Tank
The tall, gangly soldier sighed inwardly. Why was he the only one that the Drill Sargent called by his first name? Everyone else was Evans, Janocek, Manoso, but whenever it was his turn Sarge drawled out Peee-Air. He tried not to show that it bothered him, but the rest of the squad had quickly picked up on it, and always called him by his hated first name, Pierre. The only one who didn't was the quiet Hispanic guy, Manoso.
Pierre heard a noise behind him, and saw that Manoso had come into the weight room and started working out. They weren't exactly friends, but they both spent a lot of time in the weight room, trying to bulk up their slender frames. He was tall enough that he was going to be massive once he finished bulking up, but Manoso was somehow more menacing. It was something about the way he moved with a cat like stealth and the same kind of confidence as a jungle cat. Pierre nodded at him, and continued his workout.
After about half an hour, Manoso walked over and asked him if he could spot him during his benchpress. Pierre grunted an affirmative and followed him over. He was secretly impressed at how strong this guy was. He was going to make a helluva Ranger. The whole squad was supposed to start training the next day. Tonight was their last night to blow off some steam. He wasn't sure if he wanted to go, but he needed to get off the base for a while.
Manoso finished, and then spotted him while he did his reps. Neither of them spoke, but the silence was not strained. They seemed to be in sync somehow. As he was leaving, Manoso said, "See you tonight." Pierre knew then that he would join the rest of the squad.
Later, as they sat around a table, drinking beer, he and Manoso were the only ones who weren't telling off color jokes and bragging about how tough they were. Finally, one of the biggest loudmouths looked at Manoso, and said, "Who's your buddy going to be for the survival course?"
Pierre was surprised when Manoso cut his eyes to him, and jerked his chin in his direction. He felt a quick burst of pride, but was too shy to say anything. Then that jerk, Markowitz, had to put his two cents in.
"You're going to team up with Pee-Air? Aren't you afraid he'll eat you if you can't find any forage? Plus, he's so big, he'll be hard to hide."
Manoso smiled, "That's the point. When you are built like a tank, you don't need to hide. Let other people get out of your way. Who better to watch your back." He looked over at the stunned soldier, and said, "Right, Tank. Rangers don't need to hide."
Tank nodded, a big grin forming on his face. No one was ever going to call him Pierre again.