how did you feel when you graduated basic? how did it affect your outlook?

PVT Nathan Coyle When I graduated from basic, I was so proud. But more than that, I was confident that I had found a place where I fit in and could even excel. I was committed to honoring and defending my country.

If you're writing a paper on how Basic Training affected YOU....then the research source IS you.

I completed basic training sometime in 2008, went straight to AIT (as a Soldier does) and was home by Christmas for hometown recruiting. I think it's best not to separate AIT from the basic training experience.

As you progress through your career and adult life, you will realize that basic training was a very small stepping stone and a simple entry point. It is no less and no more than the beginning of your military life. You will feel immensely proud at first, carrying with you a great sense of accomplishment, but that quickly dwindles as your perspective and military experience increases. Each year, you will talk less about basic training, or shift the way it comes up in conversation. As you become a leader, you (hopefully) see it for the school it is, the foundational piece and building block of the force that helps us win wars and shape citizen soldiers.

The feelings we get from it are directly connected to two things that we perhaps don't think about: 1) the current conflicts the country is engaged in and 2) Your specific drill sergeants. I went through basic at the height of the war in Afghanistan. So, I was told (and rightly so) that I was going to deploy when I got tommy unit. It was a matter of when, not if. We completed alot of MOUT training and everything was done with a real sense of "this matters, this could be you". Secondly, I had a healthy mix of NCOs. Some were jerks, some were high-speed, some were incredibly kind and great teachers. All of this combined to make me feel a great sense of purpose and duty.