Basic Training

Note: I wrote this opening chapter as part of a challenge with a separate online page. I wondered if I would win by entering into the mind of a drill sergeant dealing with new recruits and introducing them to their weapon. The language is very rough, as it has always been with military training. It is necessary for the mentality that the average soldier will need for facing combat and the possibility of death.

Feedback will be appreciated...

- KD

*

“A gun is best hard-on you will ever have.”

The recruit felt his face tighten, but he heard no laughter around him.

“Never heard that one before, worms?” The drill sergeant beamed a hard grin at them without letting it reach his eyes. “It is damn true. When you are out in the bush, the weeds, the dirt, the mud or the shit, and you are wondering whether or not you are going to swing a dick another day, you tell yourself that you always have a hard-on that you can bring back to the base. Wanna know why, maggots?”

He quickly read the room without making a noise. It was silent and waiting for the only right answer.

“You can never lose it if you really have it ready. No man with a hard-on is allowed to die without using it. Nature will not allow it. The corps will not allow it. I will not allow it. The useless wastes of space to your left and right will not allow it. It is a sin to keep a man’s hard-on unused and ready to go. There is no reason for any of you to not get the chance to use it if you are careful and you still got it.”

He could feel the eyes of the sergeant move across his line. On such a hot day, it was strange he could no longer feel the sun that beat down on their barracks as they began to prepare for their training on weapons. There was no real worry about injuries or death...yet. There was too much experience with his father's shotgun and rifles to prepare him for this moment. That was why he was actually ready for what they had to do.

The sergeant stared past the line of men who were standing at attention as he surveyed their faces. The room was a silent tomb and he could not even hear the birds that were often singing or soaring by their barracks. Even the guards were still as they guarded the doors and waited for the sergeant to continue. He was now in front of the recruit who could not hide the twitch in his face.

The sergeant smiled and stared hard at this one.

“Bring a hard-on to a battle and you will never lose.”

*

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