ABSTRACT
The recruits who progressed to Phase-One-Bravo training are now recognisable by the plain green cotton ‘cap comforter’ rather than the blue berets emblematic of Phase-One-Alpha recruits. They will have to push their bodies harder than before as their instruction becomes characterised by long, arduous endurance training. On the upside, however, they will begin to enjoy the ‘honoured’ reward of a new type of relationship with their training team. At this stage, the training team recognise that those recruits who have endured the first 6 months not only deserve a little respect but also are more likely to successfully complete the remainder of the course. From the team's perspective, it is now less of a risk to begin forming relationships, and to some extent ‘friendships’, with their recruits. As Foster (1998:56) says, ‘by the half-way stage in training the instructors start to treat the recruits at least semi-human’. During the next 6 months, the recruits begin to learn—or in Marines terminology ‘take on board’—their new identities as Royal Marine Commandos.
