My first experience with a Drill Sergeant was very memorial as it is with anyone that joins the military. As I was getting off the bus at Ft. Ord, I was screamed at and forced to do push ups before my feet had hit the ground outside the bus. Although I developed a very disdain for them, I really appreciated the effort they put in to prepare me for military duty.
Drill Instructors (Sergeants) are a different breed of individuals. They are non-commissioned officers that are responsible for training and preparing new recruits for life in the military. They do this through any means possible and as quickly as possible. Although they take their work very seriously, it is not unusual for a recruit to respond in a jokingly manner. To survive Basic Training, an individual has to do what they are told and take their training seriously. However, a good sense of humor is also important to survive.
Many recruits think of Drill Instructors as governmental bullies. That is far from the truth. They love their job and love the service. They are just as human as the next individual. To be a Drill Instructor, a person must go to Drill Instructor School. Each branch of the service has their own school. This is because each branch has different objectives when it comes to training for a particular branch of service.
Nevertheless, Drill Instructors have to have the same qualities. They are devoted to instruction, policies, fitness, organization, and dedicated to the idea of chain of command. Their main goal is to shape civilians into military personnel by breaking down an individual and rebuilding him to what is required by the military. Everything that a trainee goes through, the Drill Instructor will go through first. Besides these military skills, a Drill Instructor has to be counselor, coach, evaluator and a role model for all trainees.
Drill Instructors make and break people. They place so much stress on individuals to perform above what they think they can do, that new characters are developed. Lazy, egotistical, head cases, and mommas boys are developed into strong fighting individuals. Individuals that can lead by example. Individuals that can arise to the occasion in the heat of battle. Individuals that would give their life for their team and country.
Not all individuals at Drill Instructors School qualify. The testing and demands are very high. An individual that fails the first time is only given one more chance. If they fail to comply, they are out. Testing for Drill Instructors is very high. When dealing with the many lives of individuals going off to battle, it has to be.
A Drill Instructor must learn the various methods of instruction. They must learn everything from cadence calling to proper weapon cleaning and maintenance. They must know different formations and be able to use them affectively. They must also know platoon and squad drills and when to implement them. At the end of each exercise, they have to evaluate their effectiveness of the day. Do they have to do remedial work with trainees? Did the trainees learn the basics enough to survive in a life and death situation? These are questions that each Drill Instructor asks himself before he retires for the evening.
Drill Instructors don’t have much time for a life of their own accept when they are off duty. They have to be the first ones up in the morning, clean shaved, groomed and ready to go before the troops are up. They have the appearance that they have never been asleep. As well as they prepare the troops, they have to prepare themselves as well.
I will never forget my Drill Sergeant. He was strict but, considerate. He over emphasized team work. Especially the strong helping the weak and the weak re-enforcing the strong. That is life in the military. To all that have went through Basic Training, each one of us is thankful for the effort that these people put in. We all have memories and even nightmares still of our Drill Instructor getting in our face. We still respect them and respond the same now as we did then. “Yes Drill Sergeant.”
