VA Military Memories Competition
AE2(AW) LaTonya N. Davison, U.S. Navy (1996-2010)
Do You Remember Your Drill Sergeants/Instructors Names From Basic Training? Recount Any Specific Memories of Your Drill Sergeants/Instructors and How They Shaped You as a New Recruit:
Picture it. Great Lakes, IL, 1996. This towering 6-foot-something man walks into the barracks bay, informing us he’ll be our division commander for the next 8 weeks. Intimidating from the jump, it took only a few days to realize he had a perfectly crafted persona to make sure we quickly established discipline and respect. Fred Pharr from North Carolina, who would later become the Commander, Naval Air Force Atlantic Force Master Chief, would be whipping 83 women into shape and making them into sailors.
SGT Lien Crum, U.S. Army (1987-1997)
Do You Remember Your Drill Sergeants/Instructors Names From Basic Training? Recount Any Specific Memories of Your Drill Sergeants/Instructors and How They Shaped You as a New Recruit:
There are many “war” stories I could tell, but this one is the one that I remember the most. It was one month before my 21st birthday that I found myself in Basic at Ft. Dix, NJ. It didn’t take long for me to learn that compared to Ft. Jackson, we were privileged to be assigned to “Fort Disneyland.” Yea right! For me, BC was a mental and physical challenge. I went through a very sheltered lifestyle. I was in for a rude awakening when I was faced with a whole new world of perseverance and survival.
SP5 Robert Artz, U.S. Army (1969-1975)
Do You Remember Your Drill Sergeants/Instructors Names From Basic Training? Recount Any Specific Memories of Your Drill Sergeants/Instructors and How They Shaped You as a New Recruit:
It was an early spring morning at US Army Headquarters Training Center Infantry, Fort Ord, California. A couple hundred new inductees (around 95% draftees – including myself) were gathered together by a handful of seasoned Drill Instructors with the objective of assembling Headquarters Company into Platoons and Squads. First job; select trainee Platoon and Squad leaders. It was Drill Sergeant Diamond who started the process by ordering all men who graduated college to fall out and line up on the side of the parking lot. I was classified II-S until I graduated in early 1969. I was 22 years old – one of the older men in this group. With Vietnam going crazy, Uncle Sam was calling up even us old guys.
MAJ Montgomery J. Granger, U.S. Army (1986-2008)
Do You Remember Your Drill Sergeants/Instructors Names From Basic Training? Recount Any Specific Memories of Your Drill Sergeants/Instructors and How They Shaped You as a New Recruit:
I am a Mustang officer, now a retired major, spent five years enlisted as a Combat Medic and then attended OCS and had a 22 year career in the Army, including deployments to Gitmo and Iraq. I attended Basic Training at Fort Blist(er), TX, in the fall of 1987. I consider my Drill Sergeants as near perfect human beings. I was there after completing six years of college, including a BS Ed., and MA degrees in teaching.
MSG Derrick L. King, U.S. Army (1983-2010)
Do You Remember Your Drill Sergeants/Instructors Names From Basic Training? Recount Any Specific Memories of Your Drill Sergeants/Instructors and How They Shaped You as a New Recruit:
I remember the boots hitting the pavement before I ever saw his face. I remember the cadence of authority in his voice before I even knew his name. But when I finally met him Staff Sergeant Bailey there was no doubt in my mind: this man was built different. Not just in his physical presence, though he looked like a machine carved from steel, but in his mindset, his discipline, and the way he commanded respect without ever needing to demand it. SSG Bailey wasn’t just my Drill Sergeant in Basic Training he became the model of what a man, a leader, and a warrior should be.
SSG Victoria Ryan, U.S. Army (1973-1988)
Was There An Occasion, During Your Military Or Civilian Life, When Your Military Training Proved Invaluable In Overcoming A Difficult Situation?:
Military training does not end with basic or AIT (advanced individual training). It is an ongoing, continuous journey which imparts many valuable and often life-long lessons. One of the most valuable and enduring lessons I repeatedly received during my many years of Army service was that there is a chain of command and it is there for a reason. Nothing is written in stone, situations can be fluid, and utilizing a chain of command can be instrumental in accomplishing or changing a situation.