December 31, 2009
Throughout my life and 22 years of being part of a basketball team, I’ve gained a very strong understanding of teamwork and working together to complete a common goal or overcome an obstacle. Marine Corps Recruit Training is supposed to instill this as well, but it seems like our Platoon is just falling apart.
We still have too many dumb, arrogant, lazy, disrespectful, stupid, lame recruits that don’t deserve to be here. That’s one thing I’m a little confused on. In the real world (I thought) a teammate who refuses to work together and do his part only gets so many chances before he is dropped, contract voided, benched, removed, replaced, banned or vanished. We still have too many recruits who don’t deserve to be here and it’s not the Marine Corps’ fault, though I think more recruits should have been dropped. Instead, we continue to pay for their mistakes.
They’re so stuck on “their block” still that nothing will change them…and that’s what will get people killed in the field. Even in Phase Three I’ve seen recruits mock and blatantly disrespect not just recruits, but our Drill Instructors. The sad thing is that these recruits will be graduating right along side the recruits that actually care abut the training that we’re getting. I’m not even sure why some of them joined in the first place, and I still blame most of it on the current generational trends that have been set. The standard of respect and work ethic seems to be at an all-time low for America.
I’m not trying to bashfest here, just letting off some steam. A lot of recruits got on our last nerve today. What was funny in phase one got annoying in phase two…and now in phase three, the realization of the people who haven’t changed at all is starting to set in.
- Recruit Webb
Kevin – When you make it through the entire 7-month process and have some time on your hands (between changing diapers, working, etc.), there’s a book that you’ve got to read called “Do Hard Things” written by Alex & Brett Harris (teenage twin brothers). The subtitle is, “A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations.” It refers to the laziness of our youth today, and will definitely reinforce the things you have mentioned in this post.