Recruit killed himself amid culture of abuse, Marine Corps says

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No matter your branch of service, or your job, or your mentality, this shit is not okay. I work aircraft maintenance for the Air Force, and it's an environment of tough guys. It's hard work and you learn through sucking it up, getting your hands dirty, and staying late to ensure the mission gets done.

That being said, NONE of the people I work with, whether they're scrawny nerds or meatheads, would ever dare haze a newbie. We all look out for each other, we all have each other's backs, and we work as a team. We're brothers and sisters in arms, no matter your rank.

The fact that this recruit had to endure hazing in an attempt to "toughen him up" at the hands of his mentors, his teachers, the people he was supposed to respect, is appalling and something that should never have happened. It doesn't matter if he was officially a Marine or not; he took the oath of enlistment, signed on the dotted line, and made the decision that less than 1% of the U.S. make. He was just as important as anyone, civilian or military, and did not deserve this.
 
Yeah... that's... a tame day as far as hazing in USMC recruit training. Not the suicide, of course, but man the shit you'd see...
 
not condoning the behavior but these people have to be put into crazy life or death situations that require the killing of others. isn't the whole thing about breaking people down in order to numb them to the harsh realities of war? i always looked at it as a necessary evil type thing, but i'm pretty ignorant on the subject.
 
A Muslim Marine said he was called a terrorist and ordered into an industrial clothes dryer multiple times by a drill instructor who then turned it on, burning him, according to investigative documents that provide new details about the alleged abuse of recruits at the service’s training center at Parris Island, S.C.

“You’re going to kill us all the first chance you get aren’t you, terrorist?” the drill instructor thundered at the recruit, the new Marine later alleged, according to the documents that have not been released publicly but were reviewed by The Washington Post. “What are your plans? Aren’t you a terrorist?”

The issue of hazing and abuse at Parris Island surfaced March 18, when a 20-year-old recruit with Pakistani roots — Raheel Siddiqui of Taylor, Mich. — died after leaping from a stairwell landing that was nearly 40 feet high while running away from the same drill instructor who used the dryer. The instructor had just slapped Siddiqui before he jumped. Siddiqui’s death drew public scrutiny to a culture of harsh punishments at Parris Island — one that Marine officials were already examining, the documents show.

Ethnic and homophobic slurs were also used regularly, and drill instructors ordered repeated, unauthorized physical training that sometimes injured recruits. The drill instructors also sometimes were drunk on the job, bringing Fireball whiskey into work on at least one occasion, recruits told investigators.

In one case, a senior drill instructor who had seen a photograph of a recruit’s sister made him log into his Facebook account so he could request that she call Parris Island on the telephone. When she did, the drill instructor took the phone away from the recruit, introduced himself and said that he had heard she was single and wanted to know whether they could get to know each other. The drill instructor later denied it, but the sister corroborated the recruit’s story with copies of the Facebook messages, according to the documents.

The drill instructor involved in the dryer case, an unidentified sergeant, was allowed to continue training recruits after allegations of abuse were made, in part because Marine officials did not take the accusations seriously, one investigation found.

Recruits who were abused were also warned that “snitches get stitches.” Instructors also bribed recruits with protein bars and other food to keep them quiet, according to the documents.
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Marine drill instructor accused of running a clothes dryer with a Muslim recruit inside

That's some fucked up shit
 
pigeon said:
Isn't Parris Island famous for its culture of abuse?

Not to mention there's literally half a movie about basic training being so abusive that it leads people to kill themselves and it was made about half a century ago. edit: I didn't realize that this segment was set ON PARRIS ISLAND but I probably should have.

Terrible that this happened to this guy. I'd like to be hopeful that it sparks a change, but again, I feel like everybody already knew that this happened and it clearly didn't motivate anybody to fix it.
Click to expand...

Full Metal Jacket was made in 1987 so less than 30 years ago not half a century.
 
It's no surprise to me that elite military training attracts some... interesting personalities. Some of them are stand-up G.I. Joe types and others would be in jail if they were anywhere else.
 
Piecake said:
Marine drill instructor accused of running a clothes dryer with a Muslim recruit inside

That's some fucked up shit
Click to expand...

The allegations are highly sensitive for a service that has long prided itself on what it calls the transformative process of “making Marines.” And it has shocked drill instructors at the service’s only other enlisted training depot in San Diego.

“The atmosphere of recruit training is much different in San Diego,” said one Marine instructor there, who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation. “Officers and staff continuously walk around decks to keep eyes on drill instructors and recruits, as well as to ensure our [procedures] are followed as closely as possible. Recruit abuse is absolutely not tolerated here, and I’ve seen many drill instructors being held accountable and investigated for even minor infractions.”
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I can pretty much confirm this, at least it matches my experience. We had probably the scariest Second DI (the DI under the Senior DI). He rarely IT'ed recruits(Incentive Training) but when he did it was a lesson for all, do not fuck around when Second is on duty. It didn't go overboard, and in context, he did it more to help those recruits, rather than hurt them. From the outside that may seem naive, but DIs had their favorites and would at times push them the hardest.

There was pretty clear boundaries in San Diego. Slurs of any kind were prohibited. Physical abuse was also prohibited but they found ways around that, that would be very hard to explain. I was never explicitly "hit" but occasionally I was "forcefully assisted". I had it about as bad as anyone, probably worse than most, and I can safely say the DIs weren't the worst part of it. The only lasting negative effect I came away with was an extreme sensitivity to light while sleeping.

What's happening in 3rd RTB seems well beyond the pale. It almost doesn't seem real. Clearly Parris Island needs to clean house. Recruit training is, in itself, a lesser form of "hazing", in the strict definition of the term. Throwing recruits in dryers is well beyond the pale. An IT session on the quarterdeck, that's part of training.

I think part of the reason this stuff persists is that it becomes a badge of honor for those who made it through. The harsh treatment becomes a source of pride and those that return perpetuate it. That isn't excusing it, but it's probably why this behavior persists even though it's completely unnecessary.

The overall point is that this isn't representative of recruit training at large in the Marine Corps.
 
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