Jake Patterson, suspect in Closs case, was discharged early from Marines because of character issues
Boot camp for Marine Corps recruits lasts 13 weeks but Jake Patterson washed out after only five.
The Marines will only say that Patterson was prematurely discharged because the "character of his service was incongruent with Marine Corps' expectations and standards," Maj. Brian Block in the Marines' communication directorate said by email.
That could mean a lot of things but what exactly he did to get booted from the Marines is unclear. Before killing Denice and James Closs and abducting 13-year-old Jayme Closs and holding her captive for 88 days, Patterson had a checkered work history.
He only worked one day at the turkey processing plant in Barron where the Closses were employed. He worked just two days at a cheese plant before quitting. Had he wanted to quit the Marines after a few days, he probably wouldn't have been able to do so.
More: Father of Jake Patterson has a letter for Jayme Closs' family
More: 911 callers say Jayme Closs should get $50K reward for rescuing herself
What is known about Patterson's brief military stint was he visited a Marine recruiter in Rice Lake to enlist and showed up at Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego on Sept. 14, 2015.
There are two boot camp locations for Marines, in San Diego and Parris Island, South Carolina. The Mississippi River is normally the dividing line for the location of a recruit's boot camp with men enlisting west of the Mississippi sent to California and those east of the river to South Carolina.
However, men recruited from Wisconsin, Michigan, the Chicago metropolitan area and New Orleans are sent to San Diego. Female Marine recruits train only at Parris Island.
Patterson was one of 34,581 people sent to Marine recruit training in 2015 and he was one of 2,295 discharged before graduation. Reasons for discharge can range from medical conditions to "failure to adapt to our lifestyle," Cpl. Naomi May of Marine Recruiting Command said in an email.
During the five weeks he was at Marine boot camp, Patterson would have taken classes on the Marine core values, negotiating an obstacle course, first aid, martial arts, military drill, inspections and physical conditioning.
More: Jayme Closs suspect Jake Patterson's motivations will become clear, defense attorneys say
More: Jake Patterson targeted Jayme Closs after seeing her board school bus, complaint says
"It's 'Full Metal Jacket' but without all the hazing and swearing," Block said, referring to the 1987 movie of Marine recruits training for Vietnam.
By all accounts, Marine boot camp is extremely challenging and difficult. Recruits are trained physically, mentally and morally, learning the Corps' core values of honor, courage and commitment.
The first half of boot camp, in essence, is tearing people down and the second half is building them up, said Tim Baranzyk, commandant of the Marine Corps League's Badger Detachment in Milwaukee. He doesn't know Patterson but has followed Jayme Closs's abduction in the media.
"Even in boot camp Marines don't act like this. They're not taught to go out and try to crucify somebody like this," said Baranzyk, who served in the Marines 1966-'69 including almost 13 months in Vietnam.
"Someone in that Marine unit must have known something about this kid was dangerous and washed him out," Baranzyk said in a phone interview. "Just think if this kid had made it through and he's in charge of a unit (in a war zone) and he exhibits these behaviors? Then people would have died or maybe a whole unit would have died."
Patterson was booted out of the Marines on Oct. 20, 2015 at the lowest rank - private. The only other information the Corps released on Patterson was this:
Military Occupational Specialty: none
Awards: none
More: Jayme Closs kidnapping suspect Jake Patterson appears in court: Latest updates
More: Suspect's goal was kidnapping Jayme Closs, not killing her parents, police say
Follow Meg Jones on Twitter: @MegJonesJS
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Jake Patterson, suspect in Closs case, was discharged early from Marines because of character issues
