Witnesses say Parris Island drill instructor sent recruits to 'the dungeon'

A drill instructor at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina, was accused Thursday of making recruits exercise in a dusty, abandoned building nicknamed “the dungeon," and failing to provide medical care for a recruit who passed out while doing pushups.

Staff Sgt. Antonio Burke appeared before an Article 32 hearing at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia. He faces charges including cruelty and maltreatment, failure to obey a lawful general order and making a false official statement.

Four recruits testified against Burke, alleging misconduct that included ordering recruits to do "illegal" exercises; forcing one recruit to call his sister so the drill instructor could ask her out; having other recruits do his homework for him; and using profane words instead of their last names.

An Article 32 hearing is the military’s equivalent of a civilian court’s grand jury proceeding. Col. James Bartolotto, the preliminary hearing officer, has up to 10 days to recommend to Maj. Gen. James Lukeman, commanding general of Training and Education Command, whether Burke should be referred to a court-martial or receive non-judicial punishment, or if the charges should be dismissed.

Burke, whose name was disclosed for the first time Thursday, is the latest Parris Island drill instructor to face charges in a hazing scandal that erupted after a recruit's death on March 18, 2016. The recruit, Raheel Siddiqui, fell nearly 40 feet in a barracks stairwell, and the command investigation into his death uncovered allegations of widespread abuse and hazing.

The allegations of misconduct against Burke are not connected to the death of Siddiqui and are part of a separate investigation.

Burke's alleged misconduct took place between March and June 2016, while Burke was senior drill instructor for Platoon 3044 at Parris Island.

When Burke and other drill instructors were not happy with the platoon’s performance, they made recruits do “incentive training,” such as pushups and running inside the squad bay, witnesses said. Incentive training is only supposed to last 15 minutes, but former members of Platoon 3044 testified that they were made to exercise much longer than that while weighed down with packs and other gear.

Some of those exercise sessions were held in an abandoned building at Parris Island, which drill instructors called “the dungeon,” witnesses said.

“Dust blew up and made it very difficult to breathe,” testified Zachary Mosier, a former Marine recruit who was medically retired for a heart condition.

Mosier said he and other recruits coughed as they performed burpees and other exercises in the building. Afterward, their uniforms were covered with dust, but they were not allowed to change.

During a separate exercise session in the platoon’s squad bay, Mosier passed out while doing pushups, he said. Burke gave him Gatorade, but Mosier did not see any medical personnel nor was he taken to a hospital, Mosier said.

Burke later admitted to an investigating officer that he was making recruits do “illegal IT” at the time, but he denied that Mossier had passed out, according to an audio recording of the conversation played by the military prosecutor at Thursday’s hearing.

Right after Mosier passed out, Burke told the platoon, “Look, that didn’t happen, did it?,” according to Evan Murdoch, a former recruit who was discharged from the Marine Corps due to injuries he sustained in training following boot camp.

When Mosier passed out again the following day, Burke told recruits not to discuss the previous incident, Murdoch said.

Burke and other drill instructors often used profanity such as “bitch” and “ho” when addressing recruits, Murdoch said. In one incident, Burke slammed Murdoch onto a table and imitated punching him, he said.

Murdoch also recalled seeing Burke appear drunk with a beer can in his hand one night as Murdoch stood fire watch.

Lance Cpl. Kelvin Cabrera testified about other incidents of alleged unprofessional behavior by Burke, such as having recruits do his homework for college courses.

When recruits received pictures of their families and girlfriends in the mail, Burke would routinely confiscate them, said Cabrera, of the 4th Civil Affairs Group.

After taking one of Cabrera’s family pictures, Burke and three other drill instructors summoned Cabrera and made him do burpees until he helped them change his Facebook password so Burke could contact one of his sisters, whom Burke said was “hot,” Cabrera said.

Ultimately, Burke made Cabrera call another of his sisters after seeing her picture on Facebook, Cabrera said. Burke snatched the phone from him and told her, “I heard you were single; I am single too,” before asking if they could have drinks, Cabrera said.

Toward the end of boot camp, Burke found that someone had changed Cabrera’s Facebook password again, and the conversations Burke had with Cabrera’s sister had been deleted.

Burke told an investigator that he never took family pictures from recruits without their permission or called any recruits' sisters or girlfriends, according to a second audio recording played at Thursday's hearing.

The other drill instructors there were Staff Sgt. Matthew T. Bacchus, Staff Sgt. Jose Lucena-Martinez and Sgt. Riley R. Gress, Cabrera said. Charges have already been preferred against them and they are expected to be arraigned on Friday.

The other three drill instructors will face a special court-martial, meaning their potential sentence is capped at one year.

Burke, Bacchus, Lucena-Martinez and Gress are among the roughly 20 Marines at Parris Island who face punishment over allegations of abuse.

None of the Marines have been charged in connection with the March 18 death of Muslim recruit Raheel Siddiqui, who jumped to his death after being slapped by his drill instructor. An investigation into Siddiqui’s death could not determine if he intended to commit suicide or was trying to get away from the drill instructor.