My arrival at Fort Jackson, with my best friend Mel, was full of anticipation and we had been told to expect the unexpected. I was so happy to get off the plane (I don't like to fly), but when we boarded the bus...I was wondering if we would ever get off! The ride from the airport seemed to take forever. Of course, riding that long makes you tired and sleepy. The bus pulled up to a building that said...UNITED STATES ARMY. The anticipation grew (even though I had been here before back in 1994). We all got off the bus and waited for our bags. We grabbed our bags and followed the SGT who came to get us. We were herded ---- into a large room in rows and told to go through our bags. Next came the amnesty room, where you could dispose of any contraband (i.e. cigarettes, lighters, knives, cards, etc.) Even if you didn't have anything on you--you still had to go through the room. We were all sworn in again. Then we headed to what was called "Reception" where all of our in-processing took place. Finally to our barricks. There are several females in our barricks. We are Alpha Company. My buddy is a girl named Silvers. I don't know how many people have asked if we are sisters. We both have short blonde hair and probably look alike from the back. The bunks looked so comfy and I was ready to just crash. But I got stuck with fireguard duty--1st shift from 2100 to 2300 (9:00pm to 11:00pm). I got to sit at a desk out in the hall and make sure no one came in or left that was not authorized. My shift was with Pauling. We also had to do a bedcheck every 30 minutres. At least having this shift allowed me to get some sleep. This is Mel's first time here and all she wants to do is get it over with. Me too!

Today we got to stand in lines and get our uniforms--BDUs. Gosh, but the civilians working are more rude than the Sergeants! Next came the boots--size 6 1/2 (men) for me! My cover (hat) fits fine with my short hair. Didn't feel like messing with it. Mel has long hair, but she just puts it up in a twist. (I went through that last time and it was so annoying) Okay, we look like soldiers now. I just got my ID card issued and we are getting our paperwork all together. We were issued a small book--IET Soldier's Handbook. Our 'smart' book that we have to learn and commit to memory. And believe me--there are certain things you just gotta know! We started learning to march and the basic facing movements. Of course Mel and I already knew about Drill and Ceremonies (D&C) because we were drilling with our units months before we left. We also got our pictures taken in our Army Dress Greens. I borrowed a bit of makeup just so I wouldn't look "dead". Gosh, I have to wear these dorky glasses! I know I look horrible in them!

OUCH!! We got shots today and I must say that it was not fun! The device resembled a gun. It can give several shots at once and I got hit in both arms and it left huge lumps on each arm. I thought I might pass out. Oh, but no, the Sergeants made us do push-ups to work the arms and to keep them from stiffening up! Now that hurt! I can't believe the time has already come for us to ship out to our Basic Training (BT) Company. I guess Mel and I are part of the lucky few. Some are here for weeks until they leave for BT. We had to stencil our last names and SS#s on our duffel bags along, with our roster number--A-30 for me--and wait for the buses. We didn't have long to wait...

I had completely forgotten how mean Drill Sergeants can look! "Move! Move! Get on the bus! You're moving like pond water!" Whoa...did we move or what?! Mel and I got on the same bus--headed for Charlie Company, 3rd Battalion, 13th Infantry Regiment. This would be our BT company. We arrived and moved like the wind off the buses and jumped into some kind of formation. This is where we were introduced to our Company Commander, 1st Sergeant, and our Drill Sergeants. Oh my gosh! Did I hear that right? Our Company Commander's name is Captain Faggett and our 1st SGTs name is Ruff? Not one person laughed. He looked intimidating. The Drill Sergeants introduced themselves and told us which platoon they were in charge of and started calling names. My name was called and I picked up my duffel and personal bag and headed over (ran is more like it) to another formation. I am in 1st Platoon--Young Guns. Mel and I got separated and she ended up in 4th Platoon--the Wolfpack. The other two platoons in my company are called Cobras (2nd) and The Dog Pound (3rd).

My platoon followed our Drill Sergeants up to one of the sleeping quarters. They looked down the list and we are told to stand by certain bunks. Then we got to dump all of our things out of our duffel bags and personal bags. Everything had to be accounted for and a list made. My lock wouldn't open and anxiety started to set in! DS Duke came over and wanted to know what the problem was and I proceeded to tell him saying, "My lock won't open." "Push..." Lovely, I forgot to say "My lock won't open, Drill Sergeant!" From then on DS Duke knew me by name. As if the name Newcomer was hard to forget. Once all of our things were accounted for, our personal bags were locked up. The males in my platoon were lined up and marched to the bay they would be sleeping in (upstairs from us). Yep! It is co-ed training now. (It wasn't in 1994). The females from the other platoons came into the bay, as we will all be sleeping in the same bay. We are given our bunks and wall-lockers. Mel is at the opposite end from me. Good, I got a top-bunk. Much easier to make in a hurry! We were assigned "battle buddies" and we cannot go anywhere without them or talk to our DS without our buddy. Usually, your battle buddy is your bunkmate, but since mine was good friends with another girl two bunks down, we switched. Cool--Jokala seemed nice. We were told to 'toe-the-line' and we all stepped up to the red lines running down the end of our bunks. This is where we really met the DS. "Front leaning rest position...MOVE!" Gosh, this could get bad. After that little session, we headed down to form up in our platoons for chow.

We marched to the chow hall. The DS was telling us what 'chow formation' would be like. We were horrible. After 'chow formation', we had to stand at parade rest--head and eyes forward--and come to the postition of attention before moving, then back to parade rest. The line moved pretty quickly. You had to sound off with the last four digits of your SS# for the roster and could not forget to say, "Drill Sergeant!" The food is not that bad here. It tastes pretty good and it looks like we will be getting a well-balanced meal three times a day. They are making us drink this awful stuff called "victory punch" before we sit down to eat. It tastes like Kool-Aid with salt! Ugh! We only had a few minutes to eat and then we headed back to our barricks and started unpacking. There is a certain way we have to "square-away" our wall locker and make our bunks. The DS said he wants to see a quarter bounce. At 2030 we were told to get downstairs in formation. Oh, I knew what this was. Hydration Formation! We had to drink an entire canteen of water before bedtime! Fine with me--gone. When finished you had to hold your canteen upside down (over your head) until the DS saw it, then you could go back upstairs to the bay. 2100--LIGHTS OUT! Finally time to sleep!!