This film documents the transformation of U.S. Army recruits at Fort Knox during the Vietnam era, following nine weeks of training through drills, gas mask exercises, and obstacle courses. With no narration or interviews, the camera observes how recruits are incorporated into discipline through repetitive routines. Within the military organization's strict control, fleeting moments of individual emotions, resistance, and anxiety are captured, coldly and sharply revealing the tension between institutional power and humanity as soldiers are molded into obedient units through relentless repetition.

 In 1970, at Fort Knox, Kentucky, Frederick Wiseman gained rare access to film new U.S. Army recruits—draftees and enlisted men alike—at the outset of their nine-week basic training. Most share a common anxiety: the looming prospect of deployment to Vietnam.

The film charts the methodical process by which the military turns civilians into soldiers, documenting everything from weapons drills and bayonet practice to gas-chamber exercises and ideological instruction. 

Wiseman’s camera captures the human condition within a harsh, impersonal machine: a young soldier who can’t march in step is pulled aside for remedial drilling; humor and frustration coexist in the same frame. Without narration, Wiseman distills both the rigor and the absurdity of boot camp. He shows the erosion of individuality, the stark choreography of marching and combat, and the fleeting human moments that persist within an inhuman system. The result is not just a record of military initiation but an unforgettable, intimate portrait of young men on the threshold of adulthood—facing discipline, transformation, and the unknown.

• ProducerFrederick WISEMAN
• Cinematography Bill BRAYNE
• Edit Frederick WISEMAN
• Sound Frederick WISEMAN

Zipporah Films​​