Is Marine Boot Camp Hard? Marines Testify About Boot Camp Abuse

Is Marine boot camp hard? Do bears shit in the woods? When I went through Marine boot camp 38 years ago abuse of recruits was a normal thing. Marine recruit training wasn't a fucking daycare. It was designed to weed out the weak, the "non-hackers" and our platoon lost over half the recruits we started with. Obviously it isn't the same as it was then for now Marine Drill Instructors are disciplined severely for abusing recruits to the extremes that were normal to me when I was in Marine basic training. 1st phase was the worst. It was like "Hell phase." It fucking sucked.

In the words of the Associated Press November 08, 2007

"SAN DIEGO - Several Marines testified Nov. 7 that their boot camp drill instructor smacked them in the head with flashlights and rifles and ordered platoon members to lie in their own vomit." You can read the whole article here: Marines Testify About Boot Camp Abuse

The Marine Corps Times offers another article about abuse in Marine boot camp you can read about it here: $30M abuse case began at boot camp. Scott DiDonato, a former Army man, experienced difficulty while in Marine boot camp. This is an example of an unfortunate injury due to physical abuse but I also saw some of that while in boot camp. Being a squad leader I'd get beat everytime one of my squad screwed up. I've had one DI stand on my back, while I did push-ups and the other smack me in the ribs with his feet. Luckily I never suffered any real damage but several others did.

I remember some of my fellow recruits whining about one of our DI's and his love of making us hang on the pull-up bars and smacking us in the gut with an M14. If you puked the whole platoon ran 3 miles as a reward. Blanket parties (Code Reds) for misbehaving recruits or those who didn't give their all were fairly common during 1st and second phase. One DI used to love to have us gather in the dirt in front of our qhuts, use the hose to water down the dirt, make us piss in it and do PT (push-ups, sit-ups, bend and thrusts) in the mud and then hit the rack with no shower. Now ...

I'm not complaining. In fact, I think it was a good "weeding out" process and I told that whining recruit and the rest of my squad that was sitting around with us that if I could do what was asked of me, live through the mental and physcial stress then they could too. In fact, damn near the whole platoon heard me give my little speach and there was far less whining afterwards.

I could tell you more but chances are you'd think I was telling stories or blowing smoke up your ass but the truth is Marine boot camp was no fuckin picnic, wasn't designed for pussys and those who graduated damn well earned their Eagle, Globe and Anchor. And ...

I wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

Are you headed for Marine Corps Recruit Training? Here's the "edge you need."