I remember when I arrived at Army basic training back in 1975. The indoctrination was so blatant as to be laughable. I remember laughing to myself when the base commander led us in the Army Song, it was so funny. Fast forward about 10 weeks to when I was visiting my sister in Little Rock during a 3-day weekend. As we were riding around town, I was mentally noting where to set up the mortars, which overpasses to drop to bottleneck traffic, and other tactics to take over the town. I realized at that moment they'd gotten to me, too. Sometimes, indoctrination can be so blatant as to be subtle.

It can also take other forms. My sister still laughs at how I was lying on the floor asleep while the TV was on. There was a story on 60 Minutes about the military and someone called attention. My sister says I snapped to attention while lying on the floor while still asleep.