Thursday

Another early morning. This time breakfast was at 430 and my opinion has not changed. It is still way too early to be eating. More fruit and a coffee. We got taxis to the airport this time and I rode with two other girls from MEPS. My roommate from the night before was freaking out a little…..now the transportation video brief made sense. Some people need help more than others. I checked in my luggage, went through security and got on the plane. I went with four other guys who were headed to Benning as well.
As soon as the plane took off I was out like a light and did not wake up until we were descending into Atlanta. Once we got to Atlanta it was more of the waiting game. I ate a sandwich and sat there for six hours. Finally some civilians yelled for everyone going to Benning to follow them. As I fell into the line, I started getting crazy looks. Before we had made it down to where the bus was I had been asked several times if I was in the right line.
Yes, I am going to Benning and Yes, I am a female. We formed two lines on the sides of a hallway in the airport and then they promptly decided they were too long so some of us had to stand in the middle so everyone could hear. I felt REALLY weird then. Out of about 80 guys I was the only female. Everyone dumped their contraband…to include gum, candy, water, nicotine of any kind and more. Everyone had to tuck their shirts in, except me of course.
Oh, you will see I stand out a lot in the next couple of hours. An hour and a half later we were there at Benning. They pulled all the prior service off the bus….again I informed them, yes, I am supposed to be at Benning and yes, I am going to OCS (Officer Candidate School) and a female. (As a disclaimer...Fort Benning is home of the Infantry and an all male basic training. They do not see many females improcessing there.)
We sat on benches for several hours, went over contraband again, and watched the Drill Sergeants break down the new recruits. So many of them were incredibly young. They looked like scared little boys. Broke my heart. As an example…the new Soldiers kept calling the DS “Sir”. He yelled that the next Soldier to call him Sir he would “stand a random private up and kick him in the nuts.” Immediately when he called another name the kid answered with “yes sir”. He yanks a Soldier sitting on the end of the bench up, tells him to go to parade rest and spread his legs. And this poor, scared little guy actually did exactly what the DS said to do. Of course he didn’t actually kick him, but I guess he made his point. Another Soldier was not being loud enough so the DS told him “go to the PX (Post Exchange), go to aisle four, grab two dollars and buy himself a pair of nuts”. Oh the difference between all male basic and what I went through. Those poor little guys.
I chatted with a couple of guys that were also going to OCS and realized that I perhaps should not be as worried as I am. There were some interesting ones…and one I already need to keep my eye on. He wants the same branch as I do. NOOOOO!!! I was issued a room key in the permanent party barracks (pays to be the only female) and finally crashed out around 1230.