united-states military
Why are books contraband in a US boot camp?
<p>An acquaintance of mine has signed up for the US army and is now in his first six months, I guess what's called basic training. He was not allowed to bring books and asked us to send him reading material.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.militaryonesource.mil/military-life-cycle/new-to-the-military/getting-settled/what-to-pack-for-basic-training" rel="nofollow noreferrer">military website</a> states for basic training:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Dice, playing cards, dominoes, <strong>magazines, newspapers and books</strong> will be confiscated.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>(For completeness: There is an exemption for one religious book.) I understand that there may be little time or remaining energy in boot camp to read but is there an official rationale which was brought forward when the regulation was instated?</p>

<p>When it comes to preventing disciplinary issues, the military much prefers simple solutions that work. This will at times result in rules which ban things that aren't really a problem, along with the things that really are, but to tailor the regulation to ban only what needs to be banned can result in rules that take two lawyers and a judge to puzzle out. Your drill sergeant hasn't got time for that.</p>
<p>And there are magazines that the military will see as needing to be banned. Porn (even though the on-base store sells it) was prohibited when I went through boot camp. I don't know if it was from a moralistic stance, or the simple fact that someone will steal someone else's copy of <em>Playboy</em>, which will probably result in a fight.</p>
<p>Shortly before I enlisted in the military, the recruiter held a meeting at which a former drill sergeant told us about what to expect in boot camp. He touched on the things that we were told to leave at home. I asked whether a paperback novel was allowed or not, and he said that there isn't enough spare time in six months of boot camp to finish a book. It may seem, from the outside, that disallowing a novel is an unreasonable abridgement of your rights, but the actual effect on you is minimal. Boot camp only runs from two to three months, and the last time I checked nobody ever died from a lack of entertainment. There are hills more worthy of dying on than this.</p>
<p>Gaming materials are probably be contraband because they might be used for gambling. That can lead to an outright brawl, and while a good fighting spirit is quite welcome, fisticuffs in the barracks are not.</p>
