Unknown Name ENGL 112
Basic Training
It’s four o’clock in the afternoon and the sun is still shining bright in Fort Jackson, South Carolina. It is hot outside, about 99 degrees. My heart is pounding with fear of the unknown. The bus stops and the doors fold open. A soldier comes running up the bus stairs in a round brown hat screaming at the top of his lungs, “Get off the bus, now soldiers!” I jump out of my seat and immediately rush to the front of the bus, along with about twenty other new recruits. I have no idea what to expect but have heard the horror stories about basic training and how much the Drill Sergeants yell and apparently this Drill Sergeant has a set of lungs on him that could dwarf a bullhorn.
As we all stumble off the bus the drill sergeants come out of the woodwork and start yelling and screaming for us to grab our duffel bags and line up! My mind is racing and it is complete chaos. I rush to grab my bag, pushing people with my elbow to make sure I am not the last one in line. With my duffel bag on my shoulder I rush to the line and stand up as straight as possible, my head held high. “Who are you?” asked one of the drill sergeants standing in front of me, inches from my face. “Wheeless, Sir,” I managed to yell back. The drill sergeant, angry now, yells back “I am no Sir, I work for a living! Start pushing and do not stop until I tell you to!”
I dropped out of college to join the Army. After a year or so of college, I realized that college is not cheap and I have to pay the bills some how. So, in an attempt to earn my college money, I joined the Army. After all, they give you a lot of money for college and if you take college while in the Army, they will pay for it for you. At the time, that sounded like a fair trade to me. I will go and serve my country and earn my college money. Now, as I push out my 50th pushup,