here in the opening years of the 21st century:
“The rule against direct physical abuse by DI's is a good one, in view of periodic incidents from the 50’s and 60’s. I enlisted a couple of years after the Ribbon Creek Incident, and the rule was certainly in place by then. However, the rule didn’t prohibit the DI’s from getting up real close, from leaning into the recruit, from crowding the recruit up against the wall locker or bulkhead, or from doing the kinds of things you described in your article. These kinds of things are minor, and if today’s Marine Corps is going to punish DI’s for stuff like that, then I regret that the Corps is becoming politically correct like the other services.”
“As a 17-year old, I learned to swear fluently in boot camp, picking up the example set by the DI’s. In fact, their use of profanity was so creative and salty, that we recruits sometimes had to smile to ourselves even in the midst of performing physical punishment or receiving a verbal harangue. Profanity itself doesn’t relate to ‘toughness’ of training, but the attempt to legislate it out of boot camp unfortunately sounds like the Marine Corps is again being politically correct to the point of ignoring simple realities.”
“I don’t know if boot camp training today is any ‘tougher’ physically than before. The long runs, obstacle courses, and punishment exercises back then must have been similar to today’s, except that we wore boots, not sneakers. But I think that boot camp was ‘tougher’ mentally back then, if only because the feeling of being disconnected from family, friends, and anything familiar was almost total. We had no ‘family weekends,’ no phone calls, and no protective screen of rules (that we were aware of) limiting the DI’s behavior. We were in unfamiliar, expeditionary-looking Quonset huts, rather than familiar, school dorm type buildings, and MCRD was truly another planet. We recruits commented even during boot camp that the mental stress was harder than anything physical. I wonder if today’s recruits have a similar degree of mental stress in what seems to be a much more protected and circumscribed environment.”
“Probably Marines who went through boot camp during WW2 and Korea would have said that MCRD in the late 50’s and 60’s was a piece of cake. Maybe Marines who go through boot camp today will say that boot camp 20 years from now will be a picnic for sissies? The one thing I really worry about, though, is the Marine Corps becoming ‘politically correct’ as is the fashion today.”
Lt. Col. Matthew Dodd USMC is a Senior Editor of DefenseWatch. He can be reached at mattdodd1775@hotmail.com. Please send Feedback responses to dwfeedback@yahoo.com.
http://www.sftt.org/cgi-bin/csNews/csNews.cgi?database=DefenseWatch.db&command=viewone&op=t&id=665&rnd=318.72427937996644
Ellie
Has Marine Corps Training Gone Soft?
By Matthew Dodd
Earlier this summer, I wrote about the Marine Corps launching an investigation of drill instructors at its Parris Island boot camp after a reporter-turned-recruit wrote a newspaper article describing his experiences in detail as a Marine recruit (see “Say It Ain’t So!” DefenseWatch, July 15, 2004).
Reporter Bill Cahir’s article included accounts of his D.I.s using profanity and in some cases physically touching and striking him. He also praised his D.I.s and stated that he did not think he was verbally or physically abused. Officials at Parris Island nonetheless opened investigations into these “allegations” of mistreatment by those D.I.s involved.
I opened and closed my article with a simple question that had been asked countless times over the years, but which begged to be asked in lieu of the official Parris Island response to the situation: Is Marine Corps recruit training really going soft?
I asked for reader feedback, and the responses were immediate, very personal in many cases, and almost unanimous in partially answering my simple question. Let me share with you some representative comments from the heavy volume of reader feedback, and some of my analysis and observations of what was said and what was not said.
In retrospect, I believe my simple question was more complex than I originally thought. I asked readers to compare two different eras of recruit training, when all most readers could reasonably be expected to have is one – their own personal experiences. The only way to answer if boot camp is going soft is to know what boot camp was like and to know what it is like now. Readers needed a “before” and “after” to answer my simple question. Unfortunately, my article did not even come close to providing a complete “after” perspective for those readers who wanted to discuss their “before” experience.
Still, I am happy to say that readers responded quite well to my question, despite all its shortcomings.
The overwhelming majority of readers who responded were older Marines, or former Marines. Many served in Vietnam, a few even talked about their Korean War-era experiences, and some served in the 1980s-90s including service in the 1991 Gulf War. Most noticeable to me was an almost complete lack of response from Marines who went through boot camp – as recruits or as D.I.s – within the past three to five years. Their assessments may have allowed me to answer my own question with an understanding of the “after” perspective to compare to the “before” experiences and perspectives shared by the older and former Marines.
A good number of readers had very strong opinions about the role of D.I.s in molding recruits into Marines ready to endure the stresses and demands of combat. The vast majority said that boot camp needs to be very tough and stressful, and they implied that today’s boot camp is not tough and stressful enough for the modern realities of war. Here is a cross-section of comments on this aspect:
“The D.I.’s most important job is to ensure that the recruits they are training are fit to be Marines. Part of this is to make their lives extremely stressful. Combat is without a doubt one of the most stressful situations mankind experiences and as such, the need to duplicate the mental and physical stress levels onto these recruits is evident. No Marine in their right mind will ever say that Boot Camp is too hard.”
“To be honest, everything short of lasting physical damage and death should be allowed in the current Marine Corp and Army recruit training …. The point is simple .… Basic Combat Training and Marine Boot Camp are there for one and one reason only ... to prepare young men and women for combat as we understand it in the 21st Century. And that is the only mission. And those with the combat experience, and the proper training for that mission should be left alone to do it. And provided that recruits are not damaged beyond temporary pains or killed, they should be allowed to conduct their mission.”
“It sounds like something has been lost. DIs who can’t cuss out recruits? Is this the end of civilization as we know it? … And I don’t think today’s recruits are being done any favors by being insulated from the ‘language arts’ practiced by DIs since time immemorial.”
“I did the PI [Parris Island] tour Summer/Fall 1983. At 23, I found it very challenging on many levels. We started with about 76 recruits and 12 weeks later graduated 44. What I see now are platoons of 85 and 88 recruits graduating. Actually I noticed this in the late 90’s …. I'd like to know why the attrition rate has fallen off. Oh, and all this PC **** about ‘harsh language’ ... the seven dirty words are nothing till you hear grown men crying for their mothers or screaming in pain. Combat’s the obscenity. If one’s ears and sensibilities are intruded upon by curse words, ‘stand the f**k by’ when you have to go hand to hand in some desert rat-nest.”
“My brother (a [Gunnery Sergeant] serving in Afghanistan at the moment) has told me many times that the kids they get straight out of [military occupational school] are immature, disrespectful and undisciplined. He and his contemporaries blame the recruit depots for it.”
A good number of readers surprised me by questioning the judgment and character of the reporter-turned-recruit who wrote the original article. I was surprised for I had not once considered him to be part of the problem. Obviously, it was his article that ignited the controversy that ultimately led to the investigation. However, I was even more surprised and disappointed with how the Marine Corps chose, or was forced, to respond to the article’s content.
“The one problem I had was the author/boot writing crap that likely would cause trouble. He was 34 years old for Christ's sake and knew exactly what he was doing …. ”
“I can’t imagine what that idiot was thinking when he wrote his story for publication. He states in the text that he had to sign three times that he had not been abused. Well, what did he think they meant by abuse? What the hell did he think would happen when he wrote a story like that? He’s got a lot to answer for in my book.”
The most colorful response I got also attacked the judgment and character of the reporter-turned-recruit:
“My background, I am the wife, mother and mother-in-law of Marines. My husband did 30 years and has been retired for some time .… My son did a total of 10 years and my son-in-law just retired on 20. What did he expect by making allegations, he should know that in this day and age all allegations are investigated and proper action is taken. Poor little baby got cussed at and a little hands on. This could not have been the first time he was hollered at or touched. As a parent when raising kids I used a few words to my kids that perhaps were not politically correct and smacked them when the need was there and their little egos did not get damaged and they have gone on to become responsible adults. This little crybaby should be sent home to his Mama so she can cut his meat for him …. ”
By far the most analytical response I got was from a retired colonel who went through Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego in 1958. Truly from the “Old Corps,” his comments were straight from the heart and certainly worthy of serious reflection here in the opening years of the 21st century:
“The rule against direct physical abuse by DI's is a good one, in view of periodic incidents from the 50’s and 60’s. I enlisted a couple of years after the Ribbon Creek Incident, and the rule was certainly in place by then. However, the rule didn’t prohibit the DI’s from getting up real close, from leaning into the recruit, from crowding the recruit up against the wall locker or bulkhead, or from doing the kinds of things you described in your article. These kinds of things are minor, and if today’s Marine Corps is going to punish DI’s for stuff like that, then I regret that the Corps is becoming politically correct like the other services.”
“As a 17-year old, I learned to swear fluently in boot camp, picking up the example set by the DI’s. In fact, their use of profanity was so creative and salty, that we recruits sometimes had to smile to ourselves even in the midst of performing physical punishment or receiving a verbal harangue. Profanity itself doesn’t relate to ‘toughness’ of training, but the attempt to legislate it out of boot camp unfortunately sounds like the Marine Corps is again being politically correct to the point of ignoring simple realities.”
“I don’t know if boot camp training today is any ‘tougher’ physically than before. The long runs, obstacle courses, and punishment exercises back then must have been similar to today’s, except that we wore boots, not sneakers. But I think that boot camp was ‘tougher’ mentally back then, if only because the feeling of being disconnected from family, friends, and anything familiar was almost total. We had no ‘family weekends,’ no phone calls, and no protective screen of rules (that we were aware of) limiting the DI’s behavior. We were in unfamiliar, expeditionary-looking Quonset huts, rather than familiar, school dorm type buildings, and MCRD was truly another planet. We recruits commented even during boot camp that the mental stress was harder than anything physical. I wonder if today’s recruits have a similar degree of mental stress in what seems to be a much more protected and circumscribed environment.”
“Probably Marines who went through boot camp during WW2 and Korea would have said that MCRD in the late 50’s and 60’s was a piece of cake. Maybe Marines who go through boot camp today will say that boot camp 20 years from now will be a picnic for sissies? The one thing I really worry about, though, is the Marine Corps becoming ‘politically correct’ as is the fashion today.”
Lt. Col. Matthew Dodd USMC is a Senior Editor of DefenseWatch. He can be reached at mattdodd1775@hotmail.com. Please send Feedback responses to dwfeedback@yahoo.com.
http://www.sftt.org/cgi-bin/csNews/csNews.cgi?database=DefenseWatch.db&command=viewone&op=t&id=665&rnd=318.72427937996644
Ellie