Becoming Marines in American Samoa
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Becoming Marines in American Samoa Disciplining mind and body in the making of a Marine Identity. Oddmund Toft Master thesis at the Department of Social Anthropology UNIVERSITY OF OSLO Spring 2018 II Becoming Marines in American Samoa: Disciplining mind and body in the making of a Marine identity. III © Oddmund Toft 2018 Becoming Marines in American Samoa: Disciplining mind and body in the making of a Marine identity. Oddmund Toft http://www.duo.uio.no/ Print: Reprosentralen, University of Oslo IV Abstract The territory of American Samoa in the southern Pacific, where I conducted fieldwork from January to June of 2017, has for many years been amongst the top places for recruiting personnel for the U.S. military. Everyone in American Samoa have a friend, sibling, family member or relative who are or have been in the military, and many use the military to gain access to education and money, and to help their family. In this thesis I explore the process of becoming U.S. Marines amongst a group of young people in American Samoa working to meet the requirements to go to boot camp. I argue that the time spent training for boot camp is simultaneously a period where they take the first steps towards acquiring the habitus and mindset of a Marine. I look at how they use shared values, brotherhood, as well as ways of thinking about progress, pain and how to live life, to create and maintain a shared identity as Marines. This topic is looked at through the lens of the body and the mind, and how they work together to create the Marine as a holistic and lifelong identity. Being disciplined is a central part of being a Marine, and therefore also a central term in this thesis. The Marine Corps emphasize always having a high level of preparedness so they can be deployed fast when a crisis is at hand, making being disciplined a crucial trait for a Marine. The concept of discipline shows itself in the learning of bodily technique, dealing with pain, staying healthy and the willingness to do the work required. Being disciplined is also a big part of Samoan upbringing and social life. I therefore argue that my informants being used to discipline and hierarchy is an advantage when entering the military. In short, this thesis is about the acquisition of Marine mindset and habitus, how the body is used to both learn and perform this, and in extension how the body, mindset and life of a Marine itself becomes a multi-vocal symbol representing the Marine Corps, the military, the U.S., good citizens etc. Being a Marine is viewed as more than a job. It’s a commitment to the Marine Corps and the country that lasts even after retirement. This thesis explores how this comes to the forefront in a holistic Marine identity that has its beginning in the stages before going to boot camp. V Aknowledgements I wish to express the utmost gratitude to everyone I met in American Samoa who helped me in any way. You are appreciated. A special thank you to the PT-group I conducted my fieldwork in. Your presence, interactions, humor and companionship made this thesis possible, and made my stay in American Samoa pleasant. Additional gratitude extended to the recruiter, who immediately let me take part in his PT group, and let me come to his office as much as I wanted. Thank you to Lio, who let me live in his house, and to Micah, which I shared a room with. You will always feel like family. Thank you to my academic advisor, Dr. Cato Berg, for valuable guidance, patience and support the last two years, and for giving me the possibility to find my own way of working. From the Department of Social Anthropology at the University of Oslo I would also like to thank Dr. Ingjerd Hoëm and Dr. Elisabeth Schober for reading my work and giving me pointers and new ideas during the writing. Thank you to all my fellow students. You’re an amazing bunch. Thank you to my family: Marit, Oscar, Kristin, André, Tuva and Nora for supporting me all these years. A big thank you to my girlfriend, Signe Johnsen, for being patient with me while I did my fieldwork, and for her tremendous support and love throughout the process. The research is funded through the Norwegian State Educational Loan Fund and the grant from the Department of Social Anthropology (University of Oslo). VI Table of contents Abstract ..................................................................................................................................... V Aknowledgements .................................................................................................................... VI Table of contents ..................................................................................................................... VII 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 1 Description of the field ........................................................................................................... 3 Thematic introduction and research question ......................................................................... 7 How Tutuila became American. ............................................................................................. 8 What does the Marine Corps do? ........................................................................................... 8 Methodological approach ....................................................................................................... 9 Ethical considerations .......................................................................................................... 12 Theoretical approach ............................................................................................................ 14 Regional research ................................................................................................................. 15 Thesis structure .................................................................................................................... 15 2 Ethnographic Context ....................................................................................................... 17 Opportunities available on and off island: ........................................................................... 18 The presence of military in the educational system: ............................................................ 22 Discipline, hierarchy and the Āiga: ...................................................................................... 25 Social mobility through the military .................................................................................... 29 3 The Marine Body ............................................................................................................. 31 A day at PT: .......................................................................................................................... 31 “It’s all about technique”: .................................................................................................... 34 How technique is learned: .................................................................................................... 37 Dealing with pain: ................................................................................................................ 39 The role of physical fitness and health in the recruitment process: ..................................... 41 VII The challenge of staying healthy in American Samoa: ........................................................ 42 Disciplining the body ........................................................................................................... 43 4 Mental preparedness and Mindset .................................................................................... 49 The mindset-change. ............................................................................................................ 50 Values, traits and principles: ................................................................................................ 51 “The corps” as a social actor: ............................................................................................... 55 Uncertainty and responsibility: ............................................................................................ 57 MEPS ................................................................................................................................... 58 Liminality: ............................................................................................................................ 60 Family and brotherhood: ...................................................................................................... 62 Disciplining the mind: .......................................................................................................... 67 5 Samoa in a global context ..................................................................................................... 73 Proud Samoans and global citizens: ..................................................................................... 73 The global reputation of the American military. .................................................................. 75 Nation and nationalism. ........................................................................................................ 79 The local and the global. ...................................................................................................... 85 5 Concluding remarks ........................................................................................................