[mcg1969]

Editor's note: After reading this first-person account of boot camp by reporter Bill Cahir, the Marine Corps has opened an investigation into possible violations of policy by drill instructors. Cahir is Washington correspondent for The Evening Sun.

Very interesting, especially since the reporter himself said he didn't believe that he was verbally or physically abused.

[BluH2o]

I went thru Parris Island back in the mid-60's ... I've also visited the "Island" since. Basic training today, at least the physical part, is every bit as demanding. There is much more emphasis on hand to hand combat now, part of it designed along the line of police training ... subduing a individual without killing them. Useful in urban warfare. Back in my day the so called mistreatment of POW's at abu-Ghraib(sp?) prison was a cake walk in comparison to what we had to tolerate as recruits. The treatment of recruits today by DI's is closely supervised by officers and senior NCO's ... "thumping" a common occurrence back then, has been virtually eliminated in todays recruit training cycle.