OCS Phase 0: 3rd Drill of 3

It's Sunday, the fourth of July, and drill was last weekend. I got a big dose of the great outdoors, I got physically and mentally beat up, and I learned a little about the character of some of my fellow classmates. If anything can be said of OCS, perhaps foremost is that you get to observe people in difficult situations. There are a few who won't take responsibility for their actions and will throw you under the bus without a thought. There are those who try to take charge of the situation merely because they are there--seeing people trying to control a situation in direct opposition to one another is high entertainment. And of course, there is the constant judgment of other's chances for success in OCS. As I observed myself and my fellow candidates this last drill, my thoughts turned back to Warrior Transition Course in Fort Sill. Sure, the people here are generally better educated, more intelligent and knowledgeable, and demonstrate greater motivation, but these are technical concerns if we view ourselves as drawn from a better applicant pool. The same nastiness and pettiness is still manifest. I know a senior enlisted soldier who I had previously held in contempt for the same confrontational and individualistic tendencies that I have seen in ourselves these past drill weekends, but now I think I understand: in order to keep a group of assholes in line, an even bigger, meaner asshole is required. Phase 1 is less than two weeks away and I am trying to prepare. I am ramping up my training routine and will do a number of ruck marches with boots in the next two weeks, and will add mental exercises to my program of studies and reading.