Those twinkling lights darkened and grew ominous, with the realization that all Hell would soon break loose. Once I stepped foot on Lackland Airforce Base, I was no longer an individual; I was a boy, just like all the others surrounding me, about to become part of the United States Military. We were lined up holding our bags when our first command was delivered, “Put your bags down!”
That was quickly followed by the command, “Pick up your bags!”
The repetitive commands pissed me off and it showed. The next thing I knew, I was the one being singled out. A loud, unpleasant announcement rang across the group: “Why are you dropping the bag and not putting down as ordered?”
Apparently, the smart-ass in me spoke up before I had a chance to stop…show more content… Small helped us discover that no one in our flight could do anything right. Everything we did during the first couple of days was wrong. We stood wrong, we marched wrong, we spoke wrong, we looked wrong, and there was the possibility that we even breathed wrong. It became apparent that even a hint of a smile, or God forbid a smirk, was all it took to direct the T.I.s attention to every one of your deficiencies. Our vocabulary seemed to be our biggest shortcoming. T.I.s hated the words "yeah" and “nope;” and if you wanted to test the decibel level of their voice, uttering non-sense like "um-uh" did that for you. Luckily, we were not as dumb as we felt. It wasn’t long before we figured out keeping the T.I.s happy meant each sentence loudly began with "sir," or…show more content… We were taught military customs and courtesies, military history, basic knowledge of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) and Air Force standards. We needed to make sure we marched in perfect synchrony with our entire formation every day. We needed to develop a mental attitude and state of mind that rendered obedience instinctive under all conditions. There was never a moment to slack off. If you were not training, your time was to be focused on maintaining a smartness of appearance and action; ensuring cleanliness and neatness of dress, equipment, or quarters; and understanding respect for seniors. I distinctly remember wondering why everything needed to be so perfect, and then I realized it was all about self-discipline. As each day drew to a close, Taps was played over the loudspeaker at 2100 hours signaling “lights
