Customer Reviews

Boot

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Having attended Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island (MCRDPI) from May 02 to Aug 02 and graduating with Platoon 3058, 3rd RTBn, I picked up this book a week or so ago to relive some of the memories from boot camp. However, instead of getting a detailed report of what the recruits went through, the author spends more time complaining about how the Drill Instructors can't be as tough as they once could. Instead of feeling a sense of pride and esprit de corps from reading this book, I'm left with a sense of disappointment, stemming mainly from the fact that many of the policies and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) that the author complains so vehemently about are not strictly enforced anymore.

As a background, one must understand that this book was written in 1987. A recruit died during training in 1985 (from a pre-existing physical condition that he [didn't mention] on his enlistment contract, ...and congress decided that it was time to really bare down on Marine Corps recruit training and make it a little more "humane." As a result, they did impose a lot of policies and SOPs that hindered the Drill Instructors' abilities to discipline recruits. Like I said, though, many of these policies aren't strictly enforced anymore.

A harmless example that I'll divulge is the policy of Drill Instructors cursing. In the book, Da Cruz spends much time mulling over the ludicrousness of forbidding Drill Instructors to curse at or in front of recruits. That may have been the case in '87, but I can tell you that today the art of cursing is alive and well on MCRDPI with both the recruits and the Drill Instructors. I think this is perfectly harmless; it toughens up the skin of the recruits, and that's what Marine Corps recruit training is all about: Toughening you up in the event of combat, because the enemy will not follow any "humane" policies or SOPs.

There are several other policies and SOPs that don't hold anymore, but I'm not going to go into them. The point I'm trying to make is this: From reading this book, one might get the impression that Marine Corps recruit training isn't tough anymore. That is not the case. Ask any Marine from my company (or any, for that matter), and they'll tell you it was the hardest thing they've ever lived through. Marine Corps recruit training is still the hardest, toughest indoctrination to the finest fighting force in the world, have no doubts.

Da Cruz also compares Marine Corps recruit training to that of other similar forces from other countries, including the British Royal Marines (to whom the United States Marine Corps holds close ties) and the French Foreign Legion. Da Cruz spends time talking about how Marine Corps recruit training isn't as hard as these others, but the comparison isn't really fair. The Marine Corps plays the role of a major force-in-readiness, ready to storm a beach or be dropped in by helo at the drop of a hat to prepare the way for the rest of the Armed Forces. These foreign forces that Da Cruz talks about play a different role and are probably more comparable to our Special Forces teams, not a regular branch of the service.

In all, I would not recommend this book to someone thinking of becoming a United States Marine. This book is out of date on not only the policies and SOPs, but also on the training schedule. The Crucible is not included in this book simply because it wasn't around in '87. However, if you'd like to relive some of the more memorable moments of boot camp, and get a sneak peek at the lives of the Drill Instructors, then pick this book up.

Semper Fidelis

I read this book about the same time I joined the Marine Corps in August 1999. It takes you step by step through the training process. I would recommend this to anyone. You don't have to be a Marine to enjoy it. I have bought multiple copies of this book and given it to my recruiter so he can give it to prospective Marines to read. Also read the book by Thomas Ricks called The Making of a Marine.

I will be leaving for Marine Corps boot camp this August, and I was looking for some sort of indroduction to what boot camp was going to be like. This book helped me get a feel for what is going to be happening during my 13 week stay on Parris Island. I would recommend this book to anyone going into the Marines or anyone who is just interested in boot camp.

Boot by Daniel Da Cruz probably had pride of place for being one of the best overall books on the Marine Corps, and in particular about training, boot camp and the enlisted ethos, for nearly a decade.

This book, published in 1987, is set in a time before the Crucible and some of the more recent innovations in training that were to take place during the Reagan and elder Bush eras. The Marine Corps was still struggling to redefine its mission and purpose, and having had some major tragedies like the bombing of the barracks in Beirut, public-relations and policy-wise, the Marine Corps was a low ebb in its fortunes. Indeed, there was serious discussion whether or not the Corps should continue to exist.

Da Cruz takes an up-close and personal look at boot camp through the eyes of actual participants. He constructs some composite characters and blends things together to form a tighter narrative, and also gives alias names to some recruits in Platoon 1036, 1985, the group he followed most closely.

In the first pages of the book, Da Cruz disspells some of the myths and misperceptions about who the Marine Corps are looking for. The Marine Corps is highly selective, and disqualifications include lack of education (particularly since not completing high school or a GED shows a lack of trainability), trouble with drugs, law enforcement, various physical disabilities, abnormal height and weight, and a few other things. Dependents are not absolutely disqualifying, but then as now certainly weigh against the potential recruit.

Da Cruz looks at the in-processing and recruitment stages, showing the care and attention the Marine Corps gives to its future in accepting potential recruits. He also looks at the special appeal of the Corps to young men. The Marine Corps didn't offer incentives, it offered challenges. This is true of the Marine Corps up to this day. While other services offer incentives to potential recruits, the first question a Corps recruiter will ask is `What can you offer the Corps?' The answer had better be a good one!

Da Cruz intersperses after every short section a piece of the history of the Corps. After looking at the initial shock treatment phase of receiving, from being screamed off the bus to getting the shaved head to being herded naked through various stations, Da Cruz then gives a brief overview of the history of the Corps, from the earliest days of formation in Tun Tavern in 1775 to the operations in Lebanon and Grenada in the 1980s.

Da Cruz looks with honesty at the emotions going through the minds of the recruits and the Drill Instructors. Most recruits are scared at first. So, in fact, are some Drill Instructors. There are a thousand ways to fail for each of them, and it is only through unrelenting focus that they all make it through. They may well depend on each other for the sake of their lives. This is the real world.

But, in fact, it is a different world. As Da Cruz points out in recounting the story of forming, recruits are introduced to an entirely new culture, one that requires a new language. There are no floors, there are decks. There are walls, there are bulkheads. Stairs are ladders. And woe to the recruit who has to go to the bathroom!

Throughout the rest of the book, organised as a chapter for each of the eleven weeks, Da Cruz highlights one or two particular recruits who either exemplify or struggle with the particular tasks of the week, or overall adjustment. However, the focus still remains on the platoon as a whole, in true Marine Corps fashion. This is a team effort. Following this discussion, Da Cruz looks at an historical or topical issue, but always comes back to the basic issue - the rigours of boot camp.

Da Cruz looks at the tensions between the desire to make boot camp and other training realistic and harsh versus the political and social pressures to keep it, as it is a publicly-known process, somewhat humane. It is clear that Da Cruz blames Congress and public-policy bureaucracy in addition to the proverbial `gold-star mother' who doesn't want to hear of her son being treated poorly.

In fairness, there has been abuse in the past that has gone far beyond even tough military training standards. The Ribbon Creek tragedy which resulted in a serious injury and death toll from training is no laughing matter, nor something that should be forgotten. However, many Drill Instructors and Marines feel the pendulum has swung too far. Some changes in the training have been instituted since the publication of Da Cruz's book, and Drill Instructors are given more to work with in achieving their goal of making Marines.

One can easily see that Da Cruz is himself a veteran of the Marine Corps. He is also one who cares that, during the decade after Vietnam (mid-70s to mid-80s) the Corps seemed to suffer a decline in many areas, one of which was the vital area of training for surviving combat in modern arenas.

Much has changed since Da Cruz wrote this book, but the same stories can be repeated over and over. Some of the recruits Da Cruz followed may indeed still be serving in the Marine Corps. Some might even be Drill Instructors now, preparing the next generation of Marines.

Da Cruz does encapsulate in an excellent way the esprit de corps of the Marine Corps, which is its most valuable asset.

Taken as a snapshot of the Marine Corps, particularly of the Corps during the 80s, this is an excellent book, even if biased in very definite directions that might make civilian readers a bit uneasy.

I picked up this book in the library to gain a bit more information on Marine Corps boot camp. I was excited to see this book, and after glancing through the chapters, saw that they were done by week. I figured I'd have an indepth account of Boot by the time I was done with it.

First and foremost, this book is dated. Nothing can be done with that, it's simply old. It was done before the martial art program was put in, and also the Cruicible. The events don't seem to be sequenced right either, after reading about.com's bootcamp article.

Second, this book doesn't seem to intend to be an informal guide to Boot Camp, but rather a continual rant on the current state of the Corps, with Boot Camp as just a side story. Things go smoothly until the author decides to squeeze in 10 pages of Marine Corps history (Which I would call a good thing, actually), and ends it by saying, "The point is that the most elite fighting Corps can't beat city hall", or something to that account. Da Cruz then proceeds to interupt the boot camp stories with his rants on how the Marines have gone soft, how medals are given like candy to officers and rarely to enlisted men (A problem that seems to plague all branches), and how the Washington fat cats are interfering with the making of warriors. He also gives an exhaustive rant on the DI's, how they are constantly having to cover themselves to not get introuble with the brass, and how they aren't allowed to do anything. The worst part is that it's a gradual progress, we are fooled into thinking the book will be completely about boot in the beginning, and later, it is almost fully centered around complaining.

The unfortunate result of this is that it can make a future enlistee feel a tad down on the Corps, until they remember their original reason for joining after returning this book to the library, or shelving it, never to be read again.

Overall, if you're looking for a book to read to remind you on your days of boot, or if you're in the mood to bash the corps, borrow this from the library. If you're looking for info because you're about to enter boot, I recommend "Making the Corps" instead.

Forget the words of the other reviewers. This book is outstanding and should be prescribed reading for any young person about to enter the Marine Corps. Yes some of the information is out of date, but the way recruits are trained will never change and this book is a perfect, true to life journal of Marine Corps boot camp.

The book is a good book about Marine Boot Camp, but alot of the information is outdated. The recruits were still using M16A1's which were replaced in the Corps by the A2's around 1984. No Crucible was mentioned either, considering it is a relatively new event in boot camp created around 1996. Don't buy it if you want a view of what to expect at Marine Boot Camp today and tomorrow, but it is still worth reading as some of the information can still be applied to todays Corps.

My name is Andrew R. Townshend and I went through Marine Corps boot camp in 1985 as a member of 1st battalion, B company, platton 1036. This book tells it like it was. If you want to know what the toughest recruit training in the United States Armed forces is like, this book will tell you all you want to know. You can find my name in the list of recuits in the first few pages of the book. Semper Fi.

I have worked with several former DI's who seem to be very nice, regular guys on the job. I have often talked with them about their experiences as a Marine Corps Drill Instructor and their stories are fascinating and consistent. As I was reading this very entertaining and informative book, I would talk with coworkers who trained at Parris Island and their accounts were very similar to the events described in this book. Any prospective enlistee can safely use this book to help them decide if the military is appropriate for them, or if they are enlisting for the wrong reasons.

My son and I read this book shortly before my son went to boot camp. The book practically followed what he went through exactly on a day to day basis possibly spoiling the whole experience and surprise factor of boot camp. Very detailed.