Bad Lads Army

[jambutty]

Knowing that you can up and leave when you want gives them an edge over the real thing.

However as far as the real thing is concerned there were no kicking ten bells out of a recruit in the Navy Tinkerbelle. They had much nastier ways of bringing people into line. Like running twice around the parade ground (about a mile) with a Lee Enfield .303 rifle at the slope. As you ran the rifle bounced up and down on your shoulder and if your collarbone didn’t take a pounding, which it did, your shoulder got very, very sore. Clever people, if they were right handed, would slope the rifle on their left shoulder so that when it came to rifle shooting the butt wouldn’t be slamming into an already very sore shoulder. The less cruel GI’s (Gunnery Instructors) would make a non-conforming sailor hold the rifle at arms length above the head and go for a run around the parade ground until told to stop. The GI often forgot the pour soul staggering around until someone plucked up enough nerve to remind him.

However we did have some lighter moments on parade like when one of our class (platoon) was a few minutes late for his first parade.
“Where’ve you been” roared the Chief GI his face getting redder and redder and the veins standing out on his temple as if they would burst “you should have fallen in five minutes ago.”
“Why what happened” came the innocent reply.
The Chief GI practically exploded but saw the funny side of the remark and calmed down.

Misbehaviour when not on the parade ground would mean donning a respirator (gas mask) and going for a run over the earth shelters, about 20 of them – there and back. You can only just breath normally in the old style gas mask so imagine what it was like when you ran and wanted huge gulps of air that wasn’t there. One dose of that torture was enough to convince me and others that misbehaving was not an option.

There was a time back in the forties and fifties harwood_red where the alternative to being sent to Borstal was joining the army. Nowadays they don’t want criminals but people who can be taught a proper trade and how to be a British Soldier, Sailor or Airman.

I doubt if a spell of National Service would do the yobbos any good. All they had to do was to practice civil disobedience and refuse to do what they were told and that would be that. They couldn’t be forced to do anything by force. The only option open would be to throw them out after a suitable time in chokey.

[Madhatter]

I think the above would be and is still allowed jambutty, I think it would work well.
I see your point about them being able to just walk out, but doesn't that make it harder for them. Knowing that they can just walk out, is like dangling a carrot.
Having what it takes to stay, knowing you could just give up, is more than if they didn't have the choice.

[Tinkerbelle]

Originally Posted by jambutty

However as far as the real thing is concerned there were no kicking ten bells out of a recruit in the Navy Tinkerbelle. They had much nastier ways of bringing people into line.

Yeah, that's just a bad choice of words on my part jambutty. I've noticed whilst watching this TV show that the punishment or, 'beastings' as they call them, seems to be mental and physical, it also seems to be quite effective with the lads.

The thing I've noticed is the way the NCO's are one minute giving them a right rollocking or a beasting ... then the next moment telling them they'll get them through the training! Obviously they know what they're doing though because by the end of their training the lads that are left appear to have nothing but respect for these officers.

[jambutty]

A bit of good cop, bad cop eh! Tinkerbelle. Come to think of it our training instructor was of a similar calibre. He would rant and rave and make us do things that we wouldn’t make our worst enemy do but it was interspersed with kind acts. Well kind by his standards anyway.

The regime will get a response from most of them because I suspect that most of the lads are not really bad lads in themselves, they just got led that way by the real villains of the street.

You can’t get them away from the real bad guys in civvy street but once in a military environment you can block the bad influence of one or two. It is well known that if you take out the self appointed leader of a group the rest will conform. Those NCO’s have one thing that is lacking in most people and that is “Power of Command” as do all leaders of others. It isn’t just men either although most commanding people are men. Maggie Thatcher had it.

Good luck to them.