Let me preface this by saying I’ve never been in the military.
I was watching Full Metal Jacket the other day, and I saw at least two scenes where the DI slapped or hit Private Joker. Was physical contact like this actually allowed in the 60’s, when the film takes place? What would have happened it the recruit had physically gone after the DI? Is this type of contact currently allowed?
Yes, but by 1971 recruit abuse had gotten more creative. By “creative” I mean verbal, mostly.
A private attacking a DI would almost certainly get an ass-kicking.
My personal experience is outdated (1971-1975) but it’s safe to say “currently prohibited”.
In case you aren’t aware, R. Lee Ermey (the Drill Instructor) was an actual real-life DI. The boot camp part of the movie was as accurate a depiction of reality as I’ve ever seen.
All branches of the military cracked down on physical abuse years ago. Excessive verbal abuse is also frowned upon. That doesn’t mean these thing don’t happen but the DI can get into official trouble for it now.
This book has been recommended here before:
I’ve read that at the time, when Ermey went into his most offensive and creative insults (“Bullshit! It looks to me like the best part of you ran down the crack of your mama’s ass and ended up as a brown stain on the mattress!”) the currently and formerly serving Marines in the audience laughed and whooped with familiar affection even as the rest of the audience watched with horrified astonishment.
From IMDB:
You can tell that the actors are genuinely angered and perplexed by Ermey at turns. There was one bit where the actor playing Cowboy paused, speechless, having forgotten his lines, and Ermey immediately fires back: “WERE YOU ABOUT TO CALL ME AN ASSHOLE?!” 
Anecdote: A friend of mine joined the Marines in 1991. I asked him if it were true that they weren’t allowed to cuss at you anymore. He looked at me incredulously and told me that one of his D.I.s threw him into a wall once. I wasn’t there so I don’t know.
The first time I saw Full Metal Jacket I commented on how accurate the depiction of Marine Boot Camp was. The opinion was based upon my experience at MCRD San Diego in May of 1969. The only exception might have been a recruit getting ammunition off the range and back to the barracks. While not impossible, you were watched pretty close. I never saw anyone abused, but physical contact wasn’t all that uncommon. Today, a Drill Instructor would be court martialled for much of what was common practice in the 60’s.
Coincidentally, I now live within eye shot of MCRD in one direction and military housing in another. The Drill Instructors I meet have mixed feelings about the old vs. the new. Guys my age tend to think of the today’s boot camp as being wimply, at least as far as how the recruits are treated. However, when it comes to training its personnel to be effective at what they will be asked to do, the Marine Corps knows what it’s doing.
As an aside to all this, I was drafted. At the Chicago AFEES facility that day 113 draftees reported for induction into the Armed Forces. Two were selected for the Marines. To this day, it’s the only raffle I ever won. As it turned out, it was a very positive/life changing experience.
I was in boot camp for the US Army in 90. Marine and US Army combat arms MOS boot camps are very similar. Physical abuse was over and done by that time, but verbal abuse and the use of extreme stress was still in. Regardless, the constant abuse teaches you how to operate efficiently under stress. To this day, someone can be all over me trying to push my buttons and I can remain in perfect self control. As a matter of fact, I had a hard time relearning how to get angry at unwarranted abuse. As an NCO, I learned how to lead. The tactics used in basic training generally stay in basic training, they are tools for building the base soldiering attitudes and skills.
I went through USN boot camp in the early eighties. No one was slapped around, but they did try to make the more “stubborn” recruits do push ups until they puke.
The military has had recent prosecutions of out of control DI’s:
http://weblog.signonsandiego.com/news/breaking/2008/01/mcrd_drill_instructor_sentence.html
(Recent as in within a couple years.)
I remember seeing the movie at the base theater in 29 Palms, and it might as well have been a Three Stooges festival with all the laughter. I still think the opening scene of Gunny Hartman introducing himself to the platoon is one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen.
I went to MCRD San Diego in October of 1967. There wasn’t a day go by that we weren’t “motivated” by one or more of our DIs. This usually meant standing at attention while the DIs punched you in the solar plexus and face. You always knew you were about to get “motivated” when the DI put on his black gloves. One recruit had to have several stitches when the DI shoved the barrel of his M-14 into his upper lip. Anytime you were injured during one of these “motivations” and were sent to sick bay you were told to tell them you “tripped over your footlocker”. I graduated and went on to more training, ITR and BITS where the "motivations"stopped because we had access to live rounds and the Troop Leaders were afraid of getting shot. Were the “motivations” necessary ? I made it home from Vietnam in 1969 in one piece. Of all the training I received I felt I got more out of boot camp than any other. I hold no ill feelings for my three DIs. They may have helped save my life. Who knows. I will always remember that they were the meanest the Corps had to offer. If the “motivations” were beneficial some of them bordered cruelty. For our new recruits always keep a low profile, don’t bring attention to yourself and be in the best shape of your life before you go into bootcamp. Semper FI. braheff1@yahoo.com
Hey and welcome to the Dope
This is an old thread, we call them “zombies” and the mods might close it due to age or not. We have a ton of vets here plus a few active duty folks, we even had a guy that flew in bombers in WWII but he was gone before my time here.
Any how welcome, glad you made it back all those years ago, hope you stick around
Gotta go find the Squid and Goat :eek:
Capt
I retired from the military in 1985. I joined in 1964 and saw a significant transition through the years. The draft was done away with while I was on active duty. A different attitude started developing about that time. Things like in recent news about the Marine that decided he didn’t have to go back to the Gulf War because he all of a sudden didn’t agree with the cause.
I enlisted in the Army in 1971 and the old way had just ended to the point we never crawled under live fire, one would have to request a real military hair cut, and KP was farmed out for the most part.
The Full Metal Jacket movie was excellent even though it was a jar head movie.
I remember waking up one night and the Bloke in the top bunk above we got a Blanket Party! What was show in the movie was as close to what happened but fell just a little short in the treatment of the guy in my squad. When “EVERYONE” finished swatting him with the pillow case with the Soap Bars while being anchored with the “Blanket” the bunk was overturned and that broke his leg!
And after working in EMS for over 30 years, Joker should have recieved an Oscar for his role or been Commited!
Yeah, they can’t hit you, but they can find other ways to make you miserable.
Of course, calesthenics supplemented by slamming entire quart canteens of water…one after another…until you puke is for your own good. Have to keep you hydrated, you know. Not their fault if you throw up, they’re just watching out for your well-being.
I went in during 1961.
I loved the live fire & infiltration courses.
One guy saw a snake and stood up. The 50’s almost got him.
Had guys driven through with a bayonet because they froze up.
The grande instructors were the bravest IMO. Were 4-5 dropped just in our company and they saved them all. Doing that every day would do my nerves in for sure…
grande 
Grenade.