Hegseth want to mistreat military basic trainees

[LogDog75]

Macho man Hegseth wants to go "Old School" on military trainees in basic training. I think he's seen too many old movies and read too many Beetle Bailey cartoons about Sgt. Snorkle.

“We’re empowering drill sergeants to instill healthy fear in new recruits, ensuring that future warfighters are forged,” he said. “They can toss bunks, they can swear, and yes, they can put their hands on recruits. This does not mean they can be reckless or violate the law, but they can use tried and true methods to motivate new recruits, to make them the warriors they need to be.”
https://www.airandspaceforces.com/hegseth-wants-basic-to-go-old-school-what-policies-must-change-first/

The old idea of tossing bunks, swearing, and putting their hands on recruits is one way to persuade young men and women not to enlist in the military. If this is allowed in basic training then once the trainees graduate they'll expect that to the standard when they arrive at technical school and their subsequent assignments. Once they become supervisors/leaders, they'll treat their troops the way their basic training instructors treated them during basic. Why would anyone want to make the military a career knowing they'll be treated like second class citizens.

I enlisted in the AF on January31, 1975 and attend basic training at Lackland AFB. Not once during my basic training did the instructor swear, toss bunks, put their hands on anyone, or intimidate any of his recruits. He was a professional with the way he treated us and with the exception of maybe two people who washed out he molded us into Airmen. He was firm but fair with us and he did what a leader does; make us want to work as a team and accomplish our objective whether it was on the firing range, marching, or learning about the Air Force and what it is about.

[flying rabbit]

1. The Russian military uses hazing, intimidation, rape and beatings.

Hows that working out for them?

[yorkster]

2. What a repulsive, dangerous fool.

[patphil]

3. Health fear?

There's no such thing.
This isn't going to result in recruits respecting their leaders. It's essentially creates a culture of violence. The resulting soldiers aren't warriors, they're thugs.
Discipline doesn't come from fear, it comes from respect, and respect comes from acknowledgement of true leadership.
True leaders earn the respect of those who follow them.
I went through basic training in the summer of 1969, and know of what I speak.

[mr715]

4. He has some weird psychosexual dysfunction

His father probably has some story.

[maxrandb]

5. What's next? Crossing the Line Ceremonies and CPO Initiations?

Look, I went through those Navy "traditions", and for the most part, they were "fun"...until some drunk ass went too far.

It's a different animal today. When I retired in 2014, the Sailors were smarter, more technical, more critically thinking and more professional. There were some nuckleheads, but damn...you have, basically kids, working on nuclear reactors, complex avionics equipment, sonar, comms, cryptographic electronic warfare equipment, navigation systems, gyroscopes, complex engineering and propulsion gear, etc.

I had a female Sailor that worked for me. I have no idea how many push-ups she could do, but I trusted her ship positioning plots more than our GPS. Using a chart, compass, ruler, protractor, pencil and a stopwatch, she could tell me where my ship was in the vast ocean, accurate to within a hair on a frogs ass.

[John1956PA]

6. In the manner of Darren McGavin's D.I. character in "Tribes" (1970)

[Oeditpus Rex]

9. And remember, McGavin wasn't the 'mean' DI in that

That one was played by Earl Holliman; he was DI of the "motivation platoon." McGavin eventually came to a basic understanding of Adrian, like on the rifle range.

(Strange -- IMDb calls it "The Tribe." )

[John1956PA]

11. Yes. Earl Holliman excelled in his portrayal of the conventional hard-nosed D.I.

Holliman's character had a stern reaction to McGavin's character going soft on the recruits.

The movie was released in theaters in England under the title 'The Soldier Who Declared Peace." I think I remember reading about the alternate title "The Tribe." Perhaps because of legal issues relating to the release of the movie in syndication and other venues, the title was changed. I recall that, when reruns of the "Andy Griffith Show" were aired by CBS on weekday mornings, the title was changed to "Andy of Mayberry."

[Oeditpus Rex]

20. I remember that; there were a few others, too

And I'll probably think of a couple in about 18 hours.

Made me think of a line by Desi Arnaz, too, in his autobiogralhy A Book. He was writing that Lucille Ball would probably never stop working. As he was writing the book, Here's Lucy was in production, and he said her shows after that would probably be titled There Goes Lucy and Here Comes Lucy Back.

[tinrobot]

7. That's a great way to discourage new volunteers

[Skittles]

8. oh look, the rapist advocates for manhandling

[OutNow]

10. My experience in USAF basic training was the same

Other than one guy in my flight who was acting completely bonkers in order to get kicked out asap, the DIs treated us fairly during my time at Lackland AFB in 1971. There was some tension between some black guys from Philly (I was from the Philly area and hung out with them) and some white guys from rural Tennessee but our DIs gave us "the UCMJ lecture" and that seemed to calm everything down.

[Tree Lady]

12. My husband had basic at Ford Ord

And told me his Sgt went extra hard on them because he was the last group before new rule or law not letting them be so tough. This was in 1968.

[struggle4progress]

13. .

[intheflow]

14. Sounds like someone was beaten as a child

and internalized it as having been good for him.

[jonstl08]

15. Air Force 83-88

When I was in basic the drill instructor swore at us all day long for the first 2 weeks or so. In fact I was called a F$%^head three times the first night there. So unless it has changed since I was in the swearing does happen. As far flipping beds I did not see that. One time he got mad at us so him and the other DI took all the bedding off all the bunks and put it in a pile on the floor. Then we had 5 minutes for everyone to make their bed. Forgot what they call that. I think it was a white tornado. Hitting was not allowed. Seem our Secretary if Defense has watched the Basic Training scenes from the movie Full Metal Jacket one to many times.

PS My father was a marine so he prepared me for what I would encounter in basic.

[Johonny]

16. R Lee Ermey would laugh at Hegseth

[Aristus]

17. This is just asking for another Ribbon Creek Massacre.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ribbon_Creek_incident

[MineralMan]

18. I enlisted in the USAF in November of 1965.

Basic, at that time, was a mixed thing. It all depended on who you got as a DI. I was relatively fortunate to get one who was not a total AH. I quickly understood that the answer was to stay out of sight and avoid drawing attention to myself. The 8 weeks passed quickly and I was on to the next adventure in the USAF.

Even so, the basic structure of Basic military training is to strip away individuality and get compliance without question from the recruits. Once they break you down, they work to make you like everyone else. It works for most enlistees, actually. Others fight it and are not rewarded for that. Still others, like myself, understood the process and let it wash over them and didn't absorb it.

The Air Force was much less toxic in Basic Training than the other services, and Basic was pretty much where all that ended. Going forward, the treatment was much different.

It's no fun, though, whatever service you enlist in. It's not supposed to be. You have to find a way to accommodate.

[Rebl2]

19. Sounds

like a recipe for fewer people signing up to be in the military imo.