jonriv wrote:Tyler, what kind of military training have you been through?
Corporal USMC 82-87. MCRD for Basic, a 3 part ordeal with the middle part spent traversing the lovely hills of Pendleton and blowing stuff up. Spent some time in Cairo, Madrid, Casablanca, Germany, and Labrador. Operation Brightstar '86. AR-15 Range Coach at Pendleton.
An anecdote for you....My platoon was cutting across a steep muddy hill in Pendleton during basic, 3 a.m. and driving rain. My buddy loses his footing and starts to cartwheel downhill; full backpack, helmet, and rifle go flying. As he is cartwheeling down the hill, 2 of our DI's are running alongside him, screaming at him to arrest his descent and to take cover. I'll never forget that scene. Once he stopped tumbling, they both hit one knee and were screaming at him to locate his weapon. Two of us hauled ass down that hill and found his gear and dragged him back up into formation.
I saw that man out in the Fleet 3 years later. In conversation, he brought up that incident from Basic. He told me that he wished he could find those DI's and thank them for their work. We had a long chat about the mental aspects of USMC Boot Camp. He lamented the fact that the politically correct changes in Basic Training were going to cost some boys their lives.
Anyhoo, it's a complicated world. It has always troubled me that many of our lawmakers and policy makers never served, and worse, some actively avoided service via family connections and bogus academic deflections. I know you served, and I respect your opinion on where you think a line should be drawn in military training.