Grunt Speak
Sink or Swim
Definition
The military's preferred orientation program. No onboarding checklist. No buddy system. Just deep water and the expectation that you'll figure it out — or you won't, and someone else will learn from watching you drown. Either way, the mission gets done.
Example Usage
"They assigned me a 50-person detail my first week as a team leader. No guidance, no resources, no idea what I was doing. Sink or swim. I swam. Barely. My left eye was twitching for a month."