NYT: As Recruiting Suffers, Military Reins In Abuses at Boot Camp

[DeepModem Mom]

As Recruiting Suffers, Military Reins In Abuses at Boot Camp
By ERIK ECKHOLM
Published: July 26, 2005


FORT KNOX, Ky. - Staff Sgt. Michael G. Rhoades, until recently a driller of Army recruits at Fort Knox, says he was only doing his job, hammering civilians into soldiers who would not crack under the pressures of war.

Sergeant Rhoades's methods, investigators said, included punching a recruit in the stomach and hitting him repeatedly in the chest, and throwing another to the floor and calling him a "fat nasty."

Years ago such accusations, if privates dared to voice them, might have led to no more than a reprimand or a transfer for a drill sergeant.

But Sergeant Rhoades, a 16-year veteran, was court-martialed in May and found guilty of cruelty and impeding an investigation. He was ordered dishonorably discharged. Two other drill sergeants in his unit were demoted for mistreating recruits, and a fourth is awaiting court-martial. Their captain is serving six months in prison for dereliction of duty....

***

Pentagon leaders reject the notion that training is aided by humiliation and hazing. And now, as the military struggles during wartime to fill its ranks, commanders appear to be more sensitive than ever to accusations of abuse....


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/26/national/26training.html

[bemildred]

1. Impressment gangs coming soon to bars and video joints near you. nt

[Supersedeas]

2. a kinder gentler killing machine

[Ian David]

3. The freepers are going to blame Liberals for ruining the army, aren't they

What could possibly go wrong with a little hazing?

[SKKY]

4. Throwing him to the floor and calling him "Fat Nasty"???

That's it? This is where I part ranks with just about EVERYONE on DU and say, if this guy is that sensitive, he probably shouldn't be thinking of the military as a possible career. Now, the punching in the stomach, that's out of hand- I agree.

[pseudostar]

6. i agree dude.

If I was pinned down taking fire, I would want a couple of tough motherfuckers next to me, not someone that would whine "Simmons' feelings are hurt, he was pushed to the ground and called a 'fat nasty' ".

At what point can we stop lowering standards?

[SKKY]

12. I don't know how far, but as long as Rumsfeld is SECDEF, it seems...

...they'll keep finding new and creative ways to jack up the military. By the way, welcome to DU!

[nadinbrzezinski]

7. You served, that is why you part ranks

Imagine what that recruit will do when he is faced with far worst than a little name calling inthe front lines

[SKKY]

10. Probably lay down, bury his face, and become another stat...

...and as a result take a couple of his fellow soldiers with him.

[noonwitch]

13. What a whiner

Isn't basic training supposed to be tough on the mind and body? That's one reason I didn't ever enlist!

[gratuitous]

5. Well, that's mickle strange

I had always heard that part of the reason (by no means the only reason) for the abuse, rhetorical, psychological and physical, of recruits was to "toughen them up" for combat. You can't have guys squealing in fear and throwing down their weapons at the first sign of an enemy attack. It's this toughening up that's supposed to be a line between life and death in a combat situation.

So now the military, under President Bush, is going with the idea that humiliation and hazing don't aid the training. It doesn't toughen up the recruits. It doesn't build unit cohesion. It doesn't do anything except humiliate recruits. Quite interesting.

I wonder what the commanders at the various VFW and American Legion posts think about this change in training under President Bush? Will anyone say that Bunnypants is letting the troops go soft on his watch? Will any of them come out and question Bush's ability to field a capable, competent military?

[noamnety]

8. There's a difference between

formal training courses designed to toughen you up in case you become a POW, and a DI assaulting recruits in basic training. The drill sgts are expected to have and set incredibly high standards for leadership. They should be toughening you up, they should have recruits cursing them daily for being such a hard ass, they should be teaching/brainwashing you into following orders no matter what, and at the end of the training cycle they should have managed to earn your respect and be a role model. If they can't follow their own chain of command's orders, they aren't fit for the job.

The name calling complaint is just silly, though, I don't know why that's even in the article. It's the equivalent of a victim in a rape trial saying "and then he drugged me, forced himself on me, and said my hairdo was ugly."

[onager]

9. Former Marine D.I.here...

As we can see from the responses so far, Americans always seem to have two minds about military boot camp. They want it to be as tough as possible, but when it gets too tough--a very subjective call--then they want the D.I.'s lynched.

Nobody knew this better than the D.I.'s themselves. We had a lot of grim jokes about it. Like, "You only leave this job two ways. Either promoted, or busted to Private and sent to Leavenworth."

FWIW, Michael Moore got it exactly right in F 9/11, and I saw it living and breathing in front of me, time and again. The people who are asked to give the most to America are usually the ones who have received the least--lived in the worst housing, gone to the worst schools, etc.

When I was a D.I., the absolute worst recruits (in most cases) were the upper-middle-class white kids who got a little pissed off at Mom and Dad and joined the Marine Corps. They seemed to have the attitude that they would stay away a couple weeks and the Corps would gladly let them go back home anytime. (And why not? Everything else had always been given to them on a silver platter. See also "Bu$h, George W.")

That type was in for a very rude shock.

Then there were the others, including some I'll never forget. All the people who, unlike Dick Cheney, did not have other priorities. Or many other options. They were desperately trying to improve their lives, whether they came out of that hillbilly shithole in Uptown Chicago or out of the ghettos in East St. Louis or the barrios in L.A.

They usually did fine.

[DeepModem Mom]

11. Thanks for your view, onager -- and your service. nt

[noamnety]

14. I left basic with nothing but respect for my DI's

even though I was pissed at the "injustice" of how they treated me a number of times. :)

The thing is, it's hard to be too self-righteous about having to do another run, another set of push-ups, another anything, when you see those guys at the front of the pack every single time, in better shape than you, with more knowledge than you, more discipline than you, day after day.

I learned more about "being tough" from having them as tough role models than I would have from having them beat the crap out of me. People aren't inspired by the bully on the playground, and they don't learn discipline from him. They're inspired by leaders that walk the walk.

One of the most memorable things I saw in boot camp was another trainee in my platoon attack a drill sargeant. She kicked him in the groin, hard. She was an imposing tough woman, 6 feet tall, muscular. Nothing "girly" about her. He didn't beat the crap out of her, though we all likely would have said we saw nothing if he had, under the circumstances. He took her out - had her flat on the ground - and held her there while MPs came - but without throwing a punch or hurting her. He should have gotten some kind of award for professionalism for that.

[gratuitous]

15. I made my point badly

But what would the Republicans say if this was under a Democratic administration? I think every screaming chucklehead, from Rush to Sean and all the way down the line to the little ham-and-eggers on the 500-watt stations in East Bumblefuck, would be livid about how the Democratic administration was softening up our soldiery, and wrongfully condemning a bunch of great guys who were trying to do nothing more than prepare their troops for actual combat. And that any troops who died from here on out, would be the sole and exclusive fault of the president.

If it was a Democratic administration, I mean.

[noamnety]

16. Given that it's 2005, and Bush is the one in office

they'll still find a way to blame it on Clinton.

[nookiemonster]

17. Here! Here!

Thanks for your insight and your service.

:toast:

[onager]

18. And boot camp turns out...Lib'ruls! Horrors!

First, thanks for all the thanks. I personally don't think I deserve any thanks at all for serving in the military, but it's still appreciated.

This thread got me to thinking about another post I read somewhere, about all the Liberal Lessons taught in Marine Corps boot camp.

--The unit is only as strong as its weakest member.

--Nobody gets left behind, ever. Not even the dead. That was drilled into me in Boot Camp and I hope I passed it along.

BTW, as an amateur military historian just like Dick Cheney...cough...I guess that lesson goes all the way back to the Third Century BCE and the Sacred Band Of Thebes--the legendary 150 matched pairs of male lovers who fought so ferociously. They were wiped out to the last man at the battle of Chaeronea, by Phillip Of Macedonia and his overachieving kid, Alexander The Great.

--The unit is a co-operative team, not a collection of individuals trying to one-up each other. That alone would bring tears to the jowls of Rush Limbaugh or Sean Handjob, who are always crowing about how individuals made 'Murica great (rugged individualtists who resemble the fantasy image they have of themselves, I suppose. Even though Rush spent time collecting unemployment and Sean was hired because he's Little Lord Fauntleroy with a sewer mouth).

You want to try that rugged individualist stuff in the Marines? Then try rappeling up a sheer cliff face or crossing a river with nobody else to hold your rope, assclown.

[nookiemonster]

21. You do deserve thanks. Being a D.I. requires you to be the most objective.

Myself, I was an airman. Proud as hell, but six weeks basic....well..

As far as your liberal teachings in the military, you are absolutely correct. This is why I love Randi Rhodes; she loves to point this out.

Also, regarding "rugged individualists", it might be good for the wingnuts to listen to words of wisdom, from their own beloved Republican party.



"To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public."

-Theodore Roosevelt

[stanwyck]

19. my son doesn't fit your scenario

he's a Marine on his second tour in Iraq. And he's from an upper middle-class suburban household. But I don't believe he joined to get back at us. Maybe. He went (kind of...) to college for a year and a half and hated it. He kept saying he wanted to join the Marines. (he's also a liberal from a very liberal household.) We told him he had to finish the semester and if he still wanted to enlist, he had our blessings. He finished. He enlisted. And he loves being a Marine.
We raised our son and our daughter to think for themselves. We may not always agree 100% with their decisions. But we know that it's their decision. Not ours. Many of our friends are not sure how to respond to our having a son in the military. It's not what they want for their sons or daughters.
He has met a multitude of Marines from less affluent backgrounds. They are very dedicated and motivated. And they have been steadfast friends to my son. I know his experiences in boot camp (which he says he "enjoyed"...he likes the physical stuff) were made so much more bearable due to a young man from Alabama who was so thrilled and excited to be at Parris Island that he was an inspiration to my son. His upbeat attitude really helped vanquish my son's homesickness. I am so grateful to that young man for being there for my son.

[onager]

22. I certainly didn't mean to imply that was always the case.

I was speaking of a certain entitled attitude, which your son obviously doesn't have! The type of spoiled brats I was talking about tended to NOT finish Boot Camp.

Best of luck to your son and yourselves. Again, I'm sorry if I came across as offensive.

Heck, I was an only child and fairly spoiled myself. It only took about one day at Parris Island to fix that, though.

:toast:

[stanwyck]

24. you have a legitimate concern

and, of course, your own experiences back you up. I worry that some young people have no idea what they're doing when they enlist. That's why we asked our son to wait six months...as a cooling off period. We didn't want this to be a hasty decision he'd regret. And a co-worker's son had an excruciating experience at Parris Island. He didn't make it through the training. I don't think he had very realistic expectations. Now he's very demoralized. His recruiter should have known that he was in no way ready for the physical requirements. I think they're pushing people in who aren't ready.

[Ernesto]

20. I honestly thought being in the Marine Corps sucked......

Couldn't wait to get out. But I will always honor my Drill Instructors, even the ones that struck me.

[Demeter]

23. Irony In Fashion

Someday the Armed Forces are going to have to decide if soldiers are citizens or slaves, and whether citizens (or slaves for that matter) are to be treated as people, or as victims of officially-sanctioned sadism. They can't have it both ways, or pick who to favor and who to punish arbitrarily.

[raysr]

25. Those assholes have

been doing that shit for years. They did it to me others even worse. I suffered it and witnessed it.