Iraqi Secret

This
guy just didn't care. Like I said, it didn't matter if I was sick,
exhausted from lack of sleep, nauseous from tear gas or whatever. He
just kept pushing, yelling and
forcing me to perform.

I

hated
him. I mean, I REALLY hated him.

Or,
so I thought. You see, when basic training was over (finally, thank
God), he had a private conversation with me. He told me not to have a bad opinion of myself. That
he
didn't. He said that during every basic training bootcamp, there is
always one guy who gets picked to be the "goat"... and... how
that guy
always gets pushed harder than the others. How the "goat" sort of sets
the standard (in basic training) for what a soldier can endure. He told
me he really cared about me. How much he wanted me to make it. How
important that was to him.

He
was telling the truth.

You
know, since that time, I've had to (as I'm sure you have also) walk
down many mean streets. For three years I was an MP in Europe operating
under extremely stressful conditions. I was selected to go through some
very special training at a certain U.S. government "facility" in
Oberammergau, Germany... the existence of which... is not even dreamed
about by any civilians and, very few
commanding officers. Even in the highest echelons of the military. I
think maybe I shouldn't write much about that but, I can tell you, the violent types I was
introduced to there are far worse than any nightmare you've ever had. I've been a prison guard and a
prison inmate. I've gone up against guys with guns, guys with knives...
and once... I had to cripple a guy twice my size who just simply gave
me no other choice.

The
problem with all this is, I'm not an especially tough person and this
kind of stuff really frightens me. What has been even more scary is
standing up to the U.S. government and all the steel-edged, stone-cold,
ethically devoid, soulless assholes you encounter when trying to do
business in America these days. But so far (thank God and cross my
fingers) I've survived it all... and even prospered BIG TIME... and...
I do believe part of my survival and part of my successes (business,
personal and military) can be credited to the "mindset training" I got
from that little Puerto Rican drill sergeant

See,
he knew something I didn't. He knew, in real life, you don't get to
yell, "Time out" when you are sick, tired and scared... and then...
have the enemy cut you some slack. NO! As real life teaches us all...