Judging from their comments on Internet forums, Marines — particularly current and former drill instructors — appear to be evenly divided when it comes to Sgt. Maj. Paul Archie's conduct upon approaching a Marine veteran protesting outside the main gate of a recruit depot.
The exchange outside Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina, was caught on camera, and the video went viral once it was posted to YouTube. Some drill instructors think Archie overstepped his bounds in interfering with a civilian's political protest; others believe he was right to confront someone he believed to be wearing the drill instructor's cover inappropriately.
But many agree that there's more to the confrontation between Archie and protester Ethan Arguello, both former Parris Island drill instructors, than may meet a layman's eye. Two former Parris Island drill instructors offered Marine Corps Times their read on the situation, from body language to tone of voice.
DI shouting matches are common.
Caught on video, the argument between Archie and Arguello received public attention in part because of its intensity. The two men shouted at and over each other, their faces nearly touching.
But showdowns of this type are common among drill instructors, who are trained to yell and develop an intimidating presence, said one former DI who served at Parris Island from 2011 to 2013.
"Arguments like that would actually occur behind closed doors all over the depot between drill instructors of the same grade who thought they could do X, Y, or Z better," he said. "I would say that Marine Corps drill instructors, in the presences of themselves, act more aggressively toward each other than any day-to-day Marine."
Intimidation and aggression.
Former DIs also had differing takes on which of the two men escalated the short conflict.
The first DI said Archie introduced a level of intensity by stomping up to Arguello and shouting at him. But from there, he said, Arguello became the aggressor by gesturing in Archie's face and angling his head to shout at him.
"I think that in the end, [Archie] was being much less aggressive than the other individual," he said. "I think he had more control of the situation then."
Another former DI, who served at Parris Island from 1981 to 1982, said he thought Archie deliberately tried to intimidate Arguello with his rank and position, and that he remained the more aggressive party throughout the conflict.
"[Archie] should have tried to talk to the former Marine off to the side and off-camera," he said. "I think the sergeant major was wrong in how he handled the situation, and basically stole someone else's property."
"Brimming" as a technique.
Every drill instructor has used the trademark "Smokey Bear" campaign cover as a tool of intimidation, the former DIs said.
"There probably hasn't been a drill instructor who hasn't bounced the brim of his Smokey off a private's nose at least once on their tour," said the older DI.
Arguello was wearing the cover, but opinion is divided over whether he or Archie caused it to topple off.
"You can see [Archie] take a couple of steps towards the former Marine and get close enough to him that [his] head hit the former Marine's Smokey and knocked it off his head," he said. "That may have been [Archie's] plan so passersby wouldn't see someone protesting with a Smokey on his head."
The younger DI had a different read on the face-off.
"They say that Sgt. Maj. Archie leaned forward and head-butted him, but that's just like any DI who yells," he said. "I just interpreted that as him being his drill instructor self."
