[cll]

What a bunch of sissies. And I thought the Army became far too soft when it changed from running in boots during PT to running in sneakers. Many of these new patriots-to-be really need a whooping to be shaped into form. Definitively not my dad's nor my Army.

[Tallguy]

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.

Why am I not surprised?! These days there's always a video!

[af_vet_1981]

What a bunch of sissies.

Treated more like the enemy

The Army is better off without those DIs and this type of publicity reinforces the stereotypes that hinder its ability to fulfill its mission.

[Diddle E. Squat]

When is the AP going to change their name to TR?

(Tokyo Rose)

[ghitma]

Lets say the DI gives a recruit a shot to the head. What happens if the recruit give the DI one back?

[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.

[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.

[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

[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.