This concludes the Citizen Soldier series I have been writing with an account of my experiences in AIT and arriving to my first unit.

Following my graduation from BCT, I was ecstatic to be out of Fort. Benning, I would leave the heat and misery behind and start my training as a Health Care Specialist i.e. a medic. This is why I joined the Army, and, after 11 miserable weeks, I was finally on the road to Ft. Sam Houston, in San Antonio Texas.

Throughout the first stage of my training I heard nothing but great things about Ft. Sam, that we were allowed to go out at night, we would have many more freedoms than we had in basic, some even said we were allowed to keep food in our barracks! It seems silly now to think that these little things were something to be excited about, but in that reality, it was. We departed Fort Benning by bus, retracing the road that brought us into this hellhole 11 weeks prior. I went into there a child and left a soldier, with less childlike tendencies but I’ll be honest, I was still slightly immature. We arrived at the Hartsfield Jackson airport dressed in our Class As, those lovely blue uniforms with the berets that you may have seen. As we were lugging our giant OD green duffel bags around, and nervously smoothing out the wrinkles in our new shirts and coats something unexpected happened to us. People were coming up to us thanking us for our service and being kind towards us. We blushingly responded that we were only trainees, mere hours out of BCT, but that we appreciated the support. After processing through security, myself and several of my battle buddies who were also heading to Fort Sam went to IHOP and gorged ourselves. Then, awaiting an afternoon flight, we went up to the USO to relax. The USO is a great place for all service members to relax while travelling and they do a great service for the men and women overseas. When the time came, we boarded our plane and headed to Texas.

I must clarify one important thing before I begin discussing AIT. At my BCT site, Fort Benning, there were only men. It is the only BCT site in the Army like this, the other locations, Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, Fort Jackson, South Carolina, and Fort Sill, Oklahoma were integrated. The only females we saw were the ladies at the Dining Facility, the lady who sold us T-shirts, and our female drill sergeants. Terrifying. This is important later.

We finally touched down in Texas and waited for a bus to retrieve us. Well, we didn’t know that a bus was supposed to pick us up. In fact, we had no real instruction as what to do after we got to the Atlanta airport. So, we made our way to the San Antonio airport’s USO and asked the sweet old ladies if they could help us. They called the base and eventually a bus was sent to pick us up. Entering the gates of Fort Sam was a moment I will never forget. Firstly, the ride through the city was mesmerizing, it was my first time ever being in Texas and I was awed by the number of people in San Antonio as well as the Texan architecture and design of the city. We entered the base and were dropped off at our company. The first thing we notice is that there are female trainees, just like us. Obviously, we knew that there were girls in the Army, it’s just that after not seeing one your age for 11 weeks it hits you. We also noticed how different the atmosphere was. It was less intense than what we experienced in BCT, still serious, with an air of military discipline, but I didn’t feel like I had to constantly watch my back. My roommate was my best friend from basic, which made the transition to AIT much more smooth. My room when I was at AIT was nicer then my current dorm room. In fact, it was nicer than some hotels I have stayed in. It was a two-man room and featured two beds, desks, chairs, nightstands, lamps and huge walk in closets. In addition, there were two sinks and an adjoining bathroom with a shower and a toilet. We went from a 60-man open bay with bunk beds and 15 showers and toilets to what seemed like the Taj Mahal. The next day was a Saturday, and we reported to formation and were summarily marched to breakfast chow. The food was amazing, we had many more options than before and could choose what we wanted. The only downside was that the DFAC was a little under a mile away and that is a long time to march in formation. We returned to the company and since the cycle had not yet begun, as not everyone was there. We were then sent to our rooms and told not to leave but we could do what we wanted. Laying on my bed, watching Netflix on my phone felt amazing. However, the rest of the cycle would not be that relaxing.

Every AIT is different as each job is obviously different. Some jobs require more technical skills like mechanic or plumber whereas some jobs are more abstract in nature and require critical thinking like geospatial engineer or intelligence analyst. My AIT was a mix of both. To successful graduate 68W school, and earn the title of medic, you must pass EMT and Whiskey phase and the two week situational training exercise (STX) at Camp Bullis. In EMT phase you study to earn your Emergency Medical technician license based on the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technician curriculum. This course in the civilian sector takes around 3-5 months to complete as it is often offered as a night school. We learned in six weeks. After waking up at 0430 to conduct PRT we would shower, eat breakfast and be marched to class where we would study from 8-5 every day, Monday through Friday for six week. The grading was fair but challenging. Failing to achieve a 70% average could mean being recycled, being sent to the next company and forced to start from day one. Those who weren’t above a 70 after the fourth test were automatically recycled. The final exam was even tougher. There were seven hands on skills that you must demonstrate mastery of, failure to correctly perform four in a row meant automatic recycling. If you could not do a skill after the third try, recycled. After you take the hands-on exam there is an online multiple choice exam ranging from 70-120 questions. There is no rhyme or reason to how many questions you get, only getting 70 doesn’t mean you pass, going all the way to 120 doesn’t guarantee failure. You have three tries to pass this exam, if you fail the first time you are removed from the 68W portion and reclassed.

Following EMT phase you move into Whiskey phase. Whiskey phase is all about combat medicine. Here, there is still an emphasis on raw knowledge and book learning, however, you spend more time on practical skills. You learn to draw blood, administer medication, give shots, give IVs, insert NPAs, create splints and tourniquets, and treat patients on the battlefield. Whiskey phase is physically demanding as you are in full gear for most of the training and practice moving patients through drags and carries. This is where a lot of people struggled, they may have excelled in this classroom but it doesn’t mean much if you can’t drag your patient out of the way of incoming fire. You get to do some cool things in Whiskey phase including a trip through the blood labs. In this you are forced into a large room resembling a middle eastern village. There is smoke and loud music pounding all around you, your sergeants are screaming in your face as you and your fellow medics attempt to triage and treat many patients. The dolls are mechanical, they breathe and bleed are there are more of them then there are of you. At the end of six weeks you again test out of all the skills you learned while in Whiskey phase and then move onto Camp Bullis.

Bullis was intimidating at first. It is set up like an actual forward operating base (FOB) would be in Iraq or Afghanistan. High walls and gun towers surround you as your instructors are refining your skills to meet the demands of Bullis. You practice responding to medical emergencies in a convoy setting, reacting to chemical attacks, retrieving patients off a mountain and carrying them for long distances, breaching and clearing houses while extracting causalities, orienteering and locating causalities, and running a field hospital while under heavy mortar fire. When I was at Bullis it was the beginning of February. It was freezing in the mornings, temperatures dipped below 30 degrees and so we would wear all our nice snivel gear. However, we were still in Texas, by 10 AM the sun would be blazing overhead and we would have to take it all off. Bullis was one of the more challenging moments of my Army career up until that point, but also the most satisfying as I finished the final requirement and officially earned the title of Health Care Specialist.

I had a lot of fun while I was in AIT and met some of the best instructors in the Army and was surrounded by some of the most dedicated young recruits like myself. I also saw some of the worst in people, when given an inch of freedom they take a mile, or chose to live selfishly and against the Army values. Sometimes I miss being back there, sure there were stupid rules and I missed home, but I had my brothers and sisters who became my family.

Thank you to all who read this series, I hope you learned a little about actual military life and dispelled rumors.