Posted on 06/28/2005 6:03:43 AM PDT by 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.
And what nerve has AP calling this "abuse". What do they think boot camp is, a yoga camp?
This shows that there's a new definition for the word "abuse", which now refers to anything not AAA five-star rated.
Alternative Headline "Abusive Army Drill Instructors Convicted"
I guess that's not interesting enough.
What the hack do they think is going to happen in combat? We have a pussyfied army.
Son, that's nothing compared to what the Germans/ Japs/Russkies/Chinese/Iraqis/Terrorists will do to you. Where do we find kids to play football with all these p_ss_es around?
It sounds like A-5-1 at Fort Jackson in 1965. Today such things are not allowed but for some reason the Army just keeps on keeping on.
Where is Durbin on this?
You have GOT to be KIDDING me!
A friend of mine has a daughter in the army. She was telling me about a "blue card" that was given to some recruits. It sounds like the blue card was a permission slip to go home when things got rough.
Oh my. Have you ever heard of such cruelty?
Everything is cool, no underware on the head.
This is part of a MSM campaign to strangle Army recruitment. It has multiple elements: (a) claim no one wants to join the Army (even with incentives), (b) claim Army recruiters are using out of bounds or nefarious tactics to recruit, (c) claim that Army targets the poor and minorities for recruiting, (d) claim that the Army abuses recruits, (e) excoriate the Army for not allowing Gays to serve, (f) tout "courageous" movements across the country to ban military recruiters from schools (or from getting any access to student info), and lastly: (g) play up the "quagmire" in Iraq--its a lost cause, so why join?
There are probably a few elements I missed--if nothing else, the MSM/Left are very creative and energetic.
THE AP MAKES ME PLAIN SICK!
i would have liked all these folks at PI for the fall of 94'
GODSPEED!
THE AP MAKES ME PLAIN SICK!
i would have liked all these folks at PI for the fall of 94'
GODSPEED!
SORRY 74!
Simple, send the recruits to Club Gitmo, the terrorist appear to be treated more kindly than the recruits.
I went through boot at Great Lakes.....The CPO in charge of our group would regularly kick the shins of fellow recruits who couldn't march.....hard enough that blood would flow....We also got the standard humiliations,screaming cursing etc....
He also stood us at attention for two hours after getting our series of shots, this hobbled our company for 3 days....
But what really stands out is one guy who truly never got the concept of marching (left column, he's go right etc...). We were losing competitions against other companies as a result.
The Company Commander lined us up at attention, walked up to the young man and brought his heel down on the bridge of his foot breaking it.....The guy processed out that week and we started winning competitions.....
I was 17 when I entered boot and turned 18 just before graduation.....The comraderie, friendships, focus and sense of purpose I found in the military are dear to me.
NeverGore :^)
I still remember my Drill Sgt. Back in the steel pot days, he paced back and forth along the fox holes at the M-16 firing range and whenever he saw something he didn't like, he would promptly hit the offender on the helmet with his barrel-cleaning rod. Sometimes he would "miss" the helmet and land his strike elsewhere.
My tagline speaks for itself.............
Hey, lets bash the Army more. Good front page news in the left wing, military hating media. Afterall, the failure to make recruiting mission was front page news for a week.
When are soldiers going to learn they are under a microscope and the smallest infraction too will be on the front page of the NY Times and Washington Post?
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