Having been there forgive me if I say that what some people call 'hazing' is usually a vital aspect of the training and selection process. Yes, I know it's politically incorrect and insensitive but the sad fact is that if a recruit is going to buckle under the attentions of his fellow Marines then what, pray tell, is he going to do when faced with actual torture at the hands of an adversary? Being two meters tall with red hair and (at the time) glasses I can assure you that I had a bitch of a time with the process...but I endured and overcame it all because I was determined that the fuckers weren't going to beat me...and that was
EXACTLY what they were trying to get out of me.
And then, after having survived a shared experience, I made some of the best friendships of my life. I also learned how to handle suffering, deprivation, and people hurting my precious little feelings by,
oh, trying their best to kill me.
Seriously, the country wants Marines to be hardened killers when they want hardened killers but how do we inculcate a warfighting spirit into people we're supposed to treat as if they're at their 'safe space' at a public university?
Do I feel bad for the kid? Of course I do. It's a shame he accidentally killed himself when he could have requested a discharge for emotional/psychological reasons. That said, he likely had issues before he showed up for basic.
And I mean this with all my heart: This kid's death is NOT a reason to make basic any easier. The easier we make basic the more lives we'll end up losing on the battlefield. That's how it works.
CKA Moderator 
CKA Uber 
