A Drill Sergeant Cavalry Scout Army Story

Hi my name is Kevin Jones. This is just some information about me while I was enlisted in the US Army.

First of all, there were a lot of good times and a lot of bad times in the Army; I guess that’s the same with everything.  I only remember some of the bad times, but I remember most of the good times.  As far as bad times are concerned, they mostly consist of being out in the weather; there were some people I didn’t care too much for and I think I have done a great job of forgetting them…lol.  There were times that I was so cold that I thought I was going to literally become a Popsicle.  I learned one thing about the cold - it is everywhere.  No matter where you go, there will be a cold season; yes, even in Iraq.  The good news is Scouts will always find a way to keep warm.  There were times when I was soaking wet even with all the gear the Army gives you to keep dry.  No matter what you have on, if you are out in the rain long enough, you will get soaked.

I joined the Army for four years as a 19D Cavalry Scout which has basic training and AIT together (OSUT).  Basic training was a blast; back then 19D OSUT was just 13 weeks, now it is 16.  You got to meet people from all over the country from all walks of life.  It is amazing what you will learn from them.  Believe it or not, there are people out there who have never met an Asian, Latino or a Black person in their life; some even think that the ethnic people on TV were actors made up to look that way.  True story…lol.

 Anyway, my Drill Sergeant was a great instructor but he didn’t PT us like I expected him to, it was always the assistant Drill that would skin us up or a Drill Sergeant from one of the other platoons.  The bottom line was we did a lot of PT.  We did PT in the morning, PT between classes, PT before showers and lights out.  I was a sprinter in high school, but the Army introduced me to long distance running.  I never developed a love for running long distance but I did well enough to score between 70 and 90 on every PT test.  I think my favorite part of basic training was going to the dining facility (DFAC).  That breakfast (scrambled eggs, home fried potatoes and bacon, orange juice and milk) was an awesome start to the day.  I’m getting hungry just thinking about it; I think I know what I’m going to have when I get home this evening...lol.  I can still remember standing in front of the entrance to the DFAC in formation with our headgear off.  “ORDER OF CHOW” yelled the Drill Sergeant.  This meant for us to yell back the order that the ranks of the platoon would march into the DFAC.  “ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR DRILL SERGEANT, ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR…DOOR MMAAANNNN”.  At this point, the Drill Sergeant would wave his arms from left to right, back and forth, up and down.  Whichever way his arms went, that is the direction we would lean our bodies while continuing to yell at the top of our lungs the last part of door man.  We would continue to yell that until he would drop his arms to his side.  Once his arms went down we would yell some crazy saying that the Drill Sergeant had us come up with, then file into the DFAC in order. 

My first duty station was the most fun; I was 19, out on my own with my own money, my own car and nobody telling me what time to be home.  We would spend our work days either in the motor pool working on our vehicles (M113, we didn’t have the Bradley yet) or in some out of sight out of mind location learning something about our job from our first line supervisor.  Once 16:45 came, (4:45 for you civilian minded people out there) we would have our close of business formation.  Our First Sergeant loved to talk so he would keep us standing out there for 45 minutes or more listening to him attempting to be funny while informing us about things that are going on and telling us how to stay out of trouble.  He was a very good First Sergeant looking back on it. After formation, I would go to the dining facility, order pizza or go out on the town for something to eat.  Now-a-days things are pretty much the same, except there is probably more ordering out because soldiers want to stay in and play video games.  Video games weren’t very big back when I first came in. 

I’m going to skip a whole bunch here and get to the ending because there is so much to talk about and so little time and I can get carried away with it.  As I mentioned in the beginning of this somewhere, I initially came in the Army for four years but I ended up doing 22 years.  At about 12 months out from the end of my first enlistment, I had to make a decision:  Did I want to go back home and hang out with those same old people and continue working in that wonderful grocery warehouse?...or, Did I want to continue seeing the world, meeting new people, experiencing things I never thought of and being respected and rewarded for the effort and hard work I put in?…hmm, let me think…ok I’ll re-enlist.  I re-enlisted several times and after 22 years of service. I can honestly say I made the best decision by joining and staying in.  I have gained leadership skills (which I attribute not only to joining the Army, but also to the MOS I chose) that I wouldn’t have learned anywhere else. (kj)