in the navy?? damn the Army is like 10 times worse then the navy and the whole extreme structure thing is bullshit....your cousin must have a weak mind
don't get me wrong, i'm no Army recruiter by any means (mine lied like a motherfucker to me too, I just wasn't dumb enough to believe his bullshit), but the stories of "extreme structure" and getting yelled at all day every day is retarded, I've even spent most of my career in a Combat Arms job where you'd expect to hear stories like that, but we'd work our little work day and party like crazy. The only time your gonna get yelled at and ordered around like a little kid is if your a fuck up. Maybe your cousin is the unit "shit bag" as they like to say in the military...
Anyway to the original poster...don't let basic training kill your spirit, Drill Sergeants are basically actors who's job it is to yell at you and all that shit, once you get to your unit it's too fuckin easy, you work your 9 to 5 and party alot, if you do your job, stay in shape, and don't fuck up then life is easy.