No, I deliberately avoided reading between the lines, and
there's a point behind that.
Ask any of the fellows who've been through NS here and see if
they've had problems resulting from what they say being taken
literally. When everybody is under pressure, what you say can and
will be used against you by instructors and platoon mates who don't
have the available resources to appreciate the nuances that
consitute the substance between the lines. Put simply, nobody's
going to talk nice when they're struggling to keep their own arses
covered, so you need to account for this, foresee problems and take
preventative action.
In BMT, if you respond to anyone the way you responded above,
you're going to find that you've just placed a huge obstacle
between yourself and OCS, because this is the kind of thing that
will cost you the opportunity to demonstrate your potential. Your
instructors will mark you as a loudmouth, and you will fail to get
the support of your platoon mates, reflecting lack of leadership
ability.
The name of the game is simple: the ones who make it control what
they say, get down to the job and, whenever possible, help their
mates to get the team's job done.
Make of this what you will. If you consider your response to me to
be the appropriate one when your buttons are pushed (and rest
assured that they will be pushed in BMT), then I put it to you that
you are working against your own ambitions.
You've asked what the environment is like. I've given you an
answer, only instead of describing my point I've chosen to
demonstrate it, and you happily obliged in completing the
demonstration. Now it's entirely up to you to take the point on
board and put it to good use.
