Don't Be A Spotlight Trainee

These types of personalities exist in all facets of life and the military is no exception. Whenever there’s work to be done, if the drill sergeant is around then private Joe Snuffy seems to be a real team player and is always ready to lend a hand but once there’s no supervision, he’s only in it for himself. There’ll be many times in Basic Training that you’ll be tasked with responsibilities that seem uncomfortable or inconvenient. Things like guard duty, barracks maintainence or  fireguard. A favorite of the Joe Snuffy type is to schedule himself at the beginning or end of fireguard as to not interrupt his sleep. Don’t be this kind of trainee. If you’re tasked with cleaning the toilet, don’t complain about it, just do it. Being in the military is all about teamwork. If you can’t be counted on to accomplish the little things, how you be counted on to the complete the important mission. When Private Snuffy types are discovered, they soon find out what the term “PT Smoking” really means. Doing the right thing when no one is looking is the difference between being an excellent soldier and one who wants to just get by.


Staff Sergeant Brito is a recruiter with the California Army National Guard. He is a veteran of thirteen years of both the US Army and the Army National Guard. He can be reached via email at iguardcalifornia@yahoo.com. Staff Sergeant Brito has posted numerous videos on Youtube.com about preparing for Basic Training. Click here to view them http://www.youtube.com/user/iguardcalifornia?feature=mhum

Your Drill Sergeant Doesn't Want To Be Your Friend!

I know this sounds like a no brainer but some trainees try to be friends with the drill sergeant and abruptly find out that this will not happen.

In the civilian world we’re taught from a very young age to be friendly and pleasant with most everyone we meet. This is not the case with the drill sergeants at basic training. The drill sergeant is not your friend. He’s not interested in things you’ve done as a civilian and certainly doesn’t care about your personal views or past experiences. He knows that basic training is deadly serious and your future in the military be it in a combat situation or not may have severe life or death consequences based on the training you receive. When the drill sergeants yell endlessly at you, don’t take it personally. They have nothing against you and have been trained to understand that for basic training to be effective at producing defenders of freedom, there can be no place for drill sergeant slash trainee relationships. There will be those rare times throughout basic training when you’re drill sergeant will show his human face and surprise everyone by saying something funny or unexpected. But you’ll be able to count those times on one hand. Come graduation day, you’ll notice a change in your drill sergeant as he no longer acts like the slavedriver you once perceived him to be and displays more of a proud parent attitude because of what you’ve become.

Staff Sergeant Brito is a recruiter with the California Army National Guard. He is a veteran of thirteen years of both the US Army and the Army National Guard. Email him at iguardcalifornia@yahoo.com. He has posted numerous videos on Youtube.com about preparing for Basic Training. Click here to view them http://www.youtube.com/user/iguardcalifornia?feature=mhum