My point was that non-members can't really internalize (sp?)why we do what we do with a smile.
Recognition is supposed to be the culmination of a year of hell (basically). In this case, it's a step in the right direction. If you look back at the POWs from Vietnam, the grads all credit their freshman year with how they managed. Every elite group in the military has a selection process that is nothing short of brutal, the SEALs have BUD/S, special forces have SFOQT, not to mention RANGER qual, INDOC, Recon Selection, etc. Nobody questions the difficult nature of these courses, but ultimately they are all hard for the same reason; so those that make it through have no doubt about what they are made of.