What would you choose if you had the choice to work at K-Mart making next to nothing or go to war not knowing if you would make it back alive? I was faced with these choices in 2006. Just only five years and three months after the tragic events of 9/11. Specifically to illustrate that time in my life, I am going to take you back to where it all began. It all started on December 13, 2006, when I came up with a brilliant thought that I should join the military. Six months prior to that particular moment, I had gone through so much. For example, I was involved in a horrible car accident a few weeks after I started my new job at K-mart, which was a half an hour away from my home at the time. Soon after my accident, I applied to a couple universities and was accepted, but ultimately I could not attend either college because my parents made too much money, so as a result, I was not able to receive any financial aid.
Naturally, I continued to work my part-time job at K-Mart, catching the bus back and forth to work every day. Although, I had always wanted more for myself, I was starting to believe that this might be it for me. This being, unable to attend school, working at K-Mart, and stuck in South Bend for the rest of my life. On the inside, I was falling apart, and as the days and weeks went by, I continued to think that way. Until one day, an Army recruiter entered K-Mart, I was standing at my cash register so I had a clear view of the way shoppers greeted her as she walked through the store entrance, thanking her for her service. I did not think anything of it because my step-dad was in the military. Still that was the first time I had ever seen a female soldier greeted that way.
I believe that this event took place early in the day because I was the only cashier on duty. As she approached my counter, I smiled, said hello, and started scanning her items. I asked her how long have she been in the military, and her response was, “a little over five years”. She just had a baby, which was why she became a recruiter because this position allowed her to spend more time with her family. I told her that my step-dad is an officer in the Army, soon after she asked me if I had ever considered joining. I said, “No, not in a million years, you have to move around too much, and I don’t like being away from my family and friends”. She laughed, and shook her head agreeing with what I said, then insisted I give it some thought.
She gave me her business card and told me that her office was just across the street, if I ever wanted more information on the Army, I just laughed and took her card. Later that day I told my mom about what happened, she started telling me about all the benefits that come with being in the military, how proud parents are of their children who are serving their country, and how good of an opportunity this was. I just listened as she continued to make many considerable points, at the end of the conversation I said I would think about it. What I did next is what any teenager would do; I called my best friend Charlette. She was not much help, at least that is how I felt at the time, and all she said was whatever you decide, I will be happy for you.
The Physical Fitness Test
I hung up with her and began to search the web. Soon I came across the requirements for entering basic training, also known as the pre-basic task test, and the requirements were as follows:
• Push-ups: 13
• Sit-ups: 17
• 2 mile run: Under 25 minutes
• Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery Test (ASVAB) minimum score: 36
After reading most of the information on that site, I was almost convinced, but I felt I that needed more information, so the next day I made an appointment with the recruiter. At that point, the plan was get as much information as possible; I was not ready to sign anybody’s contract. I walked into the recruiting center; inside there were offices for each branch of the military. The Air Force occupied the first office, followed by the Navy, Marines, Coast Guard, and the Army. The Army recruiter that I met at work was exiting the office as I was entering. The meeting only lasted for about fifteen to twenty minutes, she did not really say anything I had not heard or read already. Before I left, she got my height and weight information. I had to lose ten pounds before entering basic training.
Soon after that, I moved back to New Jersey with my mom, three brothers, and step-dad. They lived in Fort Dix, NY. This is an Army base where the gym was free for soldiers and their families. I worked out every day until my next weigh in. Soon things started going as planned. I lost eleven pounds, took the physical training and ASVAB tests and passed. After the ASVAB test, my new recruiter SSG (Staff Sergeant) Z. gave me my date of departure, January 25, 2007.
Finally, I made it! I was nervous, excited, scared, and speechless all in the same breath. Then it hit me, that date was only a week away. My recruiter and I pulled in front of my house; I hopped out of the car, ran through the yard, and unlocked the front door to tell my mom the good news. She was just as excited as I was. Recently, I asked her about her feelings on that evening, she expressed that our feelings were very similar, nervous, excited, and kind of “afraid of the unknown” is what she called it.
That night around 9 PM, I called my best friend and told her the news; she had me crying because I was leaving the day before her birthday. We cried some more, laughed, and cried again. I never forgot a birthday; I always called everybody on his or her birthday. I promised to call her before I left, and I did. January 25, 2007, this was the day, it came so fast. On the morning of my departure, I had a quick breakfast with my family because my little brothers had school, they left, and I started packing. Several hours passed, I started calling family and friends to say my goodbyes. Of course I was still talking to my best friend when SSG. Z came to pick me up.
With tears in my eyes, I gave my mom the biggest, longest hug ever, my brothers too. We loaded my bags and I drove away, still waving as the car pulled away. Heading to the hotel near the MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station), we rode in silence for a few minutes, when SSG Z reassured me that everything would be all right. She continued on to tell me what to expect when I arrived at the hotel, as well as what would be expected of me on the following morning. She informed me that I would have a roommate, another female of course. I was allowed to use the pay phones in the lobby only. She also said that dinner would be provided for us, and as for the morning after, she just said that I would receive another full body physical.
Everything went as she said it would.
That morning I went downstairs for breakfast, I had to make new friends, which was not something I was comfortable with. Subsequently, this is where I met my new army buddy, Sharpe for the first time. Sharpe was friendly and extremely funny. We went through the whole process together laughing and making jokes. Later, we were sworn in together too. After the ceremony, our supervisors informed us that we would be leaving for the airport at 0500 that is 5am. Sharpe, several others, and I were heading for Fort Jackson, South Carolina. This was my first time away from home and would be my first time on an airplane.
The bus dropped us off at the entrance. The driver instructed us to wait inside for the Drill Sergeant. Suddenly, I became afraid. Honestly, afraid was not even the word, I am incapable of putting my feelings at that particular moment into words. I was as mom said “afraid of the unknown,” I guess. I thought that something terrible was about to happen, but there was no turning back now. At the time, none of us knew that there was such a thing as a good DS (Drill Sergeant) but there was. In fact, there were several, the DS we met, he was the nicest of them all.
Contraband
Do not get me wrong, these were not, I repeat not the Drill Sergeants that would be taking us through basic training. These were Drill Sergeants transitioning out of basic training back into regular sergeant positions. The DS we were with was taking us to pre-basic, this is where all of our contraband would be confiscated.
This process, the preparation for basic training would take five days. During which they would teach us the basics of marching, how to address our authority figures, and the correct way to address one another. We actually got to eat, take long showers, and have free time at this place. We called this company a resort because it felt like a vacation compared to what we expected, officially it was known as 1/20th. When we first arrived on the bus, the other Drill Sergeants escorted the ladies to one room and the guys to another. At this point, we had already collected our luggage. Soon they instructed us to empty all of our bags. Clothes, socks, and undergarments were everywhere. Next, we had to put what they called our civilian clothes in one bag, and make-up, perfume, and anything with a scent or color in another bag.
The only items we were allowed to keep were white socks, white underwear, and white shirts. Later we were issued white/grey sweat suits with green winter caps, black and green gloves as well because it was freezing. We were required to wear all of those items every time we went to breakfast, lunch, PT, and dinner. However, if one person misplaced or forgot any one of those items, we all would have to take whatever they were missing OFF! Our DS said “yawl will just be cold” and we were.
During early morning formations and after PT we would be exhausted, so much so that we would fall asleep standing up. So after a few people got in trouble for either forgetting something and/or falling asleep, we learned to check and look out for each other, before we left our room as well as while in formation.It was now day four at the resort, tomorrow was the big day; we would meet our real Drill Sergeants. First, let me introduce the people I had become good friends with while at the resort. There was Brittany McDowell, Lelcey Alvarez, Tiffany Hammonds and Sharpe was there too. Day five at 1/20th was not a good day at all. McDowell (Brittany), Alvarez (Lelcey), Hammonds (Tiffany), and I, just found out that we would not be seeing each other at all in basic training.
At least that is what we thought at the time. We were instructed to have all of our bags lined up in ABC order downstairs outside of 1/20th. It was raining terribly hard that morning and I had like 10 bags. We were all saying our goodbyes thinking we would not see each other ever again.
Next, one of the nice DS made us sit on our bags, another Drill Sergeant from 1/20th then instructed us to come to the front and get anything we were missing. For example, I was missing a dog tag. Other soldiers did not have their medical records, glasses, things like that. While we were collecting our belongings; our future Drill Sergeants were watching us. I was watching them too, trying to decide which DS looked the meanest. I would soon find out that DS Sellers was the worst one. She had braids at the time, I said to McDowell; “I DO NOT want her as my DS” she seemed to be one of the craziest DS of them all, and she was. Soon all of us were one again sitting on our duffle bags. Suddenly, DS Godell started walking back and forth in front of us. Thinking to myself, we did not know what happened, he looked so angry, and we were just sitting there.
The Beginning of Basic Training
Next they started passing out numbers, I got a 4, McDowell got a 1, Alvarez also got a 1, and Hammonds got a 3, we were devastated. We started preparing to leave; one of the DS said when we call your number grab all of your bags and get on the bus. Whatever number we received was the number of the bus we had to board, meaning since I number four I would get on the fourth bus. It was so hard carrying all of those bags. Some people were falling because the rain made the ground slippery, and the fact that we had to run to the busses did not help either. The busses were huge white busses that barely had enough room for us, and especially not our bags.
So we got on the bus and they just start yelling and screaming as if we did something wrong, they instructed us to put our heads down. We had to keep our head down the during the entire bus ride.
Finally, we arrived at the company. Next they made all of us get on some bleachers, still standing, with our hand straight up above our heads in the air, until they told us to sit down. When they finally let us sit down, we had to sit at the position of attention, which meaning our hands directly on the top of our knees, our backs straight, and our heads forward. Still in the position of attention, they introduced themselves to us.
Our Drill Sergeants
First, was all of 1st platoon’s Drill Sergeants: DS Clark, DS Marks and DS Stevens. Then second Platoon’s Drill Sergeants: DS Daughtery, DS Stevens and DS Johnson. Next, 3rd platoon’s Drill Sergeants: DS, I honestly didn’t really know any of the DS from 3rd platoon. Last, was the best platoon ever 4th platoon’s DS Sellers, DS Godell, DS Robinson, and DS Maldanaldo, my Drill Sergeants! At the time, I was so scared they all looked so mean and scary I am sure we were all nervous. Soon after, they made all of us go with our DS, they made us get the stuff we came with, It was still raining at this point so we went up to stairs the back way. At the top of the stairs was a room full of chairs for all of us, DS Sellers and DS Godell passed out sheets of paper and pencils.
The information we had to write down of the sheets of paper was on the overhead. The light from the overhead was the only light in the room. The light on our DS’s faces hit them as if they were holding a flashlight directly underneath their chins, terrifying. While collecting our papers, DS Sellers and DS Godell explained the rest of our day. After filling out more papers we would then go back downstairs, get in formation, and march to the mess hall for chow. Immediately after chow, there would be more paperwork. When she finished speaking, DS Robinson passed out our soldiers handbooks, he instructed us to read that book every chance we got because we would be tested daily on the information it contained.
Chow
After the paperwork, they marched us to the mess hall also known as the cafeteria. Going through the line the servers asked us what we wanted, we had to call it what it was. We could not point, say that right there, or any phrase similar to those. If someone did, that person had to go to the end of the line, and the crazy thing is not one of the Drill Sergeants told us that. Starving, we just knew we were about to sit down, laugh, socialize, something.
Nope, it seemed like we only had a minute and thirty seconds to eat. So we got to sample everything on our plate, the guys were eating so fast there was food all over the table. When we finished eating, we had to go stand directly outside the café and hold up the number of our platoon with our right hand. I held up the number four, and we could not just hold it up any kind of way. The tip our thumb had to be pointed all the way down, all four fingers had to be spread apart, with our palm facing the front. I was one of the first privates out there, so it was my responsibility to inform those that came after me. It seemed like we were standing out there in the cold for hours, as my arms grew tired DS Sellers told me to turn my hand more toward the front, she continued to watch me several minutes after.
This was only the beginning, today was nothing compared to the days that followed. After dinner we marched back to our building form there, we went back upstairs, the Drill Sergeants began to what they called “smoke” us. Being smoked consisted of hours of strenuous physical activities, such as push-up, sit-ups, flutter kicks, squats, suicides, and exercises that until then I had never heard of like the Hulk.
The Spiderman and Friends
The Spiderman was also an exercise that DS Stevens invented. The Spiderman was executed by crawling across the floor as he did in the actual Spiderman movie, when he climbed that wall in the city. We were smoked until it was time for bed. DS Sellers took us, the girls to out bay (room) and gave us papers showing us the correct way to set up out wall lockers. She also said that we would be sharing this bay with all of the girls in our company; this meant all the girls in the other platoons! Yay, I finally got a break. Soon, McDowell, Alvarez, Hammonds, and Sharpe walked in, I was so exhausted, and yet happy to see them at the same time.
When they entered the room, I was busy putting up my clothes, socks, etc. Which is what they started working on too, no later than they walked in. Two seconds after they started, we were told to stand in front of our beds for accountability. Girls were running out of the bathroom with facemasks on, hair wet, one sock on and one off. Every night there was a different DS on duty, he or she could hear everything that went on in every room. Tonight DS Sellers was on duty, (sigh) I knew this would be a long night. As she went down the line each one of us has to count off, the first girl started, 1, the next 2…
Suddenly, DS Sellers snapped, she said, “What’s wrong with yawl? Yawls don’t know how to count? Get down and push!” So of course, we all got down and started doing push-ups. She then said, “the correct way to count is, zero one, zero two, zero three, now count off” we continued to count while we pushed. She stopped us again, “no, no, no zero one what... zero one Drill Sergeant!” Twenty minutes later, she told us to recover, which meant get up.
Shower Time and Wake-up call
DS Sellers informed us that we had tem minutes to take a shower, all sixty of us. That night we did not have much time to talk, I just was happy with the fact that we were all staying in the same room. 04:30 was wake-up call at least that is what DS Sellers told all of us. At the time, none of us knew that 04:30 really meant 04:15, so of course we were smoked for being late. DS Sellers who was still there, and DS Clark smoked us from 04:15 to about 04:40 and from that morning on we were never late again, well most of us. After being smoked for roughly twenty-five minutes, we headed downstairs for our morning formation. DS Godell, DS Robinson, and DS Maldanaldo were there DS Sellers had the day off because she was on duty the night before.During this formation, the Drill Sergeants passed out PT mats because the grass was still wet from the snow.
After everyone received their mats, we marched to the PT field. It was freezing that morning and on top of that DS Godell made all of us take off our hats and gloves because PVT. Griffin forgot her hat. As for the gloves, DS Robinson said, “exercising without gloves will make us real soldiers.” Our PT mats actually kept us from getting wet. I was surprised because they looked like extra thin yoga mats. The mats were Army green of course, with short green straps used to keep the mat closed when rolled up. PT was over, our mats were rolled up, and all the platoons were ready to head back to the company for breakfast.
Saluting the Flag
By now was it was almost 07:00, while marching back to the company DS Robinson suddenly shouts, “platoon halt,” so we stopped. Next, he instructed us to do a “right face.” Last, he shouted “present arms” which meant salute. We were saluting the flag. If you didn’t know on every Army base when the flag is raised and lowered every person outside is supposed to stop whatever they are doing, whether it be driving, crossing the street, walking your dog it doesn’t matter, you are supposed to stop. For soldiers, we have to stop and salute the flag. If in uniform but most soldiers, still stop and salute even when they are in civilian clothes. The National Anthem just ended and DS Robinson shouted “order arms,” which meant put your arms down, we did.
Next, he instructed us to face left and then we proceeded to the mess hall. When we arrived, all of the other platoons were already in line so we had to wait. Waiting was never good because somebody would always do something to cause the whole platoon to get in trouble. Suddenly, DS Godell started walking back and forth from the beginning to the end of our platoon, when Pvt. Smith decided to ask DS Godell a question. Everything went downhill from there. The first thing Smith did wrong was touch a DS; yes, Smith tapped DS Godell on the shoulder! I saw this happen before my eyes, I could not believe it. DS Godell turned around so quick I thought he was about to jack Smith up.
He just got in his face and said “don’t you ever touch me private.” DS Godell was so close to Smith’s face DS Godell had to have spit on him at least twice.
Training Day
If you assumed that DS Godell made Pvt. Smith push after he finished yelling at him, you assumed right. Smith pushed until I entered the mess hall. By the time he came in, I was leaving. He was definitely the last one to eat. Following breakfast, we had to study the history of the military, the rules of engagement, and how to read maps. This would take three and a half hours. Our training took place in a classroom filled with old school desks. The hardest task for all of us was trying to stay awake. I honestly think that our training sessions were purposely made to be boring. For example, each DS would speak in a monotone voice. We could not move, talk to each other, or even look at one another for too long without getting called to the back of the room.
A DS would tap us on the shoulder and signal us to the back. In the back soldiers were doing flutter kicks, push-ups, and sit-ups. All of them were back there for different reasons like falling asleep, talking, and passing notes. I never fell asleep in the classroom except for once. It was towards the end of basic training, I cannot begin to tell you what they were talking about. Luckily, one of my battle buddies woke me up before I was caught. Battle buddy, is a term we used at least a hundred times a day. You had to have someone with you at all times, that person was referred to as a battle buddy. If I approached a DS, especially a male DS I had to have a battle buddy. Washing clothes, going to the latrine, and even getting a drink of water all required a battle buddy. That system helped me get to know everyone in the company!
My First PT Test
This was the first of only three PT tests, we were all extremely nervous about the fact that if we did not pass this test we would only have two more chances to pass. DS Godell marched us to the field that day; he always said the most encouraging words. He could make you believe that the task at hand was nothing. Finally, making it to the field we had to stretch before take the test. I was so nervous. Each squad in every platoon was assigned to a DS from their own platoon. I got DS Godell and before I had to start the two-mile run I asked him what I needed to do, he said, “Just don’t stop running.” I ran the entire time and by the end my legs, chest arm, and muscles I did not know I had were burning.
My run time was twenty-five minutes and three seconds; I needed to score twenty-one minutes or lower in order to pass. On the bright side only like twelve out of one hundred and twenty of us passed the run. People were throwing up and one girl passed out after she finished her run. When everyone was done doing the run, we marched back to our classroom. Next were the sit-ups and push-ups, I needed to do fifty sit-ups under two minutes. Push-ups, I had to do at least twenty-five under two minutes as well. The tricky thing about push-ups in the Army is that we had to do them the correct way in order for them to be counted. The correct way is to have your head up and straight forward. Your shoulders have to be straight and when you start to push your shirt has to touch the ground.The sit-up isn’t half as complicated as the push-up, as long as you continue to try the DS will keep counting only if you eventually complete it.
Push-ups and Sit-ups
Finally, it was my turn to execute my sit-ups. I did my absolute best, but I only completed thirty-five in two minutes. As for push-ups, I completed three correct push-ups out of ten attempted push-ups. They were not playing about those push-ups. My final event was done so I just sat on the side of the room and continued to watch as some passed, failed, and others gave up trying all together. It was over and even though I did not pass, I felt as if a big weight had been lifted off my shoulders. Still, I was a bit nervous but I knew that my Drill Sergeants would get me ready and able to pass the final PT test. That morning we actually got to eat, I am sure it was only because we just took our PT test but I was not complaining.
In addition, I forgot to mention the rules of eating, yes eating. When we ate, we were not allowed to eat just anything. For instance, if one of us had pancakes for breakfast all of us would get smoked afterwards. Those rules applied to everything, meaning if one of us did anything wrong we would all get punished by being smoked. On the other hand, when one of us did something good we would be acknowledged as an individual, and we would be rewarded as such. Rewards were the best; sometimes they even let us choose what we wanted our reward to be like not being required to do push-us in to receive mail, being a squad leader, or a longer shower. Obviously, I chose the longer shower because squad leaders were smoked for everything the soldiers in their squad did wrong, and we were only required to do ten push-ups for getting our mail.
First Phone Call Home
I had been waiting for this moment for what seemed like weeks; in fact, it had been two weeks. Back while I was at 1/20th, I purchase a two hundred and fifty minute card. At the time, I thought that two hundred and fifty minutes would not be nearly enough, but I bought it anyway because that was the highest amount of minutes available. Today I would find out that our phone calls could not be any longer than three minutes. That was nothing more than a tease. Later, I would come to the understanding of the reasoning behind that rule. It was simple, life happens. Meaning, our phone calls were long enough to tell our family and friends that we were doing fine and short enough to prevent us from hearing anything that might affect us negatively.
Next in line, I became overwhelmed with happiness! When, I got to the phone for some reason it had stopped working so I went to another phone, nothing. Finally, I found one that worked! It rang, rang, and rang once more. “Hello…” Mom! “Hi Punkin,” is what she said. To this day hearing that still puts a smile on my face. Punkin is my nickname given to me by my mom, I am twenty-four and she still calls me that. Next, she asked how I was doing, if I had made any friends, and how everything was going, you know the usually mom questions. Still on the phone, mom said she could hear the DS in the background counting down the seconds remaining. I spoke to my little brothers very quick, talked to my mom once again, and then it was time to go. I told my family that I love them; they said “love you too, be safe” and I hung up.
Going Shopping with Drill Sergeants
Shortly after, I became sad because I wanted to talk just a little longer but happy at the same time because I knew everyone was ok. Form there I headed back upstairs to my room, it was a Sunday so the Drill Sergeants did not bother us as much on Sundays. That was the only day we got to attend church, do our laundry, clean our wall locker, and sometimes they would take us to the store. Shopping with Drill Sergeants was not really shopping at all. Specifically to illustrate, we got to shop on our own but we were required to follow the list they gave us and we only had ten minutes to find everything we needed because not all of us were able to fit inside the store. Once we finished gathering all of our items, we would then wait in line, as you would at any normal store.
The difference between normal shopping and this was for us at the end of the line were Drill Sergeants with rubber gloves, sitting in a chair waiting to inspect our baskets. They were checking to see if we stuck to the list, more specifically followed what was in parentheses. Next to everything in parentheses, we would find fragrance free. Nothing could have a scent. Deodorant could not be scented; neither could lotion body wash or hair products. If the Drill Sergeants found anything that was scented, they would take it out of your basket and you would leave the store without it. That was there way of teaching us to follow the rules.
Weapons not Guns!
Today we would be issued our M16s. To us they were known as guns and not knowing any better, that is actually, what we called them when speaking to our Drill Sergeants. That would be the first and last day we would refer to them as guns. Pvt. McDowell had just received her weapon and soon after, she had wanted to ask her DS about it. Unfortunately, I was the closest soldier standing near her at that moment, and she needed a battle buddy so I was it. McDowell and I approached DS Clark with our new “guns” and a huge grin on our faces. “DS Clark,” “what is it private?” “I think something is wrong with my gun.” “You’re what,” said DS Clark. “My gun DS,” DS Clark told her to get down and push. We were confused for a moment and I just stood there for a second watching McDowell do push-ups. Then I noticed DS Clark looking at me like she was waiting on me to do something, I said DS. She said, “Battle buddies do everything together, get down and push private.
I just smiled and said, yes DS. As we pushed, DS Clark informed us that the correct term for our M16 was “weapon not gun.” She also told us that it was now our job to inform the rest of the company and from then on, if she heard one more soldier refer to the M16 as a gun she would find and smoke us not them. We said yes DS, asked permission to recover, and when she let us recover, we made sure we told every soldier in site. We also told them to tell people too, that if they did not we would get smoked. Next we headed upstairs to our separate platoons where we were about to learn how to properly clean our weapons. DS Maldanaldo first showed us how to take it apart. Then he and DS Robinson has a contest to see who could take the weapon apart the fastest. DS Robinson won!
Tents
Five weeks into basic training and we were about to learn how to put up tents. For most of us, this was our first time spending the night under the stars but it definitely would not be our last. Once again, we got on those huge, white buses that brought us here in the very beginning. Those buses brought back several scary and now funny memories. They made me realize how far I had come as well. With a long trip ahead of us, I guess the Drill Sergeants felt like being nice because they let us talk to them and each other during the whole ride there. They were nicer to us these days, mainly because by now we knew them pretty well. Meaning, we knew what not to say. What to say, and how to say it. The bus ride took about forty-five minutes, which gave me plenty of time to really catch up with McDowell, Hammonds, Sharpe, and Alvarez. I do not know how we ended up on the same bus, but somehow we did!
I was sitting next to Alvarez; I wanted to sit with her because she’s so small and I knew I would have plenty of room. These buses looked small on the outside but on the inside, they did not have much room at all. Plus, they smelled weird, like sweat or something. Finally, we had reached our destination. The grass looked as if it had not been cut in months; it came up to my knees. There were many, many trees and on top of our unfortunate surroundings, it started raining. Now that we had these M16s, everything was twice as hard and he had to take them everywhere we went. Like to the latrine, which were tight spaced porta-potties. Soon after all of us found a seat in the bleachers DS Stevens started a demonstration on how to go about constructing a tent. From there we were off to build our tents, the trees where a big help.
The Second PT Test
After all the running and exercising I have done over the past five weeks, I just knew that I was going to pass this second PT test. Everything about this day was very similar to the day of my first PT test. It was very early, cold, and somewhat windy but the sun was shining. We marched to the track just like we marched every else. We only took the bus for long, long distance trips. Today DS Sellers marched us to the track; she could be very entertaining at times, especially when she got on soldiers from other platoons for doing something wrong. Two days prior DS Robinson brought us out to the track to practice in order to get an estimated run time, number of sit-ups, as well as the number of push-ups we could do. At this point, we had showed great improvement and after going through the practice test DS Robinson had given us a few words of encouragement.
He instructed us to do push-ups and sit-ups on our own because no matter how much they smoke us at the end of the day we still had to work out on our own. He also told us to drink water, which is something all the Drill Sergeants told us when it came to everything. For example, if we had an accident that resulted in one of us bleeding, they would say, “drink water.” If we fell while running, they would say, “See that’s why you need to drink more water.” After that day of practice, we drank plenty of water and worked out every chance we got on our own. Words of encouragement, DS Robinson told us not to panic if we did not pass this second PT test. In addition, he said that all we could do was our best this time and the final test would be a breeze. Unfortunately, I did not pass the second PT test either, but failing just made me want it more and work harder to reach my final goal.
The 12 Mile March
I was not looking forward to this week at all; it would be the longest seven day of my basic training experience. On the buses once again headed to the middle of nowhere, I was checking to make sure that I brought extra baby wipes and tissue. Baby wipes because we would not be allowed to take showers for the entire seven days, which is how long we would be there. We only got to take what the Drill Sergeants called “bird showers” with our baby wipes. Tissue because I was and still am a germ phobic. This would be an experience like no other. When we first arrived, the first thing I saw was a v-shaped foxhole in the ground, of course. My first thought when I saw that was this could not be good, I was right. Our first of many tasks was to dig four feet v-shaped foxholes, so that we could protect our tents without being seen. We dug, and dug, and dug some more. This went on for about two hours.
Most of the guys finished before us, so eventually they came over and helped us finish digging ours, after getting permission. Soon we were all done digging and now it was time to put up our tents. Bugs were always my main concern when camping in the woods, so my battle buddy and I gathered rocks and placed them around our tent. “Chow,” screamed DS Sellers, we ran in the direction of her voice and formed a formation. Right after we got comfortable in line they made up get on the ground, we were supposed to be guarding the servers form the enemy. Every time the line moved, we had to get up, move down, and then lay back down. We ate at a tall table but this time we did not get to sit down. We stood for a few second in one spot then moved down for the next soldier that came to the table. When we reached the other end of the table, we were done. No matter what or how much you had left on your plate, you were done!
Lunch was over and the Drill Sergeants just passed out a packing list for the twelve-mile march on that night. Everyone had to have the same amount of items in their rucksacks, no matter how tall or short you were. Our bags had to weigh the same. Twelve miles, I had never in my life thought that I would walk twelve miles for anything or anybody. After a long day’s work, digging v-shaped fox holes, tents, and now a twelve-mile ruck march at midnight. I was exhausted before the march began. Apart of me just wanted to run away and hide, but I did not! I packed my rucksack, made sure my canteens were topped off, and I checked my bootstraps to make sure they were tied tight. I was ready to get this over with! Right before the big march DS Sellers and DS Godell made me the leader of the first squad, which meant I was responsible for every soldier in the first squad. A walkie-talkie also came with the new promotion, each squad leader had one.
There were four squad leaders, Pvt. Daniel, Pvt. Miller, Pvt. Peters, and myself. Those were my buddies, during the last five minutes of my second PT test Miller and Daniel ran with me after they had already completed their two-mile run. They were trying to motivate me to run faster and I did. What they did made me feel special, and since then we have been the best of friends. Starting the march off on regular gravel I thought this was going to be easy, but I k new better than to think that. Soon we turned off into some woods with sandy ground for miles. I was shocked! This was no straight path either; there was tons of sand with tall, steep hills. Following us was a hummer carrying gallons of water, so that after we took our breaks we could refill our canteens.
The End of the Twelve Miles
Six miles in, we finally took our first break. We laid on the side of the road for like a minute, drank some water, and got back up. Then we turned back around to head back. We made it back! I could not think straight, my eyes were hurting, my feet were killing me, and my clothes were drenched with sweat. After taking off my rucksack, my boots, and my canteens, I felt thirty pounds lighter. I wanted a shower so bad, but all I had were baby wipes. I didn’t think I was going to make it six more days without a shower. The next morning we did weapon PT; this consisted of putting our weapon on top of our feet while doing flutter kicks. We also did push-ups and sit-ups with our weapon. For the next six days we marched, ran, and did some firing exercises. The firing exercises were done at the shooting range, the shooting range was very exciting but nerve wrecking at the same time.
My first time there I was extremely nervous; the fact of shooting a weapon around so many people scared me. After going a few times I became a natural, except for this one particular day. It was raining, mud was everywhere, and I was afraid that someone was going to slip and accidently shoot somebody. A couple of days later we were doing a shooting exercise, where we had to hide behind these small houses, and the objective was to cover each other while one person ran to the next house. I started doing so well, I had made it all the way to the end, and we were headed back. I was running so fast down the hill when suddenly, I tripped. My weapon flew out of my hands while I was flying in the air. I finally landed and ended up falling on top of my weapon. Quickly after, I got up, shook it off, and started running down the hill again.
The Third and Final PT Test
It is now week seven and today is the day that I take my third and final PT test. I was extremely excited, this was finally it! This time all of our events would be done at the track this time. That meant we would not have to march back to the classroom to take the push-up and sit-up portion of the test. We would do the two-mile run and then take a short break while standing in line, waiting to do the two other events. This time instead of using a whistle DS Sellers brought a small pistol, which only contained blanks. It was time to start the run and I was nervous but ready. Now running a steady pace, I was in the zone. DS Sellers was even cheering me on. Miller, Daniel, and Bowie had already completed their two-mile run and they were on the sideline cheering me on as I ran by too.
Which made me want to run faster and push harder. As I ran by DS Godell, who was hold a stopwatch. He told me that I was on my last lap around the track. I think he thought that I was slowing down because the next thing I knew he was running beside me. I could not believe it; DS Godell was running with me! He started saying “let’s go Howard, let’s go!” So I began to run faster, then he ran faster. I kept trying to keep up with him, again, he said, “let’s go, you’re almost there.” Finally, I made it! DS Godell gave his stopwatch to another DS. He said my run time was seventeen minutes and thirteen seconds. I did it; I had finally passed the two-mile run! After I was done jumping up and down, I ran to the side of the track to cheer on other soldiers that were still running. For push-ups, I did 30 in two minutes and for sit-ups, I did 65! I was so excited.
Preparation for Graduation.
Surprisingly, there were still several soldiers who did not pass their final PT test. As a result, they would be required to stay behind while the rest of us graduated. Naturally, I felt bad for them but I was still excited for myself. I was finally moving on! The only thing left for me to do was graduate. Today we were allowed to call home, it was perfect timing because I was not sure if my family was going to be able to make it. Dialing my home phone number, I could not wait to talk to my mom. It had been a couple of week since I last spoke to her. She answered, and I began to tell her everything that I had accomplished in the past two weeks. How I had passed my final PT test, how I had been promoted to a squad leader. She was so proud of me; she also said that she and my three little brothers were coming to my graduation!
The next task on the list was to start packing up all of my belongings, and to turn in all of the equipment that I had been issued while in basic training. Items like my M16, Kevlar, both of my canteens, my poncho, my tent, sleeping bag and my rucksack. Unfortunately, every single last piece of that equipment had to be cleaned before we turned it back in. Naturally, our DS set aside clean up days and while we cleaned the soldiers that failed their PT test had to work out like we use to. We were still required to work out but not as hard or as frequent as we did. Our main priority was to clean and turn in all of the equipment. While doing this we have to talk to our Drill Sergeants more and learn more about their families. We were still respectful and talked to them as if they were our Drill Sergeants.
DS Godell actually showed us a picture of his wife and two daughters. He also shared the fact that his wife was also going through basic training during the same time were. He told us this to make sure we knew why we would not be attending our graduation. His wife was graduating on the same day we were. DS Sellers still did not talk to us and neither did DS Maldanaldo. DS Robinson was a cool, relaxed person even when he was yelling at us. DS Clark was cool too; she was as cool as they came. She looked out for the female soldiers, she also made sure that I did my push-ups and sit-ups whenever we were getting smoked and she was not even my DS. Now it was time to go get fitted for our graduation uniforms, our dress greens! We also had to get our new PT uniforms and boots too. This was also another one of the happiest days of my life.
I had felt a feeling of great accomplishment, it was so surreal. When I had first thought of joining the military, I honestly did not think that I could do it, but later something inside of me made me believe that I could. Today was family day and my family was here! I am seeing them for the first time in eight weeks. My mom was finally here along with my three little brothers Omar, Elisha, and Ethan. It was wonderful seeing them see me; my mom could not believe that her only daughter was in the Army. I could see it in her eye, how proud she was of me. I was happy that I was able to make her happy. The main reason I joined the Army was to get money for college, because that is what parents expect their children to do, is go to college. For a while, I could not help but think that I had let my mom down, even though the college situation was out of my hands. I still felt responsible.
I felt that I had definitely made her proud on that day! After I introduced my family to all of my friends and Drill Sergeants, I took them took them to my room. I showed them how tightly my bed had to be made; I also showed them my wall locker and how neatly all of my clothes and socks had to be kept. They really weren’t supposed to be in there but I didn’t know that until after the fact. The tour was over and I was hungry, so mom drove us to the mall to grab a bite to eat. Shortly after we ate mom did my hair for my big graduation day. Then we all took a long nap and I finally got to catch up on all of the sleep I had been deprived of. I had a great time with all of them; Omar was seventeen back then, had gotten so tall since I last saw him. Elisha and Ethan had also gotten taller and looked a little older too.
Mom was still gorgeous and looked younger for some reason. That was definitely the best day ever. Now heading back to reality, my mom had just dropped me off at my company. My platoon was now preparing for formation when DS Sellers and the other DS Robinson approached me. They wanted to see my braids, just to make sure that I didn’t have any designs in my hair. They approved and actually gave me a few compliments.
Formation was quick tonight, we got to take long showers, and we were also allowed to stay up and talk for the rest of the night. We exchanged phone numbers, tried on the clothes we that we came in. Ultimately, we just had a great time. Today was the big day; I must have taken a thousand pictures that morning alone. Before we got to head downstairs, First Sergeant quizzed up on some of the things that we should have learned while going through basic training. For example, he asked us questions about how to properly preform CPR, and how to read a map. He also checked the guy’s uniforms and DS Sellers checked the females.
We were squared away and now headed to those huge buses once again. All of us piled in and then we were off to the graduation field! Some of us were crying, while others were secretly texting, and I day-dreaming about all of the events that brought me to this point. I could feel the smile on my face as we arrived at the field. Off the bus and into our positions, we were ready to take that last lap around the field. Unfortunately, it was cold and rainy that day but at this point nothing could take away the joy I felt. Finishing up our lap around the track; our families cheered for us as we marched. Still marching my mom kept trying to get me to look at her; I knew she just wanted a picture of me smiling. I was supposed to keep my eyes forward while marching in formation. I gave in and gave her a quick smile, even though I knew I wasn’t supposed to.
It was my mom so I had to! While marching and taking a picture, I ended up running into the girl in front of me. Mom laughed and my brothers did too. I was just happy my Drill Sergeants didn’t see it. That was it, graduation was over. Later my family and I went back to the company to take pictures and spend some more time together before they had to leave. My mom asked DS Sellers and DS Robinson if she could get a picture of all of us. I told her not to ask but surprisingly enough, they took it. Afterwards, DS Sellers told me that she never took pictures with her soldiers and that I should feel lucky. I did! Then it was time for the families to leave, I gave all of them the biggest hugs ever, told them that I loved them all, and watched them walk away with tears in my eyes. The end of this long, but amazing experience was near. Our final formation was about to take place and all I could think about was how much I wanted to stay.
Thinking back to my days at K-Mart; I never would have imagined in a million years that I would be graduating from basic training, or even dream about overcoming all of the obstacles that I had overcome during the past eight weeks. I was on top of the world and nobody could bring me down. Today I am a college student at the Art Institute of Indianapolis, but if I could go back and do basic training all over again I would do it in a heartbeat. So for those of you who wanted to go into the military, but you don’t thing that you can. I hope that after reading my memoir, I helped change your mind! Because if I can do it so can you! Without the support of my family and friends I would not have made it through. Thank you all so much for being there for me, I love you all!
