SAN DIEGO — Eleven young Marines testified before a military jury Wednesday that one of their drill instructors repeatedly forced them to drink so much water that they vomited, a practice specifically banned by regulations.
Testimony about the use of “water-bowl incentive training” at boot camp came as military prosecutors portrayed Sgt. Jerrod Glass as a mean-spirited instructor who used his authority to kick, slap and degrade recruits who were too intimidated to fight back or report the abuse.
Glass, 25, faces 10 counts of abuse that could result in 11 years in prison.
“Incentive training” is a Marine euphemism for punishment.
Defense attorneys asserted that senior drill instructors either encouraged or condoned the tough treatment of recruits by Glass.
The defense also has suggested that while the rules prohibit drill instructors from touching recruits except in specific circumstances – such as showing them how to hold a rifle or navigate an obstacle course – the reality is that a lot of rough hands-on discipline goes on at the boot camp.
A parade of witnesses spoke of abusive treatment by Glass. Some said that after they were made to gulp water from their canteens until they vomited, Glass then made them slide on their buttocks across the vomit-strewn floor of the barracks bathroom.
Lance Cpl. James Hammond said that after one water-bowl session, “we were ordered by Sgt. Glass to sit down on the vomit and move around.”
Lance Cpl. Sean Daniel Miranda-Fitzgerald said he watched Glass repeatedly strike a recruit on the head with a metal tent pole when the recruit couldn’t remember the combination to his foot locker.
Glass screamed, “I’m going to make you ugly if you can’t open up your lock,” Miranda-Fitzgerald testified.
Marines testified that Glass once became enraged when he saw a recruit eating an apple turnover for dinner in the mess hall.
“We all had to chug water until it came out,” said Lance Cpl. Robert Sandoval.
Pfc. Zachary Schaller said he was standing at a urinal when Glass pushed his head into the wall. Pfc. Michael Baldridge said Glass pushed him headfirst into a trash can.
Asked by defense and prosecution attorneys why they didn’t report the abuse, the Marines testified that they thought it was a natural part of the grueling 13-week boot-camp regimen. After one recruit did report that Glass hit a recruit with a tent pole, Glass was relieved of duty and an investigation was launched.
