Think you’re going to get a snuggly little bed time story followed by being tucked into your bunk at boot camp? HA! Think again. Your drill instructors won’t let you go one minute without screaming at you to do better than your best. That’s alright though because with these 10 secrets you can be prepared for all that your drill instructors are going to throw at you. Well, ALMOST everything.
1. They can’t deny you a head call. You are standing at the position of attention afraid to move when, oh no! You have to use the bathroom. Now the dilemma. Face the fury of the drill instructor or pray that you can hold it? It is better to request a head call to the drill instructor. They cannot deny you a head call.
2. They can’t deny you a water break. Same as with a head call, drill instructors cannot deny you a water break. In fact, during your entire stay in boot camp you will be forced to drink gallons of water. This is to keep your body healthy and hydrated. A sick recruit is no good to them. They’ve spent a lot of money training you so it is in their best interest to keep you going.
3. They aren’t allowed to hit you. Let me clarify, this doesn’t mean it won’t happen but technically they are not allowed to hit you. There are stories upon stories from Marines who will tell you what actually happens behind the scenes.
4. They aren’t allowed to humiliate you. They can yell and scream at you. However, they are not allowed to do anything that would humiliate you. Many recruits misunderstand the definition of humiliate as being screamed at can be considered humiliating. Basically, they cannot strip you naked and then point and laugh at you while making the rest of the platoon do the same. Or other such humiliating acts.
5. If you get hurt due to negligence, they get in deep trouble. Recruits don’t realize this but drill instructors incur a large amount of stress making sure recruits are not injured. You never would notice because it feels like they spend their time screaming at you but it is true. There is a huge liability issue when a recruit is injured, and even more so if a drill instructor is involved.
6. They think what you do is funny. They are going to show but some of the things that recruits do have drill instructors shaking their head laughing their butts off. However, just because the laughing doesn’t mean they are going to punish you all the same for doing something stupid.
7. There’s a chance they might like you. Drill instructors notice the qualities of recruits. They know when recruiter trying their best and those who are barely hanging on or trying to get by. Drill instructors may not ever let you know they like you. It is not appropriate for them to say so. Nor is it productive during training. However, there is a chance you will keep venture in touch with one or more of your drill instructors after graduation.
8. They want to see you succeed. Contrary to popular belief drill instructors actually do want you to succeed. That’s why they are there training you to become a Marine. The Marine Corps spends an average of $30,000 per recruit to train them. The goal most certainly is for recruits to succeed and become Marines.
9. They have families too. A drill instructors life is hard on his or her family. Drill instructor duty is the three-year tour of grueling hours and extreme physical requirements. When they go home, many times there is a lot of time except to sleep and turn around and come back to recruiting duty.
10. Anything you have to do, they have done twice as hard and twice as long. Before drill instructors are put into drill instructor duty. They have had to return to boot camp. They have to go through a 13 week boot camp of their own to learn how to train future Marines. They have to keep their physical fitness tests high as well as their marksmanship scores and every other area that requires them to lead by example.
Source: personal experience
