I have returned...
I reported to my company on the 7th of September, and we picked up 8 days later. In that short period, I learned trial-by-fire about some of the different personalities in the company. The first sergeant is one of the most detail-oriented that I’ve ever worked for. In the first month, I must have cursed his name a thousand times. If you haven’t figured out by the tone thus far, we have what could be charitably described as an… adversarial relationship. In the interest of fairness, I will say that it’s making me a better drill and NCO in the long run.
In a nutshell, the first cycle has graduated, we had a month-long cycle break, then I went on Exodus leave. I returned to work Tuesday, and we’ve been working balls-to-the-wall since then to prep for the next cycle. We got inspected just a few short minutes ago and were told that the reception battalion is already holding about 140 Soldiers for us. That means by next Thursday, we’re looking at a full boat-load, or pretty close to the maximum capacity of 240 Soldiers per company.
We also have painted a new mural on the floor – we’re the “Ruff Ryders,” the horse motif is a must. One of the other drills found a cool logo from some minor league ball team in Ohio, and adapted it with the gayest tagline ever – “Boom, you’re dead!”
Unfortunately, it’s printed on the floor as “Boom your dead.” I get this 2 days before we pick up.
By the way, isn’t it nice that our battalion commander has a hang up on proper grammar? Can’t WAIT for the pre-pickup inspection… “Uhhhh, Drill Sergeant, isn’t Y-O-U-APOSTRAPHE-E the possessive version of your?”