Talk:Drill instructor

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Please note under the section for USMC Drill Instructors, there is a reference to 5:30 AM being 0530 hours in "military time". In fact, the USN and the USMC refer only to "0530" not to "0530 hours". The Army and the Air Force add "hours". Also the Marine Corps and Navy refers to "0" not "O".

• Incorrect. There is no commonly established standard. For example I (Army infantry) say 0930 as Zero Nine Thirty, and 0800 as simply Zero Eight. Most junior enlisted I know speak the same way. My platoon sergeant says Zero Eight Hundred Hours, but my company commander does not, he says Oh Eight Hundred Hours, and my platoon leader says Oh Eight Hundred. There's no established standard I've ever seen, or at least not one that's followed. The most commen way I've seen across all services says "Zero Eight" (for hours on the hour) or "Zero Eight Thirty" for Hours with minutes. ⇒ SWATJester ^Ready Aim _Fire! 05:42, 11 April 2006 (UTC)
  • ACTUALLY, speaking for the Marine Corps only, Yes. We refer to the time as "zero eight" or "zero eight thirty." Every Marine is taught that in boot camp.Bunns USMC 16:49, 27 August 2006 (UTC)
    • As for the Air Force, I was in for six years as an SP, and I don't recall anyone saying "hours" after the time. I suspect it might be more of a Hollywood thing.65.31.161.92 15:34, 13 July 2007 (UTC)

I HIGHLY RECOMEND YOU WATCH "EARS OPEN, EYEBALLS CLICK." THIS IS HOW WE MAKE MARINES. STAFF SERGEANT GUILLEN, USMC 1371/8411 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.195.186.80 (talk) 05:54, 8 March 2008 (UTC)

Is this true....

Is it true that the "DIs" do cuss and curse out recruits, just like in the movie Full Metal Jacket, like some of my family has claimed ? I had four in the US Army, Two in the USAF tell me things about "Boot Camp". Martial Law 08:20, 11 April 2006 (UTC) :)

Yes. Tim 17:05, 11 April 2006 (UTC)

Yup. PennyGWoods 11:32, 17 April 2006 (UTC)

It depends. The U.S. Army has been trying to step away from profanity, physical abuse and many of the other things that Drill Sergeants/Instructors have become notorious for (it seems that ever since the 1980s or so the United States is suddenly concerned about the enlisted ranks giving the rest of the military a bad name, no longer are only officers expected to be "gentlemen"). As a result, it's now against Army regulations to lay hands on a new soldier during basic training without first getting verbal permission (sometimes Drill Sergeants bypass this by simply saying "Soldier, I am about to touch you" before adjusting a private's gear, for example), and cussing is supposed to be against the rules, but this has met with mixed reactions from cadre, from what I've seen. Some are from the "old school" where you could beat up your new soldiers (and were beaten up themselves) so they think that doing anything else is producing an entirely different breed of soldier (and they may be right). Others are more versatile and changed their instruction methods as soon as they were made aware of the new regulations. It seems that the Army in general is willing to turn a blind eye to blatant profanity, especially in basic training, as it's one of those "minor" offenses for which a Drill Sergeant is thought to be known for, particularly if they're an "old schooler". But I doubt you'll ever find a real-life Drill Sergeant as colorful as R. Lee Ermey, no.  ;) teh TK 11:51, 22 May 2006 (UTC)

My Military Training Instructor in Air Force BMT seemingly couldn't complete a sentence without using a permutation of "Fuck". I never saw him hit anyone, though he threw things at recruits, including throwing a metal clipboard at me. However, he only did this when there were no officers or senior NCO's around.--MarshallStack 00:50, 7 October 2006 (UTC)

FAF - I think a lot of the changes in the way drill instructors talk and treat their recruits has to do with the gradual integration of women in the military and into recruit companies in some of the services over the years. A male drill instructor uttering a stream of profanity in front of a group of female recruits could potentially become a harrassment issue, so I think they try to be more careful these days. Back in R.Lee's day, and during my time in the Navy, there were separate recruit companies for men and women and no women on most ships, so the profanity could fly more freely.

It depends with the Drill Instructors when I went to bootcamp in MCRD San Diego in 1999-2000. There are some Drill Instructors that swear often and there are some Drill Instructors who might be the religious types that won’t swear at you if you don’t swear in front of him also. However, the Drill Instructors that do swear, don’t swear if there’s an officer or a Company First Sergeant on deck (if the Company First Sergeant is the religious type and doesn’t like to hear swearing). As for smacking recruits around like in Full Metal Jacket, that won’t happened thanks to “Mothers of America”. That happened back in the day from what I've heard from other Korean War and Vietnam War former Marines at my former Aviation civilian job about their bootcamp experience in MCRD San Diego when they lived in Quonset huts. His perfect career as a Marine (which got him to become a Drill Instructor), as a breadwinner to his wife and kids, will be screwed. He’s not going to risk it on some recruit. The only time a Drill Instructor will use physical force is in self-defense, if the recruit attacks first on anyone and then the recruit could be in a whole lot of hurt.--Pilot expert 09:23, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Basically, it depends. Striking a recruit is (AFAIK,) strictly forbidden in the US Armed Services at this point. However, when I was in BT at Fort Jackson, our Platoon Sergeant (the senior Drill in the platoon,) shoved a recruit up against the wall in the DI's office in our barracks. The recruit complained to the First Sergeant. We never learned what reprimand our Drill Sergeant got ('cruits wouldn't, other than we believed he was probably Article 15'd, no loss of rank.) The recruit was promptly transferred to another platoon in our company, thought he was cock of the walk for gaming the system, and then was hazed so badly by his squad and platoon mates he washed out the week before graduation. Cursing, though... I didn't know a Drill Sergeant who didn't curse. But usually not screaming in your face obscenities. They were much more dangerous when insulting you most civilly and with unemotional-yet-very-real menace. LaughingVulcan 02:31, 19 June 2007 (UTC)

When I was in the service only one soldier was hit by a Drill Sergeant, and he probably deserved it, And several people were made to do "seal crawls" until they tore their rotator cuffs and were dismissed by the Army. Cussing was all the time, and they have ways to make you feel tiny even without cussing. Once I got cautage cheese at breakfast and the drill seargent said, "You a cheese eater private? Look at our lttle cheese eater. You gonna be ating your curds and weigh Miss Muffit?" Not a swear word, made me feel like garbage. 79.177.239.120 (talk) 13:29, 1 February 2008 (UTC)

From what I've heard from friends in the Army, swearing is common, and you're actually somewhat looked upon as abnormal if you don't swear in Basic. All of the people I've heard this from have been to Leonard Wood (which is female integrated) but this may be different base to base. I've also heard the only time a Drill Sergeant was allowed to hit a recruit was if they were a danger to either themselves or others. Someone was being careless with a gun and they got a nice little wake up call. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.111.165.229 (talk) 01:06, 7 March 2008 (UTC)

I was an Air Force MTI for four years in the early 1980s. Let me say this about profanity: It has always existed, and it will always exist, in the military, and not just in Basic Training. Back in the 1950s and 1960s, society was different, and that type of behavior was acceptable in our society. And so it was in Basic. As social attitudes began changing, then what is acceptable began changing. I really don't think it had to do anything with the integration of female recruits. That comparison is very vague and hard to pinpoint. I myself tried very hard not to use profanity, and in fact had most of my flights question me as to why I never cursed. (This would take place usually the night before shipping out!) Regulations were in place which forbade the practice, and I was not about to be the one who was singled out and made to be an example. I worked hard for my stripes, and I wasn't about to let my inability to use imaginative adverbs and adjectives to cause me to lose them. In my squadron, we had 35 MTIs. I was the only one who didn't curse, and I was looked at by my colleagues as an oddball. Not only that, I became a threat to them. Think about it and you will know what I mean.

Is it hard to be a marine corps?? email me at [email protected] I want to know so if you are in the marine corps tell me. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.44.254.130 (talk) 23:34, 6 November 2014 (UTC)

Was I able to motivate my troops without using profanity? You bet! And anybody who tries to argue the opposite is simply an intellectual cripple. However, if you think about it, the troops aren't hearing anything different than what they heard the whole time growing up.

SSgt Ron Cole (Vet), USAF 3706 BMTS, 1980-1984 Lackland Air Force Base —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.64.181.154 (talk) 15:40, 9 July 2009 (UTC)

I would like to point out one real flaw I read. I (being a Drill Sergeant in the United States Army) am NOT required to get a Soldier in Training's permission to touch them. Period. That fact is made clear in TRADOC Regulation 350-6 (the reg that covers Soldiers in Training and Cadre of Training Units.) No, I am not allowed to beat or abuse a soldier, but I can touch a Soldier when direclty involved in training or for safety reasons. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 147.238.8.10 (talk) 23:59, 31 August 2009 (UTC)

Add DI Creeds

As the article Drill Instructor Creed is [for deletion] at AFD, I've added the Army and Marine DI Creeds into the "DI Creed section." LaughingVulcan 02:31, 19 June 2007 (UTC)

Abbreviations

Be sure ALL abbreviations used are defined the first time it is used. Eg United States Air Force (USAF). Then the abbreviation can be used for the rest of the article. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.145.227.40 (talk) 19:19, 28 April 2008 (UTC)

Marine's section is long

The section on the Marine's (US) is quite long in comparison to everything else. I know it comes first in US section, but it still seems much, much too detailed, especially in comparison to everything else. I would say very Marine POV. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.186.97.113 (talk) 04:27, 2 October 2010 (UTC)

In addition, there are no citations anywhere in the section (or even in the entire section for the U.S. military).71.174.243.174 (talk) 22:25, 9 February 2017 (UTC)

Duties ...

"The tour of duty is three years and is widely regarded as one of the most intense, demanding, and important duties in the U.S. Armed Forces." And ... errr ... what about the Special Forces training?

Duties ...

"The tour of duty is three years and is widely regarded as one of the most intense, demanding, and important duties in the U.S. Armed Forces." And ... errr ... what about the Special Forces training? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.12.39.78 (talk) 19:50, 1 February 2013 (UTC)

SrA no longer eligible to be MTI's?

The article says that after 2013 Senior Airmen can no longer be MTI's. Is this true and what motivated it? My MTI was a SrA. That said, he was quite low on the maturity curve.--Dyscard (talk) 01:44, 25 November 2013 (UTC)

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Worldwide View?

How is an article about American drill instructors supposed to have a "worldwide view"? 50.82.168.91 (talk) 00:50, 16 April 2018 (UTC)

Picture

A Sergeant Instructor (Gunnery Sergeant) of the U.S. Marine Corps corrects an error yelling for a mistake made by an officer candidate

^{Article revision (876687963)}

Whoever finds this picture (on the right) suitable for this article must be ashamed. I think it must be replaced. DAVRONOVA.A. ✉ ⚑ 09:47, 7 March 2019 (UTC)

While the image is a good one, as it's an actual drill instructor at work in an official photo, the caption is indeed ridiculous. oknazevad (talk) 15:47, 8 October 2021 (UTC)

"Drill Instructor Creed" listed at Redirects for discussion

The redirect Drill Instructor Creed has been listed at redirects for discussion to determine whether its use and function meets the redirect guidelines. Readers of this page are welcome to comment on this redirect at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2023 May 14 § Drill Instructor Creed until a consensus is reached. GoingBatty (talk) 04:19, 14 May 2023 (UTC)