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How to Ensure Additional Smoke Sessions from the Drill Sergeant

A smoke session is push-ups or other exercises as designated by the Drill Sergeant as minor discipline for errors in judgment.

By Stephen DaltonPublished 3 years ago 6 min read
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The Drill Sergeant Creed as it hangs from my wall. Photo by the Author.

According to a recent article from the online magazine, Military.com, pushups or exercise may be used as a corrective tool for a minor offense, Army OKs Push-Ups, PT as Punishment for Minor Infractions. This was always an unwritten rule.

Army Regulation (AR) 600–20, Army Command Policy last updated, 6 November 2014, provides guidelines to field commanders on Sexual Harassment, Equal Opportunity (EO) Policy, and its open-door policy.

It allows Soldiers to skip the chain of command in specific instances to report inappropriate behavior (similar to the Whistleblower Protection Program), discipline, misconduct, and command responsibilities. Command guidance had previously ignored the use of PT and pushups as informal punishment for minor infractions.

The new changes formally move the corrective action authority and oversight from the EO office to the Army Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention (SHARP) office.

However, for incidents that do not meet the seriousness of a court-martial offense, the authority remains with the commander. The commander can request a criminal investigation or issue what the Army calls non-Judicial punishment, or Article 15. The grade of the commander prescribes the maximum sentence they can give without recommending a court-martial.

For example, a captain can order 30 days extra duty, 14 days restriction to barracks, and a reduction one grade, whereas a major can order twice that, usually.

Smoke Sessions Further Explained

If you have never heard, “Half right face! Front leaning rest position, move! In cadence, exercise!” Then, you have never really lived.

There is nothing in the world as invigorating as a smoke session, “getting smoked,” or whatever you call an exercise session outside the gym. Another type of smoke session, besides the pushup, was front, back, go! With front, back, go, you started in the pushup position, roll over onto your back and do sit-ups, then stand up and run in place.

The Drill Sergeant would change your position by yelling, Front. You would then do pushups until he yelled, Back, and Go, or simply by blowing his whistle.

Some of the methods we used to deal with it were to shout out, “You can’t smoke a rock, Drill Sergeant”!

For those of you reading my blog for the first time, you probably wonder what makes me an “expert” on Army standards of conduct and discipline. Well, as a 28-year Army Veteran, I have been on both sides.

I went through Basic Combat Training (BCT) the first time in 1974, had a break in service from ’80 to ’85, and because I missed the cut-off by a few days, I got to go through BCT again. You can read some of those adventures in the article, Coincidences & Memories from Basic Training Drill Sergeants below. I used to tell the Privates, "I am the Nolan Ryan of Basic Training, Private. You cannot put anything over on me."

Back then, we were allowed to have a cigarette when on break or during our personal time. I learned the hard way when I was in BCT the first time, not to ask a Drill Sergeant for a smoke break, as they would likely say, “Oh yeah, Private, go ahead and smoke yourself!” Oops, not what I had in mind, but probably much better for me, though I wouldn’t figure that out until many years later.

Here is a YouTube video showing an easy smoke session. I say easy because this is obviously graduation day, and the parents are there, so there isn’t a lot of sweating and puking that likely went on when the recruits first arrived. Some of them still can’t do pushups very well, but it’s only been 8 or 9 weeks. They’ll get the hang of it.

Getting Smoked on Family Day

Medicelectricsports uploaded this to YouTube. "Like," share, or subscribe on YouTube if you enjoyed it.

When I saw this article on Military.com, I thought, Hmm, that would make an interesting topic for an article, and the notion of how to ensure additional smoke sessions from the Drill Sergeant pushed its way up into my mind.

20 Ways to Initiate a Smoke Session

So, without further ado, let’s look at something a new recruit could do or say to ensure they get an adequate amount of exercise from their Drill Sergeant.

1. Hand your bags to the Drill Sergeant upon arrival and ask, “Which way to my room?”

2. When the Drill Sergeant says, “Take out your canteen and drink, Private.” You could say, “I don’t like water.” Or “I’m not thirsty right now.”

3. You could ask the Drill Sergeant, “Why are you so angry, Sarge?” There is nothing that will piss a Drill Sergeant off quicker than being called Sarge by a new recruit.

4. When the Drill Sergeant asks your name, scream, “Yu, Suk Wang, Drill Sergeant” True story, by the way. I told the Private, at his first opportunity, he should change his name.

5. Strip and buff the floor does not have anything to do with taking your clothes off! Just saying.

6. Give your female Drill Sergeant a Mother’s Day card, or better yet, your male Drill Sergeant.

7. Ask, “Drill Sergeant, do we get a midnight snack before lights out?”

8. Leave your wall locker unlocked while at the range. Especially, if you were writing a letter to your girlfriend, telling her your Drill Sergeant is a major dick, and leave it on the three-drawer chest. Another true story.

9. Ask the Drill Sergeant if you could “try on” his brown-round campaign hat.

10. Ask the Drill Sergeant if you could get a picture together to remember your first day of Basic Training.

11. While staring at the ice cream machine in the Dining Facility, ask the Drill Sergeant where the sprinkles are. BTW, the ice cream machine is just for looks in Basic Training.

12. Walk around with your hands in your pockets. That works just about every time.

13. When the Drill Sergeant says, “Get down and give me twenty, Private.” Reply, “I can’t do pushups, Drill Sergeant.” That ought to do it.

14. Answer any question from the Drill Sergeant with “Semper Fi, Drill Sergeant.”

15. Ask, “Drop what, Drill Sergeant?”

16. Ask, “Where can I spit this dip?”

17. Offer the Drill Sergeant gum, a breath mint, or a tic-tac when they are screaming in your face.

18. Tell your female Drill Sergeant she has beautiful eyes or hair, or whatever, better yet, your male Drill if you’re male.

19. Start any conversation with, “I thought…” or “But, Drill Sergeant…”

20. Tell any Drill Sergeant, “You don’t scare me, my dad is a Colonel. He out-ranks you.”

Drill Sergeant Escalera

I remember when I was at AIT in Fort Gordon, GA. We had a Platoon Sergeant, Drill Sergeant Escalera. He was Guamanian and the meanest SOB I ever met. He would front, back, go — the whole platoon until we puked.

One time, he low crawled into the barracks and hid under a bunk until he heard some Privates talking about him. He just stood straight up, throwing the bunk over and screaming, “Goddammit Private, you done it dis time. Everybody outside on the quad.” That was our exercise area. He smoked us for what seemed like a lifetime.

Takeaways

The best advice I can give anyone planning to enter the Army or any service branch is, do what you’re told, keep your head down, and don’t piss off the Drill Sergeant, DI, TI, or whatever your branch calls them. It’s nothing personal. It’s just our way of instilling discipline, inspiring teamwork, and getting the Soldier in better shape.

About the Author Photo by Jean Springs from Pexels

Stephen Dalton is a retired US Army First Sergeant with a degree in journalism from the University of Maryland and a Certified US English Chicago Manual of Style Editor. Medium Top Writer in Travel, Fiction, Transportation, VR, NFL, Design, Creativity, and Short Story.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Reddit | Ko-fi | NewsBreak

Tipping is allowed here, but I won't smoke you if you don't.

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About the Creator

Stephen Dalton

Stephen Dalton is a retired US Army First Sergeant with a degree in journalism from the University of Maryland and a Certified US English Chicago Manual of Style Editor.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Reddit | Ko-fi

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