What is your average drill weekend like?

Reading through this thread makes me thankful for my unit, which generally keeps its troops busy with as meaningful as possible drills. We spend almost all summer in the field or on ranges.

Well, in the CAV we have a wide variety of tasks to complete. Everyone has normal yearly things to check the box on. Individual and crew served qualifications and gunnery, death by PowerPoint classes, and apft tests. (Not to mention remedial tests every quarter until they pass.) But then we get the high speed, super secret squirrel recon stuff. Lots of force on force exercises. Having just come out of two different platoons, I had the opportunity to work with some of the best platoon sergeants in the army. When we get a large AO to complete a zone recon on is when my platoons did their best work. Never say quit type guys. By far, best job in the army.

In my Army Reserve unit, the day generally begins at about 0500 (PT and APFT). Training/classes begins around 0800 and goes till 1130. Lunch for an hour then back to training/classes. Final formation is around 1700. Anyone who didn’t complete essential tasks such as NCOERs/OERs stays late. As a CI/HUMINT company, training is usually pretty interesting and MOS related (interviewing, use an interpreter, surveillance, PCASS, biometrics, vulnerability assessments, etc.). We also do more mundane training, which is important, but when you do it every month it gets old (sexual harassment, SHARP, resiliency training, EEO, etc.). We also have to do a lot of online training at home, which is often uncompensated, except maybe for points. We stay busy one way or another.

Unfortunately, there are some units out there that are not squared away and don’t do much at all. I had thought those days were over but apparently they’re not (so I’ve been told on this forum by some pretty unhappy Soldiers). I’ve been lucky to have never been in such a unit.

So, I've also had a wide array of types of drills, and I'm in charge of a unit so I get to do a lot of the planning for training.

If we can in the mornings, we will do PT led by an E4 to help them prep for WLC. We have a master fitness trainer in the unit that helps them run through it by the numbers.

After hygiene, we'll usually go into pack operations (parachutes) for both cargo and personnel. One of the great things about my current mission is that it is a real time one. We're not training; we're doing real work that affects the lives of a lot of paratroopers.

Normally, though, we have an airborne operation, so that means we're up at zero dark thirty until the chutes are shaken out at about 1600.

We'll usually end drill with remedial PT.

One of my pet peeves is when counselings are done during the work day, especially if they're negative. This takes leadership away from their soldiers and training. So, my policy is that NCOs need to do counselings either before or after work hours (they're choice), but that they should maximize time with their troops.

Also, in a lot of their units, we have low density MOSes that may not be fully utilized. I've tried to organize split training opportunities where they're able to spend a drill with other units so that they stay proficient in their MOS. We have 92F that don't get utilized as much, and don't want them to later transfer to an FSC or ASB and not know how to do their jobs.

For the most part it's classes and counselings, evaluations and mandatory online training. The most frequent being SHARP and its subsidiaries, then maybe 3 or 4 drill weekends in the year you'll get some real high speed training. Also this depends on the type of Unit too.

I forgot, classes, training and endless meetings, how could i forget!!!!

GMT,GMT and then paperwork, paperwork ad more GMT, GMT. Did I mention GMT?? other than that ... once a while out of blue moon we do some production run. If somehow ... we finish everything, it happen once or twice, we just sit around watch youtube on our smartphone.

Show up prior to formation. If it's a day we do PT, we go do PT, then get time for personal hygiene and breakfast (about an hour. It works if you bring breakfast with you).

Show up for "mission". Do mission until lunchtime. Go to lunch, come back on time, Do "mission" until about 15 minutes prior to when formation is scheduled. Start cleaning up and be outside in time for formation.

Oh, and that "mission"? Well, some get to work with ACAS. It's a security and vulnerability assessment system. Some get to work the HBSS mission (McAfee's host based intrusion protection system). My mission?

I get a number from the coordinator of the mission.

Go to a specific place on a SharePoint server, look at a list, and find that number. Take down the information at that entry.

Go to another place, and grab a copy of a questionnaire in Word.

Go to a third place (still the same SharePoint Server) and create a folder based on info you've gotten from the first list. Drop the questionnaire file in there.

Based on the info from the first list, start filling out the Questionnaire, and go find a second list...get more information, put it in the questionnaire.

Once you've done all that, start searching for specific documents on the server using Sharepoint search. If you find any, drop them in that same folder.

When you're done, lather, rinse, repeat with another number.

I almost hope my name is NOT on the promotion list when it's released next month so I can retire.

I write counselings. A lot of them. All the junior enlisted are doing classes. Then a few random formations for no reason what so ever.
I wish my unit had more space, so we could break off and make platoon training instead of the full unit classes on MRT. Resilience training is possibly the most useless thing I have experienced in the Army. Only second to the ACU camou pattern/color scheme.

Being an IMA (Individual Mobilization Augmentee), I am assigned to an active duty unit and I don't have drill weekends. However, when I used to be in the Air Guard, drill weekends depended on your job. I worked as CATM and we were busy all weekend providing training and weapons qualification for the rest of the wing. Other folks did some training on Saturday, conducted unit based moral exercises Saturday night, and worked a 1/2 day Sunday. By the time I got back from the Range Sunday afternoon, the rest of the unit had already gone home.