Journal Entry: "At Ease"

They’ve got this cheesy tradition in reception: whenever an NCO (Non-commissioned officer) comes around you yell, “At ease,” which is Army standard, but when he says, “Carry on,” we all scream in unison, “Warriors form the start, Sergeant!” Then he says, “Warriors never quit,” and we say, “Hooah!” That’s it, but it happens over and over and over. Today was Saturday and no civilians are here to process us and I guess Army personnel have the weekend off as well. This means we sit, and I don’t mean we sit around our bunks. The Army obviously believes the old saying, “Idol hands are the devil’s workshop” (something like that). The only time we are allowed in our barracks is about one hour before lights out when we are showering, writing letters, organizing overnight guard assignments or already sleeping. On a day like today when we literally have nothing on the schedule but meals, it seems ridiculous, but at the same time completely understandable. Most of the kids are so “young and dumb” and so completely void of self-control and respect for others that they’d end up putting half of them in the brig before they got out of reception week. No kidding. Just like you don’t take your eyes off of a pre-school class, you don’t take your eyes off of a bunch of fresh recruits. But in a way, as annoying and transparently insecure as many of them are, I’m looking forward to watching them develop into self-respecting men; well, at least most of them. I think too many of them have gone so far into the abyss of self-loathing, that this experience will have no lasting effect on them. I haven’t spent much time outside of my socio-economic strata before now, at least not since grade school. It’s easy to forget that most people don’t act from some unspoken rulebook of social harmony and personal grace. For many of these young men, this will be their first and last opportunity for attaining knowledge of themselves and a sense of community that can put them on the road to personal success. I hope so at least, and wish them the best of luck.