In American media, Drill Sergeants are often portrayed as mean and shouty. Yelling at recruits / treating them like garbage.
The only thing I could think of is that they’re going for a “military service is hard so I’m going to make this as unpleasant for you as possible because life is hard” kind of thing, but couldn’t discipline be instilled in soldiers without the yelling and humiliation? Why is this the only way?
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I’m sure someone who has been through basic will chime in but until then:
In short, no it’s not as bad the movies. At least, [not today](https://www.yorkdispatch.com/story/news/2022/06/15/mentorship-yelling-basic-training-changing/50375471/). In the past, yeah it could be pretty rough. [R. Lee Ermey](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjffzVCno84), famous for his role in [Full Metal Jacket](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PerFdIrDBBQ) got his role in that movie because he *was* a drill sergeant. In the interview linked first, he admits that “a few” drill sergeants could be a little sadistic and the military looked another way often enough. Which, honestly, [shouldn’t be surprising.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/12/06/coast-guard-sexual-assault/) They [aren’t supposed to physically hurt you](https://www.armystudyguide.com/content/Prep_For_Basic_Training/basic_training_prep_articles/are-drill-sergeants-allow.shtml) but they can “smoke” you – punish you with extra exercise like more pushups, extra laps around the field, etc.
Regardless, the idea of the drill sergeant being a dick to recruits is to condition them to the necessities of war. They need to follow orders, immediately, without question. That’s not to say the military wants everyone to be mindless drones ([yet](https://www.military.com/daily-news/2023/07/28/next-frontier-warfighters-might-be-implants-their-brains-pentagon-ready-consequences.html)) but questioning orders shouldn’t come in the middle of a firefight. Soldiers also need to be conditioned to handle the emotional demands of being in war. If you can’t handle getting yelled at or possibly hit because you didn’t make up your bed the right way, how can you expect to handle being shot at, or having artillery exploding nearby?
But, no, it’s not the only way. It *is* an expedient way, though. Building someone up emotionally takes a lot of time and effort. Emotionally beating the shit out of them until they’re malleable enough to train them to be mindless killing machines is fast and easy. Things *are* changing, though. The military is getting better at understanding that building people up is worth it. It makes for better soldiers and it *definitely* makes for better retired soldiers.
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