 | United States Army Drill |  |
Upon my arrival at Fort Jackson, with orders to attend Drill Sergeants School, I was assigned to Company E, 1st Battalion, 1st Basic Combat Training Brigade, my support unit. I was at Company E for a few days before reporting to the United States Army Drill Sergeants School Fort Jackson.
I had already been through basic training twice when I arrived at the Drill Sergeants School. I was 18 years old the first time I went through basic and 27 years old the second time I went through basic, but now I was 37 years old. I knew that these next 10-11 weeks were not going to be easy. When I was at the 8th Infantry Division (Mechanized) Non-Commissioned Officers Academy, before attending Drill Sergeants School, I tried to do PT (Physical Training) to get ready for Drill Sergeants School, but I always got called back into the office before I could get started. I did have a little trouble doing all of the physical training at first, but I improved very fast.
During our inspections, it seemed like I always got at least one demerit. If the inspecting Drill Sergeant could not find anything wrong with my uniform or boots, he or she would say, "One demerit. Headgear on crooked." No matter how hard I worked to ensure that my headgear was positioned straight, it seemed that I got at least one demerit for my headgear. During locker inspections I did very well. I learned from other candidates that the inspecting Drill Sergeant would move something in your wall locker or would unbutton a button on your trousers or jacket during the inspection. Then the next time they came back in to inspect they would look to see if you had corrected what they had done during the previous inspection. For that reason, I kept the minimum number of uniforms in my wall locker. Basically, I lived out of my car where I kept my extra uniforms and other clothing.
Other problems that I encountered were working with other drill sergeant candidates. Several times when I was teaching different classes I had trouble getting my demonstrator(s) to demonstrate properly. They acted like they did not know what was going on. Once when I was the demonstrator for another candidate, she kept giving me an incorrect command and I would not move. She got mad and told me to execute the command she had given. I finally told her that she had given me the wrong command. I got into a little trouble for telling her that but things worked out okay. The Drill Sergeant evaluating her class told her that I was correct and that was why I had not moved.
I usually hung out with one of my roommates, SSG Raymond Padilla. When we did not feel like eating in the messhall, Ray and I would go to Burger King to get a quick bite of lunch. Because we were in uniform we could not go inside to eat, so we would just sit in my car and eat. If we needed a refill on tea or Coke we would just drive back up to the drive-in window and get a refill and then report back to school.
All of the drill sergeant candidates did not make it through the entire training. One had a motorcycle accident and was unable to complete the training. Others were terminated because they were unable to complete the required training or were terminated for medical reasons. I am glad to report that I was one of those who completed the training and graduated.
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