Chapter 1 Summary

Starship Troopers tells the story of Juan Rico, a well-to-do youngster who joins the elite Mobile Army at the outbreak of the “Bug War”. He survives boot camp, rises rapidly through the enlisted ranks through heavy attrition, is culled off for Officer Training School, and survives his first experience as a platoon commander. Rico goes on to become a confident commander, passing to younger officers the wisdom he has absorbed from many mentors.

In his first drop from the Rodger Young as an assistant section leader in the Mobile Infantry (“MI”), Juan (“Johnny”) Rico, has “the shakes.” Acting Platoon Sergeant, Jelal, inspects the troops closely, ordering one man with a cold to fall out, leaving a hole in Rico’s Section 2. Addressing his men as “apes,” Jelal laments the poor quality of recruits, invokes the memory of his popular predecessor, Lt. Rasczak, killed...