Being the ‘new guy’ — or woman — in any profession, on any team, or at a new school, can be a stressful undertaking.  We all know it.  We have all been there at least once in our lives.  Take for example your trusty author, who grew up a Navy brat and attended five schools by the time he finished eighth grade.

That was a lot of time spent being the new kid, taking abuse, trying to fit in, and then moving on to start the cycle all over again.  Along the way, I could not help but learn some lessons.  Some I learned the easy way, by paying attention and taking note of my surroundings and the new culture into which I had just splashed down.  Others I learned the hard way, requiring a more physical approach, because I was too stupid or oblivious to learn. 

And sometimes people are just asshats and are determined to make life miserable for the new guy.  I was a new guy at the CIA.  I was a new guy in the fire service.  I was the new guy on a basketball team in high school, and a track team.

Bar none, though, the most intimidating place I ever had to be a new guy was in the SEAL Teams.  Just imagine, you are fresh out of Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training, thinking you have finished the toughest training in the world, and that you are pretty much Johnny Badass.  Nothing can stop you now.  You have faced hell, and you strode through it mostly unscathed and victorious — if not a bit beaten and battered.

Then you realize, “oh shit, I am about to show up to my first SEAL Team and everyone there went through BUD/S.  Beyond that, they have all been SEALs, in the shit, for like, ever.”  It is a sobering thought, and immediately sucks the air out of your over-inflated confidence balloon.

Instead of quitting, though, you put your head down, suck it up, and be the new guy.  You make it through the ordeal, suffering your lumps and humiliations along the way.  You finish a work-up and a deployment, and before you know it, you are no longer the new guy.  That magical day arrives when some other poor sap arrives in the platoon to accept the mantle of ‘fresh meat.’  It is a blessed day.

In order to try to save you, the reader, unnecessary pain and harassment, I have compiled the below list of guidelines that you might want to follow to help ease your new guy suffering.  No, I cannot save you from all of the pain, because it is going to happen here and there, but these techniques can at least smooth your way as you enter a new school, begin as a new firefighter, become the rookie on a pro baseball team, or find yourself as a brand new Navy SEAL. 

Take note and learn.

1. Keep your mouth shut (most of the time)