Court Martial Comes Down Hard On Ex-Drill Instructor In Marine Hazing Scandal

Tough times. All these and a lot of CO's have been relieved around the USMC in last few months as well. They're already being judged so it's not my place to weigh in. I hate to see it though. Some are probably warranted, some may be due to PC. You don't bring a poodle to a dogfight, but sometimes it can go too far. I went through 3rd BN, PI and it had its moments, but it was nothing that anybody couldn't do if they had their mind right. We'd never dream of ratting out a Drill Instructor though. It's come a long way from the 1956 incident that ended in 6 accidental drowning deaths. That DI, SSgt McKeon was reduced to Private and received other punishment, but was allowed to stay in.

The trial's most dramatic moment, however, was the arrival of General Lewis "Chesty" Puller, the most decorated Marine in the history of the Corps. Attorney Berman called Puller to testify about training methods. Puller called the incident in Ribbon Creek "a deplorable accident" but one that did not warrant court martial. He said that discipline was the most important factor in military training. He quoted Napoleon in saying that an army becomes a "mob" without it. He mentioned his experiences in the Korean War and that one of the reasons troops failed was because of lack of night training. General Puller felt that the press had blown the incident out of proportion because of prejudice they had against the Marine Corps. He mentioned a similar accident at an Army post in which ten soldiers drowned and pointed out that none of their superiors had been charged and that it had never made headlines the way Ribbon Creek did. (Wikipedia)

Conduct unbecoming...
Reminds me of the verdict handed down to the LCpl and PFC in the movie A Few Good Men:
Downey: [anxiously] What did we do wrong? We did nothing wrong!
Dawson: Yeah we did. We were supposed to fight for people who couldn't fight for themselves. We were supposed to fight for Willy.

This however, went to far and will bring more than just a Conduct Unbecoming...

The norm has shifted and time to catch up with the times.