“Get off the bus! GO! GO! GO!” yelled the drill sergeant, ordering me and other trainees to get off the bus. We ran up a gravel road, and we had no sense of where to go. Luckily, drill sergeants yelled at us to form our platoons at the top of the road. They ordered us to listen to the senior drill sergeant welcome us to Echo Troop of the 5-15 Cavalry Regiment. I was in the back of my platoon trying to hide but also listening to the welcome. I didn’t want to stand out, especially on the first day because I was really shy and introverted for the first time in my life.
“Welcome Trainees to Echo Troop 5-15 of the 194th Armor Brigade! Today, you will conduct the ‘Thunder Run’ with your platoon and drill sergeant. Let’s GO!” stated Senior Drill Sergeant Pacheco. He was an Afghanistan and Iraq veteran during the late 2000s and early 2010s. He was in the 82nd Airborne Division and jumped out of planes and helicopters during his combat deployments.
My platoon drill sergeant did an about-face, turning a hard 180 as he yelled, “Let’s GO, trainees! We’ve got to finish this proud and strong!” Our platoon then ran farther up the gravel road; it was just chaos. They threw smoke grenades, so we couldn’t see 10 feet in front of us. We heard machine guns firing off, and eventually artillery sound effects to simulate battlefield conditions.
We completed all the Thunder Run stations and ended it with arm immersions to cool down our body temperature. The drill sergeants yelled at us to form up into four ranks, and we started marching to our squadron headquarters, wet and tired from conducting the “Thunder Run.” Three busloads of trainees passed us in their full gear and laughed at us because we were the new kids on the block, and we all looked so miserable while we were marching. I had never felt more embarrassed in my life when those trainees passed us on the buses. I was in the hands of the drill sergeants, and I couldn’t control going on in my environment. I wanted to excel on the first day and make a good first impression. We marched to a classroom down at our squadron headquarters, and the drill sergeants started playing mind games with us. They stood up and sat back down but then made us jog in place if they weren’t satisfied with our motivation, which they thought we lacked. We were given several briefings about E.O. (Equal Opportunity), S.H.A.R.P (Sexual Harassment and Assault Response and Protection), and other topics that were going to pertain to us during our time at Fort Moore located in Georgia.
After the briefing, they split us up into our platoons, and we marched back to our barracks where we were to reside for the next ten weeks. When we arrived, we saw all of our green duffel bags in a stack, and my platoon drill sergeant yelled at us to find our bags in disarray.
“You have sixty seconds to find your bags and get them organized!” yelled my platoon sergeant.
“Yes, drill sergeant!” we replied as we started frantically picking our bags within the debris.
We were rushing to find our bags, but everyone was trying to find their bags and worrying about themselves instead of working together as a team. Drill sergeants were testing us to see if we were going to work as a team, but we didn’t, which resulted in us doing push-ups and other exercises. The drill sergeant gave us another chance to find and organize our duffel bags, but we didn’t meet the time hack, and he got furious with us.
“Form up for chow, right now! HURRY UP, trainees!” yelled the drill sergeant as he stood menacingly on the avenue. The whole troop of 180 formed up in their platoons, and we all marched unconfidently to the dining facility…We were in for a reckoning that no one could fathom.
We all marched to the dining facility. When we got there, they told us to file into the facility and eat quickly because we wouldn’t get much time.
“Food is for fuel, not pleasure!” yelled another platoon drill sergeant as he walked back and forth between the ranks. The drill sergeant is a trainee’s worst nightmare because the hat they wear symbolizes a soldier who has gone through basic training again, and they will make due of the threats that they give out to you. A good tip is just do what they say, and how they want you to do something because if you don’t… you will see what pain truly is.
We sauntered our way into the facility and had to sidestep to get our trays of food. The number of drill sergeants in that one area was tremendous, and they were yelling at trainees for really petty mistakes at the salad bar and walking to a table. There was a good assortment of food in the salad bar, but the drill sergeants rushed us, so we had to select our foods quickly. It was a crazy eating experience, but you grew into the groove of eating fast and quick throughout your time there.
As time went on, we learned many things; folding our clothes in a certain way, cleaning our weapons and barracks, drill and ceremonies, and learning rules and regulations. The first three weeks are tough because the drill sergeants break you down and give you impossible tasks to do while just throwing chaos at you. For example, they might say get out and form up in the next five minutes but you have to change into your ACUs (Army Combat Uniform) along with making sure that everyone else’s uniform is correct. So, we would go from changing from our Summer PT (Physical Training) uniform to our ACUs. Changing into another uniform was difficult because the ACUs is a uniform that the drill sergeants meticulously inspect.
I was one of three in Dowling’s senior class attending Basic Training for the United States Army. The other two are Jonathan Martinez and Jose Perez. Jonathan went to Fort Sill, Oklahoma while Jose went to Fort Jackson, South Carolina. Jose’s MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) is 88M which is a truck driver, Jonathan’s MOS is 13B (Cannon Crewmember), and my 19D (Cavalry Scout). Together, we have a pretty wide variety of job specialties going on. We can all agree that Basic Combat Training is life-changing, and it changed us for the better. It has folded us into something that is bigger than me or anyone else, and we serve this country in different ways and capacities.
It was the “best worst time” of our lives, and looking back, it was fun and difficult at the same time. I feel accomplished that I did that. I encourage you to join the army if you don’t know where life is taking you or college ain’t going well because it gives you friendships and memories that you will live on for a lifetime.
