What if they go into battle and the enemy stoops to RIDICULING them?
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.
You did catch this part, right:
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.