Drill SGT’s I have a question. Have any of you had a cycle where there wasn’t “that guy” in the formation you had to actually make stuff up?

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 11 Aug 2020 20:47:49 -0400

I presume there are enough shenanigans in a training company that Drill SGT’s don’t have to go far for a reason to HALF RIGHT FACE!!!!! But, on the other side of the coin there are those trainees whose names you DON’T KNOW (the ones that stay out of trouble). Did you ever have a company of unforgettable soldiers you found yourself forgetting to dole out push ups because someone didn’t do something stupid in the usual amount of time, but then to add to that it was that way the entire cycle.

Then on the other side of the discussion I suppose you could have a cycle entirely filled with those types you just can’t seem to blink without something stupid going on.

Response by SSG Roger Ayscue made Aug 11 at 2020 10:06 PM

SSG Roger Ayscue — Tue, 11 Aug 2020 22:06:14 -0400

I was not a drill Sergeant, but I went to Basic Training at Fort Benning in the early 80s. There was "That Guy" the was constipated and argued with the Battalion CSM about his profile saying he should eat extra salad as reading that he could take all the salad. The CSM indulged him and by golly that night he was no longer constipated and the sounds coming out of the latrine should have been recorded, as I had never heard a human make anything similar before or since in my life...He exclaimed "The Salad Worked, The Salad Worked"

Response by SPC Nancy Greene made Aug 11 at 2020 10:33 PM

SPC Nancy Greene — Tue, 11 Aug 2020 22:33:50 -0400

I was in Basic at Ft Jackson 83-84 and the male drills ‘tortured’ me due to my degree and rank...they pretty much ‘dogged’ all 50 females in my platoon; however, I did successfully eat dirt for 12 weeks! (the one female drill was tougher on us than some of the male drills, she was only an E4 wearing SGT stripes while on the ‘trail’...)

Response by SSgt Christophe Murphy made Aug 11 at 2020 10:49 PM

SSgt Christophe Murphy — Tue, 11 Aug 2020 22:49:27 -0400

I find the basis of the question improbable. There will always be the bottom 10% in any body of people. There will always be a reason for a teaching moment

Response by SPC Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 12 at 2020 12:18 AM

SPC Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 12 Aug 2020 00:18:12 -0400

Not a drill obviously, but when we went through basic there was a stretch of time where my platoon wasn't getting into any trouble. On day on the range the drills sent two of our platoon to go clean up the porter john area (two trainees that in the past had been known for messing up). However, unexpectedly, they did a good job. Still the drills had a bet with the platoon and said that for every piece of trash they found around the johns or in the johns, they would add 10 seconds of cherry pickers.

The soldiers came back, confident in their job. So the drills started marching the platoon over to the porter johns to inspect. We noticed another drill sergeant, running away from the porter johns into the trees as we arrived....and behold. The whole area had been trashed. Worse than it had started.

So the drills then had us do our cherry pickers while those two trainees counted and re-picked up the area they had just cleaned.

We were irritated, but it was also funny at the time to think that the drills had to sabotage us to get the chance to use "corrective training"