I grew up in the mean streets of New York City in the 1970s; the crime rate was very high and drugs were everywhere. It was a challenging time to be a teenager and avoid all those temptations. Unfortunately, I fell into the abyss; I was getting into trouble, and experimenting with drugs and alcohol. I was not doing well in school, and my attendance was virtually nonexistent. This caused me to search myself and find the answer to this paradox, "What do I want to do with my life?” Therefore, I decided to take an alternate route, in the road to success, as the avenue I was currently on was doomed to failure. Therefore, I dropped out of High School and joined the United Stated Army. When I arrived at basic training in the pine barons of southern New Jersey, I was very …show more content…
Then it started to come together in my mind, if we were ever on a real world mission and had to get to the objective, we knew we could run to it. If we ever got into an actual firefight, those BRM techniques would be second nature and give us the ability to protect ourselves. Our platoon got to the point that our communication was almost telepathic. Sergeant Bauer constantly reminded us, that all we needed to be a successful Soldier was to be able to shoot, move and communicate!
In time, I started to notice more organization in my programmed life; I gained self-discipline and a sense of pride in my platoon and nation. I was on the road to becoming a man. The life lessons I learned from Sergeant Bauer are not a complete manual to being a man. However, if you practice these lessons, I will bet that you will view your life from a new perspective. Whether you are a soldier or civilian, you will discover yourself winning the conflict that every man battles, of becoming the man you want to