"Sit up straight and look at me right now!"
"AYE SIR!!!"
"My name is Sgt. DeBoe, and I am your Senior Drill Instructor.
I am assisted in my duties by:
Drill Instructor Sgt. Nwosu, Drill Instructor Sgt. Navarro, and Drill Instructor Sgt. Devaeux. Our mission is to train each one of you to become
a United States Marine.
A Marine is characterized as one who possesses the highest military virtues.
He obeys orders, respects his seniors, and strives constantly to be the best
in everything that he does.
Discipline and spirit are the hallmarks of a Marine. Each of you can become a Marine
if you develop discipline and spirit. We will give every effort to train you, even after
some of you have given up on yourselves.
Starting now, you will treat ALL Marines with the highest level of respect, for we have earned our places as Marines and we will accept nothing less than that from you. We WILL treat you as we do our fellow Marines: with firmness, fairness, dignity and compassion. At no time
will you be physically abused or verbally threatened by any Marine or recruit.
If anyone should abuse or mistreat you, I expect you to report such incidents immediately to me or one of my drill instructors. Further, if you believe that I have mistreated you, I expect you to report it to your series commander, Captain K. From now on, my drill instructors and I
will be with you every day and everywhere you go.
I have told you what my drill instructors and I will do. From you we demand the following:
You WILL give 100% of yourself at ALL times. Obey ALL orders, quickly, willingly, and without question.
Treat all Marines and recruits with courtesy
and respect. You will NOT physically abuse or verbally threaten any Marine or recruit.
Be completely honest in everything you do. A Marine never lies, cheats, or compromises.
Respect the rights and property of all others.
A Marine never steals.
You MUST work hard to strengthen your body.
Be proud of yourself and the uniform you wear. Above all that, NEVER quit OR give up.
For we offer you the challenge of Recruit Training - the opportunity to earn the title
United States Marine."
"Get up on your feet!"
"Aye Sir!"
"Fuck that shit sit back down!"
"Now stand back up!"
"AYE SIR!!!"
"Now run to your bunks!"
"AYE SIR!!!"
"20!"
"PUT YOUR HANDS BY YOUR SIDE!"
"STAND UP STRAIGHT!"
"GET BACK OVER THERE, RECRUIT! NOW RUN BACK! 1098765432, 1!"
"LET'S GO RECRUIT!"
"RUN FASTER!"
"BULLSHIT, GO BACK!"
"NOW GET BACK OVER HERE!"
"SCREAM!!!"
"1918171615141312111098765432, 1!"
"DONE SIR!!!"
"EYES!"
"LOCKED, SIR!"
"EARS!"
"OPEN, SIR!"
"Okay EARS!!!"
"OPEN SIR!!!"
"You're going to file in formation when I instruct you to do so! Wherever you place yourself is where you'll be standing for the remainder of your time here! Do you understand?"
"YES SIR!!"
"I'm sorry WHAT?!"
"YES SIR!!!"
"NOW GO!"
"30!"
"LET'S GO, MOVE IT!!"
"GET MOVING RECRUIT!"
"29 28 27 26"
YOU'RE FIRST IN LINE!"
"DON'T TRY TO WEASEL TO THE BACK ROW!"
"FRONT AND CENTER!"
25242322120"
"YOU, GET IN FUCKING LINE!"
"SHOULDER WIDTH APART!"
"40 INCHES BACK TO FRONT!"
1918171615141312
*ILLEGIBLE SHOUTING*
"STRAIGHTEN YOUR SPINE!"
"ARMS TO YOUR SIDES!"
"GLUE YOUR HANDS THERE!"
111098765 4 3 2, 1!"
"DONE SIR!!!"
"YEAH RIGHT, GET BACK TO YOUR BUNKS!!!"
201918171615141312111098765432, NOW GET BACK IN FORMATION!!! 15141312111098765432, 1!"
"DONE SIR!!!"
"NOW GET OUTSIDE!!!"
What fun it was to get straight to the point. It was games within games, like they were chipping away at our imperfections to see which of us geodes had gemstones inside. Or which weeds would be de-rooted if they pulled hard enough.
I've never been the best at analogies. What I was always good at is following directions, especially when they're direct and easy to understand. Despite all the yelling, it wasn't hard to hear what we had to do from all four of them, even when they shouted over one another at different recruits.
Week one was all about physical training and getting ourselves educated in classrooms, which was actually a blessing, because the DIs wouldn't bother us unless the instructor got pissed off and invited them to discipline us outside. We made sure that the guys we were sitting next to didn't nod off, for if they were caught, we all suffered. Couldn't have that.
We also got introduced to marching as one platoon, ironing out the rough edges so that all of our strides were one and our movements were solid and uniform, by following a very direct marching cadence to step to the beat of. Everywhere we went, we were marching in formation, stepping with our left foot forward as our dominant one, followed by the right. Left right, left right. Loo rah low raaah.
I really loved their cadences, especially DeBoes. His voice was iconic and beyond beautiful. Coulda swore he was a singer in another world, but I bet that it's something you learn in DI school. The other DIs had their own style, and it would be stupid of me not to mention their sentimental cadences, but Navarro really seemed to struggle with finding his tune and tone. We all feared him the most, after DeBoe, since he was one of the three dogs who'd sick any and all of us if we stepped out of line, both figuratively and literally. Not to say Nwosu and Devaeux didn't, but Navarro didn't hide his emotional attachment to seeing us suffer. All part of the game of games.
God, he loved playing games with us the most, no doubt. He was a topic of discussion whenever we had any fleeting free time before lights out; how inhuman he was, how unyielding and vicious he barked. Devaeux was a recent and the most inexperienced DI in our platoon, which many platoons have, but you could tell he was both enjoying it and struggling to do it. He made up for his lack of intensity with repetition. Nwosu was basically second in command to DeBoe, and didn't spend as much time to fuck with us compared to Navarro and Devaeux. That didn't mean we saw him as a mere lackey. He was a bulldog in his own right.
Classes were fun, though. It was like we were motivated to appease the instructor and learn all sorts of Marine Corps history so we weren't forced to go out to the sand pits and get PT'd, which is basically doing all sorts of rigorous, fast paced exercises in the sand pit, a literal fucking sand box for those who misbehave while being ordered and screamed at. God, what a curriculum! I remember when we were first introduced to it. They sat us around one and brought out a bunch of recruits that were further along in training to set the example for us 1st week-ers. It certainly left an impression on us. Not enough to avoid our visits to any that were conveniently left around each building we went to though. Shit's part of the experience.
Oh, I forgot to mention that we were all in 1st Recruit Training Battalion, Alpha Company, Platoon 1066. We got acclimated to it and got a sense of pride, with plenty of competition between us and the other platoons in the company and battalions over the course of our time there. 1065 had quite the SDI, a voice that challenged even DeBoe in volume, tone, and intensity. The others were rather forgettable to me, since they didn't prove superior to us in almost any competition, physical or representational. To us, it was always between 1066 and 1065 to hold the candle as the best platoon during our time in training, something we would earn just as much as we did our EGA's. More on that later.
We learned the names of important Marine Corps figures, such as Daniel Dally, who had two medals of honor before his time in Belleau Wood during WWI, John A. Lejeune, who was the 13th Commandant of the Marine Corps and wrote the birthday message that was always read aloud during every Marine Corps Ball, and the first woman to earn the title on 13 August, 1918, Opha May Johnson. There were plenty others, and we all memorized each and every one of them by yelling out their names and dates for their primary accomplishments in unison. We also took many notes in the packet binders they issued us, which filled in all the other gaps when we took our time to study, both obligated and during free time, for those of us who were showing signs of initiative.
Heh. I'll probably keep saying this, but I was having fun. The environment was just what I needed, even during the thick of it. We began forming a tight bond within the platoon, and sooner than later, when our first Sunday came around, I went to church for the first time in years. It's been said since WWII, and I'll say it right now. There are no atheists in foxholes.