I think what impresses me the most about drill instructors, besides the insane amount of hours they put in, is their integrity. DI's are in this position of ultimate dominance over their trainees, and have ample opportunity to abuse their power and 99.9% never do! Of course there are always a few bad seeds, but they spend these long stretches of training cycles, putting in 18-20 hours a day, are responsible for 50-60 lives, and don't falter in the ethics... truly amazing!
I had a DI that just rode me from day 1, non-stop, and I always felt like he was singling me out even though I was putting in 110% everyday. I still respected him at all times, because I knew his job was extremely difficult, but still it always seemed like he had it out for me. After graduation he sat me down and told me about how he singled me out because I was the only trainee for whom he hadn't found a breaking point. We had a several hour conversation that day about live, love and the military. Without that talk, I probably wouldn't have kept in line enough to complete my tour. I honestly think that DI saved my life, and I have never had the chance to thank him properly. PMD, make sure you thank your son for me, DI's will never get enough thanks.
Nigel said:
My brother was a WOII in the British Army and he had similar tales. When he was in Iraq, inside his office it used to get to 55°C. That`s 131°F. I hope that your Son is at least cooler than that!
When I was in Iraq, my office was 50-60 degrees F! Sounds great? Nope, every time I would walk in/out of the door I had a 80 degree temperature swing. If I had a dollar for every time my brain had a "brown-out" from temperature difference, I would be rich. Did you know, it hurts when you pass out on your rifle?
The worst was the portable toilets, somewhere I have a picture of a thermometer in the toilet next to my office reading 165F! Luckily the food was so bad, it never took too long to "do your business".
