U.S. Marine Corps recruits of Papa Company, 4th Recruit Training Battalion, wait for the next command during a final drill evaluation Aug. 2, 2017, on Parris Island, S.C. (U.S. Marine Corps/Lance Cpl. Joseph Jacob)
The U.S. Marine Corps continues to grapple with hazing at its storied recruit training center at Parris Island in South Carolina, where the service punished at least eight drill instructors and a number of officers for abusive behavior last year, the Washington Post reported Wednesday, citing multiple internal investigations.
The incidents uncovered by the Post involved female drill instructors in the 4th Recruit Training Battalion mistreating female recruits. Battalion drill instructors reportedly humiliated, physically assaulted, and even endangered recruits.
These incidents come despite the Corps' best efforts to curb these unacceptable and dangerous practices.
In one situation, a drill instructor allegedly made a recruit put "feces soiled underwear" on her head.
The word Marine is synonymous with action. Initiative, or taking action in the absence of clear instructions, can mean the difference between mission success or failure. However, when drill instructors stray from doctrine and regulations and employ illegal methods in a misguided attempt to make their recruits tougher, they aren't exercising initiative — they are demonstrating cruelty, poor judgment, and questionable ethics.
In Marine Corps boot camp recruits learn two things very quickly. The first: If a drill instructor looks happy, you’re fucked. Second: These guys go ape-shit for cadence.
In a minute-long video posted to the Department of Defense’s Facebook page on May 20, Marine Corps drill instructors mercilessly taunt, scream at, and correct recruits at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, California. The video appears to show a platoon of recruits during initial drill, which is meant to test the bearing and knowledge of would-be Marines. Initial drill, like much of the first four weeks at boot camp, is a ragefest where drill instructors get to fly off the handle and have fun dousing recruits with spittle and insults. Good times.
