Foxholes and Dogtags

Drill Sergeant School - Day 11

Yes, they have kept me busy.

And some days I am NOT a happy camper.

Well, on Monday, I found myself thrust into the Squad Leader Position a little earlier then I expected to be (I thought I would be taking over duties on Friday Night but alas. . .) and being a bit of a grump already from circumstances involving that morning which was me getting chewed out for something that I did that I felt I was in the right for doing, well, to make a long story short, we had a rehearsal, I got chewed out for correcting something at the rehearsal, the next morning we had to do it in front of the drill sergeant, the same mistake was made, and when I made mention that maybe we should have corrected it the night before, I was chewed out for mentioning this in front of the drill sergeant. Well don't bother wasting the precious little free time I have if you are going to take constructive criticism defensively. Man I was pissed!
Confidence Course
So anyway, we had the confidence course on Monday. The confidence course consists of a bunch of obsticles that test your nerve and your physical abilities. Some things require just getting over your fear of heights (which I discovered I have mostly conquered as I had no problem with height obstacles) whereas others needed you to have a certain level of physical fitness to acomplish, which I discovered that I am lacking, especially in the upper body. And then there are a few, like the Low Belly Over (also known as the Bad Namer) that you have to be a certain height to really tackle. And seeing as an obstacle very similar to this sent me to the emergency room in 2004, I may have a bit of a mental block on that specific obstacle.

Overall, I discovered that I need to work on my upper body strength, and we were informed that we can go to the Confidence course on our own time if we wish to, however we cannot tackle the larger obstacles without range clearance, which is ok, because there were a couple that I wanted to tackle again in about three weeks to see if I can do them. But first, well, we need to work on that upper body strength.

I have been informed that units use the female drill sergeants as demonstrators on these obstacles, because it is ia confidence booster to the privates (both male and female) that if a girl can do it, why can't they? However, before they go off using me as a demonstrator, I better be able to tackle the obstacles first.

I'm ok on the height obstacles. Its the smaller obstacles I appear to be having issues with. Hmm. . .
Running
Running was my issue coming into this course, and I knew this. However I've been running very well since I've been here, until yesterday.

I have a comment to make on the end of cycle AAR (after action review) on one thing they can do to improve the course, and my suggestion would be to not hold a Run which requires you to stay in formation after doing something like the confidence course that leaves people bruised, soar and stiff the next day. Trust me, I don't like to make excuses (though I seem to be making a lot of them while I'm here) but you can't expect people to go beyond their physical capabilities.

And furthermore, they have two run groups here. Two. One (A group) is for people who run a 14:50 or less (that's roughly a 7:30 mile) and the other (B group) is for everyone who runs slower then that. Now, A group probably runs their run at a 7 minute pace or something, and I can understand if B group runs at about an 8 minute pace. The thing is, in order to pass the run at 70 points for my gender and age group, I have to run a 9:15 mile. Yes, that is slow, but I have been running faster and when they did a one mile assessment I ran it in 8:40, and I bet I could shave a bit more time off of that because that first ability group run (AGR) smoked the crap out of me but I managed not to fall out.

However, when I'm recovering from the confidence course and have a big massive bruise on my arm (which is proof that I was trying at the confidence course because this bruise is NASTY!) it doesn't help when they decide to run at an even faster pace, causing all but one of the females to fall out of the run. I was smoked, I was out of breath and I was hurting, but I kept running.

The drill sergeants were yelling at us the entire time for shaming the NCO corp and thinking that we could be Drill Sergeants but damn, I know my limits, and when B group is running at a 7:15 pace (which was the guestimate) of course people are going to fall out!

I was going to go for a run this evening but, well, we'll get to that in a minute. I just know that I need to keep running. I have been running a lot, but apparently not enough!
Combat Life Saver
Every Drill Sergeant is required to be a Combat Life Saver, because privates are stupid and might need an IV one day. So we have been going over first aid procedures for the CLS soldier thoroughly these last couple days.

Today was a stick day.

Meaning I took a needle and stuck somebody with it. And they were supposedly supposed to stick me with one too. In fact, we had to go through the entire process of giving an IV to our partner. Joy.

I remembered why I am not a medic. For one, I'm not overly fond of needles (I have a phobia of sharp pointed things pointed toward my eyeball). And I need to gain a little confidence to just suck it up and find that stupid vein!

Whatever the case, I think I've got the process down and tomorrow I should be able to do it correctly, which should lead you to the question of why didn't I do it today?

Well, I stuck myself (the needle was clean when I stuck me). And because there was blood on the glove, it was a dirty stick. Which meant I had to go to the hospital and get blood drawn. Now quite frankly, I'm not overly worried about catching hepatitus or AIDS from this, and the doctor said that the chances of me acquiring anything was next to zero, but its policy so I had to wait in the emergency room with a bunch of sniffling snotty nosed privates so I could get my blood drawn.

I showed off my bruise to several people. They were impressed and showed suitable grimaces.

I do not miss the ER. Especially after having to wait for four hours when I learned later that I could have gone straight to the lab, explained my circumstances, and likely cut three hours out of my wait time. Or something.

I get to go back tomorrow. After we take our CLS exam. And then I get to go stick my partner again, showing that indeed, I can stick a needle in a vein and go through the process of administering an IV.

Maybe.

Tomorrow we roll for modules, so as soon as I pitch that, well, this weekend is a two day weekend for us (I know, weekends are supposed to be two days but Saturday doesn't count and monday is a holiday so I get two full weekends!) I think I'm going to go running. After I heal from my bruise.

Weekends don't feel like Weekends

Weekends aren't official days when talking about school. But that doesn't mean that they don't use them up for us.

I slept in until 5 again today. Oh bliss getting those extra couple hours in. We also modulated again, I had to do Facing to the Rear and I got another Outstanding.

Sweet!

Well, apparently Sweet is a word I need to erase from my vocabulary when used in that context. Kind of like 'hooah'.

So anyway, when it was all said and done, we got to the not so pleasant aspects of life, the fact that there are people in our class who don't take being in formation on time very seriously (among other things). We have a merit system here, which also includes demerits, and whoever gets a ton of demerits has to do detail that saturday. Well, in this instance, because of the trend going on in the company, everyone got demerit detail and so we were pulling weeds and shoveling mud off the drill pad and picking up trash and whatever they could think of making us do. Not very much fun in my opinion, especially since it is work that Privates normally have to do.

Actually, a lot of today was based on how they could waste our time most effectively. It sucked. Hey, I don't intend to be late, and I haven't been yet, but in an environment like this, the mentality is 'if one falls, we all fall' so if a few people can't get to formation on time, all of us are going to be stuck pulling weeds out of crevices in the sidewalk or whatever else can be figured out to make us do.

Tonight I pull CQ. I'm not even bothering getting out of my uniform until I'm done.

Drill Sergeant School - Day 8

"Death from Below!"

Well, we had to come up with a platoon motto, and I'm not sure why but this was picked as First Platoon's motto. The problem with it is, well, what does it mean? And what does it have to do with a bunch of Drill Sergeants?

When it was mentioned it was related to submarines, the point was made again. What does this have to do with Drill Sergeants?

I have a feeling we'll be having a new platoon motto really soon.

Meanwhile, I conducted PT this morning, got a Go on conducting it, but don't know how well exactly I did. Obviously there wasn't a whole lot for me to improve on, other then the fact that apparently the drill sergeant thinks I'm singing when I'm calling commands. I just thought I was supposed to use inflection in my voice but I guess I'm using to much, so I need to work on that. And the bobbing of my head. I guess I get to much into it, and make strange facial expressions. And other things.

In other words, the privates will probably mimic me in jest. Just another thing I need to work on.

Well, and also pushups. I think to improve on Pushups I just have to do them.

We also had a Class A uniform inspection, where I learned a little bit about my uniform, and the fact that I have some stripes on it that I may or may not be authorized to wear. After coming back from Kosovo I was told that I was authorized to wear two overseas service stripes for my service in Kosovo. However, when we were going over the uniform, I was informed that the stripes are for service overseas in a combat zone. Looking in the regulation, Operation Enduring Freedom counts, and when I was in Kosovo, it was put under Operation Enduring Freedom, so it may or may not count toward those stripes. However, Kosovo doesn't authorize the wear of a Combat Patch. And seeing as its kind of an honor thing anyway, now that I know exactly what those stripes mean, I'll likely take them off as I don't feel like I deserve them, and I'll probably get some weird looks wearing them without that combat patch. But I learned a lot about the wear of the class A uniform. Good stuff to know.

Meanwhile, we had our first written test today, which I didn't do so well on because the questions, or how they were worded, threw me off. One of the hardest army tests I have ever taken, which is saying something because I usually breeze through army tests, but I missed 8 questions on this one. It made me reassess how I study for them, and seeing we have another test on Monday on general subjects in the army, I plan on looking over that information fairly thoroughly to make sure I have everything I need.

So far every thing is still a go. This has been a long week, I can't wait for us to get out of the class room and do the hands on physical stuff.

Drill Sergeant School - Day 7

This school is as easy or as hard as you want to make it.

Right now, my goal is to make the Commandant's List. In order to do this, I have to score 90 in each event on the final Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT), average 90% in all of my exams, get no negative counseling statements, and recieve all first time gos in my tests and written exams.

The first set of Modules was on Tuesday, and I whizzed through those with Outstandings and was complimented on my projection and motivation. Sweet! Tomorrow I roll for the next module which I have to pitch on Saturday, but I feel confident in those for now that I'm starting to look ahead and see what I have coming. The modules are what get most people, although we have a remedial APFT on Monday that might get a few more people (we'll see). Tomorrow is also my first written exam, but I feel confident in the material. We'll see how it goes tomorrow.

These first few weeks are basically a lot of mundane stuff, like classroom information and inspections and a whole lot of PT. The Drill Sergeant Leaders (DSLs) have no qualms about yelling at us or making us do pushups or whatever else they want to make us do. I'm constantly getting yelled at for whatever reason that I have to remind myself that I'm not in the reserves anymore and have to get into the active duty mindset. So I have a running list of things to work on.

Don't Say Hooah.
Watch the 'Uh's and 'Um's.
Go to the Squad Leader with questions first.
Watch your attitude! (drill sergeants are always harping on me for that!)
Keep head aligned in the position of attention (i tend to bop my head around when I sound off with things)
Don't wear your heart on your sleeve.
Don't make excuses!!! (I have to keep reminding myself on this one)
Just say "Yes Drill Sergeant" or "No Drill Sergeant"
Don't roll eyes (yikes, I wasn't aware I was doing it!)
Don't blurt out answers.
Remember, this is a Mind Game, just like Basic Training!

My DSL keeps getting on my case during Physical Training (PT) for not going all the way in the pushups with the elbows tucked in at the side, and has yelled at me for the leg tuck and the pull up. My upper body is not in its prime condition but I know if I keep working at it and doing PT on my own time, I'm going to smoke that final PT test. But it can be frustrating when I'm giving it all I got and the Drill Sergeant is telling me that I'm not even trying. I wanted to snap at her for it but somebody put me in my place by reminding me that this is what she's supposed to do, and she's expecting me to do the same thing when I get down range. I just have to keep that in mind, do as well as I can on each of those events and the improvements will come. Just keep pushing at it and eventually I'll be a PT master!

I've come to the conclusion that my personal time is going to be less and less. We screwed up on our PT session this morning and have to go in for remedial PT this evening to learn how to do it right. Tomorrow I get graded on leading it with my battle buddy. I'm only having to do the stretch drills. But I HAVE to get those push up excercises down, I know that the tricep is one of my weakest muscles right now but if I keep working it I'm going to be in awesome shape when this is all said and done.

The run is kicking my behind something fierce. I better get my 16:36 on that final APFT when this school is over or I will be rather frustrated with myself.

Drill Sergeant School - Day 3

Only in the military, is waking up at 0500 considered sleeping in.

So I passed my PT test by running the fastest mile I have run in a long time. I need to work more on my running still as I have every intention of passing my final PT test with 90 points in each event so that I qualify for honors, as my goal is making Commandant's list. This is completely doable. I'm nearly at 80 for the pushups and the situps and we run everywhere on the run so I'm almost there. I've just got to find a pace and stick with it.

So far, Drill Sergeant School has been a lot of classroom stuff teaching us a lot of general information and what we can and cannot do to Privates. Hearing the instructors and everyone speak, it seems like Basic Training has gotten softer as Drill Sergeants are getting their hands tied, but a lot of it has to do with the Drill Sergeants screwing up.

Whatever the case, there are certain rules one has to follow. Like you cannot go into the CAC (which is headquarters as I don't know exactly what CAC stands for) unless you state loud and clear that you are going into the CAC. And you better not go in there without a battle buddy present. Apparently somebody walked in there and the drill sergeant 'killed' him. Then who ever was standing around was forced to pull 360 security on the building while another soldier had to perform a 9 line medivac and first aid.

Yes, this was all simulated, but it was still humorous.

Meanwhile, I have come across as a bit of a know-it-all as I've been hanging out with a drill sergeant unit for the last year and a half and now that we are getting more into the Physical training and how we are supposed to do it, I'm one of the few that knows exactly what Conditioning Drill 1,2 and 3 are as well as Military Movement Drills and so on and so forth. PT is very much regulated now, you have to do it in a very specific way in Basic Training, apparently this is to prevent certain injuries.

There was also the inspection we had yesterday, where we had to layout our initial issue for inspection to make sure we had everything we needed. The school is in a bit of a transition in regards to what we are supposed to have because we are moving into the ACU and the BDU wearout day is the first of october. The initial packing list had BDUs but now we are supposed to only have ACUs for our uniforms. I'm looking forward to week 7 where I will be reissued the entire initial issue again and I won't have to worry about having or not having certain items. Like field jackets.

I'm trying to take mental notes and all about what I see here and what I hear about. Tomorrow we're going to see brand new privates get issued their uniforms for the first time. Its going to be a like a field trip!

Being on Fort Leonard Wood has been an eye opener for me. Its the same post I remember way back when in 2000, but I'm seeing it for the first time outside of the Basic Training Environment. It seemed so big then, I'm realizing how small it actually is.

Drill Sergeant School - Day 1

Another day in this fine institution we call the United States Army.

Today was pretty laid back once the Pee Test was all said and done. Most army schools, the pee test is a given, though I used to claim the impressive ability of being able to Pee on command. Not anymore. I went to the bathroom when I woke up this morning and headed on down to formation when I realized that I screwed up. So I drank water, not really thinking that I would have a problem, because I can go pee again right away.

Er, not so. My body is still acclimating to the heat and humidity and I think it was busy assessing how much water it needed to absorb to accomodate the sweat I was releasing, which I did not account for.

This was the first time I've ever bolloed a pee test. Meaning I couldn't provide enough speciman to fill the cup. So back to the holding room I went, and I sat there and tried to pee for a good hour, drinking LOTS of water and giving myself a good workout. When I finally did get to peeing, I got out of there quickly and only had to pee three more times before chow.

Lovely.

Other then that, right now we are in the mentoring phase, so the Drill Sergeants are showing us everything we need to know in regards to giving commands, marching, whatever, and on Monday, we take over and are under the microscope for every little thing we do. I'm trying to observe as much as I can but the commands continue to throw me off, as I'm trying to remember all of them. My goal is to make commandant's list, and I think I can do it academically. Its the phyiscal I need to work on.

PT test coming up here on Friday. If I run like I did on Monday, I have shaved two minutes off of my run time, which is something I hope I did. We are running everywhere when we aren't actually marching there, so the constant running should help me on my run time, which is my major concern. I'm ok on my pushups, though I can just hope I break the plane as they may be grading to a higher standard then I'm used to back at the unit. Situps are ok as long I keep a good pace and just keep trying to knock them out. The run I've just got to give it everything I've got.

I hope to pass the PT test with a 70 in each event. By end of the school, I'm hoping to increase that to a 90. Which gives me about five weeks to improve on whatever I do on Friday.

They've been giving us insanely early first formations. Tomorrow is another 0345. Ouch!

Drill Sergeant School - Day 0

So, I made it here safe and sound, and with plenty of internet access in the evening. Therefore, I would say it is safe to say that I will be keeping up to date on my experiences here.

That said, there is some things that will happen that I will not disclose here (a certain incident that happened today that was questionable would likely need to be refrained from being discussed) and details on some of the training is off limits, but I can go into the bare basics. There is plenty to write about.

So I got on post yesterday and was a little startled to notice that instead of the open bay rooms with wall lockers I was expecting, I was given a nice comfy room with a desk, my own bed, and a walk in closet. Also a recliner. Yesterday consisted of making sure I had all of my stuff squared away. Today consisted of me running everywhere and being told that my stuff wasn't squared away.

Today. Where do I begin? I was worried coming here to a private room while sharing a bathroom with one other female (and we get along great) as well as a kitchen area. Living is easy. We won't have to worry about barracks maintenence or any of that.

But today confirmed that, yes indeed, I am in Drill Sergeant School. The drills are talking down to us and treating us like privates a bit, trying to get us motivated and all of that jazz, but they keep reiterating that this is not because they are on a power trip or anything like that, but because they want us to get into the mentality so we know how to treat the privates. See, Privates are just a bunch of Civilians dressed in Army Combat Uniforms. They don't know jack. In other words, well, they are stupid. And despite the fact that we have a bunch of experienced NCOs in this school, many of which have time in the sandbox, by principal sometimes we are all treated as if we are idiots. Again, the mentality thing. Some of the E7s have mentioned that they are past this mess and it is obvious that they don't want to be here. But I am in a stage where I know at times I need to be yelled at. I came from a jacked up unit before my current one and I'm all for them helping me get back into that state of mind I had after Basic Training.

Its going to be a rough road, and coming here I was worried about my run. I went for a one mile run yesterday and if I keep up that pace for my PT test, I have shaved a good two minutes off my runtime, so I just need to keep a positive attitude and try to desperately stay awake.

See, formation today was at 0400. Tomorrow it is at 0345. I'm predicting that by the end of this week, they will have successfully weaned us of any requirement to sleep. But hey, I didn't like it much anyway.

Tomorrow the real fun starts. Today was just a freebee.

Going Back to Active Duty

This blog may or may not gear up here shortly, depending on my freedom to post about the training I'm undergoing. For one, I don't believe that this training is considered classified by any means, but I don't think it's so much of an issue with giving information to the enemy so much as I don't know if I'll have the time available to me to post.

One final recap on this blog and its on and off again status. I am an army reservist, and therefore don't always have a lot to say about the army that makes posting to this blog worthwhile. I am about to enter Active Duty, not under deployment, but under military training to become a Drill Sergeant that I suspect some would be curious about. I know I would be.

My postings are generally honest and frank, I try to leave political motivations out of this blog and just write about my experiences. Sometimes I post my opinions about the army in general, but for the next two months, most of these posts will be in line with a journal entry.

I'll probably post again when I hit boots on ground in Leonard Wood. And I should know by then if this blog will be completely on or if I'm just going to end up going through another dry spell once more.

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