Rude Awakening
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The unit in question will remain anonymous. In fact, we were told that if we saw anything questionable within this phase of training, that we were to not mention anything we saw. A lot of what happens in house needs to stay in house, and this includes Drill Sergeant School (believe me, there are some things i have not even mentioned in regards to what I have been through, but it does involve a lot of yelling.) Rude Awakening appears to be what has replaced shake down, though I haven't confirmed this and I do believe they still do shakedown. So, what is the Rude Awakening? You have a bunch of tired privates that are brand spanking new to the army. And you wake them up at 4 am and get their heart rates moving and scare the crap out of them. We were initially there to just observe, but the unit let us take part in the activities. We were in PTs with a PT vest on and so the privates didn't know that we were not Drill Sergeants. We were told not to correct them if they called us Drill Sergeant. I was told to not single one soldier out but instead focus on a group, so there was a few instances where I could have been a lot meaner but I wasn't entirely clear as to what I could focus on and what I couldn't focus on, as I didn't want to give them mixed signals. So I yelled at them for their hair, their bunks, and how slow they were. In other words, everything I got yelled at for while in basic. A couple of them brushed past me and touched me, and that was a perfect opportunity to scream at them that I didn't take advantage of, and they had their PTs on with their pistol belts and I should have known that this was incorrect but I failed to catch it. I could have also got them on account of their lack of uniformity as they were all supposed to have a PT shirt hanging on the outside of their locker and some of them weren't up to par with that. I look back, holy cow I was EASY on those females. They had them all toeing the line and a couple of them were crying, so I was whispering snide comments loud enough for them to hear. But I didn't want to overstep my boundaries, as a DS candidate, I didn't think it appropriate to go full drill sergeant on them at that moment, but I do know I have it in me to do this job, and this opportunity let me know that I can go into that mode. We also got to do a PT test, or rather, a 1-1-1 diagnostic to give ourselves an idea of where these soldiers are at. We were told to grade hard, but I was amazed with how physically fit some of these privates were and I didn't count some Pushups that I normally would have. But the thought was that if they did extremely well with that diagnostic, they wouldn't try to work hard throughout their stay in Basic. Ah, to be young an a private again going through Basic Training. A part of me wants to do it, but knowing where I am now and my mentality, I don't think I would be as successful a private knowing what I know now. We'll be going back to that unit later this cycle to check up on them and do some more training with them. I do look forward to it. Working with the privates is becoming my favorite time while here at Drill Sergeant School, and not so much because of the fact that I can yell at them and what not, but because of their mentality and their willingness to please and their motivation. The Basic Training Private is a completely different soldier then any other you will find in the Army and working with them and training them is what makes me want to be a Drill Sergeant. The whole yelling factor is just an added bonus. I just hope I'm not a candy drill. Please don't let me be the Candy Drill.
Posted by Erickson on 5:47 PM : (((
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1 Comments:
Comments retrieved for this post:
You cut them some slack? You let some things slide? You went easy on the female recruits just because they were female????
Ok, maybe you didn't think you should go full-on DS mode then, but you could've asked that ahead of time. And if you were supposed to and you didn't ...
I don't know ... Drill Sergeants showing mercy and consideration ... what is the Army coming to? Would a Kami-bar be something chocolatey with chewy nougat inside, all soft and squishy?
Drew458 | 09.08.07 - 4:42 pm | #
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Welcome back! I missed your regular blog. As a 37 year old considering enlisting, I appreciate your honesty and giving the good, bad and ugly of service in today's US Army.
Good luck in DSS. If I do enlist, try to show me mercy Sgt. Maybe not.
Rob | 09.19.07 - 6:48 pm | #
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