MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- One of the most stressful duties in the Marine Corps is being a drill instructor. From the moment recruits graduate boot camp, some new Marines idolize their drill instructors, and even fewer take the path to becoming a drill instructor later down the road.
“It’s something I’ve always wanted to do ever since I left boot camp,” said Staff Sgt. Cornell L. McCray, Combat Logistics Company 36 supply administration chief and former drill instructor. “Just the challenge to be the best is what I wanted to do, and to do drill instructor duty is the best or number one thing you could do as a Marine.”
Several former drill instructors here had to face the challenges of transitioning from making Marines back to leading Marines.
Drill instructor duty is described by some as the most demanding thing they’ve ever experienced in their lives. With few hours of sleep, countless hours of work and barely any time to eat, many drill instructors experience a very challenging time in their lives.
“It’s demanding. If it’s not in your heart, it’s not going to work for you,” said Staff Sgt. Evans P. Janvier, assistant mess hall manager and former drill instructor. “I was up at 3 a.m. every morning for my first two cycles and I wouldn’t get home until 10:30 p.m.”
Although a very demanding job, four former drill instructors here said the experience was well worth it.
“We see these people come in, and they leave changed; they leave different; they leave a Marine,” said Master Sgt. Don R. Miller, Instillation Personnel Administration Center staff noncommissioned officer in charge and former drill instructor. “It’s rewarding because of the product we’re putting out.”
After three years of non-stop yelling, constant moving and attempting to instill discipline into recruits, drill instructors must face another challenge when transitioning back to the fleet Marine Corps.
“In Parris Island, you’re in such a structured environment,” said Gunnery Sgt. Louis T. Starnes, legal services chief here and former drill instructor. “Coming back to the fleet was quite a shock in the beginning because you don’t have as much control as you think you do.”
Starnes said the adjustment from being in such a structured, routine lifestyle back to a less routine lifestyle was the biggest challenge he faced when returning to the fleet, but some drill instructors are challenged with the transition from making Marines back to leading Marines.
“I was blasting everyone left and right,” said Janvier. “Someone had to pull me to the side to tell me I can’t do that here. It took me about five to six months to adjust back to the fleet lifestyle.”
“My first three or four months back, I was chewing out Marines for crazy things,” said Miller. “It’s tough but it’s just like everything else in life; you adapt to your surroundings.”
When first arriving to the drill field, new drill instructors are referred to as green-belt dril linstructors.
They have the responsibility of being with the recruits a majority of the time and constantly striving to instill discipline into the recruits, which makes their job the most demanding of drill instructor duty.
Toward the end of a drill instructor duty, most drill instructors become senior drill instructors.
Leaving as a senior drill instructor makes the transition to the fleet less difficult for some because a senior drill instructor plays a different role than a green-belt drill instructor.
“As a senior-drill instructor, you’re more of a teacher or guidance counselor to the recruits,” said McCray. “Just being in that mode for a while and then coming back to the fleet; it was an easy transition for me.”
After returning to the fleet, former drill instructors also have to deal with the challenge of eliminating the intimidation factor their junior Marines may have knowing they’ve just gotten off of the drill field.
“I think when Marines know you’ve been to the drill field they automatically stand a little straighter, and they try to walk the line (of respect) a little bit tighter,” said Starnes.
After being around their junior Marines for some time, McCray and Starnes said their junior Marines began to realize they were just Marines doing their job like everybody else in the Marine Corps.
“I told these guys when I got here that the drill instructor cover is off; it’s hanging on the wall and that’s where it’s going to stay,” said McCray.
Although an arduous duty, the former drill instructors here said being on the drill field gave them pride and confidence. The evolution of becoming a drill instructor has changed their lives in many ways.
“I think it helped me mature as a man, a Marine and a leader,” said Janvier. “I plan on making a difference in the Marine Corps and training our young leaders to be future leaders.”