Do you think that a Drill Sergeant who does not use "curse words" or "profanity" would be as effective as one that does?

Had a well-respected SNCO who never cursed. One day he dropped the F-Bomb. There were multiple sonic booms, as Marines decided somewhere else was a better place to be.

Had a well-respected SNCO whose every 2nd AND 3rd word was a curse word. When he was really pissed, the curse words stopped, the volume got real low, and the distance between nose tips was measured in millimeters. The Marine who earned his attention dared not move because rumor had it that the SNCO's eyes fired laser beams that could vaporize a man in a fraction of a second.

If you have earned the respect of those around you, it is all just a matter of style.

Absolutely. In fact, now that I think back, I don't think I ever heard my DIs swear. They might call us every single name in the book and then make up a few new ones, but I can't recall them ever cussing both publicly or privately.

There are a number of factors which make a DI effective. He's at the top of his game both physically and mentally. He has a lot of energy. It takes a lot of effort to run around screaming back and forth without looking tired in front of your troops. He's got to look crisp and clean with a good attention to detail. How can someone judge me on my uniforms if his doesn't scream perfection. He also needs a willingness to turn gross, nasty civilians into fine upstanding military machines.

I may have hated every minute I was in my DIs "care", but when you look back, you can see how every little thing they did made you a little bit better, a little bit faster, a little bit stronger.

You don't need to cuss to polish a turd. You just need to want to do the polishing.

You don't need to curse and yell to be an effective leader. There's going to be those points were you are so frustrated you might slip out a few words here and there, but I honestly don't believe it matters. The focus of being a drill is to train those who might be in your shoes. Minus the recruiter you'll be the first impression that these young privates take from the 'big' Army.