What's bootcamp like for a stutter?

[Pleasurer]

I'm seriously considering joining the military at this point in my life. Anyone here enlisted before? If so, what was your whole experience like. Is it exactly like what you see on T.V. with humiliation hungry drill sargeant, etc.

[Adrian]

I actually joined the Army Reserves with a severe stutter when I was 18. I was lucky, I had relatively cool drill sergeants and a very supportive platoon. I think it could be a nightmare if you get the wrong drill sergeant though. I have heard in Marine boot camp that they will use anything to tear you down. Keep in mind that they treat everyone equally poorly, so if they don't ride you for the stuttering they will find something else.

Of course I see you are in Canada, so things may be very different there. I can't say I enjoyed the military, but if it is something you want I don't think the stuttering will be a major issue.

[Jjake]

Nice topic, im also seriously thinking of joining the military. Hopefully more responses will come.

[StrategicPause]

Cool something I can give valid input on...I'm a Marine Corps veteran.

#1: Stuttering isn't something you make life decisions on, it doesn't define you and therefore shouldn't define your life path.

#2: Boot Camp is hands down the most stressful and intense experience. EVER!

That being said...

Was boot camp more difficut for me than say my bunk mate? More or less.

Boot Camp is about breaking you down so they can build you up. Molding the individual is a unique process to that person so they will find something, anything, to facilitate that. Yours is just a little more noticeable.

The person that doesn't stutter is going to get it just the same be it their height, weight, appearance, or even their name. No one is exempt from it.

Personally, once I start talking its somewhat easy for me to keep going and remain somewhat fluent. My main problem like many of us is that initial build up to the opening syllable. That definitely was a problem for me in Boot Camp. You are expected to have instantaneous responses to orders and commands. In a platoon setting this isn't much an issue since you are drowned out by the other 60 people. But you do have inspections and the like where you are face to face with a drill instructor.

Take uniform inspections, you are standing front of a DI being scrutinized to the n'th degree. Very stressful in its own right. Then as they inspect they ask you general knowledge questions i.e. chain of command, general orders, etc... I ALWAYS had issues with that though out my military career. You are almost nose to nose and the pressure to be right AND not stutter was almost debilitating for me. Sweaty palms to say the least.

All in all, just remember one thing...they are making you into a Marine, Soldier, Airman, Seaman etc.. not to be fluent.


one more thing to add...

I was a Lance Corporal at one point and was well liked and respected by my superiors. They decided to put me up for meritorious promotion to Corporal. I thought it was great for me. I shortly thereafter got nervous and went to talk to my Gunnery Sgt about my concerns. He downplayed it enough for me to agree to go up for it.

A Meritorious Promotion Board is exponentially more difficult and stressful than your average inspection. You stand in front of every important person in your Company. You are supposed to be the best of the crop and any flaw is held against you to the point of not being selected. Relative to the others performance anyway. Long story short, you go in, introduce yourself, spout of some other stuff and then they start the review. Well, I never made it through my introduction...worst stuttering episode IN MY LIFE.
I took myself off the Board. My Gunnery Sgt came out after and apologized for downplaying it, and causing me any embarrassment. I said I had a choice to go in there and I chose to do it. No apologies needed. Needless to say I didn't get Meritoriously promoted. Didn't matter though. For me, just being able to confront that was more than enough for me.

Now that I'm out, I will say this...
HANDS DOWN THE BEST CHOICE I EVER MADE FOR MYSELF.
The life experiences gained in the military is incomparable to anything outside of it.
In terms of helping me with my stuttering, I can't sit here and say it helped me become fluent but I can say I have more self confidence and that is a great thing for someone in our situation.

***If anyone is debating on enlisting in ANY branch feel free to hit me up BEFORE you talk to a recruiter. I'll tell you things he doesn't want you to know about job selection, benefits, and enlistments bonuses.***

[Nemo]

I, being 18 years old and fresh from school, had a few nasty experiences during boot camp. One was during the first roll call.

As we stood on attention, our names were read out aloud by the corporal, and we then had to shout out 'Corporal!' when your name was mentioned, to indicate that you were not AWOL. Of course, when my name was called out, I couldn't say a word, and the corporal marked me as "absent".

After roll call I wanted to go and speak to him to explain what had happened, but this was impossible as we then immediately had to go for a drill exercise. After this exercise I tried to find the corporal, but he was nowhere to be found. At the time the camp was completely unknown to me; I tried to ask various NCOs where this particular corporal was, but as I was quite stressed my speech was terrible and some of the NCOs were really unpleasant.

At last I managed to find my corporal and managed to explain the situation to him. He advised me to stand in the front row for future roll calls so that he could see me. This did help and also decreased my stress so that I managed to be heard at roll calls.

The moral of the story is probably that one sometimes needs to make special arrangements, being a person who stutters.