Women Warriors: The Making of a Marine

In this somewhat flat installment of the A&E series Investigative Reports, former Marine Bill Kurtis hangs out with the mostly teenaged guys and gals living the, uh, athletic life at boot camp in Parris Island, S.C. In week 12 of their training at this health club gone amok, recruits undergo a 54-hour test of mental and physical abilities called "The Crucible," which includes a 40-mile march and 46 events that stretch brain power, cooperation, and athletic skill well past the point where civilians (i.e., me) would beg to be taken hostage. If they survive this 2¼-day long test, they take their rightful place among the Few and the Proud. Via interviews with Marine personnel and their young apprentices, and somewhat repetitious segments of Margarethe and Colin in "Crucible" action, we learn that fewer than 15% of recruits at Parris Island are women, training for men and women is separate-but-equal (even though the women won't usually find themselves on the traditional battlefield), and that rifles are the heart of a Marine's regimen. We are also told that "females must use initiative and teamwork, when males can often get by with brute strength." This tape more-or-less gets the job done, and is modestly recommended where interest warrants and libraries don't already have The Crucible: Making Marines for the 21st Century (VL-9/98). (K. Glaser)