Hand Grenades

PVT Erickson Says:

"Pull Pin! Prepare to Throw! Throw!"

KABOOM!!!

Sigh, I loved the Hand grenade course. It was likely one of my favorite courses in
Basic training, next to Bayonet at least.

Guess what? Everyone that joins the army has to throw at least one live hand grenade
during basic training. It's lot's of fun! And one of those things that you go home and say "I did that!"

Hand Grenades is kind of one of those things that the drill sergeants build up as being a lot worse then it actually is. Sure, you get a little dirty, it gets the blood rushing, but damn, its fun!

I kind of wouldn't want the job of the grenade sergeant who has to deal with the scared shitless private who is just quaking in his feet as he holds his grenade in his hand and waits for the command to actually activate and throw his grenade.

But to prepare you for the actual thing, they give you lots of practice. They got lots of fake grenades that make a popping noise when you activate them. They are hollowed out on the bottom and have little pieces of shrapnel that come out. You can hold them in your hand in fact and not get it blown off.

But considering you are holding a piece of equipment that is designed to impale you with many sharp fragments that burrow into your skin so that you can no longer function properly, it is highly recommended that you don't take it lightly.

There are three basic phases to the grenade course. The 'this is how to throw a grenade' phase, and the 'throwing a fake grenade' phase, and of course the 'throwing the real grenade' phase. Then there is the actual course.

Everyone is given a couple of grenades and taken into a bunker like box where you are instructed very carefully how to throw the grenade. You get into your nifty little padding, the grenade sergeant goes through it step by step, gets you into the proper stance, and then upon the command of 'pull pin, prepare to throw, throw." you go through the motions and hawk that little bastard as far as you can away from you. Sorry, you can't watch where it lands. If you do, the grenade sergeant will take you out.

If you throw it well enough, and with enough confidence, you move on.

You then get to throw the grenade from different poses. Kneeling, standing, prone, you are chucking grenades and listening to them go pop all day. You eat and breathe grenades all day, and you listen to the live ones go "BOOM" all day long. The first one you hear kind of rattles you, because you don't realize how loud it is until it goes off.

And then, its the live grenade.

I'll have to admit, the live grenade is a bit of a let down. There is a lot of talk of the whole grenade, the drill sergeants build fear in you as they talk about how likely you are to die from this experience, but there is so many safeties in play that in reality nobody ever really gets hurt from throwing a grenade, though it is considered a dangerous activity and the sergeants in that box are always vigilant. If you drop the grenade, they are trained to take you down and make sure you don't get killed.

But it is a quick experience. You run out there, hand the sergeant your grenade, and he hands it to you, gives you the commands, "Pull Pin, Prepare to Throw, Throw!"

You do it just as he tells you to do it. Yes, you chuck a grenade into a big empty pit of dirt and then you duck. You don't see it go off, you hear it go off, and it blows up dirt.

Like I said, not really that exciting. You throw two grenades and then you rotate out. And that is that.

The Grenade Course in my opinion is actually more fun then the actual grenade, which is mostly just the adrenaline and bragging rights to your civilian friends of throwing a live grenade. You take your fake grenade, your various training experiences, and get graded on participating in the grenade qual course. Yes, you can qualify on the hand grenade. Seven different events take place, from identifying different grenades, chucking grenades at various targets, and sneaking up on a bunker and tossing the grenade inside.

You get all seven, you qualify expert and wear a nifty little tab on your class A uniform that you will never wear out of BCT. If you do, people will point and laugh.

Pugils

PVT Erickson Says:

During Bayonet course, we learn different hand to hand techniques, in case we happened to run out of bullets during a fight and the enemy just so happened to run out of them as well. In order to get a real life jist of what this entails, they pit us up against each other using the Pugil Stick.

When describing the pugil stick, people usually describe them as giant q-tips.
They are a large baton or such with padded ends. When one prepares to play pugils, they put on all of this gear and extra padding so that nobody get's hurt to bad.

When we had pugils, they pitted us platoon against platoon. Mad Dawgs and Light Fighters fought one another, and then there was Cold Steel and Recon. When I was watching people kick each others ass, I was getting very eager to get my hand in the game as well.The andronoline pumping, I started to get antsy and awaited my turn to kick somebody's ass in Fourth Platoon.

Finally, they picked me and told me to suit up, sizing me up with another girl roughly my height. She was actually Recon's Platoon Guide. I was a little nervous but felt ready, I mean, I kicked butt during Bayonet, right?

Anyway, I put on the padding and squared off with my opponent, and got one good butt stroke to the head in, right in her face. It was a good solid hit. And that's about all I had.

I grabbed gloves that were to big for my puny little hands and couldn't get a grasp on the pugil. Henceforth, I got my ass kicked. I think the drill's were a bit disappointed, they expected me to put up a good fight. Not when I can't get a grip on the pugil and it keeps getting knocked from my hands.

It rained during pugils too. I thought pugils were going to be a lot more fun then they were. Instead, I just got mad at myself for not being able to put up a fight. There was a lot of potential there.

If I ever get my hands on another pugil stick, I'll make sure the gloves fit.

DS Erickson says:

I'll admit, I suck at Pugils. But they are quite fun.

Pugils goes hand in hand with Bayonet training. It is a motivator for Privates, an excuse to get their aggression out on their battle buddies.

For some reason, me and my battle in DS School were thought to be rivals or something, and so they pitted us against one another. We thought it was kind of weird, but she still kicked my ass. I guess I didn't want to kick her ass badly enough.

Physical Endurance Course

PVT Erickson Says:

Also known as the Conditioning Course in some posts.

The Physical Endurance Course was called tbe PECs Course. It was kind of like an obstacle course, where we had to go through it within a certain amount of time. It consisted of a lot of running, climbing, swinging, jumping, crawling, scaling, etc, etc. It sounds like a lot of fun, and by the time you do it, your endurance has been built up so much from the constant smoke sessions of the drill sergeants that you can almost handle it.

Note that I said it sounds like fun. The trick to the PECs course (which is called different things by different basic training forts, it was called PECs by Ft Leonard Wood) is if you want to do it, don't go to Basic in the dead of winter, like I did.

The company was scheduled to go to the PECs course 3 times while I was at Basic Training. The first time was toward the beginning of Basic, like in the second week or so. We pretty much did a walk through of the course, the Drill Sergeants explaining to us what was required and so on and so forth. It was kind of cold on the day we went, and this was just a walk through. Anyway, it looked like fun and I was excited.

Well, the company went again, but I was stuck on KP which I absolutely hate. Read the page on that if you want. I speak nothing but ill words of KP. Anyway, the people who were fortunate enough to go didn't really like it that much, because it was really cold and wet when they had to go through it.

Alright then, the next time then.

Of course, the next day we were scheduled to go on the PECs it snowed, (missouri &%$# weather!) I never got to go on the PECs course *sigh*.

That was one of the things I was really looking forward to as well.

DS Erickson Says:

Like the Confidence Course, the Conditioning Course is all about team work and motivation. It doesn't take as long to do, weather permitting. It's a smoker, designed to leave the privates gasping for air at the end. It's a series of obstacles that are fairly easy to do on their own (though if you're short like me, sometimes they are difficult). When you are racing up a hill and through the woods and over the various obstacles, you find yourself breathing hard in the end.

This kind of training can be scratched if need be, but in my opinion, it is important for the motivation of the privates and their basic training experience.

Confidence Course

The confidence course was much fun. It would have been more fun if the entire platoon did it. However, I got stuck doing the Confidence course with Light Fighters.

Confidence Course is just that. A confidence booster, done using a series of excercises that have a little edge to them, usually all physical in some way or another, often utilyzing heights. You climb, run, jump, slide, crawl etc. It is also a morale booster, and everyone is generally in good spirits at the end of the course, yelling and cheering and sounding off with their respective platoon mottos or what not.

This didn't quite happen with Cold Steel.

What happened is thus. During the "fun week" where we do all the "fun stuff" such as
Pugils, Bayonet, US Weapons, etc, your company gets detailed to do KP. Because this training isn't exactly priority is why. Which sucks. Confidence course was when my platoon got detailed to do KP. So half of the Platoon was gone.

This was remedied by putting the remainder of Cold Steel with the other Platoons. I got stuck with Light Fighters.

I have a rant about this one. But for some reason, I think Cold Steel Drills were pissed at us or something. This entire week they seemed particularly angry. What's kind of cool about the confidence course is that its a morale booster, and it's a team builder. The companies that took part in Confidence course really strengthened as a team, it seemed to unify them. Cold Steel suddenly became the red headed step children. We just tagged along, the few of us there from our respective platoon just hanging out and watching the rest of Light Fighters have a blast.

This, in a lot of aspects, ruined the confidence course for Cold Steel. Light fighters, however, weren't to mean to us. I hear the Mad Dawg Tag-alongs got particularly harsh treatment from their platoon. Recon lucked out. Our Drill Sergeant was with them so they got to chill with him, and Recon found out just how cool he was (the other platoons were petrified of him before this week)

So anyway, while the other platoons were involved in this bonding experience, Cold Steel felt left out in the cold. We commented on it after the fact with our drills and asked about perhaps going back to the Confidence course later as a unit. The drills said they'd think about it. It never happened.

I personally think that things like the Confidence Course are very important in basic training. When one joins the army, this is what they expect to do. This is what people look forward to. And it is a confidence builder, a team builder, etc etc.

This experience, if anything, hurt Cold Steel as a team. And left a lot of sour feelings after the fact.

DS Erickson Says:

I think the confidence course gets the shaft in a lot of units I've been in, where it gets shafted on account of time. Long story short, some units want to get in and out and cram as much as they can in a day, like in Fort Knox, where its customary to do the Confidence Course in the morning and the Gas Chamber in the afternoon.

I think this is a mistake. The confidence course in my opinion is vital to building confidence and teamwork in your platoon. This is all about motivation, and this does build confidence in the soldiers and sets an important mood for the rest of training.

If I'm ever duty drill for the Confidence Course week, I will assure that the full day is used if I can, so that as much of this can be done as possible. This kind of training, though not considered as vital, I believe is important for the privates and their overall experience with Basic Training.

US Weapons

There was a part of Basic Training where we put down our trusty 16s and familiarized ourselves with other pieces of machinery in the inventory of Armories everywhere. This is Basic Combat Training, if you are in the middle of a fire fight, your saw gunner falls over dead at your side, and you suddenly find your own rifle jamming for no apparent reason, are you just going to give up and say 'that's it, I'm done.'

No, you are going to pick up that SAW and start avenging your gunner while your cursing your own rifle. And then you're going to take the enemy down.

This is not a high speed instruction so that you know these weapons inside and out, but rather a familirization period so that you don't stare in a dumb stupor if you come across one of these strange weapons in the future. You'll at least know which end to point at the guy shooting at you and you'll have a general idea of where the trigger is. Hopefully the rest you can figure out as you fumble along.

Well, the US weapons range was unique to previous ranges, which consisted of a target known affectionately as Pop Up Joe. In this range, they took decommisioned Tanks and told us to shoot at them. Hey, your familiarizing yourselves, right? Might as well give us a target that they know we can hit!

Some people still missed them.

Anyway, there were five main weapons at our disposal for this period. We did a round robin gig where we got to familiarize ourselves with each one. The following pictures are examples of the weapons at a simulation center, they are actual weapons modified for training.

Ladies and Gentlemen, this is the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon. It fires the same NATO approved 5.56mm round that is fired by our trusty M16A2. This bad ass has a maximum rate of fire at 1,000 rounds per minute, but it is recommended to fire it in five to six round bursts (hold your finger on the trigger for a couple of seconds). That way, your muzzle doesn't become a red hot pile of liquid goo.

They gave us 100 rounds on a belt and we got in line behind an M249 and got familiar with feeding that sucker its food of choice and aimed down range at that big tank in the horizon, about 100 yards away.

Bliss. Ah. . .

There is also a similar weapon we got to play with, the M60 Machine Gun. Its a bit larger then the M249, and therefore not as mobile. I got to play with that one too. It also has a pretty bad ass rate of fire, the specifics are somewhere on the net if you Google M60 Machine Gun.

Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of it.

This looks an awful lot like an M16. Well, that's because it is. Its an M16 with a grenade launcher attached. The Grenade Launcher is known as an M203 Grenade Launcher, which I call my signiture weapon, a vector for launching an exploding assault farther then can be reached by the toss of an arm. Though I won't deny that either. Anything that goes kaboom on impact is alright with me.

And if that picture looks faintly familiar, to those of you who know me, it kind of is. That is the first pose to the picture that made me semi-famous.

The Anti Tank Weapon, from hence forward referred to as the AT4, is designed to take out small armies. Or rather, large metallic structures known as Tanks. Hence the name.

Now, I admit, this was purely a familarazation course with the AT4. We learn how to deploy it, and then you practice the motion by shooting things out the AT4 that aren't quite rockets. They are significantly smaller. In fact, I'm not sure what it is they have you practice with, I just know it doesn't make a lot of noise. You just prepare the weapon, shout out behind you "back Blast Area Clear" and when you're give the clear sign, you shoot it and a little white blob comes out of the front of the AT4.

It can be swayed by wind, but it gives you a general idea of whether or not you hit the tank. Which is important, because when you actually fire the AT4, its a one time shot.

The final familirization period comes with the use of the Claymore Mine. Well, we don't actually deploy these, and we've been instructed on them quite a bit up unto this time, but this is just another opportunity to bash it into your brain so you can pass the end of cycle test when they make you go over the Claymore Mine.

Note, the words "front toward enemy" does not face you.

Although we actually only went through the motions of the AT4 and the Claymore Mine, we did get to see both in action that day. The Claymore mine wasn't particularly exciting, mostly because they deployed it against a tank that didn't show the results of the impact. The AT4s were more impressive. And loud.

Of course, I didn't get to shoot a real one. They chose minorities to do that.

And I'm not joking. That's how they chose who got to shoot it.

DS Erickson Says:

Most units actually use merit for who gets to shoot the AT4 (high BRM is usually key to this). Every unit since BCT I've been with uses merit, which I prefer. Everything should be done by merit in my opinion.

Meanwhile, things have changed since I went through BCT in 2000. The M60 is phased out, and the M240B is the new Big Gun of choice. It is about as big as I am. Another big gun I left out is the M2, which is a 50 Caliber machine Gun. This thing is pure guts.

The first time I fired it was when i was on the trail. Some BCT units you get to fire the Mah Deuce, some you don't. Fort Leonard Wood, I never saw it. Fort Jackson, when we were doing US Weapons, the privates fired it before I even touched it.

You know how disappointing it is when you go seven years in the military and never get to fire one of these things? I fire them every chance I get now. the M2 is a beautiful piece of machinery.

Bayonet

PVT Erickson Said:
"What is the Purpose of the Bayonet?"
"To KILL KILL KILL with the Cold Blue Steel!"

"What makes the Green Grass Grow?"
"Blood, Blood, Bright Red Blood!"


Ok, so what is the bayonet? It is the little knife like thingee that goes on the end of your M16 that makes your M16 a jabbie tool instead of just a shootie tool. Because guess what? In a combat situation there may come a time when your ammo is all gone. And your lucky enough that your enemy's ammo is all gone too. So basically, you fix bayonets and gouge the enemy with them.

To tell you the honest truth, the bayonet is a worst case scenerio, becuase frankly, if you are resorting to striking your enemy with a bayonet, it means you are out of ammo. Which also means you're pretty screwed.

But that doesn't mean that the Bayonet isn't fun! Quite the contrary, the Bayonet course was among my favorites.

Well, actually, we were originally issued Bayonets and placed them on our m16s and all and practiced the different stances and what not with them. Basically, you hold the weapon at the ready and practice moves like the jab, thrust, butt stroke and various other excercises. During this entire excercise, you are to lower yourself to the depths of a savage and rabid killer that spurts off sonnets on blood and killing, basically whenever your told to relax you scream "NEVER!" and when placed in the ready position everyone screams "I wanna KILL SOMEBODY!!!"

Remember, this is the army, and the army's goal in life is defense, which sometimes resorts to killing. And Maiming. An gouging. And crippling. And whatever else.

Well, we went over the different movements, thrusts and strokes, meanwhile grunting and screaming ourselves hoarse. We were paired off with a battle buddy and stood facing them, staring them in the eyes and steadily moving towards them with
each movement. Finally when we got close enough we had to change over (or else actually jab each other and that wasn't our intention really) As we passed each other, we were then instructed to brush shoulders with your 'opponent' hard.

My partner was a soldier named Private Law, a girl whom I got along with at this time but later couldn't stand. My shoulder was black and blue from this excercise. She eventually asked me not to brush against her so hard. But I am an aggressive person.

Later we were paired with a dummy opponent made up over old tires with a rather flimsy spear that we pushed to the side and jabbed repeatedly. A drill sergeant over the intercom would give us various instructions on what to do with this enemy, which included various movements with the bayonet, "Butt Stroke to the Head", calling it names, spitting on it, kicking it, and of course thrusting and
jabbing it repeatedly over and over again.

Did I mention the Bayonet course was fun? I mean, what a great way to exert your anger out on whoever you wished this dummy could be. I think some soldiers pictured them as old boyfriends/girlfriends, etc. I don't remember who I pictured mine to be. I just had a really good time screaming at it.

Well, that wasn't everything, by the way. On top of practicing repeatedly with the bayonet on various dummies and so on, we had to run a course (that basically winded the living daylights out of you) where you ran into these little dummies everyonce in a while and you were given a task of Thrust, Perry, buttstroke to the groin or whatever. It was timed and everyone who wasn't on profile (pity the profiles) had to do it.

If you did it in a certain times and performed each event at each station properly with the suitable enthusiasm, you scored expert. If you didn't, well, you didn't. I kicked ass on the Bayonet Course. And because I'm a high speed gung-ho hooah soldier, i got a badge for it!

Yes, Bayonet Course was a blast. If I could, I'd do it again in a heartbeat. It was things like this that made me want to be a drill sergeant.

Drill Sergeant Erickson Said:
Bayonet is a last resort tool, and if you have to use it on the battle field, you are pretty much screwed.

It's still some of the best training you'll undergo, as well as some of the most motivating ranges you get to partake in as a private. If your Drill Sergeants are motivated in training it at least. This is one of my favorite training events, it is less about training and more about motivation. Unfortunately, it is also being phased out.

Like I said, you really don't fix bayonets very much anymore. But as soon as they take it out of training, there's going to be a situation where they should have fixed Bayonets.

Basic Rifle Marksmanship

PVT Erickson Says:

There are a lot of acronyms in the Army, if you haven't figured that out yet. BRM is one of the ones in Basic Training that you get to know really quick.

When one joins the fabulous organization we call the US Army, there is a chance that, whether male or female, you will face combat one day. Everyone needs to be able to protect themselves if such an even were to arise. The basic defense weapon of the Army is the M16-A2 Automatic Rifle.

A lot of Basic Training is centered on the familiarization of this weapon. You get to know your weapon. Really Well. Almost to well. In fact, at some point of your military career, you will sleep with your weapon in your arms.

Although this is not Full Metal Jacket, you may even give your weapon a name. In basic training, mine was Jake. For a while after Basic Training, every weapon I got was called Jake. Now I call my current weapon Ralph, but that's beside the point. Jake turned out to be my best friend. Because in real combat, your best friend is your rifle. It may one day save your life.

Well, I might as well get it over with. There are certain rules and regulations regarding your rifle. For one thing, it is a rifle, a weapon, an M16, Jake even, BUT it is NOT a Gun. Never ever EVER call your rifle a gun with a drill sergeant in hearing distance. You will suddenly find yourself doing weapons PT with your rifle. And weapons PT is not fun.

BRM was one of my favorite things about BCT. It consisted of marching around with a weapon, called Weapon Drill & Ceremony, low crawling with it, cleaning it, and of course, best of all, shooting it!

We took the rifles to the ranges to qualify on them, which consisted of hitting a target target anywhere from 50 to 300 meters away. We called these baddies Pop Up Joes. They would pop up, if we hit them, they went down. We qualified on these bad boys by tearing them up. I love qualifying on the weapon.

Building up to qualification, however, takes a lot of time. First we go to the range and practice shooting at targets, without really shooting at them. More of a bang bang kind of deal. I thought this was kind of cheesy myself. Then we go to this big building where we work on trigger squeeze, breathing, aiming so that we hit the target and don't jerk the rifle around. This is called the dime and socket method, or some such name, where you balance a dime on the end of your rifle and try to aim and pull the trigger without knocking it off. It's kind of tough. We also go to the weaponeer which is a lot of fun, and also shadow targeting, to see how well our groupings are.

Now we are ready for the real thing. We are given live rounds, moved onto the range like cattle, and told step by step what exactly we are expected to do. If we don't follow the guy in the control tower, well, there are a good 7 or 8 drill sergeants watching our every move and ready to take us out if we try to do anything funny. Like shoot somebody. That would be suicidal. You have a lot of people with live rounds.

The first thing we go over is grouping. We try to get groups of three within a certain area, which tells us that our aim is together and we aren't all over the place. Then we zero the weapon, which brings the groups to the center of the target so that we actually hit what we aim at. And then we go to the ranges. And get lots and lots and lots of practice.

And once we qualify, we do a lot of other fun stuff on ranges with weapons. Like the 3 to 5 second rush, where idiots like me bash their faces on the carrying handle of the M16.

There is something very army about the smell of firing a fully loaded M16. The gun
powder, the smoke stinging your eyes, the kick from the round. Whenever I get a weapon in my hands, I always reminisc about the good old days of basic training. Ah, those were the best times!

DS Erickson Says:

BRM is the bread and butter of Basic Training. Current BCT has soldiers acquiring their weapons from Day 3 and integrating with them for about eight weeks. You get to know everything there is to know about your rifle. A soldier is not a soldier without his weapon.

Weapons were downplayed when I went through Basic, we only took them out when we went to the ranges or when we were cleaning them, but soldiers these days always have them, unless they are at sick call or church. You take them with you everywhere. You are to become fully familiarized with this rifle.

Just don't call it a gun. That's for the artillery.

The Gas Chamber

PVT Erickson Says:

CS Gas

An otherwise nonlethal, nasal irritant that is used to control riots. Or to make unsuspecting basic trainees grope in madness at their masks and try to put them on as they were taught.

In todays modern warfare, we have a weapon called Biological and Chemical agents. We have access to them, and I'm afraid that the enemy has them as well. And despite the geneva convention and other such items used to control these weapons of mass destruction, the enemy will continue to use them on us, the United States Army. This is why we are trained to put a protective mask on in under nine seconds. It sounds hard, and when the mask is uncooperative, it is.

Well, in Basic Training, they teach us all about these chemical agents and how to protect ourselves from them using the protective mask previously mentioned. And to prove how iffecient they are, they have an item called the gas chamber.

Of course, they aren't going to use a lethal substance such as Mustard Gas on us, they like to pull out the good old CS. I'm not sure what CS stands for, (I'll look it up) but it is not lethal to human beings unless in high doses. And I mean really high. It is the gas used in riot control, and it causes your entire respiratory to itch and clean itself out, causing your snot to hang down past your belt as you puke
out your lunch.

Drill Sergeants love CS gas.

Now, you enter the gas chamber with your mask on. If it isn't properly sealed, you'll get a slight itchy feeling, but nothing that you can't handle. There is a Chemicle Sergeant in the chamber with you, giving you the orders, which you are expected to follow. In this case, it was good old DS H (name abbreviated to protect the innocent, which would be me), a Staff Sergeant who likely inhaled a little to much CS gas in his time.

Now, when you are masked up in the real world, you have to decontaminate your face if entering a chemical environment. This requires breaking the seal. And guess what? That means possibly inhaling the dangerous contaminants that are in the air if you don't do it properly. So DS H watches us carefully as we all break our seal and display our chins. Then he orders us to reseal and clear our mask. If we do it properly, we won't have to worry about trapping contaminates in our mask with the air we are breathing, otherwise killing ourselves.

Now that we demonstrate that we know how to clear and seal the mask, he gives us all the order to remove the mask and yell out our name and platoon motto. A lot of places might make you yell out your name, rank and Serial number, but no, this is Bravo 3-10, and for crying out loud, we are a bit cheesey for Army Standards.

NOw I'm not entirely sure what the purpose of unmasking ourselves entirely and breathing in the load of CS Gas found in the chamber, but part of me thinks it is for the Drill Sergeant's twisted enterntainment. They call it riot control, but it is riot enducing.

Now, before we entered the gas chamber, some volunteers were picked out of the crowd to direct traffic, or in other words, as the unmasked trainees gropple their way out of the gas chamber, it is the duty of these few individuals to direct them in the right direction and stop them from running off like a steaming locomotive, hurting themselves and anyone who happens to be in their way. When you first come out of the gas chamber, your eyes are tearing and you can't see a damn thing.

Guess what? I was one of the volunteers!

Now, positioned right outside the gas chamber, you could hear everything going on inside, and you got to be the first ones to see them dart out of there like a speeding bullet. This proved very entertaining, and we got to be some of the last ones to go through, so we saw EVERYONE go through the chamber.

They also videotaped everyone coming out of the chamber. I bought the video tape. It is highly entertaining.

What also proved interesting, after people puked and blew snot all over their masks, they had to give them to people who had malfunctioning masks that were missing parts or other wise not working well. So these people got puked on, snot filled masks.

I'm very glad I just stood in front of the chamber and nobody used my mask but me.I have a problem with people who have snotty noses wiping their boogers all over my property.

Well, I was probably the last to go through the chamber. And I was one of the first to take my mask off. Some idiot who was with me didn't want to take off their mask, and while I'm groping in the darkeness and trying to breath, and wanting to punch their lights out (we weren't allowed to leave until we ALL had said our platoon motto), I had to wait a good 10 seconds longer then normal for her to say the damn platoon motto. And that was already 15 seconds to long.

Of course, despite the fact that I had to breath in a butt load of CS gas, I strolled out of that gas chamber and yelled "COLD STEEL!" at the top of my lungs. And then I allowed myself to meander over to the rest of the company as we all congratulated and give ourselves a pat on the back for enduring the Gas Chamber. It turned out to be a fun event.

Of course, because we slacked slightly in our discipline, upon returning to the company area, we got a nice little visit to the pit. And got our butts reamed out for something we weren't entirely sure for. I guess for high morale, but then again, the drill sergeants always wanted us to have high morale. But then, that's just Drill Sergeants.

DS Erickson Says:

I don't know what it is about CS Gas. it is just as miserable as a staff sergeant as it was as a private. But for some reason, it is still motivating, as you're eyes tear up and you desperately want to rub your eyes out. Warning: DON'T DO IT!

Just flop around like a bird and get the crap out of your clothes.

It is a truly miserable experience, but at the same time, perhaps one of the most motivating experiences you'll have as a private. Who knows what it is about it, CS Gas can be akin to torture, but you just get pumped after the fact.

The snot is truly a glorious thing too.

Mottos

PVT Erickson Says:

These are the mottos I heard numerous times over the course of Nine Weeks. They are engrained in my brain for life. Enjoy!

Items written in italics are my own words,
A specific person or group of people chanting that portion of the motto, and described movements.

Company Motto

We are Bravo, Bravo 3-10!
The Best Darn Company that's ever been!
War's our game, our claim to fame
if we can't do it, it can't be done!
Lightfighters:Motivation!
Cold Steel:Determination!
Mad Dawgs:Dedication!
Recon:Inspiration!
All:Graduation!
Drive on Drill Sergeant Drive On!
clap, clap
Drive on Drill Sergeant Drive On!
clap, clap
AaaaiiiirrrrBORNE!
Bravo 3-10 HOOAH!

Lightfighters
WE are light fighters first platoon.
Soldiers oh, so so soon
Full of dedication, got an destination,
heading straight for graduation.
Blood sweat tears, we faced the fears
So light it up, light fighters, light it up
So light it up, light fighters, light it up
so light it up, Light fighters, LIGHT IT UP!

Cold Steel

Platoon Motto:
When it's cold outside, you know what to expect,
We are the cold steel killa's and we're in effect
we are, malesBravo 3-10, what?
femalesSecond Platoon!
allRock to graduation we'll see you soon.
Lightfighters, Mad Dawgs, Recon to the rear.
On our way to graduation you can carry our gear.
Can you feel the chill, coming in for the kill!
femalesWho you talkin' bout fool?
Cold, Cold, Cold Steel!

Weapon's Motto:
Cold as Ice! Hard as Steel!
Cold Steel will bring the pain that you can feel.
Sending chills, down your Spine.
Cold Steel is on a mission to kill one time!
Kill'em, Kill'em, with no regret!
Kill'em, Kill'em, with the Bayonet!
Kill'em, Kill'em, That's all we do!
Kill'em, Kill'em, We'll kill you too.
Lightfighters, Mad Dawgs and Recon,
Can't even hang with a rhyme like ours.
We Excel, they all fail.
We're number One, YO!
Can't you tell? HOOAH!

BRM Motto:

This motto was never performed because we kept botching it up in the end, but it was still very cool, so i thought I'd include it.
Females: Where ya at, Hero?
Your weapon ain't Zero,
Better then them,
At BRM!
Males: Killa's, Killa's
Females: That's who we are!
Males: Killa's, Killa's
Females: Hit the Target Star.
Males: Killa's, Killa's
Females: No Matter how far!
Males: Killa's, Killa's
Females: Hardy Har Har Har

Males: It's our time to shine
So think back, rewind
It's Cold Steel defined
To be one of a kind

Sharrod: Hey Cold Steel!
All: What!
Sharrod: One Shot!
All: One Kill!
Sharrod: Bringin' the Thrill in
All: BRM!

Females: Killa's, Killa's
Males: That's who we are!
Females: Killa's, Killa's
Males: Hit the Target Star.
Females: Killa's, Killa's
Males: No Matter how far!
Females: Killa's, Killa's
All: Hardy Har Har Har!

Dismissed Motto:
This motto included movements which would
ruin the vibe of the motto if described here.
It was performed under the commande of DISMISSED
I got my left foot forward
I got my right foot back
I gotta go, Drill Sergeant, I gotta Go!
I gotta go, Drill Sergeant, but I'll be back!
Kick 'em in the shins
Punch 'em in the chest
Slash 'em in the throat
Poke 'em in the Eye!
Releeeaaaase the pressure
To Smooth, Cold Steel Smooth.
HOOOAH!

Mad Dawgs

Together we Stand, Divided we fall
Ready to brawl, with our backs against the wall
Females: Where my dawgs at?
Males: Woof, woof all stomp
Females: Where my dawgs at?
Males: Woof, woof all stomp
Females: So when you hear the
Males: Woof, woof all stomp
Females: Start Runnin'

Let out the dawg pound
Unlock the Cage
Ready for Battle
Unleash the Rage.
We are the Mad Dawgs of Third Platoon
Com-plete with ammo, packin' the doom
So tell the Lightfighters to stay in their rooms,
Droppin' the Bomb on all Recons,
So go to the phones and call your moms.
Tell Cold Steel no need to squeal,
Get down on your knees, we're ready to kill

We are the Top Dawgs on this block,
Memales: So when you hear tha-
Males: Woof Woof All stomp
All: YA BETTA DROP!



Recon
As much as Recon and Cold Steel were bitter rivals, Recon did happen to have a very awesome motto (that I will only admit to the fact almost a year afterwards!)
Of course, we were all sick to death of it,like every other motto,
after the sixty millionth time they sounded off with it!

Llewelyn: Hey Recon!
Girls: What? We rowdy, rowdy!
Somerville: Hey Recon!
Girls: What? We bout it, bout it!
Guys: Hey Recon!
All: Uh! We rocks the party!
Guys: Who rocks the party that rocks the body?
Girls: We rocks the party that rocks the body!
All: Ain't no Light Fighters got no spark
and the Mad Dogs purr cause they can not bark.
At Ease make way! Cause we're coming through.
Don't follow this path cause we're Recon! Smooth!
Cold Steel you ain't off the hook!
Cause U-G-L-Y still got you shook!
Recon Soldiers are off the wall.
If you step to us than you just might
fall........
girls hold fall while guys move on
Guys: Re...Re...Re...Recon
Girls: Jiggy! don't forget the hand jive
Guys: Re...Re...Re...Recon softer than the one before
Girls: Jiggy! here too! continue to get softer
Guys: Re...Re...Re... even softer still
All: Recon.... whisper it!

DS Erickson Says:
The above is an example of Basic Training channeling a cheerleading squad. Preferably, mottos should be kept short, two sentances max. You shouldn't be doing a full out cheerleading routine. Which we did sometimes.

But the point of Mottos is to build team work and to motivate the platoon to work together. If you have a bitchin' mascot and a cool motto, it works pretty well. Or you can have the lamest company motto in the history of the army and just think 'this is stupid' every time you say it.

Keep it short and sweet. But make it motivating and preferably with something about grit, death and destruction. That's the key to a successful motto.

B 3-10, no offense to my drill sergeants, they were some of the best drill sergeants I've seen, but you're doing it wrong. . .

Kitchen Police

Note: this was written from my experience at the time going through basic training in 2000. From what I hear, KP is not something that is done in Basic Training anymore.

KP happens to everyone who joins the military. It doesn't matter what branch, you will do it.

I did it once, and hated it. Mainly because we were missing 'fun' training because we had to do KP.

So what is KP? Well, it's kitchen duty. You see, you go to basic training with all these people, they have to eat, so they are provided meals using the labor provided. It's a detail you learn to do, because chances are you'll pull KP duties later in your military career.

Actually, there's kind of two kinds of KP. The KP that is done out in the field (and doesn't really count), and the KP done in the Dining Facility. Some people love doing KP for several reasons. There is a Drill Sergeant in charge of you during KP, but he (or she) is usually relaxed and taking a break for the day. In other words, they are a bit more relaxed, and sometimes will even let you eat out of the fruity cake bar. The one time I had KP, the drill sergeant didn't let me touch no fruity cakes, but that's ok with me.

It also got you out of training for the day, and you couldn't get smoked.

The duties in KP are simple. You either serve on the chow line, wash dishes, prepare the preprepared food (usually consisting of the salad bar) or take out the trash (I was unfortunate to be stuck with this final duty, it sucked). Everyone kind of helps clean the D-Fac between meals, and the sooner its done, the more time you get to just lounge about. Sorry, no switching between duties, if your the garbage person, there's no way in hell your getting near that serving line (which is what I secretly wanted to do). As a 91S, I'd have your ass.

So anyway, you do this all day. It would be fine enough if it was during a normal class room exercise, where they brief you about Army Values or Consideration of Others training or some boring crap like that, but NOOOO! They nab you from the funnest training in Basic! And you don't get to make it up. Now that's what sucks.

My Platoon got the jip a couple times with KP. But then so did the others.

However, some people actually liked doing PT, but their just weird. Anyway, sometimes it wasn't mandatory to do KP, and they asked for Volunteers every once in a while. If nobody volunteered, they'd volunteer you. For some reason, I always knew when the Drill Sergeants were asking for volunteers for KP. You see, they often asked for volunteers for several odd jobs, such as unloading trucks, shoveling snow, stuff like that. I went out of my way to volunteer for these kinds of things so I wouldn't have to be stuck doing KP. This stuff I didn't mind so much. It only took you out of maybe a couple hours of training.

Of course, some of the time, they would just ask for Volunteers. If you asked what you were volunteering for, the Drill Sergeant would give you the Universal answer.
"Does it matter? Push."

I made it a point not to ask. I just happened to have a sixth sense about whether
it was KP or not.

The Phonetic Alphabet

A ALPHA (AL FAH)	B BRAVO (BRAH VOH)	C CHARLIE (CHAR LEE)	D DELTA (DELL TAH)
E ECHO (ECK OH)	F FOXTROT (FOKS TROT)	G GOLF (GOLF)	H HOTEL (HOH TELL)
I INDIA (IN DEE AH)	J JULIETT (JEW LEE ETT)	K KILO (KEY LOH)	L LIMA (LEE MAH)
M MIKE (MIKE)	N NOVEMBER (NO VEM BER)	O OSCAR (OSS CAH)	P PAPA (PAH PAH)
Q QUEBEC (KEH BECK)	R ROMEO (ROW ME OH)	S SIERRA (SEE AIR RAH)	T TANGO (TANG GO)
U UNIFORM (YOU NEE FORM)	V VICTOR (VIK TAH)	W WHISKEY (WISS KEY)	X XRAY (ECKS RAY)
Y YANKEE (YANG KEY)	Z ZULU (ZOO LOO)	1 ONE (WUN)	2 TWO (TOO)
3 THREE (TREE)	4 FOUR (FOW ER)	5 FIVE (FIFE)	6 SIX (SIX)
7 SEVEN (SEV EN)	8 EIGHT (AIT)	9 NINE (NIN ER)	0 ZERO (ZE RO)

Listed above is the phonetic alphabet, something in which you are supposed to learn in basic training. I learned it after the class. Why? Because I spent that particular class in the dying cockroach. Eyeballing one of the drill sergeants, I don't know. Drill Sergeant Jackson always had it in for me.

Chow Time

In the army there's this thing called food. Actually, food is also outside of the army, but for some reason, for basic Trainees, this is one of the most important times of the day, when you get to eat!

Basic Training is such a physical act that you burn through calories extremely quickly. As such, you eat. A lot. And after leaving the dining facility, within ten minutes your hungry again. Sucks to be you. The only time you ever get to eat is when you are in the dining facility. Or outside at some range eating MREs. Or getting field feed.

Have you ever noticed that food is better outside? Like when your camping?

Well, there are three basic types of chow in the army basic training environment. Indoor, outdoor, and just add water.

You learn about indoor first. Well, there are roughly sixty soldiers to a basic training platoon, four platoons to a company, and at one point during basic training, we had four companies in my batallion. Or was it five?

Do the math. That is a lot of people to rush through a dining facility. In today's politically correct army, it is called the dining facility, not the chow hall like they did in vietnam. Though with everything else, this has over time gotten shortened to D-Fac. Any indoor place meant to consume food to an army grunt soldier is called a D-Fac. Kind of like all toilets are known as Latrines.

Anyway, You gotta get a lot of soldiers through a dining facility as quickly as humanly possible. So they have this choreographed, and they do it every day. You get used to the routine after you've done it for nine weeks.

Each company gets a time frame to go through the D-Fac. Within each company, each platoon gets dibs on who goes first. Within each platoon, each squad knows who goes first. You eat in that order. You squeeze as many people into line as can be fit. You stare straight ahead and don't say a word. When you are standing their, you stand at parade rest as your stomach growls.

You see the chow lady, or another private on KP, you quickly tell them what you want. Don't dawdle, the Drills are watching. Make your decision, quick, and get out of there. Pass the Fruity Cake bar but look, don't touch. Forbidden fruit, keep walking. Put your plate down, go back and get a glass of water, pass the fruity cake bar again and then sit down and Eat. Don't talk, just eat. Don't do any sign language either. Chow time isn't for communication with your battle buddies. You're duty is to eat, nothing else.

Once your plate is cleared, take it to the dishwasher and get back in formation. Everyone should be in formation within ten minutes. Then you go about your business. Usually class or whatever else.

Outdoor chow is relatively the same thing, except its outdoors with Mermites. They bring chow to you. Its hot, and hot is good. You don't have to worry about other companies, its just yours for the most part. You get a main meal, vegetables, lotsa bread, some other junk, and of course the junk food your forbidden to eat but they still have it there to taunt you. The drills usually serve it also.

"Hey Private, want a Honey Bun?"

So you sit yourself down, your weapon slung across your back, make sure to keep the muzzle out of the dirt, and chow down. Sometimes you can get away with talking during field feed.

When you aren't priveleged with field feed, they give you MRE's. Just add water.

MRE's have become Infamous in the army. You got a complete meal in one package. Most of the contents are described in paragraph form on the packages. They got this nifty little heater where all it needs is water and you got yourself a heated course.

Don't worry about what kind of meat you get, whether its beef frankfurters, breaded chicken or ham slice, to tell you the honest truth they taste all the same.

And of course if you are feeling particularly vile, you can always challenge a battle buddy into the saltine challenge. "Hey, I bet you my chocolate brownie against your lemon pound cake that you can't eat all of those crackers in two minutes."

Just be careful who you challenge, cause it can be done.

Fire Guard

Oh, the sweet smell of guard duty. It is one of those things that you will come into contact with over and over in your time in the United States Army.

Anytime you have sensitive items, you have to have a guard on them. Guard duty can consist of just standing there and reporting in every couple of hours to say that what you're guarding is still there, or it might consist of watching Red Vs Blue for six straight hours, with a connex in your line of sight. I've guarded the front desk for CQ, and I've guarded weapons while everyone else was out doing errands.

The first example of guard duty for me was Fire Guard.

I generally don't mind guard duty myself. I celebrated 2006 on Guard Duty. But Fire Guard was a bit different. And as far as I know, its universal in the military.

You and your battle buddy do fireguard in an hour to two hour shifts while everyone else sleeps. You do your rounds, checking to make sure that everyone's wall lockers are secured. You make sure nobody is out doing something they aren't supposed to be doing. And if there's a fire, you wake everyone up and make sure they are ok as they get out of the building.

Fortunately, I've never had to do the fire aspect of my fireguard duties. But I had fireguard two nights on and one night off. And it sucked.

I'm a person that likes my sleep, maybe a little to much sometimes. I can get by with seven hours of sleep alright, but it makes it doubly hard when you have an hour interruption in that sleep. Because of Fire Guard, I was often a walking Zombie, and I think that is one of the reasons why I fell asleep in class so often.

"Must, catch, sleep. . . zzzzzz"

Some units have you stay awake by making you do Barracks Maintenance while on fire guard, or they tell you to work on memorizing stuff. I still have my smart book where I was writing my chain of command on the inside and you can actually see where I was dozing off because writing down my chain of command was putting me to sleep!

I had a few run ins with some of my platoon mates who decided to leave their wall lockers unsecured while I was on guard duty. Because I had some stuff jacked while in reception, maybe I was a bit anal about wall lockers being secured, but hey, I was the one on fire guard so it was MY butt on the line.

Did I mention hanging out with a bunch of moody females was one of the worse parts of basic? Fire guard was part of that reason.

And waking up the next people in line for guard duty. They NEVER wanted to get up. GARRRR!!!!

Note to you new recruits, don't blue falcon your battle buddies. When its time for Guard Duty, be there for Guard Duty on time. The people you are recovering want to go back to bed.

Physical Training

I hear PT has changed a bit from when I went in. They have something now called Standardized PT. It is set up to doing certain things at certain times.

Well, when I went through, the drills did whatever they wanted to. They pulled things out of their heads and said "alright, do this." We did a variety of different calisthenics, push ups and sit ups of course being the popular standbys, and of course, doing a lot of running.

We did PT every morning unless we had to go to the range for the day or if it was a Sunday or something like that. Usually they also alternated it between Run Days and Upper Body workouts. We did PT in the mornings. Sometimes we did it again in the evenings.

We were always working out and builing up our strength. This was of course, all geared toward one thing which could make or break us as we made our way through Basic Training.

That is the Army Physical Fitness Test.

You take one of these every two or so weeks, just to see where you're at in Basic. What is it? Well, you have two minutes to do as many pushups as you can. Take a ten to twenty minute break. Then you have two mintues to do as many Situps as you can. Take another break. Now go run for two miles and get that done as quickly as you can. You just did a PT test. Some people come into Basic being able to do a handful of Situps and maybe they can't break the plane on the Pushup. The Drills will solve that real quick.

They do that with PT.

Smoking Sessions

PVT Erickson Says:

So, just what is a smoke session you might ask yourself? No, it does not involve cigarettes. One does not smoke while they are in basic training. One get's smoked.

Smoking is just a slang term used to describe somebody getting a quick yet heavy workout, usually in conjuction with a punishment of sorts. If you are getting smoked, you likely did something wrong. Or your battle buddy did something wrong. Or somebody in your platoon did something wrong.

There is a mindset in the army. In war, actions of one person affects the entire unit. If one person screws up, all may suffer. The actions of one individual can get an entire company killed even. (sleeping during guard duty for example) They drill this into the heads of the soldiers early by, you guessed it, mass punishment.

In a typical basic training platoon, you get at least one person who is a complete idiot. When they were issuing out brains in heaven, this person likely was doing things elsewhere. Such as it is with Basic Training. Every cycle there is that one person that get's the rest of the company in trouble. How do they handle this? If one person isn't squared away, everyone pays.

What does this teach us as soldiers? To watch out for our battle buddies. Especially the ones that cause us to get in trouble.

During class room excercises, which are particularly boring in many aspects, people have a tendency to nod off. I did, I was notorious for it. Drill sergeants scan the parimater of the classroom looking for these few individuals to send them to get smoked in the back of the classroom. Guess who else get's smoked along with the person nodding off? The person besides you. Maybe even the person sitting behind you as well. Why? because you are affecting them, and they weren't watching out for you. As such, your battle buddies sitting next to you are more then willing to give you a good nudge in the ribcage for starting to fall asleep during their watch.

This is where I got most of my smoking done. I'm sorry, I found the classroom boring as hell. I didn't join the army to learn about the Army Values for crying out loud. I joined to blow shit up! Well, ok, maybe I'm not a combat engineer, but still!

Smoking is done in a variety of places. Out in front of the company so all can see you in all your tore-up glory, in the pit, someplace muddy, in the platoon bay, on the road, just about anywhere! Smoking may take place while you are doing PT, usually your in your camouflage, sometimes you have a weapon, sometimes your wearing your rucksack. It inquires a variety of excercises.

Everyone knows the push-up, the most well known method of smoking someone. This is popular because it is quick, it helps the soldier prepare for their pt Test while they are getting their punishment, and it is relatively clean, not to much dirt on the uniform is acquired. Sometimes the Drills aren't going for dirty. Especially when they are in a place where no mud is available, or hard surfaces that wouldn't be very smart for more arobic excercises. The push-up is the old standby.

Flutter-kick. (From what I hear, this is phased out) Is that a name that doesn't seem to go with army or what? I mean, that word, Flutter, it just seems so frail and feminine, I have always found it kind of ironic that it was used in conjunction with a method of torture used by drill sergeants. Basically, the flutter kick is thus. Lay on your back, with your hands in the small of your back. Raise your legs about six to ten inches off the ground. Now kick them up and down, kind of like your swimming. Your head is raised off the floor as well while you are doing this. The flutter kick is a four count movement. If you are out of shape, twenty repetitions will leave you smoked. Why is this a popular one? For one, it gives your abs a great workout, it's good for hard surfaces as you don't have to worry about banging up your knees, and you just sit in one place.

The overhead arm clap. Ok, clap your hands over your head. Not to hard, a quick one to do when you are in formation or your in a place that doesn't allow a lot of room. This one is not a workout if your arms are in good shape. This is a popular one for the first three or so weeks, while they are still building your tolerance to pain. It's relatively easy, until you start sounding off in the hundreds. The last time I did this, about midway through basic training, we sounded off somewhere in the three hundred range. I can't exactly remember. I had gotten to a point where it wasn't a workout any more. That's when they moved onto other things.

The squat is, well, a popular one for dining facilities. You squat, as if you are sitting in a chair with your legs bent and ninety degree angles, your hands outstretched in front of you. And you stay there. Sometimes you are braced against a wall. other times you just stand in the middle of the room. The first minute, hmm, no problem. The second minute you start to feel something, by the third minute, especailly if you are out of shape, your legs are screaming. Drills like to encorporate sound into this one, usually making you belt out a phrase that just sounds rediculous. humiliation is a big factor in basic training.

Front back Go, also known as Grass Drills, is a popular one. (I hear this one may be phased out too) This is one that they often use in school sports as well. It is an arobic excercise that basically has you gasping for breath. Front is the pushup position, back is the flutter kick position, and go is running in place. However, very rarely are you in the position long enough to actually do the excercise. The excercise is a continual transition from one position into another. They give you breaks when doing this, it is called, "roll right and roll left". The purpose of this excercise is to build up your cardiovascular system and create endurance. Great fun. It is usually done on soft ground, such as grass or mud because there is a potential for banging up knees. It is also used for when the Drills want to get you good and dirty, you will usually have mud caked to you for the rest of the day.

Three to five second rush. This is sometimes used as a method of punishment, but it is a training tool that will save your life in direct combat. Using this form of torture will help you get used to it. It's fairly easy the first few rounds, and then you start getting tired. Then it becomes difficult. What it basically is, you start in the low crawl position, or the high crawl, which ever, and you start crawling. The drill sergeant then yells "I'm up!" where you then get to your feet as quickly as possible and sprint to the as far as you can until the Drill Sergeant then says "he sees me I'm down," where you then go back down in the low crawl position and inch your way across once more. Your up for maybe a good three to five seconds, if that. Hence the name. This one is popular when used with mud. It is a high arobic excercise that really works the muscles.

Bear Crawl. I only did this one once. It sucked. And it was humiliating. Basically crawl around on your hands and feet, not your knees, your feet. Fairly easy at first, but as the time passes, it kills the quads. I was put into this position by the First Sergeant during Graduation Practice, becuase I laughed.

Side Note: I would not call PT Smoking so much. PT is just Physical Training that you have to do to get in shape. Smoking is usually used in conjunction with Punishment. That's the difference. Sometimes though, you get smoked in PT.

There is also a humiliation factor in Smoking as well. Sometimes the excercise isn't so hard, it's the fact that you are doing it. And everyone is watching you do it. And you feel like an idiot. Welcome to the United States Army.

Army Values

PVT Erickson Says:
The Army Values are as follows:

• Loyalty: to bear true faith and allegiance to the US Constitution, the Army, your unit and other soldiers.
  
• Duty: Fulfill your obligations
  
• Respect: Treat others as they should be treated
  
• Selfless Service: To put the welfare of the Nation, the Army, Your Unit and other soldiers before your own.
  
• Honor: Live up to the Army Values
  
• Integrity: To do what's right, both legally and Morally
  
• Personal Courage: To face fear and danger, both physical and moral.

If you take the first letter of each value, it spells out LDRSHIP, which is Leadership. Pretty spiffy, huh?

Actually, what I found very annoying about the army values is how they seemed to be prioritized above basic combat skills training. We had classes on all the army values seperately. We had a lot of class room time period. I just found it completely annoying in general.

Now, I'm not dissing the army values, I'm not doing that at all. I think that it is great that they have the army values (which is a relatively new thing, btw). I just found it odd that they placed such priority in teaching these to us. Like they say, its a kinder, gentler army. Almost to a fault if you ask me.

DS Erickson Says:
A lot of people come into the army, all walks of life, and some come from broken homes and rough backgrounds with low morals and ethics. The Army Values have been introduced relatively recently in the military, I believe in the 1990's, and though they are one of those things that help embody the mantra of a 'kinder, gentler army', they do have an important purpose in giving new recruits a moral code to live by. All soldiers are expected to live by the Army Values.

As a Private, I came in with a high moral code and a lot of this felt redundant to me. I knew what integrity and respect meant. I wanted to do the fun stuff, and army values generally meant sitting in a classroom getting briefed.

I went through basic training during peacetime. Now that we are at war, Army Values are pushed to the side in favor of other training to make sure that the soldiers are better qualified to survive on the battle field. But I understand better now, as a Drill Sergeant, viewing basic combat training from the other side, that this training is just as important to some of these soldiers as weapons training. A soldier who doesn't understand the concept of loyalty or duty or any one of the army values is not a soldier I want by my side in the heat of battle.

The army values and the warrior ethos (which didn't exist when I went through basic) is a something to live by.

I will always place the mission first.
I will never accept defeat.
I will never quit.
I will never leave a fallen comrade.

Learn it. Live it.

Class Room

PVT Erickson Says:

Ahh, the Class Room. Now, most of us have been through school, correct? And in doing so, we have all gone through that torturous class where the information presented was less then interesting and we were so dog tired that we didn't care about it anyway.

Well, put a Basic Trainee into a class room when they are smoked daily, put on their
wits end, given less sleep then they're used to, and on top of it all pulling fire guard, thus interupting their already pesky sleep schedule, and you'll have an inkling of what's going on here.

These classes are not terribly exciting. They come in two variaties. Hands on (which
really was kind of interesting) and just general briefings where we all sit down in
a classroom and listen to a Drill Sergeant or some other high ranking individual
in the army talk to us about something in the Army.

We're talking Rights and Priveleges, Army Values, UCMJ, Proper Wear of the Uniform, More Army Values, Radio, The Phonetic Alphabet, Female Hygene, Commanders Briefing, Consideration of Others, Even More Army Values, History of the Army, History of Ft. Leonard Wood, History of the Battalion, Map Reading and of course, Army Values. Now, once in a blue moon, I felt myself awake enough where I didn't have to douse my stomach with water to stay awake, or I had a battle buddy next to me who was more then eager enough to give me a hard nudge in the rib cage, but more often then not I would find myself sent back to the fitness center located at the back of the classroom.

This is self explanatory, if I might say so. If you are caught nodding off, the drill sergeant will send you and your battle buddy (because he wasn't watching you and you are supposed to be looking out for each other) to the back of the class room where you are further smoked by another drill sergeant by doing Push ups, jumping jacks, the flutter kick, or some other method of physical torture that they can dream up.

I hated the class room. It was so hot and stuffy in there my eye lids were just screaming for me to let them close for a few moments of rest and relaxation. My body was going through a big enough shock as it was.

And guess what? For the first two weeks, in todays PC Army, we basically had nothing
but classes. Now, this isn't actually very usual, the classes are generally spread out throught the course of Basic. However, I went through Basic in the Dead of Winter so when it got too cold, the Drills couldn't do much more with us other then give us a bunch of classes. These first two weeks I was constantly getting my butt smoked for being bored and it was at this point that I was seriously doubting my decision to join the Army.

But it did get better, honest!

A Typical Day at Basic

PVT ERICKSON SAYS:

Wake up anywhere between 4-4:30, depending on your platoon and your drill sergeants. My drill sergeants woke us up at four, every day. We had to make our bunks, brush out teeth, (And do barracks maitenance depending on what time we had to be outside) and be outside any time between 415 to 450, depending on whether or not we had to turn in linen, laundry, or pickup our weapons. Then we returned to the company and did PT. When we had our weapons, sometimes we had weapons PT. I loved my weapon, i really did. I did not like it very much when we did weapons PT however. Funny how much a 8 pound weapon really weighs when you do various excercises involving it.

The drill sergeants couldn't touch us, so they used PT to punish us. And they made us discover muscles we never knew existed. For three weeks, my body was very stiff.

And PT involved running next to a mad drill sergeant who liked to scream, a lot. Or doing muscle failure excercises (where you do something until your muscles become so limp that you can't do it anymore) with a drill sergeant telling you to do more and more, and then seeing somebody not doing the excercise and so they punish everyone and make everyone do it longer.

After PT was uniform inspection, in which we usually had anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes to run inside, utilyze the latrine, change from our sweaty PT uniform and hang that on our locker, change into BDU's, run outside and get in formation. Sometimes we would have uniform inspections, which would give the drill sergeants further excuse to scuff you up if your uniform was tore up in any way.

Then off to chow.

Yes, it was hard at times standing in line at the chow hall, because you wanted so badly to yell at the person ahead of you who was talking and going to get all the rest of you in trouble. Plus, we don't shower after PT, so everyone kind of stinks. Not a pretty picture. YOu ended up taking bird baths right after PT if you had the chance.

Breakfast was the same everyday. And the drill sergeants yelled at you if you didn't have enough on your plate.

After chow we did various different things. This was class room time, where we either went into the class room and tried desperately to stay awake as we were taught the "army values" or were briefed about sexual harrassment, and UCMJ codes and what not (we did this pretty much all the time the first two weeks. It sucked.) When we fell asleep in class, we were sent to the fitness training center in the back of the class. To wake us up. And it usually worked. You can guess what they did.

also, during this time, we might go over reinforcement, like hand grenade training, BRM, Pugils, pecs course, things like that. This was the fun stuff in Basic training. This was also a great time to scuff us for no reason. Drill sergeants particularly like "front back go" in a place called the 'pit'.

Then it was off to lunch. Depending on whether or not we were close enough to the chow hall, we would eat in the chow hall or have field feed. If we were really lucky, it was MRE's. We soon came to love the chow hall, especially when our times eating there became fewer and fewer, and toward the end of basic, field feed and MRE's became more and more frequant.

After lunch, it was more of the same stuff before lunch, depending on what we were learning that week.

Then we went to dinner, usually in the chow hall.

Around 6:30, that is when we would go pick up laundry, turnin our weapons, and do any other things we needed to do for the day. Then it was Drill Sergeant time.

Actually, this time could be any thing really. The drill sergeants usually chilled with us and answered questions, we got our mail, sometimes we did PT. Motivational PT, where we actually had a good time.

It was also a good time to scuff us up if the drill sergeant wasn't to pleased with us at that moment.

From eight to nine, we had "free" time. HAH! That was the time we had to shower, clean the barracks, polish our boots, and do what ever maitenance we had to do, and if we had time left over, we could write. Usually our battle buddies would chew us out if we wrote (hence, the reason i didn't write to many letters in basic) because we weren't helping them out.

Of course, we would have to be out at 8:45 for final formation, which really sucked.

Then lights out at 9. and we would begin fire guard duties, rotating out for an hour. I hated fire guard. Especially when i had it in the middle of the night. And fire guard required MORE barracks maitenance.

Don't Forget, A Day at the Range
As you all know, the range is where we fire weapons. I look back on it now, and i realize that i sincerely enjoyed the range *sigh*

Anyways, when we went to the range, we got up at 4, got into full battle rattle (kevlar, rucksack, LBE, and a bunch of other military terms basically meaning Helmet, backpack, ammo poutches, canteens, and a bunch of crap stuffed inside the rucksack like wet weather gear, extra clothes (cause sometimes we would get hot and sweaty, especially on road marches) and our field jackets.

We had to be out in full battle rattle in 20 minutes, where we then went through the process of getting our weapons and preparing to go to the field, either by Cattle Car (did i tell you about that yet?) or by marching. We learned to love the cattle car.

The thing with the cattle car is we were first introduced to these beloved vehicles in route from the reception station to Basic. And it wasn't pleasant, because at Reception the drill sergeants were relaxed and cool and then we get on the cattle cars with new drill sergeants yelling at us and breathing down are necks and telling us we're not fast enough. We had to carry all our gear (our issued duffle bag with all our crap we were issued in it, which was pretty heavy, and also our civilian bag with all the crap we brought from home, and i brought a big civilian bag with a lot of crap!)

They loaded about 75 privates onto each of these things, with all our crap, crammed into there as tightly as we could fit. A drill sergeant was in there too (i think Drill Sergeant Hackey was in mine, now that i think about it) and everyone was like crying and thinking "what in the hell have i done!" Me, I was laughing, although under my breath.

Anyway, cattle cars weren't a pleasant experience, but we soon discovered that they were the primary mode of transportation at ol' fort Lost in the Woods.

Now that i completely got sidetracked, we either marched to the range with our M16's in hand, or we were carted there by Cattle car.

When we first got there, Missouri was COLD!!! And we got to eat field feeds for breakfast. Oh, lucky us (note thick sarcasm) Field feed is where they bring the food to us, and we eat it while we are in full battle rattle (although by this time, we have grounded our rucksacks.) The rifle was slung across the back and you had to be careful not to let its barrel get full of dirt when you sat on the ground. Field feeds were miserable, because it was so cold and you had to eat breakfast like oranges and eggs and sausage and potatoes and bread (with jam and butter to spread on top of it) and they threw in a little cereal in there for us too. That might sound like a lot of food, but it really wasn't. We starved on field feed, because we were doing so much physical excercise and burning the food so fast.

And oranges are not easy to peel unless you take your gloves off. And most people didn't take their gloves off. I resulted in using my teeth a lot when eating breakfast, and not just for eating.

Ok, after a miserable breakfast,(btw, more miserable when you march, because you get all hot and sweaty from marching and once you stop, your sweat freezes and you are an ice cicle) we were all hustled into the windbreaker (or class room, depending on how compassionate our drill sergeants were that day) we were briefed about the range and what we were going to do that day.

Then we would get our Lane and firing order assignments, and then we would get to wait for our turn. Have you ever heard of the unwritten Army Motto, "Hurry up and Wait"? Well, it's very true. And we drank a lot of water so we always had to pee. And once we got our ammo, we couldn't go until we had fired and got rodded off the firing range (which happened to me a couple times)

Of course, not all ranges were with M16's. For instance, the US weapons course (one of my personal faves :) was with a grenade launcher, an M60 machine gun, a SAW (squad automatic weapon, you might have seen one in a video game some time, they are sweet! :) and the Anti-Tank weapon.

And the handgrenade range was fun too! The only downside? The waiting!

But anyways, we were always in line to fire, and we did that until lunch. Where we got more field feed, but by this time, the weather was a lot better. Unless it was snowing (or raining, which never stopped us). Sometimes, we would get MRE's, and of course, while we were waiting to get back on the range, if the drill sergeants (or worse, the First Sergeant) saw us screwing off, they would come over and smoke us using 'weapons PT'. Usually the "motivator" was their favorite one.

SOme ranges we just sat there in the foxhole or in the prone unsupported position and fired at targets, others we actually got to low crawl and high crawl with our weapons, with 3 to 5 second rushes (which resulted in me getting stitches, i'll tell you about that later), and then there was the combination ones where we had 2 people on the same range, moving down range learning tatics with M-16's and Hand Grenades. "Battle buddy! Cover me while I move!" "Battle Buddy, I got you covered!"

Don't ask me why they made us say battle buddy, they just did.

Night fire was fun too, which was the day we stayed out all night and shot tracers. That was fun! Burst round was a blast!

But anyway, i would have to say that i look back on the range and i thoroughly enjoyed it. And a part of me misses the scuffings. They didn't hurt you, they just caused you pain in muscles you never knew you had.

When we didn't have night fire, (or, the usual ranges) we got back in the cattle trucks (or marched) and headed back to the company usually there by 4. If the drill sergeants were in a particularly feisty mood, they would feed us field feed no more then a hundred yards from the D-Fac (dining facility), in front of our company. Still in our full battle rattle, but sitting on top of our rucksacks.

Then the rest of the day was spent cleaning our weapons before turning them in. Pretty much the nights were the same as any other night when we went to the field, except the drill sergeants would tell us how well we did (or didn't do).

Platoons

PVT ERICKSON SAYS:

In Bravo 3-10, there were four platoons. First was Light Fighters, Second was Cold Steel (me), Third was Mad Dawgs, and Fourth was Recon. Each Platoon had three drill sergeants over them. And within each platoon, there was roughly sixty privates who had decided to brave the waters of the United States Army. Suckers, some of them.

That sounds like a story, doesn't it?

Explaining the platoons would take a little bit of time, which I won't go into at present. Down below is a picture of my platoon however. All the privates are shown, except Murray and Gregg are missing. I don't think some of our Drill Sergeants minded that they weren't in the picture. We look squared away in my opinion at least. My recruiter showed me his picture back in like '76 or so when he graduated and they were still hard core. What a bunch of tore ups! Half of them were at attention, half of them were at parade rest! A couple of them were even smiling! What's up with that? It's supposed to look like a Prison Photo damn it!

DS ERICKSON SAYS:

Every BCT Company (or Troop, or Battery) is split up into Platoons. There is a lot of interrivalry between platoons, but that is partly what makes it fun.

ShakeDown

PVT ERICKSON SAYS:

Alright, there we were, getting it drilled into our heads that we were in this for good and that there was no turning back now.

We came straight off the cattle cars and since it was in the middle of January, into the Post Gym, carrying all of our gear and once again finding ourselves dodging the eyes of the very angry and very loud Drill Sergeants.

This was shake down, and I pitied the people who got there first off the cattle cars. We were placed in rows and told to stand in one position with our fingers outstretched and barely touching the person to either side of us, and we were made to stay in that position as everyone filed in. That's EVERYONE! And there were about three or four cattle cars and if I remember right, I was on the second or third. So I stood there, with myfingers outstretched for about 25 minutes trying to ignore the fact that my arms were starting to feel amazingly like puddy. And I stood, staring straight ahead, into the forehead of the private standing directly in front of me.

Shake down is a process in which we come into the unit and make sure that everyone has their initial issue and whatever else they will need. The process starts with giving everyone enough room to dump out all of their equipment in front of them (and that is ALL, to include personal belongings) The head drill sergeant then calls out each item one by one over the intercom and everyone scrambles to find whatever item he calls out. When he calls out five brown t-shirts (we're issued six, but of course, we're wearing one) we have to find all five brown t-shirts in a certain alloted amount of time. If not, well, we end up doing a lot of push-ups.

I got Blue Falconed in reception, so I was missing a pair of Gloves and a Black Knit hat. I thought I was going to get torn apart, but the Drill actually let me go on these items. In fact, the Drill that was in charge of my area during shake down was actually very mellow, or so I later learned. He was a mad Dawg Drill Sergeant (that's third platoon), and I think it was one of his last cycles. In other words, he couldn't wait to get the hell out of there.

Shake down, in a lot of aspects, was one of the hardest parts of Basic Training. It's still early in basic training and the idea that you are actually doing this is still seeping into your brain cells, your body is still very out of shape and you are just miserable. But it really wasn't that bad, as long as you didn't take it personally. That's probably some of the best advice you can recieve before going to Basic Training I can think of. Don't Take it Personally. The Drill Sergeants will even tell you that.

BTW- Blue Falcon is an Acronym, kind of Like FUBAR and SNAFU. BF, Buddy Screwer, with a stronger explecitive used synonymously with the word Screw. It basically means, your battle buddy screws you over. I left my wall locker unlocked for one night and an MP recruit stole my leather gloves and knit cap. I was a stickler for secured wall lockers ever since. And not just because the Drill Sergeants were sticklers for it too. Your battle buddies are not your friends. I didn't trust to many people in basic because of it. I got Blue Falconed quite a bit.

DS ERICKSON SAYS:

Reception and Intergration, otherwise known as Shakedown, is the initial introduction a private recieves into their Basic Training Unit. This is when they are introduced to their Drill Sergeants and the Command. The purpose of reception and integration is many.

One, to make sure that all soldiers have everything they need upon arriving to Basic Combat Training.

Two, to meet the Drill Sergeants that will be training them for the next nine weeks.

Three, to shock the living shit out of them.

Four, the soldiers you will have trouble with later in the cycle will undoubtedly make themselves known.

Drill Sergeants, if they have any stress built up within them for any reason, take this opportunity to let it all out. granted, there are some limitations as to what you can and cannot do, but if you are a dumb joe that can't keep your mouth shut, you bring it on you when the wrath of a drill sergeant befalls you.

At Shakedown, the drill sergeants don't know you, you are on a level playing field with everyone else, and your goal should be to sneak through without being detected. because believe me, if they pick you out here, the drill sergeants will have your name down for the rest of the cycle. And this is not a good thing.

Because to the drill sergeant, you are all nothing but the discharge from the bacteria that feeds off of pond scum. You are not seen as human, you are a private, you are dumb as a brick, and you have somehow decided to brave the trials that is part of the initiation process to becoming a soldier in the US Army. And the drill sergeants are going to make sure you have what it takes.

Cattle Cars

Cattle cars are just that. Those big boxes following rigs that carry cattle in them, or in this case, 75 unsuspecting terrified privates crammed into a space that should only fit about fifty and one very angry drill sergeant.

We are first introduced to the cattle car right out of reception, after the company has collected their 'fresh fish'. We gather all our equipment and try to get on the cattle car as quickly as possible before we are sharked out. Having gotten used to the otherwise mild Drill Sergeants of the Reception Battalion, we suddenly found ourselves coming face to face with a whole different breed.

My first experience with the cattle car was not very pleasent. We were all lined up in alphabetical order and crammed into this tiny room with ALL of our gear. This includes all of the issue and any personal stuff you decided to bring from home. I don't know,
I guess I thought I would have more personal time then I did because I brought a lot of crap from home in a large red duffle bag, which weighed about 75 pounds, along with my Army Duffle bag, which had to way another 75 or something.

Back to the room, we were lined up as a Drill Sergeant came around and we sounded off with our names, you know, to make sure we were actually supposed to be there. With her OK, we grabbed our gear and headed out the door as quickly as our legs could carry us. Upon reaching the outside, there they were. And they were LOUD!

I'm all thinking, 'ignore them, ignore them,' as I hauled my equipment with my weak little arms and headed in the general direction that the person ahead of me was going. I was doing pretty good, really good as a matter of fact, until I got to the cattle car and started to make my way up.

The person directly behind me was a little to excited or something, because *WHACK*, he drilled his stupid duffle bag right into my leg as I was heading up the stairway to get on the dad nab cattle car. This prompted me to drop all my stuff and I was quickly
introduced into the idealism called 'sharking'.

You think about it, right? It makes sense, what do sharks do? When they come onto a groupof prey, they look for a weakness, the individual who shows their soft belly to them. And better yet, a little blood. And BOOM! They attack.

I showed a weakness. I slowed down because the idiot behind me caused me to drop all my stuff, and I promptly had about five drill sergeants yelling in my ear "get a move-on, Tore-up!" "What's your hold up!" and even worse, because they are actually yelling this in my ear. I tried to explain to them, "look, this guy ran into my leg, yell at him for being in such a hurry when I was doing just fine before," but they merely told me to "SHUT UP! Get your ass in the cattle car!"

Anyway, I managed to get in the cattle car and wait patiently as privates filed in on all sides of me, many of them in tears. I found myself holding onto my military duffle, my red duffle packed precariously on top.

After they crammed as many privates as they could, the Drill Sergeant came on board and we all rode in silence to our next destination. I later learned that they actually drove in circles around Fort Leonard Wood to let it sink in.

One girl, obviously in tears, began whimpering in sympathy that she obviously made a mistake.She tried to get the Drill's attention by mumbling, "Drill Sergeant?"

Drill Sergeant promptly told her to "SHUT UP!" And so we rode in silence. I buried my head into my duffle bag and started laughing. I didn't know what else to do, I didn't feel like crying. I just couldn't help myself as I thought, "I'm really doing this!
I'm really going through Basic Training!"

I think right there, in the cattle car, that's when it really seeped in.

We got to know the Cattle Cars really well during our stay there. In fact, we rather learned to appreciate them. It was either Cattle Car or Road March, and in the middle of February in the Missouri Ozarks, marching wasn't very much fun.

DS ERICKSON SAYS:
Some BCT locations use cattle cars. Some don't. Fort Leonard Wood still uses them from time to time. Hell, they are used in Fort Lewis, which doesn't do Basic combat training any more. But they are not used in other locations, such as Fort Jackson or Fort Knox. And cattle Cars, being considered a derogatory term, is not the preferred term. They are known as 'Silver Sides'.

Silver Side or Cattle Car, it allows for the quickest number of troops to be moved in a given amount of time.

Why some people are huffy about using them, I don't know. Safety issues, maybe. But they are the quickest and easiest way to load and unload a buttload of Joes and get them moved from Point A to point B.

Just don't hop into the Cattle Car right after a trip to the CS Gas Chamber, because the Cattle Car just might become another Gas Chamber itself.

Drill Sergeants

Drill Sergeant Creed
I am a Drill Sergeant.

I will assist each individual in their efforts to become a highly motivated, well disciplined, physically and mentally fit soldier capable of defeating any enemy on today's modern battle field.

I will instill pride in all I train. Pride in self, in the army, and in country.

I will insist that each soldier meets and maintains the Army's standards of military baring and courtesy, consistent with the highest traditions of the US Army.

I will lead by example, never requiring a soldier to attempt any task that I would not do myself.

But first, last, and always, I am an American Soldier, sworn to defend the constitution of the United States against all enemies, both foriegn and domestic.

I am a Drill Sergeant.


Just what is a Drill Sergeant?

I would think that to the civilian, this is the biggest mystery of all. Whenever anyone thinks about joining the military, they think about the initial training they receive, and with that training comes the endurance of putting up with a being that is all muscle and fury, all knowing in everything military and short of temper. One must never cross a Drill Sergeant or else they will find themselves doing push-ups until their enlistment expires.

Well, when I joined, this is about what I pictured a Drill Sergeant to be.

The fact is, Drill Sergeants come in all shapes, sizes, temperments, and personalities. They are human and they even *gasp* make mistakes (though they're loathe to admit it) For some reason, i didn't picture Drill Sergeants capable of making mistakes when I joined the Army.

Well, in order to fully understand the Drill Sergeant, you must understand what the purpose of a Drill Sergeant is, and why they do the strange and somewhat twisted things that they do.

When you first join the military, in this case Army, you are a civilian. You have led a civilian life all of your life, and in this great and glorious country we call the United States of America, you had a lot of freedom. Most people who join the Army are right out of high school. They have had mommy and daddy behind them to support them and take care of any needs or worries that they might have had. A lot of times in being a civilian, you lacked responsibility and discipline. And of course, there are those people who are out there who join the Army after living life on their own. They have dealt with hardships and have become independent.

The point is, you are an individual when you join the Army. The Army attracts all
walks of life in this country, everyone with distinctly different personalities who
have lived distinctly different lives.

This is when Mr. Drill Sergeant comes into the picture.

The purpose of the Drill Sergeant is to break you down from your civilian life, whip you into shape, degrade you, humiliate you, pound you into the ground, and then build you back up into a soldier, amongst other soldiers, all of whom have a common purpose,a destiny so to speak, called the United States Army. He takes the many individuals who are thrust into his care and turns them into a team with one goal and purpose. He builds discipline and respect for yourself and your fellow soldiers.

Of course, it's this journey from Civilian to Soldier that has most people cringing in fear.

Reception

PVT ERICKSON SAYS:

When coming off the bus from the airport, dressed in civilian clothes, carrying everything on your shoulder, never expecting to see anyone you know for a long long time, it hits you. The sudden panic that has you asking "What in the world have I done?" Actually, seeing the brown round of the drill sergeant walking out of the building had me in a panic. That was when it hit me. I had no clue what was going to happen to me during the next ten weeks.

Well, getting there at one in the morning wasn't much help. But the reception drill
sergeant was obviously tired as well. He took it easy on us. We took about two hours to do a quick improcessing to the reception batallion, given a chance to get rid of any thing such as cigerettes, gum, marajuana, knives and such into the amnesty box, and marched back to the barracks where we would stay the night, only to wake up two hours later.

I wanted to just blend in. My goal for basic was to be unnoticed by the drill sergeant and just quietly squeeze through basic undetected. Do everything I was supposed to do and then graduate and move onto AIT.

I think what happened next was a foreshadowing experience.

I stood among the wall, quiet and still, at the closest thing I knew to be Parade Rest as I could come, when the drill sergeant noticed me. I was the only one not fidgeting around nervously. He glanced at me and said "Relax, Private."

So I relaxed a little and started kicking myself.

Well, that was one of the moments I remember most about Reception. You are so busy running around like a chicken with your head cut off that this becomes somewhat of a foggy memory later in life. Especially when you try to recollect it nearly two years after the fact.

I think the hardest part about Basic is Reception, however. Most people will agree. Psychologically at least. This is really when it hits you what you have done. In this case, signed your life away to an organization that may use you for cannon fodder. It was tough at night, when you thought about it, although you got up so insanely early (usually about 4 at Reception), meanwhile learning about fire guard, as you were put in a building with 13 people and have to pull it every night, sometimes twice. It wasn't very much fun.

Reception is for the most part, however, not about getting the living day lights smoked out of you, although you are introduced to it when a couple of the DS get pissed for some reason you now don't recall. But this time consists of getting all your shots, all your records updated, taking the DLAB (language test, for those who qualify), getting your Paperwork, pay straightened out, eating, marching, Fire guard, and of course, getting all your issue so that you look just like everyone else.

If you are a guy, you will get your hair shaved off, even if you come in with a bald head. It is always fun to watch the guys go through the barber shop, they all look uniquely different on one side, but once they go through the doors on the other, they start looking eerily similar, and everyone of them brushes their hand over their head as they realize that 'it's all gone'.

Getting your uniform is such a special time. For some reason, all throughout reception you can't wait to get your uniform. Putting it on for the first time makes you feel different, like you really belong in the Army. Of course, by the end of basic, you can't wait to get something else to wear. When you first get your class A's is a really special time, although that is something else entirely.

You are in Reception anywhere from four days to a couple weeks, depending on the amount of people coming through at the time. The Drill Sergeants are all a little lax and easy going, and you wonder if this is what Basic is all about. I myself was a little disappointed, wondering when the yelling would insue.

Well, when we turned in our linen and left our issue in the 'depot station', to be collected by our respective companies, we learned that Reception was most definately not what Basic Training was all about.

Basic Training Army Posts

FORT LEONARD WOOD

This is where I went to Basic Combat Training. And this is what I have to say about it.

Hmm, what do you say about this place? It is about ninety miles from the nearest semblance of normal human life in the middle of the Missouri Ozarks. They nicknamed this place Fort Lost in the Woods, Misery. And in the middle of January, it gets down right frigid here.

I would call Fort Leonard Wood pretty much No Man's Land. I pity anyone who has AIT in this place as there is absolutely NOTHING to do here. No matter the Drill Sergeants are particularly mischivious, there's absolutely nothing for them to do on their down time. I guess I would wreak havok on unsuspecting privates when ever i could to entertain myself if I had nothing better to do too.

Well, what I know about old Leonard Wood is its named after a General, I believe during the Civil War, but I could be wrong. But then again, most Forts are named after Generals so there. It's a training post, in other words, most of what they do in this place is train soldiers. I think it would be inhumane to station anyone for any other reason here.

And on top of training Basic Trainees such as myself, they train anyone going into the Chemical Corps, Military Police, Combat Engineers and Truck Drivers. (at least, they were training here in 2000) Pity them. They have to stay past the nine weeks of Basic Training.

Although, I guess one way to look at it, if you have to do your training here, you'll be spending a lot less money on the town, thus saving a lot of money. *sigh* part of me wishes I stayed in Fort Leonard Wood for this very reason. Fort Sam was an expensive place to train.

FORT JACKSON

Known for being the home of TRADDOC, Fort Jackson is also the post with the notoriety of spitting out the most soldiers. Located right outside the base is Columbia South Carolina, Fort Jackson has no OSUT Combat Arms soldiers trained here. And thus, it gets some flack for being the 'easy' Post, also known as 'Relaxin Jackson'.

Depending on where you go to Jackson, this can be a true statement or not. Honestly, it depends largely on your Command, and further more on your Drill Sergeants. If you are female, chances are you will go here or Leonard Wood, unless one of the other training posts decides to take a shot at trying a cycle with females. They have been known to do that.

FORT KNOX

Known as the home of Cavalry and Armor (changing to Fort Benning here by 2010), it is also the home of the largest bullion depository in the country. And a few hills known as Misery, Agony and Heartbreak.

Knox is all male, at least soldier wise, unless you are coming here for ROTC, which is trained here as well. Fort Knox is one of the lesser known BCT locations, Fort Jackson and Fort Benning the better knowns.

There are a lot of bugs in Fort Knox. And it is humid as all hell in the summer time. Gotta love Kentucky.

At least Louisville isn't to far away. And there is plenty of out door activities to partake in. But if you are coming here as a Private to go through your initiation rights into the US Military, don't expect to do anything but run around and yell kill.

FORT SILL

If you are Artillery, you wind up here at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Fort Sill is flatter then most of the other BCT environs, but that is all speculation, as I have never been here.

I also hear it is all Male as well. But I have heard of cycles of females being trained here in the past.

FORT BENNING

This BCT location is notorious for being the toughest, or so the rumor goes. It is home of the infantry. And Airborne School. And ranger school. And a host of other HOOAH schools. What can i say? It's Fort Benning.

It's also in Georgia, so gets a double dose of misery for being hot and humid. Which is a prerequisite for any BCT location. Sand Hill is known as being where the Infantry School is at, and any 11B will speak of it with pride.

I have had the privilege of being in Benning for about a week. A long time ago.

Plane Ride

Ok, I must admit that there doesn't seem to be all that much that is interesting about a plane ride. But this one, well, things just don't ever go as planned, do they?

I got to the Airport in the wee hours of the morning, my mom kissing me goodbye in what would be the last time i saw any member of my family for six months. The girl I enlisted with was also there, along with two guys, and we headed onto the plane for the unexpected.

Plane Rides are somewhat boring, I slept most of the way to Chicago, on that frigid cold January morning. It had been snowing so we had hit delays on getting the plane off the ground, but I just stared out the window and into the clouds, wondering what lay before me.

Turns out, once we got to Chicago, it seemed like every flight in the entire airport had been canceled on account of snow. We meandered about Chicago O'hair for the next seven hours, trying to find another plane ride to St. Louis, when we finally found one. We had to travel to another terminal to reach it, and O'hair is Huge! Once we got there, we just layed out and slept in turns, waiting for the plane to deice so that we could get back in the air and on to Ft. Leonard Wood.

I think we finally made it to St. Louis at ten or something, and found our way over to the USO where everyone else that was attending Basic Training met. I think that was the first time I really suddenly felt out of place. I had always been in the west, and have rarely met anyone from any other part of the nation. Here was every walk of life from every where in the country one can think of. It was really my first experience with the outside world, out of the protective arms of my parents, who had sheltered me all of my life. Yes, this was truly a wake up call.

We boarded a bus around 11:30ish at night, and were shipped out to Ft. Lost in the woods, where we were told to try to get some sleep. There was no way I could sleep when the excitement finally built up inside, as I was on the final straightway to the beginning of another life. I knew this experience would change me in some way, and I was ready for it, hoping that perhaps this would make me into a better person.

Of course, when I got to FLW, as the bus crawled to a stop in front of the reception station, that was the first time I saw a drill Sergeant up close. Seeing that Brown Round then suddenly shot a chill up my spine, as I realized what I was in for.

of course, it would have helped make this more interesting if I wasn't writing about the experience almost a year after the fact, when I get more time, I will try to sharpen my writing skills and make the plane ride more interesting.

MEPS

This is a quick explanation of what happened at MEPS. It is kind of jumbled at the moment. It's sort of a rough draft at the moment.

I'm working on it. Bare with me.

Just for your information, MEPS isn't one of the best memories you will have of your military career. In fact, it might be some of your worst.

MEPS stands for Military Entry Processing Station or something to that affect, but you will meet every branch of the military that has just enlisted here. And to pass time, you will probably chat with them and become good friends with them while you are there, only to never see or hear from them again. Plus, you will be highly embarrased in front of them. Don't worry, they get embarrassed to. YOu are all in this together.

You visit MEPS several times before you actually leave for Basic Training, or Boot Camp, which ever branch of the military you got suckered into joining. The first time is to take the infamous ASVAB. Warning here, that I might have repeated. The military uses acronyms like none other. You will know so many acronyms by the time you leave the service that your brain will want to explode. There are a lot of Acronyms that I use that I don't know what they stand for.

It just so happens that ASVAB stands for Armed Services Vocabular Aptitude Battary, or something like that. I'll look it up.
Edit - Somebody looked it up for me. Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery. I was close!

Well, the ASVAB tells you what exactly you can and can not do in the military. And you have to score a minimum score on it if you are even remotely interested in joining. If you are serious, believe me, you will want to get as many points as you can on this test. That way, you can have your pick of the MOS's out there.

Anyway, after the ASVAB, I went home, praying that I scored above eighty, because you get bonus incentives the higher you score.

I won't disclose my score here on the internet, but I got the pick of any MOS's I wanted. Except for Combat of course. Damn.

My recruiter gave me the one with the largest incentives upon my enlistment. 91S, Preventive Medicine Specialist. The MOS really doesn't fit me at all, but I took it. I was only signing up for the reserves after all, right?

Well, I am going somewhere with this. At MEPS, you do your physical, which is total hell, let me tell you, as you are completely humiliated in front of the doctor as you do the duck walk in your underwear.

As I continue to ramble, my personal experience had me going to MEPS five times. Yes, that's right. Five. This was in account of my personal stubbornous to actually sign the dotted line and swear in.

The first time was when I took the ASVAB.

The second time was a saturday. I was going to get my physical done and out of the way and do the rest another day, because I had to work. I had to be at work by eleven, or some such insane time. Turned out that it wasn't going to work out. I got to MEPS at 6 in the morning (I am not compatible with the military in such a way that I am not a morning person). I wouldn't be done with the physical until like one or something like that. So I left early.

I still hadn't told my family about my military aspirations at this time, and I was getting cold feet. I didn't talk to my recruiter for a while. Then he recontacted me and I finally talked to my parents. They went balistic.

The third time I came on a day where I actually didn't have to work. I think I skipped school instead, I'm not sure. And I got that damn physical out of the way. Of course, I was going in with the idea that I was going to be a 91 Sierra. But my MOS wasn't there. Hmm.

Because my MOS wasn't there, I either had to pick out another MOS or come back another day. I didn't really want to come back another day so I skimmed through the MOS's that they had available, looking for one that appealed to me. 91 Sierra still offered the best incentives so I decided to wait on it.

The fourth time I went to MEPS, I came in at the wee hours before school started (which insanely enough at the time, I had a 7:30 Biology class. Note to self, and anyone else. NEver take a 7:30 class when you are in collage. IT is a very, very, very bad idea). My MOS was there so I took it. And I swore in, by myself. I have seen all these pictures of a bunch of people swearing in at once. NOt me. I felt somewhat alone.

The fifth time was a repeat physical, just to make sure I hadn't contracted AIDS or gotten pregnant since my last physical. That would be kind of hard for me to do, for personal reasons, if you get my meaning. That was also when I got the information of which flight I would be taking and what to do the next day, which is when I would ship off to no man's land in Fort Leonard Wood Missouri.

Needless to say, I was nervous.

Joining The Army

The decision to join the Army was not an easy one. No way. In fact, the circumstances leading to my joining were rather bizarre.

I had always dinked around with the notion of joining the military, ever since I started High School. At first, I thought mainly about the Air Force because I wanted to fly jets. I also thought about the Marines, just because they sounded cool. I even talked to the recruiters and everything whenever they came by the school. But I was never really serious about joining any branch of the military.

Probably because my parents were so dead set against it.

Well, the notions came and went, and I really wasn't serious about anything. The summer of '99 led to my recruitment however.

It all started with graduation. What in the world do I do now? It was about that time when I said, "hey, this email thing is pretty cool." I didn't use the internet really ever before that. But boredom led to its discovery.

I am getting somewhere with this.

Later in the summer, around July, my dad started pushing the issue of a summer job. And to get off the blasted computer (which, at this point, I was seriously hooked). So, I got a job.

The job was ok, it paid good and all, but it wasn't my dream job. I worked it anyway.

And then collage started. Here I was, no life, just collage, work, and the computer. I really didn't have much of a social life, I wasn't extremely happy. I needed a break.

Well, around the middle of October, I was looking for a costume for halloween. I wanted a cool costume, to really get dressed up and go all out this year. Don't ask me why, I just did. So I went to the local display house to try on costumes when low and behold, two US Army Recruiters were wandering the place. One of them (a particularly outgoing person who talks to just about everybody I later learned) just started chit-chatting with me.

When somebody starts talking to me, no matter how psycho they are, I usually talk back. If I don't like them, I'll edge out of the conversation.

The Recruiter didn't let me edge out, and kept talking to me. He told me how cool the reserves are and all, and I'm thinking, "hmm, ok, this doesn't sound so bad." And so he invites me to lunch the following day to talk more about it.

I agreed.

So, the following day, I show up at the recruiting office at the prescheduled time, and he doesn't show up. One of the other recruitors (they are so laid back it's unnerving when you get out of basic) called him up and told him I was waiting.

He presumed I would just stand him up on his offer, so he hadn't bothered to show up.

So, upon coming back to chit chat with me, he took me to pizza hut and treated me to lunch, meanwhile telling me the glories and splendors (and all the mulah) the Army had in store for me. I thought "Cool!"

But I was still sceptical. I wasn't ready to join up yet.

Actually, it took me about a month, and i didn't talk to my parents about it for a couple weeks. I knew what they would say.

"HELL NO!"

But that's them. This was me. I was eighteen, and i seriously needed a break. My family was starting to get on my nerves, and so, I laid out a careful list of why I wanted to join the army. And I weighed the "why i should join" reasons with the "why i shouldn't".

I decided I should.

My parents pleaded with me, so I was semi reluctant to join up. They are my parents afterall, and this was a big decision i was making on my part. But really, they were the only ones standing in my way.

I scored well on the ASVAB and had pretty much the pickings of any MOS available (except Combat, being female and all)

And so I sat down and really thought about it. The reasons i came up with were. . .

• Money. The Reserves offered lots of it.
  
• Adventure. The whole prospect of Basic Training sounded exciting! I was up for it!
  
• Freedom, a way to get out of my very boring life at the time. There was no excitement, and I was desperate for a way out of the house.
  
• My family, which, at the time, was driving me insane. I love them, but I really needed a break, and i couldn't afford to move out at the time.
  
• The prospect of Traveling. I had never been east of Colorado, and Basic took me (note sarcasm) all the way to Missouri where I could spend a bitter cold winter. But AIT sounded cool! It was in San Antonio!
  
• Love of Country? Ok, so Bill Clinton was President and I would be forced to refer to him as "commander and Chief" or the "big boss" if you will. That thought still makes me want to hurl. But really, I do love my country, and I wanted to show my pride for it.
  
• Discipline. I needed lots of it. Mostly, in the area of cleanliness which coincides with "room".
  
• Guns! Big Guns! I wanted to shoot Big Guns!
  
• Hummers. Way Cool!
  
• Get my flabby body in shape? Ok, I thought I was bad, but you should have seen some of the people I went to basic with! I found out I was one of the most athletic ones there! (out of females that is) Now that's sad!
  
• Test myself. Yeah, I wanted a challange, I wanted to take myself somewhere and see how much i could take.
  
• Turn my parent's hair grey. Ok, I didn't want to do this, but that's how they reacted. They did NOT want me joining. I guess it was my own way of rebelling, since I was not a rebellious child. You know, this was one of the main reasons of joining. I was rebelling, something I generally don't do.
  

Well, those are some of the reasons I joined. Believe it or not, there were actually more then that. I kept coming up with them, and it was something that I wanted so badly, that I did it.

It broke my parents heart. They are greatful, however, that I only went reserves. They wanted to scream when I thought about going active (which I still consider.)

But it did take me a month from first talking to the recruiter till I actually placed that pen on the dotted line. Everyone told me not to do it, everyone was against me on this decision, I had zero support from any family, and I did it! That decision turned out to be one of the hardest things I ever did on my own!

And I have never regretted it!

Ok, maybe a couple of times.

Introduction

I joined the Army in November of 1999 not really knowing what to expect. It was kind of an adventure to me that I was eagerly anticipating.

Basic Combat Training followed in January 2000, during the Pre 9/11 Clinton era, in the dead of winter at Fort Leonard Wood Missouri. I attended basic with 240 other privates of B 3-10 Infantry Regiment as part of 2nd Platoon. There were 12 drill sergeants in all over four Platoons. I got to know them all in various forms of smoking sessions.

When I went to AIT at Ft Sam Houston TX in the heart of San Antonio, I got a lot of questions from my friends about what happened during Basic Training. To appease them, I started telling them stories. I had so much fun telling the stories that I decided to put them in a website.

Quite a few years have passed and I'm still attempting to put my experiences down on the internet. I have also had a lot of people contact me over the years with questions in regards to what I went through in the hopes that it would help prepare them for their own experiences. I personally loved Basic, but not everyone can say that.

So basically, this is my introduction to a site that I created just for this purpose. To tell people about my experiences in Basic Training. It is a slow and steady work in progress, and since so much time has gone by, I sometimes find myself having to dig into the recesses of my brain to remember certain aspects of it.

Well, in the meantime, enjoy what I have written. And maybe you can get a thing or two out of my experiences to prepare you for your own decision to join the Army, or maybe even give you an idea as to if the Army is even an occupation that's right for you. If its not, that's ok. Its not for everyone. And sometimes thats an important thing to understand before doing something as life changing as this.

SSG Kami Erickson
Preventive Medicine
Drill Sergeant