> I thought I would get fired every day during the first six months. There was no one there to tell you what to do. In the military, there was a change [sic] of

> I thought I would get fired every day during the first six months. There was no one there to tell you what to do. In the military, there was a change [sic] of command. At SpaceX, you ask yourself, "How do we do this thing? How do we do it safely? How do we do it so that it's a good value for our customers?" Then you figure it out. [emphasis added] This guy was never a full-on member of the active duty military or he'd have a different take on this. The cadet life is very different from active duty. As a cadet, much of your life is already detailed for you, even down to when to get up, when to eat, when to exercise, when to relax (this changes over the years as a cadet, but it's still very regulated). If he'd been able to serve in the active duty, having graduated from West Point he would have been an officer. Officers do not just look around and wait to be told what to do or ask their CO to hold their hand and walk them through their day. They have to figure it out, too. Hell, even as a cadet you don't get coddled and still have to figure things out.