Errm. At the same time, it is quite possible (read:definite fact) that Hollywood exaggerates the act to a considerable degree.
The point of the real masquerade is to put you under as much stress as possible without going over the edge. This is to help prepare you for those times when you are under heavy stress (someone is shooting at your ass, and has been doing so for days) and you must still perform and do things properly.
Simple example:
You are cleaning your rifle (DO NOT call it a gun,) and the DI comes and starts ragging you about what a shitty job you are doing and yells at you and calls you a thumb-fingered dolt wih a sunken brow. The point isn’t that he wants to insult you. The point is to stress you out and see if you can still do the job properly. Your orders were to clean the rifle, not argue with the Sergeant. He fucks with your mind and stresses you out to see if you can take it. If you can’t, he’ll insist that you do and will continue to bitch at you while you do it. Thus do you learn to handle stress.
The same goes for long hikes and night time duty and stuff - and the business with the neatly folded underwear. In the long run, nobody cares if you can fold your underwear to a precise size. The point is that you follow the orders given and do it regardless of the conditions.
This is a point that a lot of folks never see. My brother in law was in the German Army, and thought it rediculous that he should have to fold his drawers according to regulations - and that inspections actually checked his compliance. The point wasn’t how his drawers were folded, it was whether he managed to follow the regs despite all the short nights and long duty days.
One of the things that I remember best about my own basic training was the pop-quizzes on regulations. We had a book, and anytime we weren’t other wise occupied, we were to be studying it. At anytime, your drill instructor might just come up and ask you something point blank out of the book. Part of it was, of course, to get you to learn the regs. The other thing was, again, handling stress.
I was once asked (in such a quiz) to describe the insignia of an Air Force Chief Master Sergeant. I described the insignia of the Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force, which is a similar thing, though not quite the same. There is only one Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force - he is of course a Chief Master Sergeant, so his insignia is similar but with a wreath where the others don’t have one.
My answer was wrong, and I knew it as soon as I said. The only thing to do, though, was to remain silent. I’d given my answer, and the instructor hadn’t asked for anything else so I didn’t have permission to speak.
He waited a couple of seconds (to see if I’d start babbling) and then asked me if the answer was correct. Again, I had to answer as asked. The only possible answer being “No, Sir.” He hadn’t asked me for the correct answer, only if my first answer was correct.
Again, after I answered, he waited a couple of seconds to see if I’d fuck up. I didn’t. He then asked me for the correct answer, which I gave him.
A very compact lesson that covered rank insignia (I’ve never again forgotten what either of those two insignia looks like,) proper military etiquette, owning up to a mistake, and handling yourself under stress. It lasted for all of about ten, maybe fifteen seconds - and has stayed with me for a lifetime.
These guys are training people for an occupation in which a mistake made under stress can get you your ass shot off. They do this with every trick available, and yelling at you is just one of them.
