In movies and such the drill sergeants could even hit his men, etc. In what ways, if any, has it softened up?
2006-09-25 02:17:53 · 11 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics & Government ➔ Military
My hubby is now a Drill Sergeant for BCT at the exact same place he did his BCT at 18 years ago. Alot has changed. They're not allowed to touch the recruits at all. The yelling is much more controlled. There's less cussing and name calling. They can't push them as hard in the training. There for awhile, they recruits were given stress cards. Talk about making it easy for them. However, thankfully, those are no longer in use either. I honestly believe in many ways, this has lowered the caliber of soldier we have. Yes, BCT is still tough, but nothing like it used to be. Most of these young guys thinks it's all about them. Team work really has to be encouraged. "An Army of One" is really taken literally. Things change that I just can't describe. My personal feeling is we need to toughen things up again. We're at war. They need to be fully prepared for that. Not that they aren't, but more so.
2006-09-25 03:42:34 · answer #1 · answered by HEartstrinGs 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋
after some marine basic trainees drowned in a strict training exercise back in the early 80s, military basic training toned down a bit. This meant less physical violence against trainees by the drill sergeants/instructors.
Also this toning down was a reflection of the shifting status from a conscript force to an all-volunteer military. It was not as necessary to rough up those who wanted to join as oppose to those who didn't want to be there.
I went through Army Basic Training in 1990. It was physically and mentally challenging but we didn't get hit. Instead we got a lot of punishments handed out that like doing push-ups and other exercises or we got assigned some terrible task like scrubbing toilets and all.
The first two weeks are always the hardest. This is the breakdown phase. We had a lot of guys cry during it. As we got closer to graduation, things lightened up a bit because we knew more about what we were doing. Plus the drill sergeants were at this point working more to build confidence and teamwork in us.
Incidentally it's only after the first two weeks that a soldier goes to the rifle range. They try to weed out any potential loonies before that - Full Metal Jacket was fiction.
Now one trick our Drill Sarges would do to get around the no hitting rule was to yank on our helmet chinstraps especially if they weren't buttoned.
All in all after it was over I could say it was a positive experience but I wouldn't want to go thru it again.
2006-09-25 09:34:45 · answer #2 · answered by samurai_dave 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Drill Sargent's in any branch of the military are going to be mean and tough. They are there to train you into becoming a soldier. I think the Marines have the longest boot camp of 3 months. The army etc i believe is 6 weeks. No I don't believe they can hit a recruit. But they do make you drink water in the marines until you puke.
I'd tell you to call an army recruiter for this information but they might want to sign you up. check out various websites for more information. Good Luck!
2006-09-25 09:30:32 · answer #3 · answered by ????? 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
I was in the Marine Corps and from what I can tell you of the Army it is nothing compared to the Marines, As far as your question Heck no it isn't, they have something called stress cards and garbage like that. When i went through Boot Camp it was harsh but they are really not allowed 2 touch you but in the Corps sometimes that happened. It builds character anyways, for all the terds that we have in know it probably would be better if it was like back in the day. Just so you know Army personnel go through Basic Training not Boot Camp, only Marines have a "Boot Camp" hope this helped.
2006-09-25 09:29:13 · answer #4 · answered by devildog75 2 · 2⤊ 2⤋
It may has soften a alttilee like drill sargents can't hit the recuirts for no apparanet reason. But I di think it is still tuff. My soom was in Boot camp for the marines in 2001 and he said it was bad, like on TV bad. But I guess it has to be that way otherwise the soliders would n't be able to survive
2006-09-25 09:21:43 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
There is an addage in the military that you "sweat in training to keep from bleeding in combat". I found this to be true as I went to Ft. Sill in 89 when the cold war was still being trained for and it was as hard as I can imagine basic being. I met other troops who had been to other bases who said that it had been pretty easy. During Desert Storm it was very noticible which basics had produced the better soldiers.
2006-09-25 09:59:28 · answer #6 · answered by medic 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
You have to understand that now and then are two different era's so the answer to your question is no. Also drill Sergeants were never allowed to strike anyone, except in the movies..............
2006-09-25 09:30:23 · answer #7 · answered by kilroymaster 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
boot camp for me was at FT Benning and i have to say it was not as hard as i thought it was going to be. a lot of things have changed and im not sure if it is for the better. we still learn all of the basic things but it is not so aggressive. the only place you can be hit is on the range when you have live ammo and in the gas chamber if you start flipping out. it is still hard but we are not training to work at McDonalds
2006-09-25 10:02:14 · answer #8 · answered by Geology RockstaRR 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Haha...Army boot camp has softened up more than anything. It depends to which one you go to, but it is a lot different now. Don't sweat it.
2006-09-25 10:23:38 · answer #9 · answered by Curt 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
NO!!! And it never was. In the Vietnam era, hollyweird was anti-war and still is and also anti-american as it still is to this very day.
2006-09-25 14:18:47 · answer #10 · answered by Vagabond5879 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋