by Ted Sherman

Created on: April 07, 2008

Abuse is the basis for military boot camp training. It can be no other way, because in wartime or preparing for war, schoolboys and schoolgirls must be quickly transformed from the easy life of Mom's apple pie to be able to kill another country's young men and women. Don't talk to me about the immorality and inhumanity of it all. Get real! As General Patton said, "You're not expected to die for your country. Your job is to make some other poor, dumb bastard die for his country."

I went through Navy boot camp many, many years ago, and later as a CPO, I was a boot camp instructor. We all know that Marine boot camp is by far the toughest of all, because they are trained as shock troops who must go in where the combat is close up and brutal. However, Navy basic training is never a pleasant summer at Camp Hiawatha. I question the use of the word abuse in this essay, as if it were a sweeping indictment of everything that happens at boot camp. The job of the instructors is to take civilians and make them into capable military men and women. If that takes some abuse, then so be it.

Of course, there are the stories that break out once every year or so about a recruit who is severely injured or dies as the result of boot camp activities. That is tragic, but no more so than when a military aircraft crashes or someone is shot on the rifle range. You can be sure military officials closely monitor all training programs, and any situations that could be interpreted as outright abuse or other dangerous practices are thoroughly examined. A boot camp instructor is usually a "lifer", which means he/she has made the military a lifetime career of 20 to 30 years. It makes no sense that any instructor would deliberately jeopardize that career by using illegal treatment on recruits.

Of course, boot camp is harsh, and instructors deliberately make it very unpleasant for teens who aren't used to the unremitting discipline imposed on him/her. However, the training is meant to toughen up the body and mind for what may lay ahead in the service. The regimentation is intended to make the recruit into an unquestioning part of a unit, who will act promptly on command, no matter what the dangers or distractions of combat. Call it brainwashing if you will, but it should be actually more described as self-survival and the protection of those who depend on you.

The job of boot camp instructor can be a thankless one. Not many of us started out as gruff-voiced tormentors of teens, but that's the only way to do the job. Some of my proudest moments were when I learned several members of my boot company had later qualified for flight training, and several others were accepted as students at the Navy Academy at Annapolis. One of my fondest memories is when one of my former boots, now 25 years later and wearing the four stripes of a Navy captain, said, "Chief, all through boot camp I hated your lousy guts. It seemed you always picked on me to yell and give me extra duty. Now that I outrank you, and can return the favors, all I want to say is: thanks for everything!"

Learn more about this author, Ted Sherman.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.