Autobiography

My name is Jason Rea; I am a Caucasian male, age34. My marital status is that I am married and have 2 beautiful kids. My traveling routine is very extensive. I am an extrovert and extremely social and open minded. I am a former Marine Bomb Technician and currently perform the same type of service for the government sector now. Feel free to use the stereotypes associated with bomb techs and Marines to build the paper.

When I first found myself standing on the yellow foot prints at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Paris Island, and the last thing I was thinking was “there may be some resocialization in my future”. It is nice to know that someone has given a nice scientific term to what I always considered as brainwashing. My situation may be a little more sever due to the level of total institution that I received but, I think this makes for a good example for the discussion post. To greatly simplify my experiences, all of my old norms and values were routed out and completely destroyed with extreme predigest. Not to the point that they were no longer present, but to the point where they were looked on as a weakness to be avoided at all cost. They were then replaced with what is known as the Marine Corps “core values”: Honor, courage and commitment. An unspoken forth value: “Comfort is an illusion that will not be tolerated” is generally known among all Marines but, let's stick to the official ones. These new norms and values were installed in me at such a level that they still define me as a person and guide my actions 16 years later. The best example of this is the old saying “Once a Marine, always a Marine”. This is more than a motto; it's a way of life. Even after I left the Marine Corps and joined the National Guard, I still referred to the Marines as “we” and the Army as “they”. This is almost comical because I would be doing this while wearing an Army uniform. Luckily, this level of commitment to the Corps is common and even accepted among the other branches. Any look at the Marine socialization process must naturally begin with the primary socialization force, the Drill Instructor. Where do they come from? How are they chosen? How are they trained? The typical Marine Corps Drill Instructor ...