The First Day of Basic Training

We were told to get in rows and stand at the positon of attention, this was frightening. We were told to run to the bus from here, this is where I was split up with everyone I came with. The base was three hours away from the airport. On the bus ride over there I called and texted everyone I knew for three hours. I called Jed first, he could not talk long because he had a meeting, although I knew if I called my mom or Ayden they would both cry and that would make things harder on me. After I talked to Jed and he convinced me everything was ok after 20 minutes of me crying to him as if he could come pick me up and take me home. After this I texted Boone to be sure he made it on a shuttle, he did. Boone was on the Shuttle behind me. That was the last time I talked to him until the day after graduation. We made it to the reception building at nearly 11 o’clock and briefed until about one. We finally got to bed at 2, and we were woken up at 4:30 the following morning. During reception they checked our dental, blood type, eye sight, etc. this is where we received our uniforms, and most importantly where we met our first Drill Sergeants. In receptions Drill Sergeants are almost done with their contracts, they cannot make you preform corrective action, or give you RBIs, all they can do is get really close to you and scream as loud as they could. I was here for seven days, and then after those seven days were

Without a doubt the single most influential experience in my life has been graduating from Marine Corps boot camp at MCRD San Diego. They say less than one percent of United States Citizens serve in the military and a small fraction of them serve as United States Marines. I take great pride in the fact that standing on those famous yellow footprints separates me from more than 99% of people I will meet. Some people claim boot camp was easy for them, that they didn’t struggle or second guess themselves; unfortunately I am not one of those people. I greatly struggled, not physically as that was easy but mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Initially I wasn’t sure if I had made the right decision in enlisting right out of high school. But then

Going through and graduating Air Force Basic Training changed me both physically and mentally as a person. First, physically the experience taught me how to push my self in ways that I had never before and accomplish tasks that before seemed impossible. Also, my experience changed me mentally by teaching me how to be strong in stressful situations and how to handle situations in a calm and collected manner. My experience of graduating from basic training did not change my perception on society, but instead it gave me a group of people that have been through the same experience and have the same passions to serve our

After the events of September 11, 2001, my dad was recalled to the military to serve twelve months in Djibouti, Africa. Upon his return, he made the choice to return to the Army, and we were sent to Colorado. In the years that followed, my family was

Hunter Airfield Base in Savannah, Ga I stood there reticently facing my First Sergeant and Captain, being admonished by them. Months had passed and I haven’t recovered from the accident and it bothered them to the point that they had separation papers all laid out before me. My quiet attitude, begin to uproar a bit, I became vociferous pertaining to my career in the army. My career was coming to a screeching halt right before my eyes. My dreams of being an officer in the United States army, ever since I was a little girl was about to come to an end. “Pvt. Aaron, you are no longer physically, or mentally stable and you army being released from active duty.” Captain Mackenzie said. In my response, “Captain, First Sergeant, both of you denied my doctors convalescent leave and his rehabilitation orders for me and now you want to take my career from me too.” Then they proceeded and said “Sign here on this line Private and I didn’t know what else to do but sign. Didn’t know my rights or who to turn to. I was just as lost as a deer on a dark, dark, night in headlights and that’s just how lost I

At times the language and environment was harsh but I came to the conclusion that I needed to take a step back and allow someone to help me progress myself as an adult. For me, graduating basic training was one of the proudest moments of my life and whenever I look back at that day, I know that if I hadn’t of been put through that stress, I wouldn’t have the skills I do today to deal with that. The military was a great thing for me to experience, and I will always be thankful for

At 17 Richard joined the Army. He went to basic training between his junior and senior year in high school at Fort Sill in Lawton, Oklahoma. He describes basic training as 90% mental and 10% physical. He felt this was one of the easiest parts of his military service. He had to stay 2 weeks longer than he was supposed to because of an injury. At

I finished boot camp in the year of 2016 in june the 21, but i started there on april 16 of 2016. The first week i found out that I had shin splints. If it got too bad i could’ve broke them. But i still had a full three months to finish. Is was pretty tough just letting the sargent yell and spit in your face so tempted to throw some flames and walk over him. But as I stood there all i could say was aye aye sir. All me the boys want to do was be called a marine. We

To my indemnity, the National Guard was, perhaps, the best thing that could have ever happened in my life at that time. I learned that my condition was not an unfamiliar one to those who specialized in working with soldiers and veterans with similar conditions. I found out my conditions were heightened as a result of me being deployed to a combat zone. A while back, it was called “shell shocked”. Today it 's formally referred to as “Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD”. My wife communticated my conditions to my superior officers and I was ordered to undergo treatment. As much as I hated it during that time, I realize I wouldn 't be here today without it. It truly sparked the onset of the new me. Grant it, I was averse about the whole idea of being in a confined inpatient program, not to mention one which stripped you down of all your personal contents soon as you showed up. Even so, this was my fourth attempt in a treatment program. The first three did nothing to unleash the constricting grasp alcohol had on my life. I was in and out of

In May of 2007 I was a recently promoted Specialist with 20 months in the Army and 11 months in Iraq. I was assigned to B Company, 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment; a member of the 2nd Infantry Divisions 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team. As part of President George W. Bush’s “Surge” our 12 month deployment was extended to 15 months. We had spent the previous months moving around Iraq to support multiple areas of operation (AO), but in March of 2007 had moved to the volatile city of Baqubah, where we had begun the long and arduous task of clearing the city of insurgent forces.

Many people have experienced the worst time of their life once. Some of them could say how football practice was bad, or how college calculus destroyed whatever brain cells they had left. Well there is a small number of people who experienced an event that no one else could ever experience. This event is something occurs only if you’re willing to sign up for the military. The day you fly out or ride to boot camp it’s a tradition and procedure that happens with every military all over the world. This tradition that makes people fear the military and the dreaded drill sergeants. No one will ever know the experience of shark attack like I have experienced it.

Basic Cadet Training, or BCT, is the first step to becoming an officer in the United States Military. There are many purposes to this training, such as physical conditioning, teamwork building, and military induction. But I believe the greatest purpose behind BCT is teaching newly enlisted cadets what it means to become part of a group that is bound to each other through an honor code. “We will not lie, steal, or cheat, nor tolerate among us anyone who does” were the words that were drilled into my head for six weeks while I survived BCT.

It was a bright, sunny morning in the Philippines. I woke to the sound of birds chirping and the quiet chatter of my fellow soldiers who had begun to prepare for the long day ahead of us. I rubbed my groggy eyes, attempting to relieve the constant effects of insomnia and to force myself to get moving. Sleep for a soldier was a highly revered pleasure, but when it came, it didn’t come in abundant amounts and it often left us feeling even more tired than we were before. Nevertheless, I had a country to defend and duties to fulfill. This was one of the many sacrifices of an American soldier – a position which I served with absolute honor and pride.

Reflecting on my emotions from the past week I can say, I am finally able to smile. This past weekend, I had the opportunity to attend my husband’s Basic Military Training graduation, which took place in San Antonio, Texas. I had been waiting for this event all quarter, that day where I would finally get to see my Airman. Even though I was only in Texas for a few days that was enough to appreciate, and realize how much I missed and need my husband. Nonetheless, the hug and that kiss at the end of his graduation made up for all of the tears and sacrifices I had to go through these past weeks. It had been eight long weeks without seeing him, so I was super excited to see him. However, before getting to the base, I wondered if he would be the same person. I wondered if I would be able to turn on my emotions or pick up where we had left off. I was unsure, of my emotions since I had managed to turn them off for some time, I was afraid of the way I would react, nevertheless, all I wanted was to see him.

I decided to attend an office hour hosted by a teaching intern (TI) at noon. Since it was the first office hour of the day, the TI arrived a few minutes early and set up the room. He turned on the lights and opened the window blinds, which gave the room a more open atmosphere. Five minutes passed and no one arrived so the instructor started flipping through the relevant chapters of the textbook. I was impressed by his dedication- he was keeping his knowledge sharp in anticipation for students. Nevertheless, no students arrived until a few minutes after 1:00pm, after his office hour ended and the next teaching intern had arrived. (For the remainder of this paper I will refer to the first instructor as TIA and the second as TIB). However, TIA decided to stay and assist his fellow instructor.