I didn’t take high school as serious as I should have. I didn’t take an SAT or anything in Germany because either there wasn’t a way or I didn’t want to. I wanted to be a police officer but unfortunately most departments at the time wanted you to have a two year degree. Since I did not have a degree I ended up come up with something else I wanted to do. After a little thought I decided I would join the military and become part of the United States Army. I started my Army career at Fort Benning, Georgia. Being in the Army was definitely a huge change for me. It was my first time out in life on my own. I had no idea what I had got myself into. It was different from my time at the ranch. This was structured, organized, and discipline. My first …show more content…
memory in the Army was being in processed, given clothes, and getting my head shaved. I had never known a life like this. I had to wait to entry basic training because it was backed up. I and 36 other people were waiting for two weeks until finally we were put on a cattle truck and driven to our barracks that was another holding area for basic training. Cattle trucks were trailers that were converted from cattle to carry as many people as you could jam into. Our basic training cycle was really backed up. However, we had really had much discipline yet. We all had to run upstairs to the second floor and drop our bags and line up at the end of our bed. This drill sergeant talked to us for a few minutes, lecturing us. He was an E-7 Sergeant First Class. We had to do everything we were told by this guy. I don’t remember what his name was but I remember what he did. After lecturing us for several minutes, he instructed us to remove all of our clothing and stand at the end of our beds. We didn’t question him because we didn’t know any better or what was right and wrong. He then instructed us to do jumping jacks as he walked down and back. After a few minutes we were instructed to put our clothes back on and continue moving into our bunks. He was the only person there. Several weeks later we heard that a guy from another holding group reported this drill sergeant. One day our platoon went to the gym to try and do some training and we saw this drill sergeant. He was now an E-5 sergeant janitor at the gym. Apparently he had been dealt with severely. I don’t know it for sure but I am sure he was release from the Army shortly after. After about a month we finally were transported to our basic training barracks.
While we were in our holding barracks we all heard rumors about “shark week”. We quickly found for ourselves what it was when we stopped at our barracks. The doors opened and the vacation was over. You had 3 drill sergeants yelled to get off the bus immediately. I was in the last 10 people to get off the cattle truck but I remember the last guy got yelled at and punished with a lot of physical activity. There was yelling from everywhere, people having to do push-ups or running around with a duffle bag full of clothes. This went on for an hour straight. Once we finally got into a big formation, our drill sergeant “smoked” us for an hour. “Smoked” is a termed we used indicating complete exhaustion. We all were dog tired and then we had to run upstairs to the second floor and find a bed. We all found a bed and were standing at the end of it. Of course we had done it wrong because we were not in alphabetical order. We got punished for that by doing push-ups, sit-ups and crawling on the floor from one side to the other. The “smoking” continued through dinner and up until bed time. All we wanted to do was sleep but when we were finished for the night, we had to set up a fire guard (aka security guard) rotation. We finished at 2200 at night and we to have pairs of two stay awake for an hour and walking around the bay area with the beds and make sure everything was safe. If you had the 0500 to 0600 …show more content…
shift, you lost an hour of sleep. This was only the first day. The “smoking” continued for a full long week. It would be a week I would never forget. As the weeks, went by I learned about working as a team.
You learned that if one person made a mistake that everyone paid for it. I was amazed at how people didn’t realize this or even more amazed at how many times we had to tell people. It happened all the time. Sometimes I think the drill sergeants just found things so we could be punished. It came time to learn how to fight with our M-16 rifles by pushing the other person with them. I was paired up with someone from another platoon. He was taller and bigger than me. We were about 20 feet apart and we had to walk toward the person at the same time and push off with our rifles at an angle. The guy that I was paired with hit me hard the first and second time. I had, had enough so on the third time I hit him hard with my rifle and he did not like that. On the fourth time, he hit me so hard that the front sight of the rifle hit me right below my eye. I didn’t know it at the time but I was bleeding. Right before the fifth time, I felt my face and my cheek had blood on it. I was going to let this guy have it but the drill sergeant saw my and had everyone stop and I was made out as an example. Apparently he has hit me so hard that it caused a deep gash and I had to go to the hospital to get stitches. It was cool to have a scar and it didn’t really hurt that much. I missed the afternoon training because I was recovering. Later on when my platoon came back I found out some interesting news. We had a big ole country guy in out
platoon named John. He had to have been six foot and 220 pounds. John found out what the other guy had done to me and later on in stick training, he waited for this guy from another platoon to do stick training. John went against this guy and demolished this guy in my honor because he didn’t like people beating up small guys. That is when I started looking at my platoon as my brothers in arms.
I was at Fort Benning Georgia in August 1988 to attend jump school. I had done my basic training here four years earlier with Sgt. Smith who would be my black hat true instructor for airborne school. I was standing in formation at five in the morning. It was cold now, but Georgia has hot, humid daytime temperatures that were draining mentally and physically for a student from Northern California. I knew I wanted to be here even though there would be physical and mental stresses, challenges and the possibility of serious Injury. The students would be weeded out at every point. I did not want it to happen to me. During my four years in the Army, I learned that I like to be an independent, resourceful, goal oriented problem solver. In the infantry, I had to obey the orders and not think for myself. Uniformity in everything was demanded.
I was kept in basic training for an additional five weeks. My optimistic outlook on the events taking place at the time were now as shattered as my hand, yet I still couldn't find it in me to quit. I did all that I could to make my hand recover as fast and efficiently as possible to get back and complete recruit training. The long weeks only made the stay in Cape May all the more difficult as I was known by every intimidating and angry instructor on regiment and was exposed to even more bizarre and grueling moments within the program. Eventually, I made it through and was off to my first unit in Galveston, TX. A week after my arrival I was subject to medical discharge do to a spontaneous back
Drill Instructors strip all your old values and Marine Corps values are formed. “There is no ‘I’, ‘I’ is gone” (p.60). To be a marine you must shed all thinking as “I” and “me”, and think as “we” and “recruit”. In American society, striving for independence is a goal for most people, and instead of working as a group we tend to compete with each other to get what we want. As a Marine you must think as a group, learn how to move as a group and you are drilled until not a single action is left to individual improvisation (p.64).
High school was not a completely dreadful experience, but I did not get a really an exceptional education. As I entered high school, I thought it would be a whole new exciting chapter in my life. I started out as an involved student, and went through all of the Advance Placement and Honor classes, and managed to be at the top 12% of my class. In high school, I basically placed myself to enjoy it; I joined all of the extra curricular activities I was interested in. I was in band, tennis, swimming, dance team, and Key Club. Sometimes I was at school for about fourteen hours a day, four times a week.
My initial reason to enter the Air Force was a great way to pay for college which turned into a call of duty and a service commitment which has actively allowed me to contribute to the Air Force mission. Thus far I have led a joint force search and rescue effort and a multinational exercise to preserve freedom. As an F-15E instructor WSO and combat mission ready WSO I actively contribute to ensure our freedoms are preserved and the attacks of September 11, 2001 will never happen again.
As I stood there exhausted holding a blank stare with my arms to my sides and the sound of mumbling in the background, I only heard three words of the entire training brief my supervisor gave us, “time for chow!” I immediately snapped back to it and walked in the same direction as my teammates. As I walked, I looked ahead of the group for the best place to get out of the 103-degree hot Texas sun. I seen a tree and a stump that would be great to rest my back on and it had plenty of shade. When I arrived at the stump, I set my rifle down and quickly took off my training gear that felt like an extra body hanging on my shoulders. At the same moment that I felt like I could take a break from the training day and let my guard down, I heard one of
I woke up every morning wishing I was home already. Instead, I woke up to Sergeant Red telling me to get up. He was not the greatest noncommissioned officer (NCO) but he taught me a lot about preparing myself mentally and physically for the worst outcomes. One thing he said that stayed with me was, “Hey man, when it is your time to go then it is your time to go.” Small words but they were honest words. In war you cannot dwell on the mission or any mistakes that you have made. All you can do is learn from them mistakes and try not to make them again. I do not consider myself a hero or superior to everyone else but I do find myself to be determined and dedicated. Every time we were being briefed on the next mission I looked around the room to see if everyone was ok. I looked for that one individual who was deep in his thoughts that he did not even pay attention to the brief. I would pull them to the side afterwards and just have casual conversations with them. Once we laughed and forgot about the mission we would look at each other and know exactly what the other person was thinking. “Are we about to go out there again?”, “Is this my time to go?”, or “Is this going to be the last time I see him?” We did not look at each other as friends; we looked at each other as brothers. Every time we prepared for a mission we helped each other to make sure everyone had the right equipment. We made sure that everyone’s weapon was
The act of enlisting in war has been seen as an honorable task since the establishment of the military and its different branches. To take pride and to fight for one’s nation is the true meaning of being an American citizen. Like with every decision made in life, enlisting in the military has consequences. The act of war is often unpredictable and many measures are taken into count. These soldiers therefore, entrust their life to the military. However, what most soldiers never take into consideration before enlisting is the fact that a majority of them will be subjected to a form of sexual abuse or sexual harassment. Sexual abuse and harassment that occurs within their own respected military group. These soldiers get in trouble for reporting
It was now monday morning and camp had officially started. All the troops meet at the Flag Poles at the middle of camp, for announcements. We had around 15 boys in our troop, which was very small compared to the other troops who had around 75 to 1...
I have been blessed to have led a highly fulfilling career over the past 22 years. The Air Force’s standards of conduct and performance have helped me mature into an adult while creating lasting memories along the way. I have had the opportunity to make significant contributions to my country that offer a sense of pride and personal achievement. My current duties allow me to directly contribute to the Air Force and Joint arena on an almost daily basis. Joining the Air Force helped me to realize I had undertaken a task bigger than myself.
When I was seventeen I nervously traveled about 350 miles from my sleepy little home town of Freedom, Wyoming to the relatively enormous city of Boise, Idaho to go to the Military Entrance Processing Station. This wasn 't the first time I had been this far from home by myself, but it was the first time I was making adult decisions without my parents involvement. When it came time for me to choose my job in the army the counselors presented me with a long list that I qualified for. I got tired of scrolling and reading so I chose the first job that I actually understood. I returned home and excitedly told my parents that I would be an infantry soldier. My dad 's response to this might be considered a little less than heart warming “You dumb ass. Why didn 't you choose
An opinion is the formulation of personal experiences. After my four year career in the U.S Army, I can officially profess that I am one combat veteran out of very few. During my time on active duty it was constantly mentioned how only one percent of the nation’s population serves in the military. In stark contrast, the U.S has one of the best military defense yet only attracts one percent of its citizens. There must be reason for this, which led me to revise my priorities during my tour. Living in the lifestyle of a U.S soldier molded my perception on what is truly important, which is education. Education is a tool that may enable a person (such as I) to jump through the hoops of generational poverty into a life of stability. This is a component
I remember the day that I left for boot camp. I was terrified. My stomach was queasy, my head was cloudy, and every time I imagined what was about to happen to me, I started to cry. It was an incredible leap I was about to take. The mental preparation was the most difficult part. I had no idea what to expect. I had heard many horror stories about the things that occur in Boot Cam...
Army life can be very challenging and a life changing experience. It was very challenging and life changing for me. I was raised by my Grandparents they did everything for me so this was a wakeup call for me on life. An independent person was not I, so I had problems with the changes about to come. Army life is constantly demanding and constantly changing without notice. Although the travel was exciting, army life for me was very challenging because I had to learn to adapt to a new system, to share my life with other soldiers, and to give up many of the comforts of home.
Time flies so fast. Looking back, my high school is just like a movie, a lot of things happened. High School is four years of growing up and probably a time in your life where you go through the most changes. In high school you are able to discover yourself and find out who you are as a person. Each year is special and unique in their own way. My journey through high school was a tough one, especially because I decided to not only focus on academic work but also to invest quality time in extra curriculum activities. I wanted more than just academic excellence; I wanted to be a leader, I wanted to add value to every aspect of my life, I wanted a rounded education and not just mere schooling. My success story is what I will like to share with you; how I really made it and how this defines my personality. My journey in High School was scary, exciting, and successful.