Brentwood Press - Index

Brentwood Press - OakleyPress_08.15.08 - Index

12A | THEPRESS.NET COMMUNITY AUGUST 15, 2008
Marines from page 1A
them to me, because I don’t want them,”
Salinas said she tells parents. “I’m not going
to change a thief in 12 weeks when they
couldn’t do it in 18 years.”
Nevertheless, the transformation the
Corps achieves is dramatic and thorough. It
begins on the yellow footprints and moves
quickly to the “contraband room,” where
recruits’ pockets are emptied and, as one
drill instructor told the educators, “I take
away everything I told them not to bring in
the fi rst place.” Gum, airline tickets, notebooks
and myriad other items are fl ung to
the fl oor to be disposed of. Also soon to
hit the fl oor is the recruits’ hair: one barber
boasted that he was the base record-holder,
having shorn a recruit in six seconds.
Workshop participants, too, got a taste
of the fi rst few moments of boot camp
–short of the haircut. They were taught by
drill instructors how to stand at attention,
and told the proper way to march was with
40 inches between their chest and the back
of the person in front of them.
It turns out that, among the educators,
the term “40 inches” was open to wide
interpretation, a fact that the drill instructors
occasionally gently pointed out. Real
recruits would not be so fortunate.
The myth of the wild-eyed, nearly apoplectic
drill instructor, apparently ready
to burst out of his skin with rage at the
smallest infraction, is, in fact, understated.
They freely admit that much of it is an act,
because it doesn’t matter. When recruits
are confronted with a torrent of volcanic
fury erupting inches from their face and
delivered by the supreme master of their
immediate future, they don’t give much
thought to whether the tirade is genuine.
They learn to do exactly what they’re told
without hesitation, and acquire the rigid
discipline that is the backbone of the Marines’
effectiveness.
The recruits’ transformation is not
just achieved through bombast, however.
Indeed, the vitriol quickly does its job, and
tapers off as training progresses. Should
the experience become too much for some
recruits, the chief drill instructor steps in,
taking the role of a father fi gure, helping
them get over the hurdles that must be
cleared before becoming a Marine.
And the hurdles are high. There’s relentless
physical conditioning, instruction
in fi eld maneuvers and marksmanship,
and training in the Marines’ own brand
of martial arts (“This is not sport,” said
the instructor. “The prize for winning is
that you get to stay alive.”) Practical problem
solving and unit interdependence are
instilled through endless repetition using
tried and true methods honed over
the course of the Corps’ 232-year history.
Educators who were veterans of the other
branches of service said they never had to
endure what they saw the Marine recruits
going through.
While making recruits into warriors
is paramount (every Marine, male or female,
receives exactly the same training,
although females are trained only at Parris
Island, S.C.), the Corps also places a high
value on education. Ninety-fi ve percent
of all recruits already have a high school
diploma, and the rest must have a GED
see Marines page 13A
Above left, grimy recruits receive congratulations
and the coveted eagle, globe and anchor emblem
that marks their transformation from recruit to
Marine immediately after completing the 54-hour
marathon exercise known as “the crucible.” Above
right, a recruit struggles to carry his buddy while
moving from one station to station to another on
the conditioning course. At right, educators crawl
their way through increasingly narrow tunnels while
running the grueling bayonet assault course.
Photos by Rick Lemyre
At left, Antioch
High School teacher
David Koch
reaches for an
ammo box during
a problem-solving
exercise at the
workshop. Below
left, fresh off the
bus he arrived in,
a recruit scurries
past a screaming
drill instructor
during his fi rst
few seconds of
boot camp. Below,
Liberty High
School District’s
Jerry Black throws
an uppercut at
the Marines’ martial
arts program
training center.
Photos by Rick Lemyre