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WHENEVER I BEGIN to feel a bit smug, I recall my first week at Naval Officer Candidate School in Newport, R.I. I learned quickly, I thought, and was getting adept at giving commands like “To the rear…march” and “Company…halt.” There is a procedure for stacking rifles in which they end up looking like a small…

AFTER our son Greg was accepted by the U.S. Naval Academy, we went to a meeting where parents of third-year midshipmen spoke about the difficult plebe year. When the new plebes left the room, the veteran parents told us to be prepared for a middle-of-the-night phone call from our son or daughter wanting to come…

SIX WEEKS into basic training at Fort Bliss, Texas, Company “C” was beginning to conform to the drill instructor’s exacting style of discipline. Late one bleak morning, having spent hours going through a rigorous series of marching drills, a weary trainee raised his hand. “Sarge, you know every command in the field book. Have you…

AS FEMALE ARMY RECRUITS we watched our femininity being taken away one piece at a time. Our civilian clothing, jewelry and makeup were locked away. Our hair was hidden under caps, and battle-dress uniforms camouflaged our figures. We were issued the same boots and eyeglasses as the men. We were all soldiers now. The final…
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