I was in the army from '86 to '91, and I must say that it was almost exactly like my basic training, with three exceptions:
1- we didn't have locker boxes, we had wall lockers.
2- we never had our fingernails and toenails inspected.
3- our drill Sargent's weren't allowed to hit us.
Otherwise,the rest is spot on perfect.
Oh yes, one more thing: we ran during P.T.(physical training)wearing running shoes,not boots.

Interesting reading, thank you delriosong. I find the shytebird soldier a bit of an axxhole.

Et Erello Endorenna utlien. Sinome maruvan ar Hildinyar tenn' Ambar-metta

My dad joined the Navy in 1947. He was 15 years old. His Chief Petty Officer punched him in the jaw and knocked out one of his teeth. There was no problem behind it. He got slugged for making a wise-arsed remark.
I went through United States Army Infantry One Station Unit Training in the mid 1980's and our Drill Sergeants never laid a hand on any of us. All through my term of service I never had anyone touch me, other than like wake-up slaps or something. Nothing you could make a big deal out of without looking like a fool.
The closest I ever came to abusing anyone under me was when I was a Sergeant/E-5 during Operation Desert Storm. I was assigned as a Squad Leader and was therefore one of the three Commanders of the Relief when my platoon was tasked with guarding our little tent-camp base.
Off to the side of our tent city the Engineers had thrown up a rectangular berm inside of which were stored all of our high explosive munitions. Things we really needed like anti-tank missiles, artillery rounds, M18A1 anti-personnel mines, and hand grenades. My job was to check on all the different guard posts and make sure all the guards were doing their jobs. I was checking on two Soldiers who were posted around the berm. One was a shytebird and one was about average. (By the high standards of the 82D Airborne Division.) The first time I checked them they were both sitting down stationary. They were supposed to rove their post the entire two hours. So I told them to get up and do their jobs referencing their general and special orders for the guard task they were assigned to.
The next time I checked them I caught the average soldiers standing stationary and the shytebird laying flat on his back with his head propped up on his kevlar helmet. I was angry and a little out of control when I kicked the helmet out from under his head. He claimed it messed up his neck, blah, blah, blah. He stated that he was going to go to the Platoon Sergeant and the Platoon Leader to report the incident. I said go ahead. He still had time left during his shift.
I immediately went to them myself and reported what he and I had done and what his claims were etc. He had refused my offer to send a medic to his post. It was no problem. When he came back as soon as he opened his mouth the Platoon Sergeant told him that what I had did was wrong but what he had done was exponentially worse. He said that if the matter got pursued he could expect to be receive the maximum punishment under a field grade Article 15 while I would get a slap on the wrist. End of story.
I've lived upon the edge of chance for 20 years or more
Del Rio's Song

Went through Marine Corps boot camp in 1979 and this movie is the most realistic depiction of what went on that I have ever seen.
Hitting went on but only in a corrective manner if you commited the same screw up repeatedly. They never just hit on you for no reason or just for entertainment. It was more of a way to get your attention than to do any real harm.
Iran is not a terrorist country!LittleZeke aka: "LittleBrain" 3/10/15

My dad was in the Army, not the Marines. But I remember the first time I saw FMJ it was in our living room, I was cracking up at the early drill instructor scenes and my dad said "This isn't meant to be funny. This is really what boot camp is like, drill instructors are really like this." At the time I thought he was kidding.

Also, the part there the Drill Sergeant got mad that Joker didn't pay reverence to the Virgin Mary My dad never witnessed anything like that, where Christianity or religion was given any particular attention. Something like that probably depends on the particular drill seargant.
That scene had nothing to do with the Drill Instructor wanting to indoctrinate the Marines into Christianity. I just had to do with provoking a confrontation. He would have known at that point in the training who was going to church and who wasn't. He picked someone he thought he could rely on to say no for the specific purpose of creating a confrontation.
Joker called him out on it when he said that any answer he gave would be wrong. That's why he got made a recruit Squad Leader.
Witness also the fact that the same Drill Instructor refers to Christmas church services, (Divine Worship in military parlance), as, "Chaplain Charley having a magic show."
I've lived upon the edge of chance for 20 years or more
Del Rio's Song

Interesting. Thanks for sharing.

My dad trained at Parris Island during that era, and according to him, everything depicted, he witnessed something along those lines personally The blanket parties, the hitting, the exact rhetoric. He didn't recognize from the movie the actual landscape, but as it turns out, the film wasn't actually shot on Parris Island anyway, so that makes sense.
At one point, Joker and Cowboy discuss if Pyle will go Section 8. There was a guy in my dad's barracks who went Section 8. Basically, was out in the courtyard yelling and screaming at dawn when everyone was supposed to still be in bed, and they took him away and no one ever saw him again.
The blanket party stuff, my dad did not partake in the event (just stayed in bed while it happened), but the context was just like the movie, where one guy was a screwup.in this case, a willing screwup rather than just being mentally feeble like Pyle. In any case, it makes it hard on the men, so they send that message.
Also, the part there the Drill Sergeant got mad that Joker didn't pay reverence to the Virgin Mary My dad never witnessed anything like that, where Christianity or religion was given any particular attention. Something like that probably depends on the particular drill seargant.

Hey Matthew, tell Mitch thank you for that information. I'm guessing that whatever punishment they get from the DI's would help them get it together. Unless, it was an out of control DI, that could save their life as even someone like me with zero experience realizes that if the enemy were to get hold of you, it would be so much worse.
Thank you to Mitch for his service and thank you Matthew for taking the time to ask him.

I know a 68 year old former Marine from my gym, still shaves his head every day and is Gung Ho but cool too, i showed him this thread since he is not on the imdb, his name is Mitch, he told me that hard to train recruits that screw up all the time get pushed and physically corrected, and that mouthy punks like Joker (at least before Joker changed) get slapped across the face and even punched, now this does not go on today but in the late 1960s in his era it did, they had a Draft to deal with and DI's were allowed to deal with punks and hard to train idiots firmly, the laws changed later and they had to loosen up though.
He even said that Blanket Parties happen and falling down a ladder happens, it would happen late and be used to deal with slackers, idiots usually got told to straighten up but could get one if they messed up all the time too, but generally it was as bad as the movie shows and worse in some ways, he even recalled some guy challenging the DI and being used to demonstrate hand to hand combat techniques later on, with the recruit in question having his ass kicked legally to show combat skills at work, this did happen and usually only punks got it, screw ups and slow learners just got crap jobs all the time.

Thanks for the info.

I spoke with someone who went through Parris Island in 1966. He said there was considerable hitting of recruits, but almost never on the face or head. Quick punches to the gut and hard shoves were the rule.
I went through army basic a few years later and recall shoves and tough finger jabs to the collar bone. I only once saw a recruit being hit and he was hit repeatedly by two or more drill sergeants. When I asked someone what was going on, I was told that the recruit aimed his M-16 at a drill sergeant. I thought, "So he deserves it".

That does make perfect sense.

This message has been deleted.

I can confirm that DIs were allowed to hit recruits during WWII. My father went through marine boot as part of his OCS training. You might assume that DIs knowing that these recruits were on the officer track might treat them differently, but one of his DIs ripped his knuckles open with a swagger stick while he was on parade at port arms. He carried the scars for the rest of his life.

The practice was discouraged after the war ended and recruitment was down. It really only happened in rare circumstances when it was allowed. I've heard stories that it was even worse during WWII. I was Army in '81 and a wing of the complex I bunked in were Marine recruits going through advanced training. They all had to sleep on their backs at a position of attention. The "fire watch" guy you saw in the film that wore the helmet? His job at night was to walk around and wake people to tell them to get back in position if they rolled over in their sleep. Marines have a tough job, their training has to be tough. Better to find out early if they can take it when the worst is just having to go home.

I'm curious about this too. Do the DI's really hit the recruits? Is that legal?

are there real drill instructors with very comparable demeanor?
The drill Sgt. in FMJ was played by one.
R.Lee Ermey was originally just a "technical advisor" for the film.There's an interesting story about how he "auditioned" for & ultimately got the role.
Visit The Man with the Multitrack Mind-http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=802296

Yes and yes. Kubrick was a stickler for authenticity.
Buy The Ticket, Take The Ride