D.i.

[Alphaonethree]

I was cracked across the head oh I would say 3 times during my stay at SDMCRD, I deserved all 3 of them. I would rather a DI crack me on the grape and rattle all the bolts back in to place in my brain housing group rather than send me home a failure. Some recruits need to have a little more training, They will be good Marines but just need a kick in the lower brain housing group to set them straight. I can understand some recruits just dont have what it takes and should go home. Please give me a brake with the CODE RED garbage, If officers and politicians continue to take the Drill Instructors flexibility in recruit training away, We might as well just switch over to ARMY recruit training, Liberty on the weekends and no fat body platoon and sensitivity training.

[jahhead88]

I remember a conversation I had with my senior drill instructor. I had gotten to the point of wanting to quit. I questioned my ability to be a Marine, much less make it through Parris Island. I went to the duty hut, and asked permission to speak to my senior drill instructor. He granted me permission to come in.

I asked permission to speak to him directly, which was granted. I then informed him I wanted to quit, for reasons I won't get into. I told him I didn't think I could make it through bootcamp. I told him I thought I had been an embarrassment to him and the other drill instructors.

He could have ripped me a new one. He could have dismissed my concerns. He told me that he could write up orders to send me to casual company. Then he looked at me, and briefly showed his human side. He told me of his struggles at MCRD San Diego. He told me that he had been in a similar position. He also told me that me quitting would be a mistake I would have regretted for the rest of my life. He told me that the DI's were going to put me through hell, but that there was a reason for it. He told me they were going to push me beyond my limits.

There were times I wished the DI's riding my ass would have gotten a life. I questioned why I was getting ridden for things that other people in my platoon were doing that appeared to go unnoticed.

It wasn't until many years later I came to understand what they were trying to do. They have standard operating procedures, which from what I can remember going through in the 1980's, just about anything they did was subject to an abuse allegation. I don't think a DI is perfect; but I do think they have done me good later in my life. I worked with troubled teens who wanted to give up, some didn't care. Some got aggressive, in my face spitting and hollering, others threw furniture. The experience of my drill instructors in my face, yelling, spitting, name calling, throwing myself down the middle of the squadbay; became a great asset with those teenagers. I was able to handle these teens calmly.

I see a bad double standard. DI's are supposed to train recruits to get them ready for combat. Suppose they find themselves POW's, with the enemy hitting them, making them sit in vomit; hitting them with items such as sticks and flashlights. From what I can tell from watching the news; these insurgents don't care about being gentle.

Yes, a DI at San Diego violated procedures. I won't deny that, but I also don't recall insurgents following standard operating procedures of the MCRD's either.

[Alphaonethree]

Please dont get me wrong. I dont think that beating recruits is any kind of training. But I do think that the Drill instructors need that little bit of flexiblity that could mean the difference between giving up on a recruit and getting his attention

[jahhead88]

I agree with the need for the flexibility.