We were sent to Ft Ord, California. (It has since closed.) When we got there I was dumbfounded! This was all new to me, and I wasn’t ready for such a big change in my life.

We were sent to our barracks and we unloaded every thing by our bunks. Then the scary moment happened. The drill Sargent came and shouted, attention! We weren’t sure of what we were suppose to do, so he shouted louder.

That got our attention, and we all jumped up and stood at attention. (Our first learning event.)

He came strolling down the barracks, and looked each “soldier,” in the eye, and said “You will become a man by the time I am through with you.”

After that he stood at one end of the barracks and introduced himself.

“I am Sgt. McDonald. I will be in your leader for the next eight weeks.”

You will obey my every command.

He finished he speech and told us to line up outside. He did the lining up of each roll and said, “This is where you are supposed to be every time we gather here.” (Second learning event.)

He taught us how to march, and listen to his cadence. That was actually fun. He marched us to the supply building and led us inside. It was a huge place, and the soldiers in charge were ready to push us through.

One spot handed you all your underwear, The next group handed us our shirts. The third group handed us out pants.

Then we were given our boots. this took a lot longer, because we all had to try to shoes on they handed us. I was lucky because the first pair fit me.

We got the rest of our stuff, and the Sargent marched us back to our barracks, He told us to put on our new clothes, and that was all we could wear while in training.

It was an exhausting day, but I felt good about the results. I had my full military uniform.

Doug