Fort Knox, Ky. – The recruits of Echo Company stumbled off the bus for basic training at Fort Knox to the screams of red-faced drill instructors.
That much was expected. But it got worse from there.
Echo Company’s top drill instructor seized a recruit by the back of the neck and threw him to the ground. Other soldiers were poked, grabbed or cursed.
Once inside the barracks, Pvt. Jason Steenberger says, he was struck in the chest by the top drill instructor and kicked “like a football.” Andrew Soper, who has since left the Army, says he was slapped and punched in the chest by another drill instructor. Pvt. Adam Roster says he was hit in the back and slammed into a wall locker.
Four Army drill instructors and the company commander would be brought up on charges. Four have been convicted.
The tough-as-nails drill instructor who berates and intimidates recruits with remarkably creative profanity is a familiar figure to generations of men who went through the Army or the Marines, and a stock character in the movies. The idea is to break the recruit down, instill discipline and make him a well-trained part of a cohesive fighting unit.
But Army regulations in effect since 1985 say superiors cannot lay a hand on their recruits to discipline them. The Army’s Training and Doctrine Command regulations also disallow any physical or verbal hazing, which includes “cruel or abusive tricks.” Vulgar or sexually explicit language is also prohibited.
The guidelines reflect some of the lessons of the Vietnam era and the changing culture of the Army, which became an all-volunteer force with the end of the draft and began accepting women.
The Army gets complaints of abuse by drill sergeants “all the time, but we often find that they are not founded,” said Connie Shaffery, a Fort Knox spokeswoman.
The evidence in the Fort Knox scandal included a 25- minute video – taken by a sergeant as the recruits stepped off the bus – that showed the recruits being poked, grabbed and berated.
