Boot by Daniel Da Cruz Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Boot
Book Review: Synopsis is misleading somewhat.
Summary: 3 Stars
Right off I would have to recommend this book mostly to young persons seeking to joining the Marine Corps and perhaps maybe anyone looking to join an armed service. However a few things about it limit it's appeal. First the book is dated. Published in 1987 a lot has changed and while I am a civilian I am a military buff and can tell that the book is behind in many aspects.
The second thing and the biggest in my eyes is that it really isn't much of a documentary of life in Boot camp. Rather it is more of a history of Marine training and the type of training one might find in the Corps. The author spends most of his time telling the history of the Corps training practices and describing said exercises and focuses very little on the actual recruits he followed through the ordeal. The information is informative especially if you are looking at joining the Marines as it would give you a head start in many ways but for the casual reader it gets pretty bland and repetative. Cruz does offer insight into the recruits eyes from time to time with one recruits letters home to mom and sometimes some stories of a few other guys but they are very scarce. For the most part he tells a little of what is going on then goes on to explain the drills being taught and how those drills are carried out, graded and even how they were developed.
The book is not overly enjoyable but is interesting. However it does suffer greatly from the authors lack of objectivisim. After completing the book I had a serious belief that his motives for writing the book were not to educate people about the Boot camp process in the Marines but rather to complain about how politically correct ideology and beauracratic changes have weakened the Corps. Cruz repeatedly itterates how various changes in policy have limited Drill Instructors ability to truly prepare recruits for battle and he continues this theme over and over. Now, I do agree with Cruz for the most part but I think if his goal was to analyze the change in modern military practices in the U.S. today the book should clearly state that rather than boast to be an account of modern Boot camp training.
Overall if you are thinking about joining the Marines or are just a military buff I would recomened reading the book as it is informative while not being overly intriguing. It is short enough that you can fly through it in sort fashion. About 2 hours for me and i am not that fast a reader.
Book Review: The Right Fit
Summary: 5 Stars
Boot by Daniel Da Cruz probably had pride of place for being one of the best overall books on the Marine Corps, and in particular about training, boot camp and the enlisted ethos, for nearly a decade. This book, published in 1987, is set in a time before the Crucible and some of the more recent innovations in training that were to take place during the Reagan and elder Bush eras. The Marine Corps was still struggling to redefine its mission and purpose, and having had some major tragedies like the bombing of the barracks in Beirut, public-relations and policy-wise, the Marine Corps was a low ebb in its fortunes. Indeed, there was serious discussion whether or not the Corps should continue to exist.
Da Cruz takes an up-close and personal look at boot camp through the eyes of actual participants. He constructs some composite characters and blends things together to form a tighter narrative, and also gives alias names to some recruits in Platoon 1036, 1985, the group he followed most closely.
In the first pages of the book, Da Cruz disspells some of the myths and misperceptions about who the Marine Corps are looking for. The Marine Corps is highly selective, and disqualifications include lack of education (particularly since not completing high school or a GED shows a lack of trainability), trouble with drugs, law enforcement, various physical disabilities, abnormal height and weight, and a few other things. Dependents are not absolutely disqualifying, but then as now certainly weigh against the potential recruit.
Da Cruz looks at the in-processing and recruitment stages, showing the care and attention the Marine Corps gives to its future in accepting potential recruits. He also looks at the special appeal of the Corps to young men. The Marine Corps didn't offer incentives, it offered challenges. This is true of the Marine Corps up to this day. While other services offer incentives to potential recruits, the first question a Corps recruiter will ask is `What can you offer the Corps?' The answer had better be a good one!
Da Cruz intersperses after every short section a piece of the history of the Corps. After looking at the initial shock treatment phase of receiving, from being screamed off the bus to getting the shaved head to being herded naked through various stations, Da Cruz then gives a brief overview of the history of the Corps, from the earliest days of formation in Tun Tavern in 1775 to the operations in Lebanon and Grenada in the 1980s.
Da Cruz looks with honesty at the emotions going through the minds of the recruits and the Drill Instructors. Most recruits are scared at first. So, in fact, are some Drill Instructors. There are a thousand ways to fail for each of them, and it is only through unrelenting focus that they all make it through. They may well depend on each other for the sake of their lives. This is the real world.
But, in fact, it is a different world. As Da Cruz points out in recounting the story of forming, recruits are introduced to an entirely new culture, one that requires a new language. There are no floors, there are decks. There are walls, there are bulkheads. Stairs are ladders. And woe to the recruit who has to go to the bathroom!
Throughout the rest of the book, organised as a chapter for each of the eleven weeks, Da Cruz highlights one or two particular recruits who either exemplify or struggle with the particular tasks of the week, or overall adjustment. However, the focus still remains on the platoon as a whole, in true Marine Corps fashion. This is a team effort. Following this discussion, Da Cruz looks at an historical or topical issue, but always comes back to the basic issue - the rigours of boot camp.
Da Cruz looks at the tensions between the desire to make boot camp and other training realistic and harsh versus the political and social pressures to keep it, as it is a publicly-known process, somewhat humane. It is clear that Da Cruz blames Congress and public-policy bureaucracy in addition to the proverbial `gold-star mother' who doesn't want to hear of her son being treated poorly.
In fairness, there has been abuse in the past that has gone far beyond even tough military training standards. The Ribbon Creek tragedy which resulted in a serious injury and death toll from training is no laughing matter, nor something that should be forgotten. However, many Drill Instructors and Marines feel the pendulum has swung too far. Some changes in the training have been instituted since the publication of Da Cruz's book, and Drill Instructors are given more to work with in achieving their goal of making Marines.
One can easily see that Da Cruz is himself a veteran of the Marine Corps. He is also one who cares that, during the decade after Vietnam (mid-70s to mid-80s) the Corps seemed to suffer a decline in many areas, one of which was the vital area of training for surviving combat in modern arenas.
Much has changed since Da Cruz wrote this book, but the same stories can be repeated over and over. Some of the recruits Da Cruz followed may indeed still be serving in the Marine Corps. Some might even be Drill Instructors now, preparing the next generation of Marines.
Da Cruz does encapsulate in an excellent way the esprit de corps of the Marine Corps, which is its most valuable asset.
Taken as a snapshot of the Marine Corps, particularly of the Corps during the 80s, this is an excellent book, even if biased in very definite directions that might make civilian readers a bit uneasy.
Book Review: This book is not as relevant as it once perhaps was...
Summary: 3 Stars
Having attended Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island (MCRDPI) from May 02 to Aug 02 and graduating with Platoon 3058, 3rd RTBn, I picked up this book a week or so ago to relive some of the memories from boot camp. However, instead of getting a detailed report of what the recruits went through, the author spends more time complaining about how the Drill Instructors can't be as tough as they once could. Instead of feeling a sense of pride and esprit de corps from reading this book, I'm left with a sense of disappointment, stemming mainly from the fact that many of the policies and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) that the author complains so vehemently about are not strictly enforced anymore.As a background, one must understand that this book was written in 1987. A recruit died during training in 1985 (from a pre-existing physical condition that he [didn't mention] on his enlistment contract, ...and congress decided that it was time to really bare down on Marine Corps recruit training and make it a little more "humane." As a result, they did impose a lot of policies and SOPs that hindered the Drill Instructors' abilities to discipline recruits. Like I said, though, many of these policies aren't strictly enforced anymore.
A harmless example that I'll divulge is the policy of Drill Instructors cursing. In the book, Da Cruz spends much time mulling over the ludicrousness of forbidding Drill Instructors to curse at or in front of recruits. That may have been the case in '87, but I can tell you that today the art of cursing is alive and well on MCRDPI with both the recruits and the Drill Instructors. I think this is perfectly harmless; it toughens up the skin of the recruits, and that's what Marine Corps recruit training is all about: Toughening you up in the event of combat, because the enemy will not follow any "humane" policies or SOPs.
There are several other policies and SOPs that don't hold anymore, but I'm not going to go into them. The point I'm trying to make is this: From reading this book, one might get the impression that Marine Corps recruit training isn't tough anymore. That is not the case. Ask any Marine from my company (or any, for that matter), and they'll tell you it was the hardest thing they've ever lived through. Marine Corps recruit training is still the hardest, toughest indoctrination to the finest fighting force in the world, have no doubts.
Da Cruz also compares Marine Corps recruit training to that of other similar forces from other countries, including the British Royal Marines (to whom the United States Marine Corps holds close ties) and the French Foreign Legion. Da Cruz spends time talking about how Marine Corps recruit training isn't as hard as these others, but the comparison isn't really fair. The Marine Corps plays the role of a major force-in-readiness, ready to storm a beach or be dropped in by helo at the drop of a hat to prepare the way for the rest of the Armed Forces. These foreign forces that Da Cruz talks about play a different role and are probably more comparable to our Special Forces teams, not a regular branch of the service.
In all, I would not recommend this book to someone thinking of becoming a United States Marine. This book is out of date on not only the policies and SOPs, but also on the training schedule. The Crucible is not included in this book simply because it wasn't around in '87. However, if you'd like to relive some of the more memorable moments of boot camp, and get a sneak peek at the lives of the Drill Instructors, then pick this book up.
Semper Fidelis
Book Review: What it is like!
Summary: 4 Stars
I have worked with several former DI's who seem to be very nice, regular guys on the job. I have often talked with them about their experiences as a Marine Corps Drill Instructor and their stories are fascinating and consistent. As I was reading this very entertaining and informative book, I would talk with coworkers who trained at Parris Island and their accounts were very similar to the events described in this book. Any prospective enlistee can safely use this book to help them decide if the military is appropriate for them, or if they are enlisting for the wrong reasons.Book Review: the making of todays united states marines
Summary: 5 Stars
This book which is a non fiction narritve account has young men and women who want to be marines get the shot to become one and over come the hardest toughest most violent 90 days of their lives. If you're the type of person who likes books of yelling, team work, blood, and violence, The Boot is the book to read. Young kids who do not have any disipline, self awareness or confidence are motivate to become today's marines.I would recomend this book to the people that want to be in the military and athelets for how teamwork really works. This book will make you want to just keep on reading just to know what's going to happen next, and when you get toward the end you just want to buy another book just like this one because it teaches you so much about disipline and self confidence.