I was a Vietnam-era HospitalCorpsman, I spent some time at Parris Island (East Coast Boot Camp).
I thought it was pretty close.
R. Lee Ermy (the Drill Instructor) WAS a real Drill Instructor in the Marines.
Of course, they focus on the "more interesting" aspects of boot camp. The part that many/most/all movies never show is 2-8 hours a day in classrooms learning procedures, rules, ranks, "Diversity," emergency procedures, and all the other stuff. When you're not in the classroom, then it's the drill hall (marching around indoors), "grinder" (asphalt or grass places to march around on), PT, Mess Hall, Fire-Fighting Training Unit (for the Navy & CG), PT, the shooting range, and all sorts of other activities.
The Drill Instructors / Company Commanders (I was in the Navy, did boot up a Great Lakes..North of Chicago) range from being pretty good guys that yell alot, to real ass-crunchers. With rare exception (if any), the Marine Corps DIs were all hard-ass, hard Corps kinda guys. They pretty much had to be...as it was pointed out...if someone screws up in a hot situation, people usually get hurt or killed, and not just the idiot that screwed up.
As a side note, during boot camp, the two most-often-heard statements are "But my Recruiter said ....." and "When you get out in the REAL Navy (Army, AF, MC, CG)......."
Once you're out of Boot, then life returns to something resembling "Normal."
I like FMJ. I think it was as accurate as any movie can be given the usual time constraints.
FWIW
Scott (HM2, 75-79)
