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  1. #1

    Ranks of DI's

    Pretty simple question. My father and brother were Marines but times have changed since they have been in Boot Camp. Father(64) Brother (89).


    What ranks are DI's usually? A lot of the pics I see are Sgt. and Ssgt.

    Are there any as low as Cpl? Or as high as Gysgt?


    Just curious...


  2. #2
    Marine Free Member Wyoming's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dan629
    Pretty simple question. My father and brother were Marines but times have changed since they have been in Boot Camp. Father(64) Brother (89).


    What ranks are DI's usually? A lot of the pics I see are Sgt. and Ssgt.

    Are there any as low as Cpl? Or as high as Gysgt?


    Just curious...
    I had -
    E-6 - nice enough - drank beer with him in Oki after return from RVN
    E-5 - short, mean little ****
    E-4 - sloppy, out of shape, FW ribbon, sadistic fat fvck


  3. #3
    All the ones that I have ever seen have been Sgts, SSgts, and occasionally a GySgt. Usually the senior DI is a SSgt (but they can be a GySgt or a really motivated Sgt).


  4. #4
    Marine Free Member Wyoming's Avatar
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    Vickie, you are talking about 2007.

    I am talking about 1965.


  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by bigalholmes165
    Vickie, you are talking about 2007.

    I am talking about 1965.
    I wasn't disagreeing with you, but Dan was asking about how things are now, so I thought I'd contribute my current knowledge.


  6. #6
    Thanks for those answers. The thing that made me ask was because I was watching Full Metal Jacket. I noticed the SDI was a GySgt. and if you look closely, another DI was a Cpl. That movie took place in bigalholmes day though I think. Was wondering if it was still like that or if the movie was even accurate. I got both answers.

    My brother (who went to Boot Camp in 1989) was watching it with me and he said he didn't remember seeing any DI's with the rank of GySgt. Seems like things may change a bit with time. Thanks!


  7. #7
    Marine Free Member davblay's Avatar
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    try this link!

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drill_instructor

    That should answer the question!

    Semper Fi

    Dave


  8. #8
    Marine Free Member Wyoming's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by PatriotGirl422
    I wasn't disagreeing with you, but Dan was asking about how things are now, so I thought I'd contribute my current knowledge.
    No problem, I understand now.

    I think the 1st Gunny I dealt with was in Squadron.


  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by Dan629
    Thanks for those answers. The thing that made me ask was because I was watching Full Metal Jacket. I noticed the SDI was a GySgt. and if you look closely, another DI was a Cpl. That movie took place in bigalholmes day though I think. Was wondering if it was still like that or if the movie was even accurate. I got both answers.

    My brother (who went to Boot Camp in 1989) was watching it with me and he said he didn't remember seeing any DI's with the rank of GySgt. Seems like things may change a bit with time. Thanks!
    If you look at the GySgt's sleeves in the movie, you will also see that he has service stripes that reflect that he has been in for 20 years. So I don't really know how accurately the movie was supposed to portray a typical DI.


  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by PatriotGirl422
    If you look at the GySgt's sleeves in the movie, you will also see that he has service stripes that reflect that he has been in for 20 years. So I don't really know how accurately the movie was supposed to portray a typical DI.

    Yeah, I did notice that as well. I think because he was actually a Marine, he wore 'his' uniform for the movie. That would make some sense to why it's just his uniform, that isn't very accurate for his character in the movie.


  11. #11
    Marine Free Member davblay's Avatar
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    FYI about Gunny Ermey!
    -----------------------

    Born in Emporia, Kansas, Ermey enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 1961, after being arrested several times as a teenager. A court judge gave him the choice of the military or jail. He later joked that the Marine Corps "put a screeching halt to my unconventional manner." He spent two years as a drill instructor at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego in San Diego, California, from 1965 to 1967. In 1968, Ermey arrived in Vietnam where he served for 14 months with the Marine Wing Support Group 17. He then served two tours of duty in Okinawa, Japan, during which he rose to the rank of Staff Sergeant and was medically discharged in 1972 for several injuries incurred during his tours. He did not receive a Purple Heart due to his injuries being noncombat in origin. Ermey has admitted that he still has nightmares about his combat experiences. Ermey was later honorarily bestowed the rank of Gunnery Sergeant by the Marine Corps.
    ----------------------------------------------------


    I served in the same unit as he did in Nam, a lot of my buddies knew him and talked about him sometime! He had just under 12 years when he got out!


  12. #12
    Marine Free Member davblay's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dan629
    Yeah, I did notice that as well. I think because he was actually a Marine, he wore 'his' uniform for the movie. That would make some sense to why it's just his uniform, that isn't very accurate for his character in the movie.
    In the 60s and early 70s it wasn't unusual to have a senior E-7 serving as SDIs on both depots before retirement! The younger NCOs were kind of needed elsewhere! BTW that was not HIS uniform! Might have been his Hat however!

    That movie gave me flashbacks of boot camp, as that was the closest thing, on film, I have ever seen to the real thing I went thru in 69! The Nam part was BS, but the boot camp was real...to me! Except the part with the rifle and Gomer Pyle at the end, they would not have had thier weapons on the night before they left the island, even then I don't believe! Our rifle never had firing pins except when we were on the live fire range in my day! Then they were removed when we left, everyday, the range, then replaced every morning when we got back. So that could not have happened, at least not in my day!


  13. #13
    Marine Free Member davblay's Avatar
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    Graphical representation of R. Lee Ermey's USMC awards

    This is his ribbons and medals he earned as a Marine!


  14. #14
    Wow, I didn't know all of that about him. My father was in around the same time as you and he said it was as accuarate as you could get, (Boot Camp Part) just like you said. I guess my theory was wrong though about him wearing his real uniform for the movie, if he was in for twelve years. Thanks for all that info though. I really love that movie.


  15. #15
    Marine Free Member mincj's Avatar
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    I graduated boot camp in 2006 and I had two Gunnery Sergeants (one of them being the Senior) and one Sergeant.


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