The First Day Of US Army Basic Training

Article #6

First Day of Basic Training At Fort Knox, Kentucky

The summer of 2006 was when I went to Basic Training to join the United States Army and transition from civilian to becoming a soldier. My first day of basic training was having all my issued uniform and fitting all of it in my two duffle bags. So I had one duffle bag on my back and one in the front. It wasn't like any other while waiting for training to start. Everyone was anxious, it didn't matter if you had experience, young, old, we were all considered recruits, and were treated the same by the Drill Sergeants.

The first day was after breakfast, we loaded the bus to go to our company/platoon. At Fort Knox, I was in Delta Company 1/46 Infantry. All the recruits in my bus were waiting anxiously, some were quiet, and some were happy that we were finally getting the training we needed to graduate Basic Training and move on to our job training. Remember, Fort Knox, Kentucky, is a all boys basic training. There was no Co-ed, so there was a lot of testosterone, which most of us were 18 year olds.

Once, we got to our company, you can see the Drill Sergeants were lining up. There was at least 4 full of recruits white buses lined up, ready to be dropped off. I remember, my bus was third in line, I saw the first two buses, stop, and 4 Drill Sergeants went into the bus, and started yelling to "GET OFF THE BUS! NOW!". After, that you saw recruits, running out of the bus with two duffle bags, carrying it to the front of the barracks where we would be staying for the next 3 months. My bus stopped, and same thing happened, four Drill Sergeants started screaming for us to get off the bus. I got my two duffle bags, and ran as fast as I could to the front of the barracks. The first month of basic is Red Phase, where we would get smoked a lot, meaning a lot of push-ups and sit-ups. The front of the barracks had sand pits, where platoons would get smoked. Remember, if one recruit messes up, the whole platoon, gets smoked. Well, it happened a lot, the first month.

There were four platoons in my company. After, getting smoked for about one hour, after getting off the bus, we were finally separated to our platoons, which consist of about 50-60 recruit soldiers. I still remember my Drill Sergeants, I had a tall skinny, with a haircut like Guile on street fighter, who was tough, but was probably one of the best Drill Sergeants that I've encountered. I had one, that was short and stubby, and was mean as a dog. Another one who was super easy going, and nice, but can be tough on you, if you don't do what your supposed to be doing. The last one was another tall and skinny Drill Sergeants, who was quiet, all he had to do was look at you and you would be straight. All my Drill Sergeants were the rank of E-6 which is Staff Sergeants.

The purpose of Red Phase is to break you down as a person. It really separates the men from the child. You become a man real quick, some do break down and can't take it. They start thinking about AWOL or running away from training, which you can serve time on. Remember, that should be the last thing you should be thinking of. The military can either make you a man or make you a coward man, you truly see who you are as a person. Don't go into the military like its a piece of cake, no, it is a career, which you can really benefit out of or you can go into and make your life miserable. I tell, you what, the best days of my life were in Basic Training. You grow up quickly and you learn the fundamentals of life and how to be successful. It is called discipline which a lot of people don't have. I will leave it here, after a long first day and the Drill Sergeants introducing themselves and explaining their expectations from the recruits. It was time to train and become a soldier.

On my next article, I will explain more of what happens in Red Phase, and the training you go through.

-Veteran / Leo Served

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