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March, 1999
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DRILL SGT. 101
Part Two
by Steven Hassna
LISTEN UP, TROOPS! . .The Old Drill Sgt. here, and this is Part Two of Drill Sgt. 101.
Now I'm sure you have read Part One first, but I have to ask anyway. Drill Sgts. are like that. Well, did you read Part One? If not, go read it now. . . With that out of the way let's move on.
Mr. Peabody was staring at me from the door of the wayback machine, refusing to step out, one hand on the return lever and that "I don't trust you as far as I can throw you" look in his eye. Which would be pretty hard for a medium-sized. near-sighted dog that wears glasses and a bow tie. Sherman was behind him with that Dan Quayle look on his face. You know that one, don't you? The deer in the headlights kind of look just before the truck hits you. Nothing bad had happened yet, and Sherman wasn't sure what to make of that. But I digress.
As per Part One of this column, I talked about the psychological manipulation of the trainee. Now whether anyone likes it or not , there is a certain process that the military uses to take the new recruit from civilian to soldier. That's just the way it is. Though it may be different now than when I was in, the process is still the process. Here is an example: "The Duffel Bag Drill".
We (Drill Sgts.) would pick up the trainees at the Repo Depo (reception station) and put them on buses to go to the company area. Now one must remember that the recruit had for the last two to three days heard about the Drill Sgts. coming to get them. The Drill Sgts. would at times be in the area and the recruits would see us. They were recruits, not trainees yet. We were there to check rosters and let the recruits get a look at us. The process. When it was time to pick up the troops, the Drill Sgts. would ride on the buses to the Depot and get them and head back to the company area.
The trainees would be brought to a large black-top area with little white rectangle blocks painted on the black top. These blocks were painted in rows. The trainees were told by the Repo Depo personnel to "Find a block and stand on it." They (trainees) were facing the people who had brought them. Behind them were the buses. A Drill Sgt. would walk up to the man with the clipboard and sign for the recruits to go to training. Then he would turn to the trainees and say "Gentlemen, please turn around and face the buses. We will now begin boarding the buses." The Drill Sgts. had been walking up and down the rows, just looking, not talking. Now there was a row of Drill Sgts. from the last man in the front row to the last bus in line. Then along the sides of the buses all the way to the front bus. "On my comand, move out." "Move!" The Drill Sgt. at the head of the line would say " Move out, trainee, what are you waiting for, I got things to do, MOVE, MOVE, MOVE OUT!!!" The trainees would move out with their duffel bags as best they could carry them. Down the line of Drill Sgts. they went. The Drill Sgts. would encourage them to move faster. By the time that they got to the last bus they were at a dead run. Right turn and up along the side of the buses.
Now they could have been loaded straight to the bus, but that's not how it works. The process. At the first bus in line stood me, the Drill Sgt., at a right angle to the door. The trainees are at a dead run and this Drill Sgt. is standing there saying,"GET ON THE BUS,TRAINEE, AND DON'T HIT ME WITH THAT DUFFEL BAG", at the top of his lungs. On the bus was a Drill Sgt. at the top of the stairs saying, "TO THE REAR AND SIT DOWN, FIVE MEN TO THE LAST SEAT, TWO TO EACH SEAT FORWARD, DUFFEL BAG BETWEEN YOUR LEGS! " As the bus filled up the process continued down the line of buses.
Once at the company area, the process went in reverse to unload. The trainees were formed in ranks like on the blocks. Only this was a gravel area and the formation was tighter. The Drill Sgts. were walking up and down the ranks, this time talking and scowling. It was here that the real welcome started. And a strange thing would happen. The trainees had been through something they did not expect and the only thing that was not making their life miserable was their duffel bag. We (Drill Sgts.) would be walking through the ranks and when we saw a trainee was getting comfortable with his duffel bag we would have "Duffel Bag Drill". The Drill Sgt. would stand in front of the trainee and say,"Seems to me that you like your duffel bag." The trainee has no idea what to say, he just stares stright ahead, into the Drill Sgt's. face. "O.K.trainee, here's how it works", the Drill Sgt. says. "Put your right hand on the duffel bag, now to the left start running yelling, 'I love my duffele bag, I love my duffel bag', over and over as you run." The traineee starts running and yelling, "I love my duffel bag, I love my duffel bag". Around and around he goes. Now, pick it up, "I love my duffel bag, I love my duffel bag." Now over your head," I love my duffel bag, I love my duffel bag." After a bit of variety on this theme, the Drill Sgt. says, "STOP, PUT YOUR DUFFLE BAG IN FRONT OF YOU AND GET IN LINE". "No problem", the trainee thinks as he returns to his position in line and wonders why he ever signed up for this.
At this time the Senior Drill Sgt. stands before the company of trainees and says " Gentlemen, I would like to welcome you to B Co. 8th Bn. 2nd. Training Brigade, United States Army Training Center Ft. Campbell, Ky. For the next two months, myself, your Drill Sgts. and company staff will take you through basic training and make your stay with us comfortable and productive." "Drill Sgts., see to your troops and take them to their barracks." In the thoughts of the trainees is one realization. "Yeah right, comfortable, what have I gotten myself into now?" And that, folks, is the "Duffel Bag Drill & Boogie", Ft. Campbell, Ky., 1968". The process may have changed, but the process is still the process!!!
One of the most important and heavily stressed aspects of the Drill Sgt. was "Set the example". This was true when I was a Drill Sgt. and it is true now. This goes for the Marine D.I. or any other instructor in that capacity in the other branches of the aremed forces of the United States. "Set the example" is the foundation of the Drill Sgt. and it gives them the ability to carry out their duties. Now I was a Drill Sgt. 30 years ago, and the training attitude has changed since then, in both the Army and Marines. Some active duty personnel and recent vets have said that these changes, (less aggressiveness of the Drill Sgt.) have not had the desired effect as far as dicipline and esprit de corp that the military wants. This is just an observation and nothing more; the job of today's Drill Sgt. or D.I., has not changed, even if the approach has. Take a young civilian man and woman and mold them into soldiers. This goes for all armies throughout the history of the world. And as times and attitudes change so does the approch to training. It's just that simple. Even though the Drill Sgt. or D.I. is not as gruff, in your face, or phyisical as in my day, they still get the job done. The degree of effectiveness they achieve will be based directly on the example they set for their troops. I know this to be true, having been the trainee (basic), and then the Drill Sgt. myself. My Drill Sgt., one Staff Sgt. Carter, (that's right, I still remember his name after all these years), through his example and training approach, instilled in me the discipline and esprit de corps that I carried all through the army. In fact, much of his attitude I used in my approch to the trainees. Drill Sgt. Carter, a black man about my size, 5'6" tall, could get the whole platoon laughing when giving a certain class. He could also be gruff, in your face, if needed. But when he was in your face, you (the trainee) knew you had screwed up big time. He was fair, but also there was no doubt in anyone's mind that he was in charge at all times. That was clear by the example he set. When we were about to do the obstacle course he was the first to go through, explaning as he went how to negociate each obstacle. Then he was there to observe, encourage and if needed, instill the "Motavation Factor" to get you through the course. When I was a Drill Sgt. I would look back on his example and conduct myself accordingly. I was the first one through the obstacle course, or any other part of the training cycle.
In training at the Drill Sgt. school at Ft. Jackson S. Co., "Set the example" was pounded into our heads. "Never ask any trainee or soldier under your comand to do anything you would not do or already have done yourself, period!" If you, the Drill Sgt., drop someone to do push ups, then you had better be able to do that and do them better and do more than the trainee can do. This goes for all aspects of the training throughout basic. The push up was used as part of the "Motavation Factor", punishment for one infraction or another. Contrary to popular belief, as a Drill Sgt. I was under orders from the Army, that I would not, under any circumstances, touch, strike, or man handle any trainee. I could, for training only, touch a trainee to adjust equiptment, or body positoin as needed, nothing more.Given that, it is understandable that the Drill Sgt. could, with just a glare or body posture, get the trainees to fall all over themselves trying to get out of the way. There are a lot of vets out there that remember the Drill Sgt. with his face inches from theirs, the Drill Sgt's. hat brim inches from their foreheads and that weird look in the Drill Sgt's. eyes, saying nothing, just staring. And who says you have to beat someone to cause trauma?
The "Drop Get 10", became a common phrase heard around the company area. To "Drop" is to go from a standing position (at attention), to the push-up position in one motion. To do this is as follows.
The 10 part is how many push ups could be given at one time, (Army orders). The trainee did not know this; he thought the Drill Sgt. just liked to see the trainee jumping up and down like a puppet on a string. After each 10, the trainee would be ordered to recover or return to the position of attention, then, if need be, go through the whole process again. The Drill Sgt. was not limited to how many push-ups he could administer, only that they could just be in groups of ten. At times I would, after the trainee was in the push-up position, bend at the waist and tell the trainee he was going to push Ft. Campbell all the way to China. Or at P.T. with the whole company, I would command,"FRONT LEANING REST POSITION, MOVE". That's the Army's cute name for the push-up position. Then I would say somthing like, "What Do You Want!!!". "MORE P.T., DRILL SGT!!" came the collective response. "PUSH-UPS FOR EVER!!", I would say. A sigh would rise from the trainees, a few would give up right there and colapse on their faces. From my position on the platform, a raised wooden platform about five feet high so all the trainees could see the Drill Sgt., I would say "I WILL COUNT THE CADENCE, YOU WILL COUNT THE REPETITIONS". "MORE P.T. DRILL SGT." came the reply. "IN CADENCE, EXERCISE." And we would go for 20 push-ups. You could do more than ten push ups on the P.T. field because it was training, not punishment. Oh, I forgot to mention that I was in the push up position myself and would do as many as the trainees, while calling the cadence of the exercise and being heard by all the 200+ trainees, all the way to the last man in the last row.
When we were done with the 20 push-ups, I would do a little thing I enjoyed which caused the trainees some distress. Still in the push-up position, I would hold that postion for a while, constantly saying, back straight, heads up, eyes forward. Then the command "Half way down", which meant lowering your body half way down the push-up move and holding there. Then we would do "Rockers". Now the sigh has gone to a collective moan. On my command of front, back, right, left, with myself in this postion also, we would shift our weight in those directions. To make this whole thing more enjoyable, we would do this very slowly."R-I-G-H-T and HOLD!, L-E-F-T and HOLD!", ect. You get the picture here. I was setting the example, I was right there with the trainees enduring the whole thing. Now if you think this is easy, just try it. I'm sure you will enjoy every second. Here is the kicker to all this. By the middle of the training cycle of two months, the trainees were challenging me or my assistant, Drill Sgt. John Keys, to a contest of who could "Drop" the fastest. Drill Sgt. Keys was a black man from Chicago who had served with the 25th Infantry Divison in VietNam. Guess who lost? It didn't matter who won or lost, now that we are here let's do push ups and rockers. When this occured there was no complaining from the trainees, just show the Drill Sgt. that I (trainee) can do this faster and better then you (Drill Sgt.). That, folks, in the eyes of the Drill Sgt., is a well motivated, inspired, squared-away troop. That's the way it was when I wore "The Hat", and that's the way it is now. Without the foundation of "Set the Example", no instructors, in any branch of the Armed forces could accomplish their assigned tasks to any degree of proficiency.
The professionalism and excelence of the instrucor with "The Hat", cannot be argued. These NCOs are highly motivated professionals who take their jobs very seriously. I'm not saying this because I wore "The Hat", but because that is the smiple fact of the matter. Whether you agree or not with the concept of the military, is not the point. The job of the Drill Sgt. or Marine D.I. is one of the hardest jobs in the military, from when I was in, to today. And probably the most misunderstood. The one thing one must remember, is that these people are human and the human factor is always at play when someone carries the weight of responsibilty that wearing that "Hat" demands. Given that, I would like to talk about how that can have a drastic effect on all concerned.
As I have said, I went through Drill Sgt. school at Ft. Jackson, S. Co. in 1968. Like every Army school, or unit, there was a unit motto.My unit motto ( 2nd 327 Abn. Inf. of the 101st. Airborne Division) was, No Slack: Ask No Slack, Give No Slack, Expect No Slack, and you will Get No Slack. Real simple to understand. And as with every unit motto, it difined that unit's goal or job description. The motto of the Air Force unit that participated in Operation Ranch Hand, (airial spraying of defoliants in VietNam), was "ONLY WE CAN PREVENT FORESTS". You following me here?
O.K., with that clear, here's the scene as you enter the Drill Sgt. school at Ft. Jackson in 1968. As you enter the area there is a sign held up by two poles about ten feet off the ground. The sign is about 10' wide by 4' high, slightly curved on the top corners. Painted on this sign was a battle field scene, shell holes, smoke, broken trees and damaged buildings. In the middle of the battle field is the black silhouette of a fallen soldier. You know he is dead, even if you cannot see his face. Lying on his back, arms and legs at odd angles, helmet to one side, rifle near by. The motto over the top of the picture read:
"NEVER LET ANY MAN SAY HE WAS UNDER-TRAINED" This simple statement can have a major effect on the person about to start training to be a Drill Sgt. Now in 1968, with most of the school's students returnees from VietNam and a majority of them combat vets, this had a sobering effect on them. I had been back two months and here I was staring at this sign. You can imagine how seriously I took the job I was about to be trained for. And it holds true for today as well. The U.S. has been in numerous combat situations since VietNam, some small in comparison, the Persian Gulf on a large scale. Every Drill Sgt., D.I. or instructor has to ask himself the question, (because of that motto, "NEVER LET ANY MAN SAY HE WAS UNDER-TRAINED"), did I do my job to the best of my ability? Now here is the twist. No matter what the Drill Sgt. does, when the shooting starts, you will have casualties, PERIOD! There is no mention of how stupid the stiuation is. How screwed up the foreign policy is. How much international bullshit has brought your troops into harm's way. Or how completely ridiculous the military response is. These questions are not addressed at all. Just, the Drill Sgt. is responsible. How would you like to carry that on your shoulders? Talk about shifting the blame. And yet in spite of all this, these instructors strive to do the best they can, knowing that people will die when the shooting starts.
Case in point: Ft. Campbell, Ky. 1969, Co. B 8th Bn. 2nd. TNG. BDE. USATC
(USATC: U.S. ARMY TRANING CENTER). I had been in B Co. about five months after moving from E Co. when I got back from Drill Sgt. school. I was standing in the company street when Drill Sgt. Spickler came out of his 3rd platoon barracks. He stood on the steps to the barracks and threw his Drill Sgt's. hat across the company street. He walked up to me with a sad look on his face and said,"They're dead, all dead, and I don't want to be around dead people anymore! He kept saying "They're dead", over and over. I went over, picked up his hat and gave it back to him; he squared it on his head and looked at me. I said, "No Slack Sarge." He turned and started walking toward the mess hall, mumbling to himeslf and shaking his head. Sgt. Spickler had done a combat tour with the 101st also, and he just cared too much, too much to the point that it was driving him nuts.
In the last few years the Army Drill Sgt. has come under major scrutiny, because of abuse of power and sexual indiscretions. The Army has mixed training, men and women training together. I'm not saying co-ed here because that makes it look like these people are in college or something. This is not college by any means. The Marine corps still has separate training for men and women. And at the time I was in, the Army had separate training for men and woman. I am not saying this is right or wrong. This is just the way it is in the modren U.S. military. The larger the population of women in the military, and the closer to combat roles they are given, the more problems will arise. Enter the human factor, and its anyone's guess what can happen.
Here is, as I see it, one of the main problems that has caused so much trouble for the Army Drill Sgt. of late. The Army Drill Sgt. has been expanded to other duties than basic training. Now here is the problem, the job of the Drill Sgt. or Marine D.I. ends at basic. That is what they are trained for and to put them in other capacities just doesn't work.
The Drill Sgt. trains troops to go on to other more advanced training, in the M.O.S.(Military Occupational Skill) they have enlisted for. Basic is Basic and that's it. You learn how to march, what the chain of command is, how to salute, what a formation is, make your bunk right, basic rifle training, because no matter what your job is you may be called on to fight at some time. More advanced training comes when you leave basic. At the end of basic the Drill Sgt., D.I. job ends and it is time for instructors in that M.O.S. to take over. The scandal at Aberdeen Proving Grounds proves this. The Drill Sgts. there were not part of the traning cycle. They were given the job, as we used to say, of "moving the herd" from one place to another. Get them up in the morning and put them to bed at night. Not training. A.I.T. is looser then basic, you as the trainee have more freedom than in basic. Free to leave the company area after training and go to the P.X.(Post Exchange) for a coke and burger, weekend passes. You are treated more like a soldier than a trainee. I saw news shots of Drill Sgts. moving troops at Aberdeen and some of these troops were wearing berets. That meant that they were already in units and were probably there for more advanced training in their fields. They were already with the program and were there for more training, the Drill Sgt. capacity was not needed to do that. I was wondering about what I saw and talked to the son of a good friend who had just gotten out, about my observations. What he told me cleared all that up. In today's Army if an N.C.O. wanted to go past a certain rank then he or she had to have Drill Sgt. training and application. Kind of like grad school for college. Now the Army has N.C.O. academies for advancement, so this seemed to make no sense to me. In 1968 there were 12 basic training posts around the country, two for the Marines. The VietNam war was going full blast, with all the training sites cranking out troops every week. The call for Drill Sgts. was high and at times there was a shortage. Today the U.S. military has been down-sized majorly, the draft is gone and the basic training sites reduced from 12 to a few. To have Drill Sgt. training and application as a prerequisite to advance, when you don't have the training sites or size of the army to warrant that amount of Drill Sgts., makes no sense and can lead to problems down the road. But then again knowing how the Army works, nothing surprises me anymore. Take a person completely out of his capacity in order to only "move the herd" and you have a good mix for problems. This is only speculation on my part. But knowing the job of the Drill Sgt., having been one, I know their limitations. Effectively it ends at basic, and that's that.
In closing I would like to relate a story of how much a Drill Sgt. can effect someone's attitude. Also I would like everyone who reads this column to understand that these people are in fact, and contrary to popular belief, human.
I have a close friend here in Northern California, a plumber by trade, Stinky is his nickname, and he is a Nam Vet. He told me that he was not drafted, but kidnapped off the beaches of Southern California by the U.S. Army in 1967. Every now and then he will ask me if I want a day or two of work. Help him out when he needs it. After a couple of jobs, I asked him why he called me meathead and stupid when he sent me for tools or whatever. He told me with a big grin on his face, that he never thought he would get the chance to dig in a Staff Sgt.(E-6) Drill Sgt's. shit. And he was enjoying every minute of it. I just said "Drive On Troop", and we finished the job at hand. That's how the Drill Sgt. affects people.
Well, troops, I guess that's it for now. If you have any questions please e-mail me and I will answer. But remember I bruise easy, so be nice. Us Drill Sgts. are just Teddy Bears... Not! Keep reading those newspapers and watching the news on TV, for what we all love so much: the U.S. historical contradiction process...
And today's tips are:
See you around the Base Camp
Drill Sgt. Hassna......."DROP - GET 10!!!!"
copyright Steve Hassna,
1999
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