[RDTF]

[NewCenturions]

"ridiculing the young men"

??? Isn't that par for the course at boot camp?

[albie]

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”?

[traditional1]

Did the recruits fill out the "gender selection" question when they enlisted?

Oops...wrong thread: that was the thread on transgendered co-ed locker rooms....

never mind.

[Thrownatbirth]

destroying the recruits' private property

My Great Lakes CC said he had a "right" to smoke my cigars. He said if he got high, I would be on report.

[Dahoser]

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.

[Scotsman will be Free]

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.

[Gay State Conservative]

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.

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?

[RDTF]

ping

[yldstrk]

As an Army JAG officer formerly on active duty, I kept records and prosecuted trainee abuse by DIs—it wasn’t funny and it wasn’t trainees being not tough—it was kids being in the clutches of the all powerful. The ones that got busted were the ones that were mean and cruel or the ones that were not too bright; we don’t need either kind in our forces.

[Gay State Conservative]

Ping

[NonValueAdded]

"... kicking, punching, slapping and ridiculing the young men"

That's it? That is the extent of the "abuse?" In Marine boot camp? Are we talking about leave-a-mark kind of physical contact? Jeez, it's not like it was Air Force boot camp ... they are making Marines for gosh darn sakes.

[George W. Bush]

Seems to me the military is dealing with internal discipline and training measures. No indication there is real heat from the WH or Congress.

Let them deal with it as they see fit.

[WhyisaTexasgirlinPA]

So, are blanket parties discouraged too?

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

One reason to be very tough on recruits during basic is to section 8 out the weak sisters and mental cases.

[Michael Barnes]

Sorry, I'm not feeling the sympathy for the raw-cruits. Admittedly, during my time at boot it was probably no where near as bad as the days of my brethren before me, but it was still not uncommon to get tossed around, slapped around and generally roughed up outside the quarterdeck to square up a recruit before phase II started.

Now, being assigned to first duty post in the FMF in the days of open squad bays, shit, that was cruel and unusual for wogs...Don;t even get me started about becoming a shellback ;-)

[A.A. Cunningham]

'Glass spent two tours in Iraq as a dog handler before attending drill instructor school, from which he graduated with honors. The abuses occurred shortly after his graduation, during his first two months as a drill instructor. They came to light only after he beat a 19-year-old over the head with a tent pole because the recruit could not remember the combination to his foot locker.

Of four drill instructors assigned to the 40-man platoon, Glass was the least experienced and the so-called "kill hat," Marine slang for the one assigned to mete out punishment. All four were relieved of duty when the abuse allegations surfaced.

The two most experienced face criminal charges, and the "third hat" was reduced from sergeant to corporal and is no longer a drill instructor. Two officers and two noncommissioned officers with supervisory responsibility for the four drill instructors were relieved of duty and reassigned.'

[RGSpincich]

Whatever happened, happened. But these guys seem like they formed a brotherhood.

http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,155799,00.html

Lance Cpl. Sean Fitzgerald recounted for jurors how platoon members began trying to break open one recruit’s foot locker after Glass began hitting the trainee over the head with a tent pole for forgetting the code for the combination lock.

[varyouga]

This PC crap is going into the MARINES recruiting depot of all places. I can’t believe this.

Parris Island or SD won’t be the same if they get rid of all that stuff. New Marines won’t be the same.

[Doc91678]

Just what did the Sergeant do? Did he take away their lollipops?
Does basic training constitute inhuman treatment and torture.
Perhaps those that accuse our military of violations of Geneva Conventions violations should go through Marine Corps basic. Then go to Gitmo to see how the ‘detainees’ are treated.
I’m not saying that Basic training is wrong. I’m saying that we train our people correctly. Yeah, sometimes the TI’s get a little carried away. But that is all part of training.