Resentment could be felt radiating off of him in waves at times. He had never done anything so stupid as trying to strike a DI or even mouth off to them when they were yelling at him, but he had been spotted more than once shooting them contemptuous looks and had been overheard muttering vague threats under his breath to other recruits. He seemed to take every assignment, every yell, every scream by a DI as a personal affront against his manhood. A former high school football player in Bend, Oregon, Bennet was a bullying, abrasive person who had a bit of an anger management problem. Recruit Bennet-the large redheaded kid who had been about to rush back to the line after receiving his rifle, thus repeating Darren’s mistake-was one such person. This was a lesson that several of the other members of his training platoon were either too dumb or too stubborn to take to heart. Being singled out on his first day, his first hour had taught him that their attention was not something that he wished to have. By following these basic rules he had managed to achieve the status in their eyes that he had hoped for: that of an anonymous presence, someone who was there but that rarely did anything to attract attention. You did what the DI’s told you to do in exactly the manner in which they told you to do it and you answered every question that they imposed upon you with exactly what they wanted to hear in as few syllables as possible.
Facebook Twitter Reddit Pinterest Email WhatsAppīy the end of his first week of basic training Darren pretty much had the routine of the place down.