Producing "Dogs From Hell"

My father, who had been in the National Guard for 12 years, told me many times before I joined the Marines that "you just have to play their games" when referring to drill instructors. I would not fully understand, until I joined the second time in 2007, that the so called "games" the Marine Corps plays with you are not games at all. My perspective was different then because going to war was guaranteed. When I joined in 1997 there was no war. Sure there were threats around the globe but besides the occasional humanitarian mission or special forces operation most of the U.S. military was doing their best to limit the twiddling of thumbs as much as possible.

I now fully understand that Marine Corps Drill Instructors, and the equivalent in the other services, have a method to their madness. They are training us for the stresses of combat. I will never claim that my combat experience was that difficult. There have been plenty that have gone before, at the same time, and after me that have had to deal with much worse. Many have had to see their comrades die, be blown to peices, or sleep every night with a constant barrage of looming death and destruction.

I never had to deal with a dead Marine directly or deal with a comrade's limbs being blown off. I am fortunate that way, but I did experience combat and many of the stresses it causes. Maybe it was not so difficult for me because of the difficult training I went through. That is the likely scenario considering some of the civilians that went on patrol with me in Afghanistan.

It was laughable to see the fear in their eyes at the idea of getting shot at. There is nothing wrong with these people and I loved getting to know them. They were quality individuals. However, the bureaucracy that is the U.S. government, in their infant wisdom, had too many restrictions and too many NGO's making decisions. This resulted in untrained and scared shitless civilians being attached to Marine units trying to fulfill their missions. I will share many more of these experiences in posts later on.

Marine Corps drill instructors have to work with nasty civilians who want to be Marines. According to the Marine Corps the definition of discipline is: instant and willing obedience to all orders. In combat this means that when shit hits the fan a Marine will throw the shit right back and then follow it to kill the shit slinger. We are trained to run toward the gunfire and kill whatever is sending bullets our way. This is not possible unless we are trained to stare chaos in the face and yell right back at it. If we cannot follow orders instantly how can we be effective in war? We can't. 

This video is awesome!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckVNNF2khng

In other words, when a drill instructor assaults you, you have the confidence to yell right back at him and you don't back down. I am not saying we should have assaulted the drill instructors. To the contrary, we needed to show them proper respect, but as mentors they expect that their hard work will produce a team member that has confidence to the point of arrogance so that when combat faces that team and each Marine, each member will conquer their fear and fight like a "Devil Dog."

Marines were given this nick name by the Germans in WWI because of their ferocity. In German it is "Teufel Hunden," or dog from hell. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil_Dog. This is what the Marine Corps hopes to turn us into.

The louder you yelled back and the more motivation you accepted your punishment with the less the the DI's devoured you. The Marine Corps wants to produce bad asses to put it truthfully. A drill instructor loves nothing more than a recruit who shows the proper respect to authority but is also fearless in the face of it.

Dissolving the weakness and individuality out of a bunch of civilians is no easy task. These drill instructors often go on little to no sleep for three months at a time for 3 to 4 years straight with the occasional, albeit short, hiatus so that America can produce the greatest fighting force on the planet. These drill instructors are animals and terminators if there ever were any. I would like to personally thank all Drill Instructors and Sergeant Instructors for the "good training" they provided me. I am in debt forever to you and your dedication to me saved my butt more than once.

Another good one!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNBgKjLWVcw

My father believed that they were "games." I stopped believing that myth when I was given that Eagle, Globe and Anchor at the end of the crucible in January of 1998 although I would not understand their methods until 2007 when I went to Officer Candidate School. There is nothing fun about seeing a Marine die or be seriously wounded and because of these "games" I never had to experience that first hand.