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How Mean Are Drill Sergeants?Sir! Not that mean, sir!

By Juliet LapidosPosted Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2009, at 6:21 PM ET

R. Lee Ermey in Full Metal Jacket. Full Metal Jacket's
Marine Gunnery Sgt. Hartman Teresa L. King took command of the Army's drill sergeant school on Tuesday—the first woman ever to do so. The New York Times article on King notes that she's "ever vigilant for busted rules"—which seems in keeping with the fear-inspiring, speak-up-you-maggot taskmasters of the popular imagination, such as Gunnery Sgt. Hartman in Full Metal Jacket, who gently explains to his recruits, "You are pukes. You're the lowest form of life on earth." Are drill sergeants really that mean?

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Not anymore. Drill sergeants of yesteryear did take a rough, discipline-and-punishment approach to preparing new Army recruits for combat. The disciplinarian tack seemed to make sense up through the Vietnam War, at least, because drafted soldiers were sometimes unwilling to get into line. But the drill sergeants of today are gentler. In the period after 9/11, the Army was losing about 10 percent of its volunteer recruits during boot camp, a number that was way too high, especially given the Army's trouble meeting recruitment quotas and the growing demand for troops first in Afghanistan, then in Iraq. To help keep people in basic training, drill sergeants reined in the verbal abuse and began providing more mentorship. (This wasn't a precipitous change. Drill sergeants have been mellowing out for the last 15 years or so.)

That's not to say that instructors have gone soft. Drill sergeants still shout to enforce discipline, and they may force young soldiers to do push-ups—but they're not supposed to hurl personal insults. (They'd never call them "pukes," for example.) If a recruit asks why he has to run through an obstacle course, the drill sergeant isn't supposed to punish him immediately with an extra run. Instead, the sergeant should explain the Army's rationale for the exercise. Modern drill sergeants also engage in a good deal of counseling. If a recruit is acting petulant, the drill sergeant may ask him what's wrong—or ask his friends. He'll give tips for how to get along with peers in close quarters, how to get by on an Army paycheck, and how to handle homesickness.

Whatever her method, a drill sergeant is charged with getting new recruits into shape. In Army lingo, while "on the trail" (at training camp), a drill sergeant makes sure her soldiers are "squared away" (physically fit with a neat uniform), "on point" (in complete control of themselves and the situation), and "hoppin' and poppin' " (moving quickly and with purpose). More specifically, she teaches them how to march in step, use their M16A2 rifles and throw grenades, speak up, stand at attention, obey orders, and treat fellow soldiers respectfully.

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Explainer thanks Harvey Perritt, spokesman for Army training and doctrine command, and Julia Simpkins of Fort Jackson.

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Juliet Lapidos is a Slate associate editor.

COMMENTS

It had nothing to do whether one was drafted or enlisted in the Marines in the sixties. The approach used by the USMC DIs was meant to break you, the individual down, to the lowest denominator one could be and then build the you back up into a group and cohesive unit so there would be no questions once an order was given. It worked for those that could tolerate the abuse. We believed we were invincible and in the end we lost many friends. This was a part of the age group selected to go to war, the age group still not knowing fear and malleable.

I don't know much about the Army and maybe that is the way for them. It might have gotten somewhat milder for the Marines also; but, I don't think I would see a DI explaining why something has to be done or expressing his feelings. I do know that tradition still dictates that every Marine is a rifleman first, with their MOS as secondary, and something the Army had to re-emphasize. Maybe things are different now.

-- run75441
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The military puts lots of things into policy papers, but out on the drill field, firing range, and on FTX the Drills rule the roost. No officers or Sergeants Major are watching most of the time, and fellow Drills aren't going to rat on each other. And woe unto the recruit who tries to report something that isn't unarguably 100% abuse.

I'm NOT saying a lot of abuse goes on, what I am saying is that I believe reports of basic training going soft are exaggerated. If anything, I'd expect that the current crop of Drills are mainly combat (or at least combat theater) veterans, unlike the cadre that taught me (very few vets) and those men and women aren't going to steer recruits wrong.

Just my opinion.

-- chance20_m
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