Military Life And You

[Music] here's a familiar sight in any military installation in the world if you're a young man thinking about what military life is like you're probably thinking you'll be doing a lot of drilling and you will especially in your early weeks of training no matter what branch of service you might get into no matter what other specialized training you receive you'll spend a lot of time learning how to drill and drilling even the ladies do it and do it well you may have wondered why the Armed Forces put so much emphasis on drilling this isn't the way a modern army goes into battle so what are they training for now it does look good in a parade but then this isn't what men are being trained for to look good in a parade of course they do look good somehow you know that whatever situation they're faced with they'll give a good account of themselves they'll meet the job and do the job as good soldiers and these men are learning to be good soldiers for one of the main characteristics of military life is discipline with all the other skills the soldier learns discipline which began on the drill field pays off here in the same way discipline learned on the parade ground pays off here when men of many skills must click as a team discipline learned in camp pays off here discipline learned on the ground pays off here [Music] discipline pays off here when you and your imagination plays tricks on you [Music] or is it your imagination if you wish it was safe in the rear somewhere but you don't run away orders and you stay at your post to protect yourself and your buddies now it's a long way from that sentry post somewhere over there to this room somewhere in the USA but over here we'll find a boy who may someday be over there this is Kurt Johnson like most boys Kurt takes a dim view of discipline he calls himself a rugged individualist but what does that mean suppose we do a little thinking about Kurt and about you is this so-called rugged individualism or is it self discipline maybe you don't want to get up but you have to be at school on time so you get yourself up and get yourself ready maybe you're in the habit of making your bed and straightening your room maybe you've taken on other responsibilities around the house think about them aren't they disciplines you've accepted to make it easier for your family to live together both male maybe one time you didn't like it but if you learn to like it you practiced self-discipline that made meals go better yes chances are you're under more discipline than you realize of course that rugged individualism may still show through okay why hasn't this been fixed yet gee dad I was going but there's been so many things going on we had an agreement about this will you come straight home from school this afternoon fix it gee dad not this afternoon some of the fellas were going about it stakes by a dinner time tonight well the car stays in the garage tonight ah dead well what do you do in a case like that if you snap out of it take it in your stride and do the job that shows you've developed the self-discipline that characterizes a man if you keep on sulking feel sorry for yourself then you've got some growing up to do before you enter service [Music] in service you get up there's no time to fool around with a so-called rugged individualists who's feeling kind of sleepy there are a lot of men here with a lot of things to do your first responsibility is to take care of yourself and your things and do it right good old mom won't be there to pick out that to you if you're finicky about your food get over it with a lot of mouths to feed the cooks don't make it fancy just good solid food one thing more about military life you'll take orders however you reacted that time when dad ordered you to do that repair job in service you'll take orders and carry them out no matter what your assignment is in service you'll take orders every day some orders you'll understand and some orders you won't understand but you'll still follow orders you'll do what you're told when you're told how you're told and it won't do you any good to protest or complain or feel sorry for yourself some of the orders you'll follow are in the form of rules and regulations maybe like Kurt you've been wondering how you'll get along trying to follow so many rules and regulations well let's think about that will it really be such a new experience haven't you been following rules and regulations all your life and you might as well admit it you know they're necessary what kind of mess would this corner be if people didn't follow the rules you see as long as just one person is involved in something he can do pretty much as he pleases but whenever people get together to do something we need rules and you know what we call a man who doesn't follow the rules he's a for sport and the soldier who doesn't follow the rules is a poor soldier because he shows no respect for uniform regulations you know immediately that this man is a poor soldier don't you this man wears his uniform with pride take your pick which kind of serviceman do you want to be military courtesy that's another part of the same deal standing up saluting saying sir these are the ways a military man shows his respect for his superiors think of it much as saying good morning to a neighbor or your teacher or your boss for of course military courtesy is based upon common everyday civilian courtesy in fact military life on the whole is not basically so different from civilian life we learn discipline from the time with small kids we stick to rules and regulations whenever people have to do things together the rules aren't hard to learn we learn them quick when we need them rules for baseball or for soldiering the important thing to remember about military life is that it's a life for men the best way to get ready for that life is to grow up here's what we mean maybe you'll be ordered out of the game you won't like it but you know it would be childish to get sore or quit so you follow orders discipline self-discipline is the difference between a child and a man and discipline is the difference between a mob and an army discipline which means your readiness to conform to the requirements of your leaders and your service think it over if you're going into service you'll want to do a good job military life is strict but it's made up of the same elements that enable people to work together in civilian life courtesy and respect rules and regulations right and wrong ways of doing things and so called rugged individualism giving way to discipline and teamwork those are the things that spell out military life [Music]