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Way back in '97, I was in Aviation Preflight Indoctrination. There was a whole room full of brand new O-1s, mostly Navy, Marines and Coast Guard, with a few international students thrown in. The Student Control Officer, a Marine captain who we thought was GOD, was briefing us on the attrition process.

If we failed three events, we'd get sent home. After the second one, there would be a Progress Review Board, where three instructors would evaluate our performance to date. The Captain told us, "If you go to a board, I will make sure one member of the board is the same color you are."

That shocked everybody in the room. He gave it a second or two, then continued, "If you're wearing khaki, you'll have at least one Navy board member. If you're wearing green, you'll have at least one Marine board member."

Ten years in, and that's still how I view race in the military. Skin color means nothing compared to uniform color, which means nothing compared to the color of the flag on the sleeve.

At the mature age of 17 I was taught, on the first day, my serial number .. RA11448419 .. I learned it in record time, because I couldn't have my first Army meal until it was screamed at some guy that acted like he would have no problems watching me starve to death if I didn't.

Some things taught in the military just stay with you forever.

Bill Cosby has been acute in his attempts to get black America to wake up their young males and become men.

The Marines have always had the rep for being the 'toughest' of all the services.

Put all together, I would think ( in my amateurish way of trying to determine "What's it all about, Alfie" ) that there is a growing determination for American boys to become the men that made this nation, and are willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish this.

It was a matter of survival and desire for me to learn my SN in a matter of minutes, and it is a matter of survival and desire for boys to become men in as short of time as possible.