HoustonChronicle.com - Did `death drive' cost a Marine his life?

"Three days before Christmas, the 26-year-old recruiter was ordered to drive approximately 335 miles from Little Rock, Ark., to his command headquarters in Dallas, where he was lectured to and disciplined. More than 11 hours into their day, at 6:27 p.m., he and a second Marine were on their way back home when their van veered off I-30 east of Mount Pleasant.

As it swerved back onto the pavement and began to roll, Lowry was thrown free and killed instantly. The driver, Lance Cpl. Jason Bolen, was either asleep or fatigued, a Texas trooper's accident report states.

Marines serving at Little Rock Air Force Base say Lowry was being subjected that day to a form of punishment they call 'death drives,' 'pain drives' or 'suicide drives,' according to interviews and an internal Marine memo provided to the Houston Chronicle. "

I have read many reports of overzealous military recruiters harassing young men and women to sign up. This report sheds some light on the rationale behind the recruiters activities -- that they themselves are subject to harassment and intimidation. So much for the all-volunteer army.