He may have embellished it a bit Barry! But the way you've written it does sound plausible.
I was in about 22 years ago and there was still brutality, but not to that extent (Not that I saw anyway) He's right about not having civilian clothes (Although you can after basic training) and he's also right about the way they 'encourage' you on marches/runs/anything, but it was never done to me maliciously. Maybe he was just unlucky...............
He may well have, well it appears he probably did!
With regards to civilian clothes, he said he could get them, but only under certain circumstances and they were not allowed to remain in his possession. He explained going to get them, outside of when they were permitted too, would have drawn suspicion. He lasted around 3 years from what i remember, so i suspect you'd win in a fight.
