Military basic training was and is meant to be tougher than many of the subsequent steps of the military career. US Navy
23. Early military training was often the toughest part of service life
For enlistees and draftees, the first stop of military service was boot camp, and for many it remained the toughest stop of the military career. Boot camp in all branches was designed to eliminate all individuality of civilian life. Soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines were made to look the same, dress the same, and sound the same. Every day began before sunrise, sometimes before 5 in the morning, and seldom if ever later. Every minute of the ensuing day was scheduled. The trainees wore what they were told to wear, carried what they were told to carry, and ate what was served to them, whether they wanted it or not.
Even the length of time a trainee spent in the shower was predetermined, as was the method of showering, though it varied from service to service. Individual physical fitness was of little concern to the drill instructors. Trainees ran until they completed the length they were assigned, or until they dropped. Those who dropped were expected to complete the distance after brief recovery. The whole purpose of basic training was to deliver to the ensuing schools or assignments a military machine in a human body, ready to be shaped by additional training into a valuable asset for the branch of service represented by the uniform it was wearing.
All human members of the US military were subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice. US Army
24. Early training included the rules of military life in the form of the Uniform Code of Military Justice
The Uniform Code of Military Justice, known to all who served in the military as the UCMJ was (and is) a concise listing of military law, passed by Congress and signed by President Truman in 1950. Its edicts apply to all members of the military no matter where they are stationed or physically placed anywhere in the world. Early in basic training the trainees were familiarized with the UCMJ and continually reminded of it during their time in the service. Copies were prominently displayed on barracks walls, in Navy heads and Army latrines, in mess halls, classrooms, and the training documents issued to every service member.
Along with the UCMJ trainees were quickly indoctrinated in the Code of Conduct, indeed, to the point of memorizing it and reciting it to the satisfaction of their drill instructor. The Code was established by Executive Order of President Eisenhower. It contained (and still does) six articles. Within one week of arriving at basic training most recruits were expected to recite verbatim any of the articles upon the demand of a drill instructor, often made with his face less than an inch from that of the recruit. The price of failure was often physical pain, inflicted in a variety of ways.
Navy recruits were given the opportunity to memorize from The Bluejackets Manual, including this semephore chart from 1943. US Navy
25. Memorization was often a necessary part of military training
The ability to give a correct answer to a question through memorization of the answer, rather than comprehension of the subject, was a valuable trait during military training. One of the first requirements of recruits was to learn the General Orders of a Sentry. During the Vietnam era all branches of the military used the same orders, as did the Coast Guard. Their authorship is unknown, they appeared in the Navy Sailor’s bible, The Bluejacket’s Manual, in 1902. Some have ascribed their authorship to George Washington in the Continental Army’s encampment in Cambridge in 1775. The eleven orders were, like the Code of Conduct, expected to be known verbatim by anyone wearing a military uniform.
The Navy version differed from that of its land based compatriots (who don’t generally have an Officer of the Deck to report to) but the differences during the Vietnam War were minor in nature. A common scenario in basic training was a recruit dropping in utter exhaustion following a five mile run while carrying up to forty pounds of equipment, only to hear the voice of his drill instructor demanding to know the fifth general order of a sentry. Woe betide the unfortunate trainee who did not leap to attention and respond, “Sir, the fifth general order is Sir, ‘To quit my post only when properly relieved’, Sir”.
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