‘The Elite’: They Know the Drill

Screaming drill sergeants can be curiously fun to watch, as long as you’re not at the other end of their wrath. When they go face to face with a trembling recruit, hurling insults full-throttle, they almost become artisans of humiliation.

Indeed, drill sergeants and other manic military trainers are among some of our more memorable movie characters. If you enjoyed Louis Gossett Jr. in “An Officer and a Gentleman” or Robert Duvall in “The Great Santini,” you might want to check out the real-life version in tonight’s premiere of the Court TV documentary show “The Elite” (10 p.m.). The series tells the stories of those who serve in various law-enforcement organizations.

Sgt. Brown and his colleagues at the Somerset, N.J., academy have six months to try to mold 45 cadets into graduates ready for police work. Along with the trainers, we meet recruits like stocky, clumsy Richard Yock, a favorite target of Brown’s tirades. Still, Yock vows: “They’ve got to arrest me to keep me away from here.”

The sergeant asks another recruit if she is religious. When she replies, “Sir, yes, sir!,” he tells her, “You better start praying, because you’re not going to make it here.”

After another recruit salutes with the wrong hand, the sergeant can only shake his head and say, “Porter, you have got to be kidding me.” Porter does not return the next day.

Despite the warped humor, the teachers clearly relish the task of molding cops through so-called “engineered adversity.”

The hour zips by, but one question lingers: What makes the organization elite? (Presumably all police academies are rigorous.)

It’s not a major crime, but future episodes--which include looks at prison security, criminal profilers and hostage negotiators--would benefit by addressing that issue as it pertains to them.