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These and other motivators, such as self-reliance, discipline, direction and confidence, poise, courage, physical fitness, and financial security, are specified in USMC recruiting literature.[13] Bowe seemed genuine in expressing his overriding desire to join the Marines, stressing, "It's something I've always wanted to do...and I thought I'd do it, before I got too old."[14] However, with one exception ("challenge"), he did not publicly indicate any of the motivators cited by most recruits entering the organization.
Perhaps worse, from a recruiting-socialization perspective, were the three reasons that Bowe gave for joining the Marines. He wanted to make his mother proud of him. She acknowledged her strong influence on his recruiting decision, because the fighter got "jealous" when she talked glowingly about her grandson (his nephew), who is a Marine, and moreover, thought it was time for Bowe "...to stop being a big ol' baby...and become a man."
Bowe also wanted to "...prove all the I-told-you-so's wrong...especially [boxing promoter] Don King. He said I wouldn't make it."[15] He also acknowledged that he had continually fantasized about wearing U. S. Marine Corps dress blues, after seeing an officer in high school.
It appears that the organization accepted Bowe's enthusiasm for becoming a member, in lieu of many specific motivators that have been associated with successful recruits. The USMC further ignored his easily ascertainable reasons for joining the organization that in, retrospect, would not provide much of a motivational base to sustain an extensive socialization process.
The USMC waived established selection criteria for Bowe, and mistakenly thought his previous work experience would more than compensate for these omissions.
Actual enlistment criteria are contained in a document exceeding 400 pages. Two criteria were waived for Bowe. (A third criteria, maximum weight, was initially waived, but he reported to basic training under this requirement),[16] He exceeded the maximum age of 28 years, a requirement no doubt established to minimize age differences and tensions (older recruits receiving verbal abuse and/or orders from 17-year-olds for example).
Another waived requirement states that the recruit can have no more than one dependent (spouse). A recruit having more dependents must furnish documented material demonstrating that adequate financial support is available. This condition was easily met in this case (his career earnings have been estimated at $100 million); however, the limited number of dependents also helped minimize distractive pressures for the recruit who is cloistered at boot camp.
At first glance, the boxing champion's working experience would serve him well in boot camp. A Marine Corps spokesperson announced that he was "mentally, morally, and physically qualified to join the organization."[17] Bowe was the undisputed heavyweight boxing champion with an impressive 40 wins (32 by knockout) over an eight-year boxing career. Moreover, a professional boxer's daily training regime (running 5-8 miles, 10 rounds on a heavy bag, and 10-12 rounds with a sparring partner), certainly appears to match, if not exceed, boot camp physical training expectations. Yet, a closer examination of his past work record should have given the organization some pause. Bowe was never known for his ability to follow a highly regimented training session in preparing for a fight. His last two fights, approximately seven and two months before his decision to join the Marines, may have reflected aversion to a strict physical regimen. He weighed a "pillowy" 252 pounds for the first fight less than a personal high of 270 pounds[18] and only managed to lose 17 pounds for the second fight. Furthermore, he was judged as losing both of these fights, until his opponents were disqualified.
Bowe's physical prowess as a boxer may have further given him and the organization a sense of misplaced concreteness. His individualistic devotion to physical exertion flew in the face of two USMC socialization principles the first being that the drill instructor, not the individual determines if a physical exercise is performed correctly. Moreover, Bowe was labeled "a consummate, exquisite, and model family man" devoted to his wife, five children, countless nieces and nephews, and his mother, who lived in a home provided by him. The boxing champion's major training camp problems pertained to his family orientation. Bowe's manager, Rock Newman, indicated that, "Bowe's most difficult training camp condition was separation from his family, not the physical rigors." Since Bowe was the boss, he could suspend training camp operations, whenever he pleased, to rejoin his family. Thus, his boxing training camp experience, unlike boot camp, gave him a privileged, even pampered, status regarding performance, as well as eating and sleeping habits that enabled him to give orders to his entourage, instead of receiving them. A South Carolina Senator and former Marine noted an even more fundamental difference in the two occupations, "When you're a boxer, if someone hits you, you can hit them back. Down at Parris Island, you ain't hitting anyone back."[19]
A more detailed organizational review of the champion's past experience would have also uncovered his obstinate behavior. In 1993, he dumped his World Boxing Council (WBC) championship belt into a London trash can because he was angry that this organization wanted to dictate which opponents he should face, stating, "The WBC is wrong and I will not be intimidated by them."[20]
The applicant had an unrealistic recruiting perspective, challenged only after he entered the organization.
The champion indicated that, "My mother always kept me around the house, and I watched a lot of Army movies." His favorite movie, "Full Metal Jacket," nearly worn out by numerous replays, served as his "realistic job preview." This movie, while reasonably portraying boot camp activities/concerns and an abrasive drill instructor, could not possibly emulate the USMC's 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week socialization process. It further portrayed an out-of-shape, maybe imbecilic, recruit/doughnut smuggler, who still passed boot camp, and a wisecracking recruit, " who was promoted to Private First Class for his sarcastic input. Simply put, the approximately one-hour movie portrayal of USMC socialization was unrealistic for anyone confronting this process. Bowe did indicate that he followed one lesson learned from the movie during his 11-day stay--he was proud that he did not attempt to take doughnuts to his barracks. Unfortunately, his restraint in this matter was far from sufficient in reflecting, or completing, the socialization process. The recruit also ignored relevant information from others experiencing boot camp. His trainer and a Navy veteran stressed, that "young, punk kids" tell the recruit what to do during the socialization process; moreover, many of them "just don't like boxers."
For a long time, Rock Newman, the champion's trainer, tried to dissuade Bowe from joining the Marine Corps. He attempted to give the fighter a realistic recruiting perspective by having the boxer visit Parris Island, S.C., to watch harsh boot camp training conditions; although, at least one USMC Master Gunnery Sergeant cautioned that no one can understand the socialization process by simply observing a small segment at a distance. However, Bowe, fortified by previous unrealistic reasons/expectations for joining the Marines, nonetheless, predicted that he could complete this socialization program. "...The hardest part will be having somebody in my face all the time.... I'll tell 'em to take it easy, lighten up, and cut me some slack."[21]
Conceivably, Bowe's unrealistic recruiting perspective went unnoticed by the Marines as his remarks were publicized after his departure. Yet, a preselection interview should have provided related information. The organization further experienced at least two incidents that could have alerted them to this situation. The boxing champion took part in a sit (crossed-legged position)-stand-sit exercise, reflective of the Marines' approach to conditioning. One observer said that Bowe looked very bad in this exercise, resembling "an 80-year-old man crawling out of a Barcalounger."[22] He also was scheduled to appear at his mother's house on February 8, 1997, for a send-off party where a Master Gunnery Sergeant would read the champion's "Certificate of Acceptance" in front of his family, as Bowe stood at attention. Bowe arrived two hours late and blamed his tardiness on a friend and fellow recruit, a direct refutation of the Marine principle that no one can blame another, because the organization functions as a team.
The organization also seemingly did not present any realistic job preview that would counter the recruit's perspective of the organization. It does have a videotape, "Welcome Aboard," used in the recruiting process that emphasizes many of the previously mentioned motivators, such as travel/adventure, pride, discipline, and education. However, only approximately three of its 27-plus minutes are devoted to a relatively nonconfrontational description of boot camp culture, that is contrarily described by one military spokesperson, "...nothing you do is going to be good enough.... They won't get out of your face for three months. He won't even be allowed to refer to himself as I or me.... He has to call himself (this recruit.)"[23]
The USMC was unable to give a clear reason for Bowe's separation.
The USMC gave contradictory reasons for Bowe's departure. Major Rick Long, the designated Marine Corps spokesperson, initially stated that Bowe was "...being released at his own request."[24] Long, seemingly, changed this scenario within the same day, indicating Bowe was given "an entry-level separation. It's as though he was never in the Corps."[25] He further noted that Bowe and other recruits could not unilaterally make this decision by simply stating that they did not like the experience, "You don't sign a contract with the Marine Corps...and then say, 'Oops, I think I want to go home.'[26] Due to privacy restrictions, the specific reason is not available, but Marine Corps sources reported that a myriad of reasons (refusal to train, falsified information provided at time of enlistment, unreported drug use, etc.) could result in this type of separation. Bowe, or any individual with this status, could possibly be eligible for reconsideration in the future. Major Long also allegedly said that Bowe was a "problem recruit" and was removed from the Marines because he was "obstinate", "There were a lot of occasions when he was told to do something, and he said, 'no, I'm not going to do it.'" Long subsequently stated that he knew of no instances in which Bowe outright refused to follow orders, and did not remember calling him "obstinate," or a "problem: "I said he had problems with the day-to-day being told what to do, when to do it, and how fast to do it."[27]
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