Quote
Matrik
brainwash -
( tr ) to effect a radical change in the ideas and beliefs of (a person) esp by methods based on isolation, sleeplessness, hunger, extreme discomfort, pain, and the alternation of kindness and cruelty
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This is the dictionary definition of brainwashing. Connotations aside. Some of the conditioning used is a (very) light form of sleep deprivation and perhaps discomfort. There is no isolation, hunger, pain (beyond the pain of strenuous activity), or an alternation of kindness and cruelty.
However, the main thing to point out in the definition is "to effect a radical change in the ideas and beliefs of a person." This is not the purpose of military training, nor does the training have this affect on (most) people. The only training that might be close to something like this is advanced training such as for SF and the Seals. In both cases the conditioning does not take place over a long enough period of time to "effect a radical change," but I might see arguments for the more extreme training of SF and the Seals.
As far as other "popular culture" examples, you can use just about anything that can be "training." Divers are conditioned to withstand the psychological stress of breathing through an air tank underwater. That's brainwashing by your definition.
In the military they:
separate you from your friends and family
force you to make arbitrary changes of language (bed = bunk, restroom = head, using "military time" instead of am/pm, etc.)
Remove individual identity by shaving your head
Further remove individual identity by taking away your clothes and giving you a uniform
Further reinforce a separation and introduce pack mentality of military vs. "others" by using language to separate them.. "those people are called civilians"
Reinforce pack mentality through lots of group stress activities, when on person screws up everyone is punished, etc.
Introduce physical and emotional stress to make the mind more vulnerable to ideology change
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people.howstuffworks.com]
I suggest reading the section on brainwashing techniques. Having just re-read it myself (read similar things in psych classes) it's pretty clear that military "training" and particularly boot camp with reinforcements afterwards do many/most of these things and is not in any way comparable to being trained to scuba dive.