Soldier Girls

Worst type of institutional bullying. Can see why army suicides are so high. This is hardly a team building exercise. If a cadet isn't up for it, makes more sense to send them home, instead of subjecting them to this endless barrage of insults and physical and emotional hardship. Its hard to not find it all a little amusing in light of Full Metal Jacket. I mean Lee Emery's characters was one of my all time favourites ever to appear on celluloid. How ever suicide in American army training camps is a real issue, something which is still making headlines today.

I went through Basic Training at Ft. Gordon in 1979 and this 1981 film doesn't depict my experience at all. Sure there were some issues but this out right racism didn't happen when I was there or were there any bullying either. We all stuck together just to get through the grueling days of hot weather, dirt, physical demands, road marches, rifle range, etc. We were all from different parts of the country, from city girls to country farming area backgrounds . This experience helped me throughout life and instilled in me that I can do anything 40 plus years later I'm still in contact with my old Army pals. I was stationed in Germany2xs, traveled Europe, married in Denmark, ,stationed in Texas, Hawaii, and Florida. Pretty good life I must say. #ArmyVet.

The Documentary Channel has shown this movie a few times. It does show a different side of what the older style of BCT was. Yes it does show a hard side of training, but it is an important lesson. Most recruits don't understand what the Army is about. They see it as a way to receive money for college now days. Some of the women shown in the movie were clearly not ready, or prepared for what they encountered. Others it showed were able to adjust to the training, and see the importance in the methods of the Sergent's attitudes. The methods of training in todays military is completely different, and continues to change each year. The methods shown in this movie are outdated, and no longer accepted.

I would be interested to see what has happened to most of the women highlighted in this 20+ yr. old documentary. To find out how big of an impact that joining or quiting the Army had on their life.

An interesting documentary about women going through Army Basic Training. A few of the girls from a particular company are highlighted as they go through `Bootcamp' As usual there are the typical types i.e. The gung ho, the I don't like it here and want to go home, the I didn't really know I was joining the Army so I'm here illegally, and so on. I'm sure one won't find this video in an Army recruiting office. However before one (particularly a young woman) decides to join the Army this would be a very good film to watch.

Direct cinema documentary reveals the harrowing methods with which recruits are trained, and it's remarkable how the makers were allowed to capture such shocking scenes; this film very clearly may have been an inspiration for the first half of Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket.