Privates are SubHuman too.

So, I posted about my drill sergeant experience, or part of it, on my milblog.

That Would be Here

I think I will be going through and updating a lot of the links on that website and just getting it updated so that its current with what is happening in basic training these days as I think Privates (and parents!) still access that website for information on what happens when somebody joins the army.

And I've got the unique perspective on seeing things the way the other half sees it.

Currently there is a mob going on sometime next summer that I'm linked too so I will likely be in Fort Knox Kentucky training privates next year. I'm looking forward to it, because it will be a very different perspective then how things go at Fort Jackson. for one, as far as I know, Fort Knox is still all male and will so far continue to be all male. Which will make things interesting for me as a female drill in an all male basic training company. I just need to buck it up, grit my teeth, and try to appear any age older then 21.

I know I can pull off the mad as hell look, becuase all I have to do is not smile and tilt my head slightly and people think I'm mad at the world and about to kill somebody. But as soon as the corners of my mouth turn upwards it all changes when people realize I'm actually somewhat tender hearted. Must not show weakness, must not smile for three weeks when I get to Fort Knox.

Eh, we'll see.

meanwhile, I learned a lot about myself and what I'm capable of when I need to be. Being a Drill Sergeant kind of comes to you, because school didn't prepare me, though there's still a lot I have to learn. I think things would have been different if I had fallen in earlier in the cycle then I did, but those privates taught me a lot and I learned a lot about myself. Most importantly, I learned that i can in fact do this job. And what's more, I really enjoyed myself while I was doing it. True, it got a bit irritating when I learned that there is the Fort Leonard Wood way of doing things and I had to adapt to the Fort Jackson way of doing things, but if I had been there the full nine weeks I can tell it would have been different.

But my privates insisted that they are going to miss me. (Privates will tell you anything and everything, btw). I don't think I smoked them enough. But knowing how basic training is, if I had smoked them more, they would have become that much more attached to me. I'm already threatened with stalking, and with the internet age, I know as soon as they find a computer it won't be hard at all for them to find me.

In fact, I can contact my own Drill Sergeants courtesy of Army Knowledge Online White pages. I think I'll shoot them an email to tell them how much I appreciate what they did and how my experiences have impacted my military career and how I perform as a drill sergeant.

And how I can appreciate how much hard work they had to go through for that hat! Drill Sergeants are no joke!