This is for the Drill Seargents out there, what is the method to the madness on day one of basic? Are you looking for weaknesses, Strengths?

It's just to let them know that they are in the Army now. Your no longer at home with mom and dad as a civilian. It's shock and awe. I'm not looking for weakness, that's a give in. It also can weed out certain individuals right away.

Letting them know they are no longer on the "block". It's also a way of setting your power base - "the DS is now in charge of your life". It also gives me a way to see how the trainees reacted. A lot can be learned from the first day.

Yes to both, but also I was identifying those with more leadership potential for positioning my platoon, watching for any potential issues/problems. Shark attacks etc were always fun but primarily we were looking to establish the status quo and looking at who were our strongest and weakest we'd been given that cycle. That's just my perspective, others most likely have their own motivations