A Russian farmer caught on video commanding a bunch of ducks to get in line and follow him into a barn might make the most effective Marine drill instructor ever. The video shows a man emerging from his barn, shirtless. He then crouches down, screams, and gets an entire flock of ducks into line in seconds before leading them into a barn. Total time: 30 seconds. [HTML1] If he can lead waterfowl like that, imagine what he could do with recruits. Compare the king of the ducks to new recruits at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego. It takes three Marines…
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Every Marine knows that drill instructors can yell, but you might not realize how much training they go through in order to be able to do it right. Military Times’ Senior Video Journalist Colin Kelly got up close and personal with some students at DI school aboard Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, S.C. There, they learn how to project their voices correctly to avoid serious damage to their vocal chords. The staff noncommissioned officers run drills just like they will in boot camp to train their voices not to break. The instructors at the schoolhouse stand a set pace…
A Marine Corps recruit’s supposed account of his boot camp experience is an entertaining read, but raises a few questions — including how he was apparently able to send an email to his buddies. The recruit, apparently currently attending boot camp at one of the Marine Corps’ training depots, is supposedly telling all his friends about how they’re called gay slurs by their drill instructors between 10 and 50 times per day. He also states that anyone with “brown-skin” is referred to as a “terrorist” and is the butt of consistent racist jokes. But he’s apparently telling them via email,…
They’re in your space, in your face, in your nightmares — but screaming aside, what’s really going on in the heads of Marine Corps drill instructors? Drill instructor duty is no joke. Whatever recruits do, DIs do. And the Marines on the three-year-long special duty assignment set the example for what it takes to become part of their Corps. That means yelling the loudest, moving the fastest and having the most squared away uniforms. Marine Corps Times was afforded access to drill instructors aboard Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, S.C., recently to find out some of the secrets behind the…
Yesterday, most of us were introduced to Craig Pusley. He’s the Marine veteran who made national news after standing guard in front of Hughson Elementary School in Modesto, Calif., on Wednesday in a desert camouflage uniform to help children feel safe following the massacre of 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. The tale got ugly when questions were raised about the military service he was described to have in media coverage. Numerous stories said he left the Corps as a sergeant after pulling two combat tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. I…
If you’ve been to boot camp recently there’s a good chance you’ve handed Uncle Sam a hefty chunk of change — $1,200 to be exact, and that’s for a set of education benefits you could have gotten for free. To date, more than 100,000 people have enrolled in the Montgomery GI Bill across the armed services, requiring a $100 monthly buy-in for a recruits’ first year of service. This week’s Marine Corps Times examines an issue that first came to our attention in July when a Marine contacted the newspaper with questions about how each boot camp informs recruits about…
Check out Katy Perry’s new “Part of Me” music video filmed at Camp Pendleton, Calif. She joins the Marine Corps in what amounts to one big, long, awesome recruiting ad. Its not quite a Marine in dress blues slaying wizards on a chess board, but its a close second. [HTML1] If you missed that vintage reference, check out this recruiting commercial from before some of you were born. [HTML2]
In this week’s print edition, West Coast bureau chief Gidget Fuentes lays out the host of complaints made by Marines about a full-bird colonel currently serving as Headquarters Battalion commander at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego. Col. Stephanie Smith, a judge advocate by training, is a decorated officer and the recipient of numerous judicial accolades over her 23 years in the service. The complaints against her — which include claims made by officers and NCOs that she abused her authority and intimidated subordinates — came to light recently after a former drill instructor filed an appeal of his special…
