Posted on 11/15/2007 5:41:34 AM PST by RDTF
SAN DIEGO -- In the biggest such case in decades at the Marine boot camp here, former Marine Corps drill instructor Sgt. Jerrod Glass was convicted Wednesday by a military jury on eight counts related to the abuse of recruits.
Glass, 25, who was charged with kicking, punching, slapping and ridiculing the young men, could face 9 1/2 years in prison and a dishonorable discharge.
Jurors indicated, however, that they did not believe dozens of specific allegations in which the only witnesses were the alleged victims themselves. That could count in Glass' favor when he is sentenced. In a four-day trial, nearly two dozen former recruits testified that Glass abused them for minor mistakes during training at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego and at Camp Pendleton.
After convicting Glass, the Marine jury of three officers and three senior staff noncommissioned officers heard testimony concerning his sentence. The jurors will begin deliberations on sentencing today. The verdict and the sentence then will be reviewed by Brig. Gen. Angela Salinas, commanding general of the Marine Corps Recruit Depot.
A conviction of this scope is rare. In the last three years, the recruit depot, which has nearly 500 drill instructors, has seen 44 drill instructors charged with misconduct toward recruits. Of those 44, only two before Glass went to court-martial; others were punished or admonished through an administrative process. Glass was convicted on two counts of violating orders, two counts of cruelty and maltreatment, three counts of destroying the recruits' private property and one count of assault.
-snip-
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
There are probably cases where the DI’s got abusive to a point PHYSICALLY where they’ve crossed the line. How do you judge “crossing the line” though. In combat, or as a POW, a Marine faces abuses and torture that most people can’t even imagine.
How in the world can a DI even begin to cross the line MENTALLY?! Being told “your Mama wears conbat boots”? “You’re so ugly you throw dough in your faces and make monster cookies”?
Oops...wrong thread: that was the thread on transgendered co-ed locker rooms....
never mind.
I was not on the jury and don't know whether or not this individual is guilty, but the charges are entirely credible, in todays Marine Corps or even your father's WWII marine corps where sadistic DI's also had to be dealt with from time to time.
Yes it was - in the Old Corps. I guess all the PC-reared babies who were taught so much sensitivity didn’t like their mean old DI.
Semper fi,
Platoon 102, PI 1959
What if they go into battle and the enemy stoops to RIDICULING them?
If the physical abuse went overboard, that is different.
I’ll state it upfront: I never served and I do not know the facts of this case at all. Nevertheless, I’m just wondering if this couldn’t be part of a deliberate attempt to undermine the military by having people sign up and then claim abuse by drill instructors. I don’t want to be too tin foily here, but the trend toward treating the military like it’s a campus police department who overstepped their bounds by turning down the music at the frat party instead of the awesome fighting force that makes enemies say, “I never want to go that way again,” has me thinking the anti-military folks have figured out how to take down our forces from within the country.
The goal of basic/boot is to unite the troops cohesively against a common enemy......and that “enemy” role is played by the drill Sgt......as it gels in the last week or two, the Drill Sgt unceremoniously but naturally lapses from the “enemy” to the leader of a very cohesive unit of men. This experience and dynamic serves the participants throughout their careers and beyond. It is the most basic foundation for espirit-de-corps.
Without it, our military would be a merely collection of individuals.
he’d have to be one he!! of a s.o.b. for this to be justified. I for one don’t want the crybabies defending me on the battlefield!
One of the reasons DIs pile on the “abuse” is to stress the recruit. There is no stress like combat, and people trying to kill you. If you can’t handle the stress of boot you will not be able to handle the stress of war.
One does not need to be sadistic in order to create stress. I read nothing in the news account that would indicate this DI was sadistic.
Geeze...we got all that,and more,at Ft Knox in '69.Our junior DI,just back from the rice paddies of Vietnam (CIB and all),liked to take recruits behind the barracks.We didn't even bother filing a complaint because in a court martial who were they gonna believe....a recruit still only half way through BCT or a combat-decorated E-5?
LOL!!
ping
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