The Few, The Proud... The Making of a Marine: The Drill Instructor's Side (2 of 2) by Darnell E. Patton

The Few, The Proud... The Making of a Marine: The Drill Instructor's Side (2 of 2) by Darnell E. Patton


When the applicant arrives to the airport in San Diego, they are met by a Marine drill instructor, which by many, are considered some of the most fearful men on the planet. They take roll call and when complete, the applicants get on a bus that will take them to the Marine Corps Recruit Depot (MCRD) in San Diego, California. Once they arrive on MCRD, they are no longer considered applicants, they are considered recruits. At this point, the recruit is very scared and don't know what to expect. For many of them, it is the first time they left home or been away from their parents. Little do they know, they will receive new parents for the next 13 weeks... the infamous Marine Corps drill instructors. When the bus arrives to MCRD, it pulls up to Receiving Barracks, (were all the new recruits go and stay for a few days) they are met by another Marine drill instructor who is very intimidating and immediately makes them want to go home. While at receiving, the recruits are re-screened to see if they are still found qualified to be in Marine Corps Bootcamp. The recruits go through what is called The Moment of Truth. This is the time for the recruits to confess anything that they didn't confess to their recruiter. Since many of them are scared, they start coming up with stories to get out of bootcamp. However, many true confessions consist of drug use, arrest, tickets, probation, etc... Depending on the severity of the situation determines if the recruit will be sent back home. When this is over, the recruits take another urinalysis to see if they will test positive for drugs. The last day at Receiving Barracks, the recruits will take an Initial Strength Test (IST) to evaluate their fitness level, which goes on Fridays. The IST consists of doing 3 pull-ups, 45 crunches, and running 1.5 miles in 13:30. This will determine if the recruit has a strong enough fitness level to continue with Marine Corps Bootcamp. If a recruit doesn't have what it takes to continue with training, he is sent to Physical Conditioning Platoon, where he will stay until he is able to meet the minimum physical fitness standards to continue with bootcamp. From October 1, 2005 - July 31, 2006, out of 14,917 shipped to bootcamp, 1,118 didn't pass the IST, which is 7.4%.

For the recruits who passed the IST, they will be picked up by their training company, which is the company that they will spend the remaining 12 weeks of bootcamp. That first day with the new training company is very scary; a person will never experience another day like it. A recruit will never be placed under as much stress in his life, maybe with the exception of combat. Many of the recruits initially don't know how to handle the stress. Many may cry, refuse to train, go UA (unauthorized absence/AWOL), and some will even go as far as claiming to be gay. It may sound a bit far fetched, but it's true. At this point, recruits will try many things to go home. However, what the recruits don't realize is that the drill instructors spend 120 plus hours a week making them Marines. After the first week, the initial shock is over for many of them. They tend to get settled in the route of bootcamp and treat each day is it's their last. During the second week of training, the results from their urinalysis come back. This is the moment when some recruits wonder if they will test positive on the urinalysis. For the fiscal year, 130 Marine Corps recruits in the Western Recruiting Region tested positive for drugs, which is .0874% of the recruits who make it to bootcamp.

During training, Marine Corps recruits go through some extensive training. With the extensive training, come many injuries. The injuries can range from a stress fracture to a broken femur. Recruits can also get sick from viruses in the air, or catch a bad case of pneumonia. When a recruit gets injured or sick, he is transferred to Medical Rehabilitation Platoon (MRP). MRP is where recruits go in order to get better. Depending on the severity of the injury, a recruit can stay at MRP for over a year. Some recruits injuries are so severe, they can't continue on with training and when they get better, they are discharged from the Marine Corps. The discharges don't only come from medical conditions or positive urinalysis; they can come from fraud, mental conditions, and failure to adapt, just to name a few. Fraud is when a recruit lied about something that would've kept him from coming to bootcamp. When it comes to mental conditions, it could be that a recruit who was so stressed out in bootcamp that he claimed that he will kill himself on more than one occasion. It could mean that the recruit is mentally unstable or that the recruit needs anti depressants to get through the day. As for failure to adapt, the recruit just can't adapt to bootcamp regardless of what method you use. They are very belligerent and disrespectful towards the drill instructors, and will do whatever it takes to go home. After all means have failed to train those types of recruits, he is processed out for failure to adapt, because he is not worth the stress to the drill instructors and the Marine Corps. Out of all the recruits shipped to bootcamp, 1,568 were processed and discharged. That is 10.51% of the total recruits that made it to bootcamp.

The making of a Marine definitely isn't easy. Just as the recruiter works a lot of hours, drill instructors work 120 plus hours a week, seven days a week, for three straight months. The Marine Corps drill instructor's family feels the same hardship as the family of a recruiter, if not more. The life of a drill instructor is physically and mentally demanding. A drill instructor that is on his first platoon usually loses 20 to 30 pounds in those three months and spends 16 of the 18 hours a day on their feet. A drill instructor has to take care of his family and train his platoon (ranges from 40 - 110 recruits) to become Marines. The love is with the family, but the devotion usually lies with the recruits. By the 8th week of bootcamp, the recruits normally look at the senior drill instructor as a father figure. He is the one who spent the time, mentor them, take care of their personal needs, and treats them like his own.

During the last week of training is when the recruits earn the title of "United States Marine." That is a title that is wanted by many, but only carried by few. By this point of training, the recruit is a completely different person. He walks and talks differently. He moves differently, acts differently, and feels a sense of accomplishment like no other. Many parents won't even recognize their own son. Graduation day is the day that they all waited for. The boys are gone and men are unveiled. Out of the 76,500 people that were contacted, only 6,043 became Marines, making them one of "The Few, The Proud... The Marines!"


About the Author
Darnell E. Patton is currently an active duty Marine. He has held many management and leadership positions, to include the legendary Marine Drill Instructor and Drill Instructor, Instructor. He has a BS in Management, a BS in Finance, and his MBA with specialization in Human Resources.