One of the most outwardly obvious aspects of our training at ALERT, especially Basic Training, is the discipline we drill into the men. Discipline is threaded through everything in Basic Training, from the uniforms to the drill and ceremony to the protocol. Our goal in all of that is not merely to develop men who are perfect at externals, like marching, but rather we seek to strengthen the men through that discipline. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “if there is no element of asceticism in our lives . . . we shall find it hard to train for the service of Christ. When the flesh is satisfied it is hard to pray with cheerfulness or to devote oneself to a life of service which calls for much self-renunciation.”

“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.” May we, like Paul, “discipline [our] body and keep it under control,” 1 Corinthians 9:24, 27 ESV.

For Christ and His kingdom,

Captain Daniel Hawley

ALERT 2nd Phase Training Officer