What made your Drill Sergeant awesome?

1967. Army Engineer 2Lt S.G. Wacker, 2nd Platoon Leader, Artillery OCS, Fort Sill OK. Lt Wacker inspected my rifle without even looking at it. He kept his eyes peeled directly into my eyes, making the fake motions of inspecting a rifle, and pronounced, "Your rifle's dirty, 20(?) demerits, get in formation." This was the weekend formation for the Jark, the punishment tour for 20(?) or more demerits in a given week. Then he called me to the front of the formation to do the Jark with him up MB4 (Medicine Bluff 4), the Hill, famous in artillery talk. I thought I'd never make it, but I stayed with him as some others passed out form the stress and heat, but there was no way I was going to let him beat me. I was so straight I never got demerits, but he insured I got the opportunity to run the Jark at least once. I've tried to locate him over the last 50 or so years to no avail, to thank him for doing that for me. I can't even imagine anyone graduating Artillery OCS without experiencing the Jark. It was not the same way I felt at the time. If anyone should happen to read this and know of an Army officer, Steven G Wacker please give a shout out. I'd still like to talk to him and thank him.

I PROCESSED THROUGH D-2, 3RD PLATOON, FORT SILL OKLAHOMA FOR 6 WEEKS BASIC/6 WEEKS AIT (13 BRAVO-CANNON CREWMAN) 1/77-4/77. MY DRILL INSTRUCTORS WERE STAFF SERGEANT SERENO AND SERGEANT KLINETOBE.
WHAT I APPRECIATED FROM THE START WAS THAT SSG SERENO WAS A WOUNDED VETERAN FROM THE VIETNAM WAR, AND ALTHOUGH HAVING BEEN WOUNDED IN HIS LEGS HE HAD GREAT PHYSICAL STAMINA AND ABILITIES TO TEACH THE SCIENCE OF MARCHING AND SO MUCH SO THAT HE WAS KEY IN TRAINING THE ENTIRE COMPANY ABOUT HOW TO GO FROM REST TO ATTENTION TO LEFT/RIGHT FACE WITH HIS LEG FULLY EXTENDED AT A LEVEL 90 DEGREES EXTENTION THROUGHOUT HIS INSTRUCTION, INCLUDING HIS PIVOT (AMAZING).
HE CALLED ME HOMEBOY AS WE WERE BOTH FROM WEST VIRGINIA, BUT I NEVER ATTEMPTED ANY FAVORS. YES HE DID SPEAK ILL OF MY MOTHER AND AT TIMES I SAW HIM ON THE WEAPONS RANGE A FEW TIMES USING A CLEANING ROD TO CHASTISE THE HELMUTS OF RECRUITS WHILST IN THEIR FOXHOLES ON LINE.
HIS CHARISMA WAS APPRECIATED AND HE DREW RESPECT FROM THE OTHER PLATOON RECRUITS SO MUCH SO THAT HE WAS VOTED DRILL INSTRUCTOR OF THE CYCLE.
ONCE WHEN WE WERE MARCHED TO THE NEXT STREET TO C-2 BATTERY, HE HAD TO BALL OUT A CERTAIN RECRUIT (OF C-2) WHO WAS SSG SERENOS BACK WAS TURNED HE SALUTED HIS BACK WITH THE MIDDLE FINGER. WELL WE IN D-2, 3RD PLATOON WEREN'T GOING TO LET THAT GO FOR ONE SECOND, AND SO PRIVATE (E-1) SMITH, WHO WAS STATIONED WITH ME AT OUR PERMANENT STATION (PINDER BARRACKS, ZIRNDORF GERMANY, A-BATTERY, 1ST-22ND FA), GOT SOME MORE WELL NEEDED ATTENTION.
OUR ASSISTANT DRILL INSTRUCTOR, SGT KLINETOBE WAS A VERY NERDY LOOKING FELLOW, AND TALKED KIND OF STRANGE, BUT BOY WHEN WE GOT OUT IN THE DIRT FOR SOME FOOTBALL, HE THREW AS THOUGH HE COULD HAVE BEEN IN THE NFL.
ONE EVENING WHILE OUR PLATOON WAS PREPARING UNIFORMS AND OUR BARRACKS FOR INSPECTION, I WAS CALLED INTO HIS OFFICE, AND HE BEING AROUND 5'-6" AND ME 6' 2" HE ORDERED ME TO LOWER MYSELF ONTO MY KNEES IN FRONT OF HIS DESK SO HE WAS CHEW ME OUT EYE TO EYE. THEN HE ORDERED ME TO DO AN ABOUT FACE AND GET THE HELL OUT OF HIS OFFICE, TO WHICH I STUPIDLY ATTEMPTED ON MY KNEES. HE LAUGHED AND SAID GET ON YOUR FEET FIRST. I AM ALMOST CERTAIN THAT HAD I ATTEMPTED TO GET TO MY FEET FIRST I WOULD HAVE BEEN DRESSED DOWN JUST THE SAME. LOL.
I WAS A 17 YEARS YOUNG KID WHEN I JOINED MIDWAY THROUGH 11TH GRADE, AND WHAT THESE TWO MILITARY MEN ACCOMPLISHED WAS TO SET ME ON A PATH TO MANHOOD AND RESPECT FOR MY COUNTRY AND THE UNITED STATES ARMY, SOMETHING I WILL NEVER FORGET.

I just remember his greeting to us. SSG Phillip MAI. "I hate you Rebel Mother Fuc%ers and Punks from New York. Welcome to Basic on the Hill. Being from Woodside NY my life took a new direction for 10 weeks. E-2-1 Tank Hill Fort Jackson South Carolina April 4, 1967.

My Drill Sergeant, SFC Brewer was everything I wanted to be, he embodied what it was to be a Soldier. Obviously, my team leader and squad leaders were huge influences too. I just wish I realized how impactful they were on my life before I was medically retired.

His Cadence! "Harmony Church 1982"

SSG Gene Brewer was the was on me like white on rice the whole cycle. As I found out 11 years later when he and I crossed paths in Iraq when he was a SGM and I was an SSG he told me that from day one he saw something in me he wanted to mentor.

DS Michael Clark & DS Jehran Little were my drill sergeants. They treated me like a private, of course. But they saw the light in me and did what they could to make that light burn brighter. Maybe it's because I'm Black just like they were. Maybe it's because I'm a lifelong martial artist like one of them. Maybe it's because I'm a 13F like the other one. Maybe it's because one of them was a Marine at one point and he learn that I'm the grandson of two Montford Point Marines. Regardless of what the reason was, they pushed me to excel...which wasn't hard for them seeing how I wanted to be the best that I could be. I think they appreciated my effort more than my success in BCT and the fact that I didn't settle for just meeting the standard like a lot of my classmates did.

Graduation.

He was a hard ass, but he was fair across the board.

SFC Reese and SFC Landers were good teachers, and they possessed great leadership qualities. Sgt Landers was an infantryman who served in the Americal division in Vietnam, and he had great knowledge of field craft. What I found was their greatest quality was there sense of humor, and how their approach to us trainees was more like a wise uncle with a little "salt". Here it is 42 years later, and I can see them.like they are right in front of me.