Foxholes and Dogtags

Drill Sergeant School Update

So, as you may have noticed, I haven't updated on the whole Drill Sergeant School Spiel in a while for a variety of reasons.

One - They keep us busy here, I don't have time every day to talk about what I'm going through here.

Two - There is some information released that I don't want to discuss because its privey to being a drill sergeant, and if a Private came into the army knowing some of this stuff, well, it puts my battle buddies, which are the drill sergeants, at a disadvantage. I've been told several times to 'keep it in the house', meaning don't go blabbing about what we talk about every where you go. Kind of like the Rude Awakening with the Privates, in case we saw something that wasn't necessarily to standard with what TRADDOC authorizes. If you get my meaning.

Three - I got a bit overwhelmed by everything we have been doing that I just lost track of time after week two. I'm in Week Seven now. I wanted to write about everything I have done except that by the time I had found time to talk about it, there was just so much to talk about! So I didn't talk about anything.

See my main blog for some random tidbits of what I've gone through.

Case in point, well, kind of like my BCT sidebar over on the side, which is seven years overdue for being completed, there's just a lot to write about.

I'll catch the highlights.

IET Tours - this is the times where we go out on the trail and get to interact with the privates in person. Although we are technically not Drill Sergeants yet, the privates know that we are NCOs and are to treat us as such, and it is perfectly ok for them to call us Drill Sergeant. However, because we don't technically have the hat yet, and they aren't our Privates, we have to stay in our lanes and not go overboard and start screaming at them akin to what is expected of the Drill Sergeant. Corrections are ok, and if they disrespect us, we have every authority to go off on them but we have to remember our place. We are not Drill Sergeants yet.

Bayonet Course - I loved Bayonet back when I did it the first time. And we did it on the exact same freakin' course! Did I mention Bayonet already? Maybe I did. Whatever the case, Bayonet is fun and I like doing it. It is somewhat optional with privates but because it is such a fun and motivating course, I will encourage my battle buddies down range to do it. Why the hell not?

BRM - Yes, Basic Rifle Marksmanship. And everything that goes along with it. By now in my career the rifle is pretty much a familiar object that you get used to but I have learned that I may not appreciate it as much. I've never had to fire and qualify on a Rifle with a too large IBA (body armor) and so that has been a bit trying, not to mention jumping on the qual course and shooting at the wrong targets! (that was embarrassing, but I didn't like that course so. . .)

US Weapons - Things have changed in the course of Basic Combat Training. US weapons has changed with it. We no longer fire the M60 Machine gun, as it has been replaced with the M240B, and was, well, replaced a while back. Tells you how often i get to fire these baddies doesn't it? We also got a little learned up on the Mark19 and the M2 50 Cal. Unfortunately, those weren't available to be fired that day. *sigh* The M249 SAW and the M203 Grenade Launcher are still oldies but goodies. Good to see my signature weapon is still in use, I just wish we had more clearly defined targets to shoot at. The AT4 and the Claymore mine have both disappeared from the training curriculum. At least for service support BCT it has.

Warrior Tower - I have never done warrior tower before coming here, though I have repelled. Apparently Warrior Tower existed when I went through basic except for the fact that the timeframe was all wrong (dead of winter) to allow us to actually go through with it. Well, we go repelling tomorrow, but we got to do Warrior Tower with a bunch of privates and repelled with them about two weeks ago. lot's of fun, the privates were motivated and we were allowed to have fun with them and talk with them a little. I've never repelled with a figure 8 and being a lightweight, it makes for slow repelling. Bleh!

Hand Grenades - This course is run EXACTLY the same way it was run when I went through basic, as was Bayonet. I discovered I have a worse aim now when it comes to throwing. I also did it while hurt, which probably hurt my performance, but it is safe to say that I can't claim the coveted Expert Qualification badge that Privates yearn for on this range anymore. Also, despite that we were technically supposed to throw two live handgrenades in basic, I only threw one then. I made up for it this time. Holding death in one's hand is kind of a cool thing!

Night Optics - This is something I have never got to do before, which is kind of sad considering I've been in the army how long? (reserves, I know). But while I was surrounded by a bunch of NCOs who have done this a million times before and were thinking 'yeah, whatever, a waste of my time' I was in the Private mindset of 'cool, army toys!' We had a infared laser fitted to the front of my rifle and a Night Optics Device fitted to my Kevlar and a target to point and shoot at. Granted, the target really didn't go down when I fired at it, but it was the high tech secret squirrel stuff that only combat arms normally does and I didn't think I would be doing it when I went through Basic. Now we've advanced past that as an army, but its still cool to wander around and play with all of the expensive toys the army issues out.

Modules - Man, it wouldn't be freakin' drill sergeant school if you weren't forced to remember a bunch of Drill And Ceremonies and pitch them verbatim. I didn't get the feared Stack and Take though I was almost certain I would, I have managed to squeak by with mostly Outstandings and a few Satisfactories on my modules. Its one of my strong areas, my memory.

PT - PT is done and over with as of today. Starting next week we are out in the field and the week following we beat each other up severely while learning combatives (there is a reason why they save this for the last week). I have a feeling I will come out of it with a black eye and perhaps some stitches. But anyway, back to PT. It's still standardized and it still sucks, but it does work surprisingly enough if you have somebody, like me, who came here in less then prime physical condition. My PT score has improved greatly. I'm hoping to get it up to the nineties in each event by the time I have to go to BNCOC. I just have to maintain it (dad nab it).

Profile - Gadzooks, what is wrong with me? Yes, that's right, currently, as we speak, I have a profile. It's a run/jump/march at your own pace profile, because apparently I stressed my muscles enough to cause a pinch on my ciatic (sp?) nerve in my lower back. I can't run for any length of time currently. And when I do run, its kind of a hobble. I have to get over this by Monday so I'm currently taking medication and muscle rub and whatever else to make it get better, and trying not to run if I can help it. I can still repel down a tower however. And I plan on doing just that. But I have 72 hours to get better or I risk getting kicked out. No, not when I'm this close to finishing, you bet I'm not going to quit now!

When DSS is over, I plan on writing up all the differences I have come to notice with the army and the BCT POI since I went through back in 2000.

Rude Awakening

The unit in question will remain anonymous. In fact, we were told that if we saw anything questionable within this phase of training, that we were to not mention anything we saw. A lot of what happens in house needs to stay in house, and this includes Drill Sergeant School (believe me, there are some things i have not even mentioned in regards to what I have been through, but it does involve a lot of yelling.)

Rude Awakening appears to be what has replaced shake down, though I haven't confirmed this and I do believe they still do shakedown. So, what is the Rude Awakening?

You have a bunch of tired privates that are brand spanking new to the army. And you wake them up at 4 am and get their heart rates moving and scare the crap out of them.

We were initially there to just observe, but the unit let us take part in the activities. We were in PTs with a PT vest on and so the privates didn't know that we were not Drill Sergeants. We were told not to correct them if they called us Drill Sergeant. I was told to not single one soldier out but instead focus on a group, so there was a few instances where I could have been a lot meaner but I wasn't entirely clear as to what I could focus on and what I couldn't focus on, as I didn't want to give them mixed signals. So I yelled at them for their hair, their bunks, and how slow they were. In other words, everything I got yelled at for while in basic.

A couple of them brushed past me and touched me, and that was a perfect opportunity to scream at them that I didn't take advantage of, and they had their PTs on with their pistol belts and I should have known that this was incorrect but I failed to catch it. I could have also got them on account of their lack of uniformity as they were all supposed to have a PT shirt hanging on the outside of their locker and some of them weren't up to par with that.

I look back, holy cow I was EASY on those females. They had them all toeing the line and a couple of them were crying, so I was whispering snide comments loud enough for them to hear. But I didn't want to overstep my boundaries, as a DS candidate, I didn't think it appropriate to go full drill sergeant on them at that moment, but I do know I have it in me to do this job, and this opportunity let me know that I can go into that mode.

We also got to do a PT test, or rather, a 1-1-1 diagnostic to give ourselves an idea of where these soldiers are at. We were told to grade hard, but I was amazed with how physically fit some of these privates were and I didn't count some Pushups that I normally would have. But the thought was that if they did extremely well with that diagnostic, they wouldn't try to work hard throughout their stay in Basic. Ah, to be young an a private again going through Basic Training. A part of me wants to do it, but knowing where I am now and my mentality, I don't think I would be as successful a private knowing what I know now.

We'll be going back to that unit later this cycle to check up on them and do some more training with them. I do look forward to it. Working with the privates is becoming my favorite time while here at Drill Sergeant School, and not so much because of the fact that I can yell at them and what not, but because of their mentality and their willingness to please and their motivation. The Basic Training Private is a completely different soldier then any other you will find in the Army and working with them and training them is what makes me want to be a Drill Sergeant.

The whole yelling factor is just an added bonus. I just hope I'm not a candy drill. Please don't let me be the Candy Drill.

Drill Sergeant School - Day 14

I have never done the PECs Course before until Friday.

I always wanted to do it, and now was my opportunity. Actually, it was a wee bit over rated. But I still had fun.

Me and another female in my squad have been getting dogged for not having the upper body strength necessary to complete some of the tasks here (for some reason, I suddenly suck at push-ups) so when we got to the Confidence Course we were getting yelled at and found our motivation lacking. Well, you go through the PECs course in a buddy team and we decided to motivate each other instead of waiting for the Drill Sergeants to motivate us.

Of the two of us, well, I discovered that I'm the more physically fit one as I blazed through the obstacles and found myself waiting on her. Nothing against her mind you, as I am already on the radar with the drill sergeants and I don't think anything I could have done on the PECs course short of climbing up the rope would have fixed that. So we decided well, if we are going to go down, we might as well go down together.

I enjoyed the PECs course, and actually didn't mind the whole waiting on my battle buddy bit as though I was running in place the entire time to keep my heart rate up (the whole point of the PECS course mind you) it allowed me some opportunity to catch my breath. I need to run more.

I have found that this school has taught me a lot about myself, and has helped highlight a lot of my weaknesses, areas I need to work on, and I've been finding my motivation to be steadily streaming out of me at times where I have wondered if I made a mistake in coming here. I think I can do the job, its just that I don't have the confidence or the attitude I did when I was a Private going through Basic Training, and being outshone in almost everything I do, feeling like I make mistakes with every turn I make, and overall finding that I can't do anything right, I have discovered that in a lot of ways, this school is not as hard as basic training was, in other ways it is increasingly more difficult. There is more expected out of you, and I have found that the motivation of my peers is lacking as well. This experience is a lot different when you have a little rank on your collar and you are surrounded by people in the real army when you are the one and only female reservist (and that does set you back in a lot of ways, as I have found myself at a great disadvantage coming into this school).

The Commandant's List is out. I pretty much flubbed the Leadership portion of my 1059, though it doesn't help when you have no leadership experience to begin with, so my goal is to get my hat which I know I can do and then drive on. This week is the beginning of BRM Phase, which I know I got. Maybe I can get out from under the radar with this training and prove that I got what it takes to do this.

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