This Will Defend
- Cody Mackall
- Jul 6, 2019
- 4 min read
When you’re in the Army, it’s always meet someone, and then it feels like it’s not but a few weeks later someone moves because it’s that time of there career. After being in 9 duty positions at 2 different Army Installations, I have had my fair share of” Good-Byes” between PCS’s and Deployments. You get adapt to meeting folks, and then your conversations become random text or a phone call here and there.
The past few months, I have been at The United States Army Drill Sergeant Academy to move into my next duty position. It was a very taxing, both physically and mentally, 9 1/2 week course. And you truly learned who has earned the right to be there and who has papered there way, this pretty much means that they were to look better on NCOERs then they actually are, through their career.
Day 0 was by far one of the most miserable. I felt like I was back at Day 0 of my Army Career. The first day was just like the first day of Basic Training. We had our peers, the DSL, up in our face. People who are the same rank as me, treating me as a day one private. And those that know me well enough know that when someone is yelling at me, it takes me everything i have not to laugh. So we are standing in a large formation, we started with 187 NCOs, and we’re getting yelled at that we are “standing at the position of attention wrong, and parade rest wrong.” And then we had been rushed into the large classroom to start “Death by PowerPoint” and get told how the weeks to come will look.
By the end of the first phase (the first three weeks), we had dropped our class down to 146. We lost those that couldn’t pass PT Test, Height, and Weight, or there Mod Pitch (where we recite speeches we had to memorize over a given position or movement). And we got pulled back onto the field, and we were told “Welcome to Phase 2, at this point your chances of passing The United States Army Drill Sergeant Academy, have risen to about 75%. The only way you fail from here is by failing a Mod Pitch, failing to Qualify, or failing a test.” I was just thinking to myself, “great i am terrible at taking a test.”
Next thing I know we were going into the second phase. And this is where you find out who your friends are! During the first week, I was super skeptical about who I hung out with and would be super weird about who I talked to. But by now, I had my group of friends that i would talk to. I had Hill, Helton, and Kastris. After instruction hours we would grab some dinner, then depending on the day, either study for stuff to come, or go out and get a break and see a movie or go sing some karaoke! This group most definitely made it worthwhile! Having a group of friends at such a taxing, both physically and mentally. What made this phase better is at the end of it, you had a 95% of graduating. During this phase, we watched our class drop to what would be the number we would graduate with, going from 146 to 129.
Phase 3 was by far the best of the Academy. We were able to sew everything onto your uniforms, and it was such a good feeling. When I picked up my uniform from the alteration shop that day, I realized something. I had overcome all those who i had enchanted along my way who said I wouldn't make it see myself as an NCO. In 2015 I pinned on my SGT Stripes, when i was about
to leave Ft Lewis, I was told I was a mistake of an NCO, and I would never make it see SSG. I had proved very many people wrong, and In November of 2017, I became an SSG. Then I got told by numerous people when I got a new chain off command that as an Infantryman, I was never going to be able to make an impact on the future of the Army and that I should just quit and get out and do something worthwhile with my life. When I picked up my uniform with a very import change to it, the Badge of a Drill Sergeant, it doesn't mean that I have made the right to be that man that yells at everyone and tells them they are wrong and all messed up. I am the man that gets to shape civilians and train them to become the Soldiers that will defend our Country. That I am teaching the next Team Leader, the next Squad Leader, First Sergeant, or even Sergeant Major. I am training those who will day, be the change that the Army needs. And to me, that's a pretty big deal!
Becoming a Drill Sergeant is most defiantly going to be one of the toughest jobs that i have done, but i know that it will also be the most rewarding! I am so excited to see where this takes me, and see what the next few years has to offer!
Until Next Time!
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