Rating: 
Summary: Excellent account of Marine Basic Training.
Review: Excellent! As a graduate history student, I found this book an informative account of one platoon's basic training on Paris Island. I felt as if I was there. Ricks is the "Stephen Ambrose" of military journalists.
Rating:
Summary: The Truth
Review: Seven years removed from boot camp I was able to read this book and think YES. I was able to relate to this book because it brings in facts along with a unique perspective of reporting, outside literature, and the following of a platoon through boot camp into an awsome book. I loaned my copy to my mom and told her this is what I experienced. I also loaned this book to my many Marine friends. I've also bought half of all the books he cited in the book. Well thought out and detailed book!! A must read for all who even attempt to understand the psyche of a Marine.
Rating:
Summary: Generation X Goes to Marine Basic
Review: Here is a useful counter-argument to the notion that today's young Americans are a hopeless, helpless, spoiled bunch of slackers. They CAN be reformed, albeit with a certain kind of motivation, probably involving a lot of marching and frequent pushups in the sandpits of Parris Island. It's good to see some evidence that core values can still be transmitted to a young generation, in spite of nay-sayers who have given up on the kids. See Peter Sack's complaining book "Generation X Goes to College," and marvel that the USMC can make warriors and even gentlemen out of 85% of their incoming recruits, many of whom have flunked out of community colleges or have failed in other aspects of civilian life. Perhaps Ricks has been taken in by the Marine Corps publicity juggernaut, as many journalists before him have been; but the success rate the Marines have in transforming irresponsible kids into responsible fighters and citizens is impressive. Ricks has not exhausted his topic; his book doesn't go into enough detail to show how the Corps does its transformational work, and his disparaging comments on Army training suggest insufficient personal research, (or too heavy a reliance on Marine Corps views of other services.) But this book is not meant to be an academic study in military leadership or educational practice; it's just good journalism, and Ricks is pretty close to the mark when he suggests that in today's society, the military, and the Marines in particular, are our counter-culture.
Rating: 
Summary: Good book but blinded by bias.
Review: Though I thoroughly enjoyed the book, I wished the author didn't spend so much time bashing the Army. As a former (and still at heart) Infantryman, I resent the broad brush painting of Army basic training. In the end, EVERY member of the armed forces does their job to put troops (be it Army infantry/armor or Marine infantry/armor) on the objective to take and hold ground. US Army Infantry OSUT -- One Station Unit Training -- at the Benning School for Boys (Ft. Benning) is nearly identical to US Marine training (save for the Marines calling the ground the "deck") and builds the same Esprit de Corps. Otherwise, good book.
Rating:
Summary: Breathtaking
Review: From the moment this book entered in my hands, it was just like being on the island again. Many nights were spent sleepless, remembering all the moments spent over there. It was surely powerful, painful, and it was enjoyable, but at least it was. Even nowadays, some of those pains only cry inside. Thanks to the Marines Corps, I became a Man of Honor. Thanks to this book, now I know why.
Rating:
Summary: Discipline, committment and How the Marines do it.
Review: A report about the transformation of low ambition, disjointed and displaced youth who enlisted in the Marine Corps to become members of Marine recruit Platoon 3086. Ricks chronicles their 11 weeks of boot camp training at Parris Island, South Carolina, and their ability to rejoin society afterward. Sprinkled throughout is pertinent background information about the recruits, their instructors and military leaders of our time. The author cited various opinions about the deteriorating quality of U.S. social structure, and its relation to military and political strategies. His opinion, that U.S. social structure has deteriorated and could take a lesson from the Marines, is quite valid and well worth discussion. This book, Ricks' first, actually contains enough diversity of subject to have been two books, one detailing the rigors of boot camp training and its effect on today's youth, the other about the military's role in society. He appears to have researched extensively and spent much time writing this somewhat disorganized book. Even though he wrote in a disjointed newspaper headline style, using present tense verbs almost exclusively (making reading laborious), his conclusions are well presented and worth pondering.
Rating:
Summary: A must read for every Branch of the Military
Review: The role of the US military in the coming years is being examined by three of the services. For the USMC their role will continue to be historc. As an enlisted soldier in the US Army, this book was fascinating in explaining the 11 weeks every recruit has to experince to be a soldier. The experiences most of us faced in Fort Lost in the Woods in a multi-gender training enviroment contrasts sharply with that of the USMC. Mr Ricks looks down upon Army training, having never been to Camp Snoopy, his portrayal of Basic is not accurate. Not as difficult as USMC, it is not a camp out either. Gender Intergration was both the bane and the blessing of Basic. The most vivid experience occured the week we had a female platoon leader which all the males in the platoon made bad comments including threats to give her a blanket party. Our DI put an end to it by calling all males in full winter PTS, Kevlar and field jacket. Proceeding to explain the current US Army policy on Equal Opptunity he then herded us in a latrine for cleanup. The showers were going full blast and the temperature was easily 120 degrees and rising. For the next 30 minutes we cleaned that latrine with a 1" square sponges. That is how our platoon learned Equal Opptunity. This book provides the experience of bootcamp without the sweat, but also provides the values of the Marines at a time when the Army is in search of its 21st century mission
Rating:
Summary: Great Reading (even for a civilian)
Review: I read this book because my fiance is a Marine. I always wanted to know about what he went through in Boot Camp and I just never knew how to pose the questions or exactly what I wanted to know. This book will answer your questions. It was very informative and interesting. I had a very hard time putting it down. I learned exactly what he went through in Parris Island and realized exactly what it means to be in the USMC. I think that every person who is interested in enlisting in the Marine Corps should read this book as a requirement. It would shake them into the reality that is the Corps.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding
Review: Makes me think that every high school should require students to read this fine book. It brings to light the problems of today's society and how simple it would be to solve them if we saw each other for who we are and not the color of our skin or where we have been or done. Excellent reading for military and civilians.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting but debatable views
Review: To this former Marine (1975-79), Ricks' book is quite interesting but, judging from his comments in an interview he gave for our local public radio station, he still doesn't understand that the chickens hatched in the 1960s are finally coming home to roost. Ricks sounded like a "diversity consultant" when he asserted that the Corps didn't understand that "diversity has always been [America's] strength." He's dead wrong: UNITY has always been our greatest strength. Ricks also bemoaned the fact that there were "only about 1,000" black officers in the Corps. Why should he be so surprised? The fact is our armed forces are having a difficult time attracting ANYONE willing to consider military service as a career. Hiring competition for qualified minority college graduates is unbelievably fierce: why go into military service and work long hours for relatively low pay when you could do much better on the outside? As far as politicization, no surprises there. When you have two political parties and one of them contains elements overtly hostile to your philosophy, to whom would you gravitate? I think many in today's Corps believe that THEY never left America--America, to a great extent, left THEM.
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