Marine training head to admit borderline recruit applicants

The head of the Marines recruit training center will have the final say in admitting recruits deemed to have psychological and personality problems.

Military authorities said Sunday that the center head will make the final judgment of recruit qualifications based on personality screening results conducted by the Military Manpower Administration and diagnoses by military psychiatrists.

For this, all recruits will be screened for qualification for active service in the fourth week of the eight-week training period. This is to screen out those who have personality and behavioral problems based on observations by platoon leaders and the survey results of colleagues.

In the final judgment, the diagnoses of military psychiatrists will be used as references given that they failed to sort out those unfit for active service. Until last week`s shooting rampage by a Marine that killed four soldiers, the qualifications of Marines recruits had solely relied on the opinions of the psychiatrists.

A military source said, “Until now, recruits found to have problems in the Military Manpower Administration’s personality test were deployed to frontline units after Army psychiatrists said they have no problems,” adding, “This lax procedure is blamed for the entry of mentally unfit soldiers to the Marines, leading to the shooting spree.”

Among more than 600 Marine recruits in the same class who entered the training center, as few as 30-40 and as many as 60 recruits were found to have problems in personality screening.

Separately, the Marines decided to dismiss the regimental commander and the company commander of the unit where the shooting spree occurred. The 19-year-old shooter and his accomplice, a 20-year-old private first class, are under military investigation.

Military authorities also confirmed that abuse did occur in the shooter`s unit. Another military source said, “We launched an investigation after we confirmed that three to four soldiers assaulted and ostracized their junior colleagues,” adding, “We are reviewing how to punish the perpetrators according to the investigation results.”

Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin ordered all commanders in the armed forces Saturday to assess irregularities in the military and devise solutions by late next month.

ysh1005@donga.com