“Therefore if they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the desert!’ do not go out; or ‘Look, He is in the inner rooms!’ do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. Matthew 24:26-27

Years ago, I was selected by my ROTC cadre to attend the Army’s hardest and (at 11 days) shortest badge course called Air Assault School. While this school is offered at several locations across the United States, I was particularly drawn to this one in the summer of 2000, because it was being held at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.

The first day of our glorious initiation into the elite ranks of an Air Assault soldier was Day Zero (or Zero Day as we called it). It was here, after an exhaustive inspection process, that the instructors drove us to the mountainous jungle portion of Oahu, and then marched us out into a large field of knee-deep mud and proceeded to smoke us with exercises zealously until everyone reached muscle fatigue. It was only after this that we were allowed to complete the massive obstacle course that was either pass or fail (for which many failed and went home).

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