My first Day as a Soldier…(Happy 4th, remember the Soldiers!)

It’s a bit random but I thought, what better time to write about my first day of basic training than Independence Day Weekend? ….

The day was May 15, 2003. I was 1 day over 17. On a whim Id decided to join the United States Army. I wanted to be grown, to get away, and to be “free”. But just a piece of advice, if you’re looking for freedom, the military is NOT the way to go! …Anyways, my recruiter came to pick me up to take me to the airport; I was headed to Fort Jackson, South Carolina. As I was sitting in the car waving goodbye to my boyfriend, I kept thinking, “Why did I do this?”, “Is it really too late to get out of it?” …It was.

I met the first person in my platoon at the airport. Sweet girl, just as afraid as I. So, we tried to predict what it was going to be like, exchange overheard horror stories and what our recruiters had told us…they were waayyy off by the way!

From the second I arrived at Fort Jackson I felt as if I were the only one that had no idea what was going on, but apparently everyone thought that! We were searched, our bags gone through and mostly taken and replaced with our BDU’s, PT’s, and what THEY wanted us to have…most importantly, our manual which we had to learn front and back!! After measurements, foot measurements, and LOTS of yelling we were all packed onto a bus on our way to our barracks. We were yelled at insanely and told to keep our bags in front of our eyes, not to look at anything!

Suddenly the bus stopped and the real yelling began. Inside and outside the bus were drill sergeants yelling at us to “move faster”, “get off faster”, “stop looking at me punk”, MOVE! MOVE! MOVE! So we did, and everyone was moving so fast that they were falling over each other, wondering what on Gods green earth they had gotten themselves into!

Once off the bus we were to line up and extend arms and get in “front leaning rest position…GO”…meaning push up position because we were about to get smoked for the first time of many to come! And of course guess where I put my hand? In a fire ant hill. Do I dare move my hand? Not in a million years. So, here I am scared out of my mind, fire ants eating me alive, being screamed at but hoping not to be noticed…and then it happens…A drill sergeant stops in front of me. And he yells “Strawberry Shortcake..” He knew me, and he knew me as a child’s cartoon…and it stuck all through basic and AIT…Just what I needed. Drill Sergeant Fowler was a scary man…

The day consisted of yelling, making people cry, push ups, moving too fast when we had no idea what we were doing…and this went on for a while but after a couple weeks…I really started to love it. It’s true; they tear you down to build you up. I loved Basic Training, I loved being in the army. Would I go back and do it all over again? In a heartbeat…So please remember this weekend for what's it meant to represent. Remember all the soldiers whether they’re veterans or at their first day of basic training…Thank them and remember them! To all the soldiers…Hooah!