Basic Training: Putting the Boot in Boot Camp - Essay Example

My six-week stint as a basic trainee would continue to torment me as pain and agony would transform into pride and honor.I got an instant awakening to military life as soon as I stepped off the bus and was herded into a line for receiving our gear and apparel. My head was shaven bald. I was told to remove all my clothes and get into another line to get my military uniforms. I stood as naked as a chicken, goosebumps rising on my bald head that was chilled by the morning air. The humiliation and embarrassment I felt were only tempered by the fact that I did not know anyone.

It was a glimpse of things to come, as I would spend the next few years surrounded by my 'brothers in arms' and never really knowing a soul. As I reached the end of the line I had been supplied with everything from underwear to a toothbrush. I put on my new Army fatigues and felt like a full-fledged member of the US Armed Forces.Though I looked like a soldier and dressed like a private, I would not be accepted as a member of the Army until I had run the full six-week basic training gauntlet. A failure to successfully complete the full six weeks would cause you to get set back and begin training anew with an incoming squad.

As week three wore on, the excessive marching had sprained my ankle and was causing me considerable pain.