What is your wildest story from basic training?

While in boot camp at Camp Lejeune, one of the recruits was on the quarter deck receiving the usual morning beating.
This particular morning, the two junior drill instructors placed a metal bucket over his head and proceeded to beat the bucket over his head with the two foot long wooden scrub brushes we used in the head.
Of course there was the usual continuous screaming at him.
And of course we could also hear the his constant reply...Sir, yes Sir!!!

The beating was severe, even for these two D.I.'s.

Finally, it stopped when the recruit fell backwards onto the floor with no effort to break his fall at all.

Of course, he was dead.

The really strange part is that there was no investigation, no one ever asked any questions of us, and weren't allowed to talk to each other, so that was the end of it.

They had been trying to get rid of him since he stepped on the footprints...just like most of us.

They sent him to Motivation twice for half day sessions, and once for a full day.

He came back full of swamp mud and highly motivated!!!

Everyone else that went to Motivation never came back at all!

I have many more stories about how a platoon of 96 was reduced to only 18 original recruits.

I was an 18 year old Marine at Parris Island in June 1968. On the first day, after being sent to our barracks, we were told to stand in front of a set of bunks (racks) and to unfold 2 sheets and 1 mattress cover. By design, I think, I was the unlucky one to have 3 sheets, no mattress cover. I didn't want to say anything, but my buddy told me I had to report the mistake. Bad idea, when I approached one of the DIs, I was placed at attention, told to open my mouth, part of the sheet was put in my mouth and I did push ups until I nearly passed out. Until graduation, which couldn't come soon enough, I tried to stay under the radar and left the DIs alone. David Ratliff Platoon 177

We had this one guy in our platoon that was very vocal about how females shouldn't be in the military. Men were better at everything according to him and how could he trust a female to watch his back. Well during the final training march we're we had to sit in fox holes and keep guard at night, one of the drill sergeants started throwing gas at us. The guy who was so much better than all the females hyperventilated and passed out. It made my day!

During Basic Training at Fort Ord, we were tasked with walking over huge logs that spanned a wide fast running body of water. I was somewhere in the middle of the line getting ready to do the task. At some point I decided to step out of the line and stand beside 2 drill sergeants that were overseeing the task. The entire platoon went over the logs and the drill sergeants walked to some other place. They apparently never noticed who I was or why I was standing there.

1962 boot Camp Pendleton rec’d box of cookies from girlfriend. D.I. Rizzo made me eat that box of dry ass cookies with nothing to drink. I was gaging and needless to say she was no longer my girlfriend.

During ait two trainees wanted to go home so they decided it would be a good idea to pretend to be gay and they would be released from active duty. I was in the squad bay watching as these two privates pretended to kiss infront of the drill sgt. Mistake lol those fellows were doing push-ups for hours I believe they had a change of heart afterwards.

Ok, so this didn't happen during basic, but between training cycles. we were a group of holdovers.
As you know you are supposed to do fireguard duty every night most people were lax on their duty, it was my turn to do it I counted beds and 3 girls were missing, WTH, didn't do anything checked all the other bays, bathrooms, and laundry room, then I saw it the window was open. had to get Drill Sgt.
Turns out girls decided that they were done left barracks, called a taxi, told him to drive them to airport, where Drill Sgt. had MP's waiting for them.

It was a Tuesday morning and I was on my M16 class, when the Company Commander came and asked if anyone had a family member traveling to NY…
It was 9/11/2001, Fort Leonard Wood, MO,
A-2/10… and BCT changed tremendously!

On the range, first time shooting the 50 cal from a foxhole. Everyone in line and with a few soldiers ahead of me, we were all repeating the chant – “open the receiver, load the ammo, lock the bolt, look downrange…” Man, was I nervous. Next into the hole. Next to fire. Up to the weapon, opened the receiver, loaded the ammo, and the next thing I know a drill bends down, grabs the collar of my BDU shirt, and hauls my butt up out of the hole. Still holding my collar, with me now standing on level ground with the range drill in my face, I hear him scream “Private – the pointy part of the bullet needs to be facing downrange!” There were a lot more words and expletives that now blur in my memory from nearly 3 decades ago, but I can still feel his grip on my collar.

Came in contact with someone with measles at Ft Jackson and as soon as I got to Ft Sam Houston I broke out in spots and was quarantined at the hospital along with another girl from basic.