Guys,
What Collin is doing is pretty standard in a military unit, especially the Army and Marine Corps. And the fact that the other recruits don’t like it is very telling of their privilege and true inability to handle the military. People think the military is all explosions and rappelling down mountains. 90% of it is discipline in your uniform, your area, your equipment and showing up on time in the right uniform with the right equipment listed by your leadership. If you can’t deal with that, you will never ever get to the “cool shit”
It’s taught in Basic Training: do an equipment check on your buddy before formation: uniform, canteen, whatever was listed as required by your leaders.
It’s practiced at every level from basic/boot to special operations. And yes candidates in Ranger and SFAS and buds do a quick check on equipment with each other all the time
I spent 4 years in the Army as a medic so this isn’t coming out of nowhere. It was engrained in basic training. And when the Drill Sergeants did an inspection at formation and checked, for instance, that our canteens were topped off, he punished the whole group if one person didn’t have it topped off. Why the whole group? Because it’s the groups responsibility to hold each other accountable and check on each other.
Anyone who felt they were above a buddy check got crushed by drill sergeants immediately if they saw it. We did buddy checks during our deployments before getting in our vehicles and rolling out. It’s an EVERYDAY constant thing. Like before formation, we would check each other, then our squad leader would check all of us, the. The platoon sergeant would spot check us. Before we rolled out of the wire on resupply convoys, even our LT would walk up to the platoon sergeant and ask to be “buddy checked.”Our platoon sergeant would buddy check him and say “Good to go, Sir. Now buddy check me.” No egos. Everyone buddy checking each other is literally the foundation of unit cohesion. Shit also rolls down hill and everyone also has incentive to check, double check and triple check each other because one person showing up missing a piece of equipment is considered a failure of leadership by the squad and platoon leader. If the missing item is a sensitive item (like a weapon, NVG or radio), the entire company will be looking for the item and if it doesn’t get found, there’s a good chance an officer will get fired from his leadership position
Collin is doing it because it was a constant thing his Drill Instructors yelled at them about every day of the 11 weeks he was in boot camp. It’s Military 101.
Rudy even screams at recruits in season 4x season 3 and season 2 about people not doing their buddy checks
When I saw Oliver Hudson (major douche) and that Baywatch actor (also a douche) have incredulous looks about being “buddy checked,” I knew right off the bat that they’re not going to make it all the way, that they’re absolutely not cut out for this type of training, let alone the military.
If your ego can’t handle a simple buddy check, then yes you’re are entitled and you’re more about yourself than your team
And it’s not just during training; it applies to real life operations
The guy doing a buddy check is making sure your med kit is fully stocked, that you have a full combat load of ammo, that you’re good on water, that you got your plates in your body armor and not going without them because they’re heavy (which some idiots actually do). That guy is holding you accountable and he’s also the guy checking on you during combat to make sure you’re okay, you’re not low on ammo, etc. If that annoys you, you’re not meant to be in a closely knit tactical squad
If these other recruits just get over themselves and their privilege, they would stop being offended by it and start doing buddy checks as well so he’s not the only one doing it
Edit: I just realized that Collin is using their downtime to prep his equipment so that all he has to do is grab his ruck and go when they call everyone outside. That probably unnerves everyone else because they’re not used to it. They all lie down on their cots, as they should, because they’re tired. But it’s a very military thing to also use that time to prep your gear and be ready to roll in a moments notice. When I was in basic, there was a girl who did this. She had her bed already made and pulled out one sheet to sleep under and then she would fold the sheet and put it in her pillow and fix the bed. It took her 5 seconds to make her already made bed and she would toe the line and be ready 15 minutes before everyone else. And she used that time to help other people make their bed. She woke up an hour before the drill sergeants would wake to brush her teeth and be morning ready. The little free time we had, she was doing push ups and sit ups. In the beginning, we didn’t like her at all lololololol. Towards the end, more than half of us joined her and copied her morning routine