I entered Army Basic Training October 1983 at Ft. Leonard "Lost in The Woods", Missouri. I don't think there could have been a better time of year to train - with the Fall color and cooler, dryer weather - in this northern part of the Ozark Mountain region.

I remember how impressed I was by how far of a distance some of the trainees had been sent from to train at this post in Middle America - as far away as Hawaii.

Unfortunately, I don't remember the one young, I believe he was 18, Hawaiian's name, but I do remember he had never been out of Hawaii to that point in his life.

In November, on a still, overcast, wonderful for hiking 60-degree day, we went on the memorable 15-mile road-march.

Aside from the typical leg-muscle strain most people have who don't typically hike 15 miles, things went well until the 12th mile - when suddenly - me and my Platoon members were distracted by the Drill Sergeants grabbing the Hawaiian by both arms to keep him from going down.

We all looked on him with concern as the Sergeants sat him down and asked questions about how he felt. He seemed to be somewhat reluctant to give an explanation but did explain he was extremely hot.

The Sergeants started to take some of his clothes off only to discover he was wearing his thermal underwear. The Hawaiian had thought he was going to be cold!

So, I'll end this by saying to anyone going into basic training, which can take you to locations with a very different climate than where you're from, dress according to the local weather.