It's over. Training completed, the troops board their bus. It will take them to their training schools and not far enough from the hell known as Basic Training or Boot Camp. The instructor, grim-faced as ever, watches them board-upset his subjects will escape his schemes, but eager for fresh Guinea pigs. Under this glare, they keep silent.
But one troop signals his regards.
As the bus pulls away, he gives his instructor the one-fingered salute.
The instructor yells for the driver to stop. With a jolt, it does and the instructor climbs inside, yanks the troop from the bus, sends him back to Zero Week to suffer new tortures, and the Legend begins.
When I went through Basic Military Training (BMT) at Lackland Air Force Base, this tale circulated more than an adult magazine in prison. Everyone said it happened a few weeks ago. Some even claimed to know the troop. We all sat on our hands as our TechnicalInstructor (TI) watched the bus pull away.
Four years later, I returned to work for BMT. During my tenure there, I asked my detail trainees if they heard about the trainee who dared. To my amazement, they did. It happened a few weeks ago. My fourth and final year there, the trainee was still being put in his place.
So who was he?
He is the example TIs used to instill discipline and fear. While Basic Training or Boot Camp is about the physical, don't forget an equal amount is the mental. Mind games have their place and usage as much as, if not more than, push-ups and sit-ups.
Have you heard about the one that gave his final regards or a new variety of him? Please leave a comment and let me know. Chances are he's still in Basic Training.
