one word [basic]
(ref: here)
They called it TRAINING.
Thirteen weeks of stomping mindlessly in circles, learning not to talk back, to follow orders, to fill out paperwork, and to repeat. Thirteen weeks of no sleep, forced dining, and learning to innovate - in an environment that suppressed the expression of the individual. The order of the day was groupthink.
Week one was paperwork, haircuts, and pseudo-camaraderie; stick thirty young men in a box, take away their identities, and it comes as no shock that they begin to connect. Add in the commands of an arbitrary source of authority, communal bathing, and matching uniforms, and you have an opportunity to invite suppression of voice.
They called it TRAINING.
Week two was revision; at this stage, those with distinctly unsuppressible personalities arise - these are given official categories of either leadership or victim ... sometimes both. These are the geese. Everyone else is a duck, following commands and treading water. Weapons were introduced.
Week three was clarification; here weaponry is re-introduced; training is given in how to maintain and disassemble all components; special attention is given to ensuring we do not lose parts. Each of us who did lose a part was given less rations and more attention. Those of us who were unable to ensure our complement of parts were complete were ... escort to other portions of the training detachment.
Week four was mess-hall week; here you learn to think like a mess cook, sleep less than three hours a day while keeping uniforms mostly-inspection-worthy and learning how to sleep standing-up. We also learned how to clean unnamed materials off the floor with a combination of elbow-grease, several blue-ish fluids, and bleach.
Week five and six were running; we re-learned what exhaustion is like, to love water, and that blisters happen to everyone. You also learn that sarcasm takes energy; so does whining, and quitting. And when someone on your team can't run the last five miles and so everyone has to run an extra ten miles as a result - you learn to find a way to make everyone make it - even if it means dragging them.
They called it TRAINING.
Week seven through ten were drills; we'd drop and assemble guns, attack teams of other companies, and generally kicked one another until everyone was tired. Then we'd all crawl to our side of the field, switch shirts, and do it again. And again. And again.
Week eleven and twelve were make-up; everything that they'd skipped or glossed over, every team member who forgot something, and every history lesson they didn't include were crammed into here; everything became both clear and disjointed and these weeks were agonizingly slow. You learn to pack extra under-clothing, to hide food, to be able to eye up flora-facilities as necessity beckoned, and generally how to survive. It was in this week that we finally completed the group march-training in preparation for the last week.
Week thirteen was unusually short; everyone in the company hand-washed their uniforms, and spent the first few days finalizing presentation - on the fourth day, all graduating companies marched, one following another, as various flags and songs played, symbolizing the perceived unity of the day.
And we were a team.
They called it TRAINING.
Thirteen weeks of stomping mindlessly in circles, learning not to talk back, to follow orders, to fill out paperwork, and to repeat. Thirteen weeks of no sleep, forced dining, and learning to innovate - in an environment that suppressed the expression of the individual. The order of the day was groupthink.
Week one was paperwork, haircuts, and pseudo-camaraderie; stick thirty young men in a box, take away their identities, and it comes as no shock that they begin to connect. Add in the commands of an arbitrary source of authority, communal bathing, and matching uniforms, and you have an opportunity to invite suppression of voice.
They called it TRAINING.
Week two was revision; at this stage, those with distinctly unsuppressible personalities arise - these are given official categories of either leadership or victim ... sometimes both. These are the geese. Everyone else is a duck, following commands and treading water. Weapons were introduced.
Week three was clarification; here weaponry is re-introduced; training is given in how to maintain and disassemble all components; special attention is given to ensuring we do not lose parts. Each of us who did lose a part was given less rations and more attention. Those of us who were unable to ensure our complement of parts were complete were ... escort to other portions of the training detachment.
Week four was mess-hall week; here you learn to think like a mess cook, sleep less than three hours a day while keeping uniforms mostly-inspection-worthy and learning how to sleep standing-up. We also learned how to clean unnamed materials off the floor with a combination of elbow-grease, several blue-ish fluids, and bleach.
Week five and six were running; we re-learned what exhaustion is like, to love water, and that blisters happen to everyone. You also learn that sarcasm takes energy; so does whining, and quitting. And when someone on your team can't run the last five miles and so everyone has to run an extra ten miles as a result - you learn to find a way to make everyone make it - even if it means dragging them.
They called it TRAINING.
Week seven through ten were drills; we'd drop and assemble guns, attack teams of other companies, and generally kicked one another until everyone was tired. Then we'd all crawl to our side of the field, switch shirts, and do it again. And again. And again.
Week eleven and twelve were make-up; everything that they'd skipped or glossed over, every team member who forgot something, and every history lesson they didn't include were crammed into here; everything became both clear and disjointed and these weeks were agonizingly slow. You learn to pack extra under-clothing, to hide food, to be able to eye up flora-facilities as necessity beckoned, and generally how to survive. It was in this week that we finally completed the group march-training in preparation for the last week.
Week thirteen was unusually short; everyone in the company hand-washed their uniforms, and spent the first few days finalizing presentation - on the fourth day, all graduating companies marched, one following another, as various flags and songs played, symbolizing the perceived unity of the day.
And we were a team.
Comments