“Down, But Not Out.”
“There it is Privates!” Drill Sergeant Gonzales yelled. As we all rounded the narrow and winding road through the Ozark Mountains, my heart began to race. All 250 of us slowed down to form a formation in front of what appeared to be the biggest climb we had seen and were not expecting to see for the next few weeks. Screaming at the top of his lungs, Drill Sergeant Galloway said “This is Engineer Hill, and starting in two minutes you all have thirty minutes to make this two mile run, there and back! Those of you who fail will make it up on a later day.” Two miles? That was nothing to me…or so I thought. The whistle let out a loud screech, and we all took off running. We were running for only a few minutes but it felt like hours, and I thought it would never end until I heard a loud snap.
It was a cold start to the new year, and being surrounded by all these new faces and doing pushup’s for not standing right, that was only the beginning of my journey at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. I was scared just like every other Private in my company; leaving our families and going on to do greater things and serve our country was what most of us …show more content…
After graduation, while all of my friends went out to go on vacation and prepare for their upcoming years at big universities, I sat in summer school behind a book. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life or future career and the only thing of major importance included drinking and partying. Throughout the next few years I did just that and it got me nowhere. After being kicked out of my house with nowhere to go, I passed by a recruiting station and walked in. All of the Army recruiters were more than happy to take me in after I told them my story. Staff Sergeant Kyle Rachtkovec took me under his wing and showed me everything I needed to do to be the best soldier I could be. That filled me with determination to make my family
“There it is Privates!” Drill Sergeant Gonzales yelled. As we all rounded the narrow and winding road through the Ozark Mountains, my heart began to race. All 250 of us slowed down to form a formation in front of what appeared to be the biggest climb we had seen and were not expecting to see for the next few weeks. Screaming at the top of his lungs, Drill Sergeant Galloway said “This is Engineer Hill, and starting in two minutes you all have thirty minutes to make this two mile run, there and back! Those of you who fail will make it up on a later day.” Two miles? That was nothing to me…or so I thought. The whistle let out a loud screech, and we all took off running. We were running for only a few minutes but it felt like hours, and I thought it would never end until I heard a loud snap.
It was a cold start to the new year, and being surrounded by all these new faces and doing pushup’s for not standing right, that was only the beginning of my journey at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. I was scared just like every other Private in my company; leaving our families and going on to do greater things and serve our country was what most of us …show more content…
After graduation, while all of my friends went out to go on vacation and prepare for their upcoming years at big universities, I sat in summer school behind a book. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life or future career and the only thing of major importance included drinking and partying. Throughout the next few years I did just that and it got me nowhere. After being kicked out of my house with nowhere to go, I passed by a recruiting station and walked in. All of the Army recruiters were more than happy to take me in after I told them my story. Staff Sergeant Kyle Rachtkovec took me under his wing and showed me everything I needed to do to be the best soldier I could be. That filled me with determination to make my family