I enlisted in the military at age seventeen, which is allowed if you get your mothers written permission. While I was getting settled in at basic training the drill instructor visited my wall locker. I had a prom picture of me and my girlfriend. He picked it up and took a long look at it.

"You look so young and innocent. How old are you?", he asked.

"I'm seventeen", I replied.

"Oh, jail bait", he said.

I thought he was talking about the girl in my picture. I couldn't even imagine what he really meant at that point. Being only seventeen and living a pretty sheltered life with few friends growing up. I was clueless.

At that time in nineteen eighty five the military had a don't ask don't tell policy toward homosexuals. It meant that you were not allowed to be openly homosexual. In that year the US Army, as another enlistment perk, had the Buddy system implemented. This meant that if you and your best friend wanted to join the military together you could and you would be guaranteed placement together for your entire four year enlistment.

Well this was an invitation for homosexual men to join the military with their lovers and be stationed together the entire time. This definitely contributed to an increase in homosexual behaviors. There were about six soldiers out of twenty four, that I knew about in my barracks who enlisted for this reason.

I wasn't against homosexuality as an idea of two adults that loved one another. I just couldn't get my mind around the actual behavior. I just didn't want to know what was actually happening in my barracks.

You see when I entered the military there was a huge influx of soldiers into the Army and the training grounds had to be expanded. Usually the companies had three platoons. They added a fourth platoon to every company to allow for the expansion. The barracks was only big enough to hold three platoons. They used some old airplane hangers and converted them into barracks. They were about a quarter of a mile away from the rest of the company.

Little did I know that my drill instructor chose to be the leader of this platoon for just that reason. It was separate from the rest affording him greater autonomy with his troops. What I didn't know was that my drill instructor was a wolf that had been placed in charge of the sheep, and I was about to find out the hard way, that I was a prized sheep.