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Warriors get ‘boot camp’ style wake-up call

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Mike Meares
  • Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam Public Affairs
JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii --  The quiet Hawaiian morning was interrupted by the sound of screaming and the constant boom of someone banging on doors for a very surprised group of Warriors.
Former Air Force and Navy basic military training instructors gave a very special wake-up call to the University of Hawaii football team shortly after 5 a.m. Aug. 14 during day two of their stay at Hickam Field.

"I was just lying in bed and I heard pounding and thought it was a joke," said senior defensive end Paipai Falemalu. "Then I heard all the people yelling and I thought, 'This is gonna be fun.'"

In a scene that made the members of the football team feel like they joined the military versus a football team, most of the players didn't know which voice to listen to as screaming men in uniforms ran up and down the halls in a controlled rage of designed mass confusion.

"Get up, get up, get up and get outside this room and stand against this wall," repeatedly yelled Master Sgt. John Mascolo, 647th Security Forces Squadron. "Do you not understand my instructions? Huh! Do you not understand get up against this wall?"
Players sprang from beds and tried to get their bearings, stumbling bleary eyed into the lit hallway. Most players emerged with no socks, no shoes, or no shirts, which gave the MTIs more fuel to spit fire.

"We got them up this morning military style, basic training style, got 'em up and got' em motivated, got 'em fired up and ready to start a brand new season, " Mascolo said. "We wanted them to start off right and give 'em a little taste of the military. They've never seen anything like this."

The Warriors were rallied outside the dormitory in a pair of lines facing each other. The military training instructors walked up and down the lines taking inventory of the team's workout uniforms, stopping and confronting players who were still without socks or shoes. Several were sent back to their rooms, being chased by screams of dissatisfaction. The rest of the team performed pushups while waiting on those who lagged behind.

"I ran outside (my door) and saw all the guys in uniform, and the guys with those hats on yelling at us," said Kamalani Alo, junior linebacker. "They told me, 'Go back in, get a shirt and put on shoes.' It was a big surprise. I felt like it was something on TV. I didn't really think that was what the military is all about, but I guess it's true."

With many voices yelling at once, the confusion continued for the players. This is nothing new to the military members present as they have lived it on a daily basis for as many as eight straight weeks.

"This wake-up call is just a couple-hour taste of what servicemembers actually go through during basic military training," said Senior Master Sgt. Theodore Guillory, 56th Air and Space Communications Squadron. "Day-in and day-out, most are pushed to the limit to get them ready to serve their country."

The former military training instructor explained that, similar to zero-week at the beginning of basic training, the team starts out as a bunch of individuals with very little team spirit. But as time marches on, the individuals become a team.

"They need that discipline and teamwork to come together, just like it is in basic training," Mascolo said. "We start building upon that in the beginning. It's the same thing with a football team, they don't have that teamwork to begin with. We're trying to get that teamwork together to get 'em all fired up and motivated and ready for the season; just like we prepare our (Air Force) trainees to go to tech school and then go on and fight the war."

It was obvious the players didn't like being yelled at, especially before the sun woke this side of the world up.

"I'm not going to say it was fun, but it was different," Falemalu said. "It was a lot of hard work and took a little getting used to, but at the end it was good."

But, they fell in line and after a few minutes understood what was going on. They were marched, to a marching cadence, across the street to a field where they were put to the test physically for an hour.

"I think it's going to make us work as a unit," Falemalu said. "When we first got started, they were yelling at us because we weren't doing anything in sync. I think it's only going to make us better. We're going to be one team and work to a common goal."

The coaches stood in the background, laughing at some of the yelling, but watching the reaction and evaluating the attitudes and commitment of the players.

"We understand the discipline that's necessary, just as our military does," said Warrior head coach Norm Chow. "We understand the teamwork. We understand all those characteristics that go along with being successful."

It was working to obtain team unity that caused the coaches to originally come up with the idea of involving Airmen and Sailors in the physical training session.

"I have a hard time containing myself. What a great idea we had," Chow said. "It's a real honor. Hopefully these young men will appreciate the lessons they are learning here."