Which military habits did you keep, and which did you drop?

Daniel Coffeen, a U.S. Army Veteran and Ranger School graduate, would like it noted that he arrived at our interview ahead of schedule.

“I was here 20 minutes early.”

Hear it at 36:58

Nobody made him. Nobody has made him do anything for years. That is what makes this a good question. When the inspections stop, what do you keep doing anyway? We went back through interviews filmed by Vegas Veteran Voices, a Las Vegas nonprofit, and sorted what our guests said into two piles. The piles are lopsided, and we will say so at the end.

Kept: the clock

Coffeen did not just keep the clock. He promoted it.

“Every night before I go to bed, I write out my entire 17-hour timeline from the time that I wake up to the time I go to sleep.”

Hear it at 36:26

Every hour gets a task. Meals are on it. He admits that sometimes the task is “take a nap,” which is the most honest training schedule we have ever heard of.

“I don’t have a lot of skills in life, but I’m really good at like trying really hard and being on time.”

Hear it at 37:06

The clock also survives as a grievance. In our 250th Marine Corps Birthday episode with Tom “Ghost” Martin and Jessica Jay Dee, the talk turned to first civilian jobs and coworkers who drift in late.

“You know where you live, you know how long it takes to get to work. You know traffic might be an issue. Get there on time.”

Hear it at 15:37

Kept: the words

The vocabulary goes in early and it does not come out. “Cheeks” Aguillon, a U.S. Army Veteran and former chaplain assistant who now serves on the Vegas Veteran Voices board, remembers the day a Special Forces candidate told him never to say hooah again and then, helpfully, issued replacements.

“Roger, copy, got it. These are all acceptable alternatives.”

Hear it at 45:36

He describes himself at that point as “kind of mini institutionalized.” His reply to the correction was “roger that.”

For evidence that it sticks, see Jason Brooks, a medically retired Marine and former Recon and SERE instructor. He has been out since 2005. In one interview with us he recounts four different conversations, from a first sergeant’s office to a television set years later, and in all four his answer to the other person is “roger that.” We counted.

Then there are acronyms. AJ Kehl, a U.S. Air Force Veteran with more than 22 years of service, was two months from retirement and already could not help himself.

“Every chief has a silly ass acronym. Okay, so I’m going to hit you with mine.”

Hear it at 32:46

It is FIRE. It stands for four things. Of course it does.

Kept: the parts that were yours

Some of what stays is not a tic. Letoi Adams, a U.S. Army Veteran and adaptive athlete, took a security job after she got out, and she knows exactly why she liked it.

“I enjoy security because it’s similar to the military when it comes to the uniform. Same uniform every day all day.”

Hear it at 2:55

Juan Valdez, a Marine Corps Veteran and Purple Heart recipient, carried one rule out with him.

“I’m going to do everything I can to shield my team from anything. And it’s a habit that I’m glad I kept.”

Hear it at 25:34

The same interview holds the best habit story we have on tape. The subject was litter, and what happens at a certain Marine’s house when the kids have a birthday.

“I’m like, ‘Hey guys, we’re going to play my favorite game in the world.’ Police Call. It’s called Police Call. We did it in the Marines all the time.”

Hear it at 15:41

The children line up. Whoever collects the most gets a cupcake.

And Billy Wiland, a Marine Corps Veteran, attorney and gym owner, kept the whole identity, eyes open.

“It’s a beautiful brainwashing. I didn’t think it was a cult until after I got out of the cult.”

Hear it at 1:46

He was in for two and a half years. He was in law school and still missing it.

Dropped: the razor

Robert “Gunny Claus” Porter, a Marine Corps Veteran of 21 years, now appears in public as Gunny Claus: in his own words, a big, tall, bearded guy wearing red. He knows how that sits with some people.

“I know there are some out there that don’t like it because I’m not within regulations. I have a beard and campaign cover.”

Hear it at 7:25

One of the people it might not sit well with is Bobi Pike-Oates, a retired Air Force Senior Master Sergeant who left active duty in 1999 and still says “our” when she talks about the standards.

“If you don’t like our rules and standards, then you need to stay outside.”

Hear it at 56:12

She was talking to recruits, not to Santa. Still.

Dropped, not by choice: being busy

Almost nobody misses the police call. What surprised Emilio Mackie, a U.S. Navy Veteran and surface warfare officer, was the hole it left: no duty days, no midnight watches, no walking a parking lot in a line looking for cigarette butts.

“Suddenly you have downtime and it’s scary I think at first.”

Hear it at 7:48

That is the entire “dropped” pile, and notice what is in it. A razor and a schedule somebody else wrote. Nobody told us they dropped being on time.

Kept by all branches, forever: the rivalry

A joke gets told on our set about once a month, usually by a Marine: the military has two branches, the Army and the Navy. The Air Force is a corporation. The Marine Corps is a cult. Wiland has already entered his plea on the last part. Here is how the rest of the evidence came in.

Mike Sumida, a 30-year Air Force Veteran, does not fight it.

“We’re Air Force. We’re kind of the kinder, gentler service.”

Hear it at 17:35

Michael D’Angelo, a Marine Corps Veteran and stand-up comic who performs for military units, has not yet booked an Air Force base. “Air Force is kind of corporate,” he says, though he thinks those guys could get loose.

Hear it at 54:49

Edward Haines, a retired Marine Master Sergeant, once met a woman who did boot camp, job school and her entire enlistment in one Texas city. He is still processing it.

“She literally did four years in the Air Force. She never left the Air Force base there.”

Hear it at 15:59

Nick Merrick, a former U.S. Army Green Beret, built a race around it. Green Beret Racing put together four cars, one driven by each branch, and the trash talk is the point. He swears the plan was for the Air Force car to start first.

“We wanted the Air Force to start. Honest to God, we did. But they’ve realized that it was in the dirt and they’re like, ‘Hold on. That is way too much. I can’t do that.’”

Hear it at 14:03

The last word goes to a man who picked up a habit after he got out. Tom “Ghost” Martin, a Marine Corps Veteran of Desert Storm, owns The Leatherneck Club. (Vegas Veteran Voices shares an address with The Leatherneck Club.) The crayon-eating joke about Marines came along after his time. Older Veterans at his bar ask why he puts up with it.

“It was a thing after us and it’s still a thing. And instead of saying we hate it, I’d rather just embrace it.”

Hear it at 37:06

What the piles say

Kept: the clock, the words, the uniform when you can get one, looking out for your people, and making fun of the Air Force. Dropped: shaving, and a schedule somebody else wrote. That is not a balanced ledger, and we think it means something small and true. The habits that outlast the DD-214 are the ones that were doing something for you. The ones that were only ever for the inspection went in the trash with the razor.

We should also be honest that this is the thinnest pile of tape we have written from. We have never asked a guest this question straight. We are going to start.