Army Recruits Quickly Abused in Training

AP ^ | 6/27/2005 | Dylan T. Lovan

[cll]

FORT KNOX, Ky. (AP) - The recruits of Echo Company stumbled off the bus for basic training at Fort Knox to the screams of red-faced drill instructors. That much was expected. But it got worse from there.

Echo Company's top drill instructor seized a recruit by the back of the neck and threw him to the ground. Other soldiers were poked, grabbed or cursed.

Once inside the barracks, Pvt. Jason Steenberger says, he was struck in the chest by the top D.I. and kicked ``like a football.'' Andrew Soper, who has since left the Army, says he was slapped and punched in the chest by another drill instructor. Pvt. Adam Roster says he was hit in the back and slammed into a wall locker.

Eventually, four Army drill instructors and the company commander would be brought up on charges. Four have been convicted so far.

The tough-as-nails D.I. who berates and intimidates recruits with remarkably creative profanity is a familiar figure to generations of men who went through the Army or the Marines, and a stock character in the movies - ``Full Metal Jacket'' and ``An Officer and a Gentleman,'' among them. The idea is to break the recruit down, instill discipline and make him a well-trained part of a cohesive fighting unit.

But Army regulations in effect since 1985 say superiors cannot lay a hand on their recruits to discipline them. The Army's Training and Doctrine Command regulations also disallow any physical or verbal hazing, which includes ``cruel or abusive tricks.'' Vulgar or sexually explicit language is also prohibited.

The guidelines reflect some of the lessons of the Vietnam era and the changing culture of the Army, which became an all-volunteer force with the end of the draft and began accepting women.

The Army gets complaints of abuse by drill sergeants ``all the time, but we often find that they are not founded,'' said Connie Shaffery, a Fort Knox apokeswoman.

The Fort Knox case, involving a unit of the 1st Battalion, 81st Armor Regiment, was unusual, too, in that a company commander was convicted.

The abuse took place in early February. An Army investigation began the next week, as the company's leaders were removed and the 25 recruits were sent to another command. Six of the trainees have since left the Army, including two who went AWOL.

``It was just chaos - constant commotion, constant yelling,'' Sgt. 1st Class Paul Holley said. Holley said he had come over from another company that day to help out, but was quickly turned off by what he perceived to be abuse, and left.

``In my eyes, it wasn't the way I would conduct an initial pickup,'' he said.

Staff Sgt. Jason J. Harris, a drill instructor who has not been charged in the scandal, testified at one court-martial that it was the worst treatment of recruits he had ever seen.

Staff Sgt. David H. Price, Echo Company's head drill sergeant, said on the witness stand at his own court martial in April that he was ``burned out'' from being a D.I. for too long. He also said that he felt that the guidelines on abuse limited his ability to turn recruits into tough soldiers.

The evidence in the scandal included a 25-minute video - taken by a sergeant as the recruits stepped off the bus - that showed the recruits being poked, grabbed and berated. Recruits are often videotaped on arrival, and the footage is shown during their training graduation or at family days to show how far they have come.

Capt. William C. Fulton, 35, the company's commander, was convicted last week of false swearing and dereliction of duty for not halting the abuse. He was sentenced to six months' confinement.

Earlier this year, Price was convicted of maltreatment and demoted, as was Staff Sgt. Ricky L. Stauffer. Staff Sgt. Michael G. Rhoades was found guilty of maltreatment and impeding an investigation, and received a bad-conduct discharge. Staff Sgt. Bryan G. Duncan is awaiting a court-martial.

Harvey Perrit, a spokesman for the Army Training and Doctrine Command in Fort Monroe, Va., said there 120 allegations of abuse against Army drill sergeants in fiscal year 2004, and as a result 16 drill sergeants were relieved of duty.

So far in fiscal year 2005, there have been 42 complaints of abuse, and six sergeants have been relieved of duty, Perrit said.

Shaffery, the Fort Knox spokesman, said reforms put in place before the incident helped reveal the abuse. ``We are holding to the policies and systems we have in place now, which discovered this situation within six days,'' she said.

[faloi]

When I went through training, I saw exactly one private get hit outside of hand-to-hand training. He attempted to strike our Drill Sergeant. Given that our Drill Sergeant was a Ranger, it wasn't the brightest move he'd ever made. I got yelled at, dropped in the mud, marched for miles carrying stuff for my buddies that couldn't hang... Our Drill Sergeants were great, they were able to motivate us WITHOUT pushing people around. Their authority came from know-how and pride, not from pushing grunts around.

[TalonDJ]

I think that is extremely disrespectful to our troops and does them a great disservice. I think you could clear that misconception up by driving over to the nearest fort and challenging them in person. Good luck with that.

[cll]

I would promote the recruit to PFC on the spot just for courage alone.

[TalonDJ]

Without loyalty and discipline, courage is not going to do you a lot of good. Seriously though, DI's these days find plenty of ways to insult, humiliate, and motivate and they don't need vulgarity or bullying to do it.

[Squantos]

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....

[Gefreiter]

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.

[cll]

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.

[NFOShekky]

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.

[ForGod'sSake]

Gotcha covered man!

;^)

[cll]

"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.

[quadrant]

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.

[jec41]

That fort Benning?
US ARMY 69-72

Yep, did my airborne training there. No heat in the barracks. They had coffee cans filled with water and nailed to the posts for cigarette butts. When we woke up in the mornings the water in the cans was froze. Hot water was scarce. Half took a shower at night until the hot water ran out and the rest showered the next morning. Never had any heat until I got to Ft. Campbell and never had any air condition. Notice my tagline.

[Graycliff]

(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

[jec41]

As an active duty E-7 I feel the training is pretty good for a bunch of people that signed up because they wanted to not because Uncle Sugar made them. I hope the draft never comes back.

I agree. I served in the 101st Airborne in the 60's and it is an all volunteer unit. My son is a Lt. in Iraq and came up through the ranks. Although I think our physical training was tougher he is better supplied, more informed, better trained and in general a better soldier than we were. However we are competitive. At 62 I could still do 3 miles in 23 min. and stayed with him. He woke up when in a training exercise where he led a attack on a airborne bunker and was repelled and in retreat, a airborne Sgt. in full gear left the bunker, covered 2 miles in open country in 12 min and 40 sec. and ambushed him terminating the exercise. Thats tough in any man's day.

[jec41]

Touche

I loved it, lived for it.

[Sprite518]

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

[Sprite518]

You nailed it on the head.

[Uncle Meat]

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.

[Uncle Meat]

Half took a shower at night until the hot water ran out and the rest showered the next morning.

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.

[cll]

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.