Posted on 06/28/2005 6:03:43 AM PDT by cll
I would promote the recruit to PFC on the spot just for courage alone.
Anyone file suit on Victorias secret for selling that stuff without a license yet ? Damn these atrocities !! Wouldn't suprise me if some of the complaints were little anarchists joining for just such an opportunity to disrupt, and destroy careers etc then fail basic and walk back into their sick little world laughing at the number of troops they removed from the military in addition to the bad press.....
Wall to wall counseling has it's place in the DOD....the pussification of our warriors via disinformational anarchy does not....
T,
You know, it's funny how simple punishments were effective.
I remember the platoon having to lay our weapons across our outstretched forearms for...well, a long time... because someone dropped his. And we learned.
It's a character builder.
I agree, I agree. It's just that I'm picturing pick-up day, when recruits get handed from Reception Station to the actual Basic Training unit. It is a very stressful event for both recruits and Drill Sgt's. Trainees have to learn to react immediately to orders, but many go into shock as they leave the cattle car (unless they're delivered on limos these days :-), and those who don't react fast enough will get the whole work out and if they still don't react fast enough that's when it can get out of hand. Drill Sgts. are human, it seems, work very long hours and they have just a couple of days to get these kids-off-the-street to react to orders without hesitation before they can begin any meaningful training. It can get very frustrating for these NCO's having to handle stragglers. And if the trainee actually got to get sent to the CO's office, he should have been in really deep doo-doo already.
My father (a veteran) warned me before shipping out to Basic not to stand out or fall behind at any time during the first week. To meld with the bunch and once the stress of the first week turns into actual training, that's the moment to excell and stand out.
As Popeye says: "Its all I can stands and I can't stands no more!" When is this sissifying of the military going to stop? No yelling, no "abuse," no "hazing," etc. What the hell are we preparing these troops for? I don't know if I'm angrier at the whining civilians who don't get it or the ball-less flag officers who know better but bow to political pressure. I am a graduate of Marine Corps-run, Navy AOCS. I have a hundred stories of the "abuse" I suffered under those "awful" drill instructors, and later, the "nasty" SERE school instructors. If it would have happened at Gitmo, I would be on the cover of the New York Times as the victim of the week! You know what? I thank everyone of those sons-of-bitches! Not only in my 23 year military career, but throughout my civilian life, every knock, lump, and yell I received has made me a better person. I can keep going when others fold, can laugh at things that bring others to tears, and generally, I can "take it." Isn't that the point? Is that what we owe our troops? Like the sign at AOCS says: "Adversity Tempers Steel!"
BTW: Best Regards & THANKS to AOCS USMC Drill Instructors Bearup, Jones, Matthews, Donahue, Hancock, et al. and the nameless bastards at Warner Springs SERE School (1991). I'm a better person because of you all.
;^)
"Its all I can stands and I can't stands no more!"
And in the Army, for those going into the infantry-airborne-ranger-special forces-SFOD-D track, and perhaps the other combat arms, it only gets worse with time. It never ends.
I've heard of Marines transferring to the Army and retaining their rank, but I've never heard of an soldier transferring into the Marines and retaining rank. It may happen, but I've never heard of it.
(When we woke up in the mornings the water in the cans was froze)
Not fair, you had ice.
By the time we made it back to the barracks, the water had evaporated.
Touche
Touche
I loved it, lived for it.
If they cannot handle boot camp, then they will never be able to handle war. You see our society has become such wimps that now our young wet the bed when they get touched in boot camp. We have become a country of pansies. Thanks to all the Bed Weters
You nailed it on the head.
Do they still have those stupid "smart books"like what we had to carry with us everywhere in Fort Lost in the Woods[Leonard Wood]in 1985.I thought we were through with the damn things till I got to AIT in Ft.Knox where we got issued new ones.The DI's used to love to mess with our heads if you didn't do each task exactly step by step.It got to the point where it got silly.
That reminds me of when lights out were at 9 and it was 8:30.We had a half hour to get the whole platoon[80 people]through the shower.They had the platoon guide[a big black guy from Brooklyn push us in and pull us out when our 25 seconds was up.I didn't even get to rinse the soap out of my eyes.We all had to be in our bunks by lights out.Talk about chaos.
I don't know but I still have my "Smart" Book from Ft. Dix '83. It's still grimy with a combination of tree sap and that horrible gray dust/sand that took me months to get out from my lungs.
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