Former Marines Maintain 'Legend of the Drill Instructor'

[thedrifter]

Former Marines Maintain 'Legend of the Drill Instructor'
by LCpl. Jennifer Brofer
Marine Corps News
April 21, 2003


MCRD/ERR PARRIS ISLAND, S.C. -- Two hundred and eighty-four former and current drill instructors gathered at the Depot April 10-13, for the Parris Island chapter of the Drill Instructor Association's 26th annual reunion.

Festivities for the reunion included a golf tournament, cadence-calling competition, picnic, banquet and the dedication of Crawford Hall. Former drill instructors, though long gone from the drill field, take joy in these yearly gatherings.

"It's the highlight of the year for me," said retired Sgt. Maj. Ted Arnold, former drill instructor and co-founder of the Drill Instructor Association.

The Drill Instructor Association was established in 1987 as a way to link drill instructors together and stay connected. Its primary mission is to preserve and strengthen comradeship among its members.

"It's what I live for each year. It catches me up on old times and maintains the camaraderie and legend of the drill instructor," said retired Master Sgt. Vic S. Ditchkoff, who served as a drill instructor for 15 years.

Former Marines exchanged laughs together as they rekindled old memories about their drill instructor days.

"The best thing is watching your recruits walk across the parade deck," said retired Master Sgt. Brenda Moore, drill instructor from 1988-1990.

Moore explained that although the school and era of students have changed, the duty to transform recruits into Marines remains the same.

"The drill instructors of today are just as good as the ones back then, and the drill instructors back then were just as good as the ones today," said Ditchkoff. In the earlier years, drill instructor school was a "grueling" eight - weeks long. The school has since transformed into an 11-week course, maintaining the disciplines that were established in the beginning; however, no matter how the training has changed over the years, their commitment to the mission continues.

Some things have changed over the years for drill instructors. For one thing, female drill instructors weren't authorized to wear the campaign cover, or "smokey bear," until Sept. 13, 1996. Before then, female DI's wore a scarlet shoulder cord instead, said Moore.

"I loved my first couple of enlistments so much that I felt I had to give back," said Moore, explaining why she wanted to become a drill instructor.

Despite gender differences, Ditchkoff explained, "We all have the same primary purpose and mission. [Females] are just as much drill instructor as we are. They're as much, if not more, demanding than male drill instructors."

"Females have come a long way," said Moore.

What makes the drill instructor reunions so unique are the stories that are told; stories that were never written down in history books or periodicals, said Ditchkoff.

So, while the former Marines may not wear their "smokey bears" anymore, they can continue to reminisce of the days long past in a room filled with decades of experience and service to the Corps, embodying the phrase,"Once a Marine, always a Marine."


Sempers,

Roger

[Jerry D]

I wonder if drill sergeant R. Lee Ermey of "Full Metal Jacket" Fame was in attendance To those that didn't see the movie he played Drill Sergeant Hartman. "I am Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, your Senior Drill Instructor. From now on, you will speak only when spoken to, and the first and last words out of your filthy sewers will be "Sir!"
Do you maggots understand that? "

RECRUITS (in unison)
Sir, yes, sir!

HARTMAN:"Bullshit! I can't hear you. Sound off like you got a pair."

RECRUITS (louder)
Sir, yes, sir!