To BCT or Not to BCT

Fired Up

I had caught something I hadn’t caught in a long time. A bug. Not a roach or anything like that and not a Volkswagen Bug. I caught a nasty cold and my favorite buddy, named Ear Infection, came to visit me. I guess I was too homesick. I had a bad ear infection before, bad enough to have my wife drive me to the hospital at 2 am. This one was not as bad but it hurt.

The NCO working CQ, who was not a drill sgt and seemed to be more human, had sent me over to the clinic to get some meds. My nose was clogged and my left ear was a bout to pop. When the sergeant looked in my ear with a scope, he ran to CO of the clinic and pushed several privates out of his way. He came back with the CO and they both looked at each other with a look of astonishment on their faces. The CO said my ear drum was about to rupture and if it’s not treated, it will cause me to be discharged from the Army. I was thinking “I went through all of this and now I may get discharged because of an ear infection gone wrong?”

They sent me to the more advanced clinic and I saw a physician. He gave me a shot of something and gave me some antibiotics. My rise back to Reception was going to be a while so I went over to the chow hall and got me a super-duper yummy cheeseburger, fries and a sweet tea. None of the NCO’s there seemed to care I was consuming a caffeinated product. In fact, one even asked “is that tea any good? I’m thinking about getting me some.” I just replied with a “Yes, Sergeant” and he walked away.


The next day something happened that somewhat depressed me. Alpha Company, 1/46 was ready for another BCT cycle. Two Hundred and Forty were getting out of Reception the next morning but my name was not on that roster. That meant I would be there for another week. My guess was that the list was generated before I returned from FTU.

Another thing was two privates and I were double-timing from the chow hall when I heard “Hey, you!” There were several privates in the vicinity so we just kept running. Then I heard, what sounded like “Ba-ha-na-he-da-hut!” No, I’m not joking. Even my battle buddy looked funny. We stopped, snapped to attention, did an about face and snapped to parade rest. The DS asked me, in a friendly voice, “how old are you private?” I said “Thirty-seven, Drill Sergeant.” He said “Mother …..” you know what he said. He then said “kick some a.., carry on.” At first I thought this DS was as cool as a cucumber. But then again, it reminded me that I am an old man in a young man’s world. I guess I do look old and then and there, I felt it. Maybe not getting selected for BCT was a good thing.

The next morning, there was a formation in front of Reception’s main barracks. The privates had their green duffel bags, personal bags and their linens. One by one they lined up to turn in their linens. An hour or two later would be Showtime!

I was sad that I wasn’t invited to the party, but some things are better left observed from the sidelines. Alpha 1/46 was a highly coveted BCT Company. According to the PNN it was the toughest BCT Company at Knox. I really wanted that but I questioned whether or not I could handle it without getting hurt. After all, I’ve seen so many guys on crutches or on sick call. I was still dealing with a nasty ear infection anyways.

I saw and heard some drill sergeants that made Reception drill sergeants look like pansies. The way they projected their voices seemed to carry themselves to all points of the post and back. I mean these guys were loud! There was some amusement with seeing these guys run down toward their new home, then get told to turn around and then have them run back for no reason. Some of these guys looked scared out of their pants! At least it gave us a laugh as well as something to help better prepare us for the next call up. But when it was over, the reality had set in. I was stuck in Reception for at least another week. I sent letters to Amanda, but Reception didn’t allow the address to be given out.

And yes, it sucked. Another week full of getting early, standing in formations that seemed to take all day, listening to drill privates, etc.

It seemed that the DS's were a little easier on us hold overs. While working CQ duty one of the DS's sat at a desk next to me and we shot the breeze the entire time I was there. He asked me questions about my civilian career and he expressed an interest in it. He was coming up on his 22th year in the Army and his last few months as a Drill Sergeant. He said he was tired of yelling and the grind of being a DS left him somewhat tired.

I spent most of my time reading the Bible. I had never read the entire book of Acts until then. I really enjoyed reading about the Day of Pentacost and the death of Stephen. But it was Sauls's transformation into the Apostle Paul. He went from being a murderer and persecuter of Christians to the greatest preacher in the Bible, other than Jesus Christ himself. I wanted to be "that guy" in the sense he was a very evil person whose change would effect generations.

Time could be your worst enemy. It had been mine but it slowly became my friend. And just when I thought I was getting used to Reception life...