ColdStorage said:
D4zZ said:
I'm sure the poll results help greatly in answering your question.
matrix3509 said:
However, I do not believe Drill Sergeants personally insult recruits nowadays. If I recall, there was a story a few years back (before 9/11) about how Drill Sergeants were going to be halting a large amount of their former abuse because recruiting numbers dived off a cliff after the first few weeks of basic training.
If they can't take being shouted at with personal remarks they won't be able to handle being shot at, and I don't think they should be in any armed forces.
I never understood that, about how the training is
too tough, its meant to toughen you up!.
The opposing forces in a war aren't armed with feather duster and harsh language, their armed to the teeth with bullets and hatred.
Like an extended interview for a job, basic training is about testing what you can be as well as what you are. Obedience under stress is a very highly valued commodity in the military, and I guess they feel it's not something you can learn, or perhaps they would start off more gently before ramping up the stress. I suppose some people have the mindset that can easily handle that, but many don't.
I don't know how that applies to conscript armies however. Perhaps they are aiming for some sort of psychological dislocation, separating your old life from your new army life, and your old persona from a new, more agressive one.
My experience of drill sargeants is that they do lay it on pretty thick, and think nothing of beasting (dishing out further exercise as punishment to) individuals or squads, but it's just about setting boundaries (like parenting) and establishing the hierarchy. They'd focus on punishing indiscipline though, not lack of ability, so you'd be unlucky to be picked on repeatedly if you knuckle down. There are abuses still though sometimes. The UK scandals have been mostly during social rituals though (which are less easy to monitor) rather than training.
As for the "shooting in the back" thing discussed earlier, in army vs army, WW2 or Vietnam-style fighting, it is standard to fight through a position (not just up to it) if you have to assault it (ie. they don't surrender first). You don't hang around in the position the enemy occupied in case they'd called artillery down on their own position as a final gesture. You cannot take prisoners during the assault, though you may be able to return to collect them afterwards sometimes. I don't know the details of the incident you mention, but I'm not sure it is ever the same situation in the current wars, particularly as you are trying to win the hearts and minds of the populace at the same time, but perhaps suicide bombs are taking the place of enemy artillery.
