FORT JACKSON., S.C. -- Listen up, Pilgrim, if you wanted to learn how real Soldiers do it, then you should have attended the 165th Infantry Brigade's John and Jane Wayne Day Saturday, where some of Fort Jackson's roughest and toughest spouses learned how America's bravest men and women are trained.
About 60 Army spouses not only talked the talk, but also walked the walk when in six hours they completed an abbreviated version of what Basic Combat Training Soldiers must do in 10 weeks to join the ranks of the U.S. Army.
The spouses also got a glimpse of what their Soldiers do day in and day out in order to transform civilians into warriors.
"What we're trying to do is get the spouses of the drill sergeants, male and female, to come out and get a taste of what their husbands or wives do for a living ... and maybe reinforce that sense of pride ... in what their drill sergeants do and what they've accomplished," said Lt. Col. Charles Krumwiede, commander, 1st Battalion, 61st Infantry Regiment.
The spouses began their day at the 2nd Battalion, 39th Infantry Regiment headquarters, where they were greeted by drill sergeants shouting at them to "move with a purpose."
As they handed in required consent forms, Col. Bryan Rudacille, commander of the 165th, joked that they had just signed enlistment contracts.
The trainees sang cadence as they ambled over to a physical fitness field to sweat through a few core-strengthening exercises. Then they road marched about a quarter of a mile to participate in their first challenge - Victory Tower, where they maneuvered across rope bridges and rappelled down the 40-foot wooden tower.
For Tia Grim, facing the tower allowed her to conquer her fears.
"I was very nervous to do Victory Tower," Grim said. "I'm afraid of heights; well I thought I was afraid of heights, but I accomplished it."
Grim's husband, Sgt. First Class Luke Grim, a drill sergeant for Company F, 2-39, said his wife made him proud.
"She's taken pictures (of Victory Tower) four or five times, but she's never gone down it," he said. "So to watch her eyes going down, it was amazing. I'm proud of her."
Later, the participants fired M16s at the zeroing range, negotiated obstacles on the Teamwork Development Course, ate MREs and recited the Soldier's Creed during an indoor graduation ceremony.
"The whole idea behind (John and Jane Wayne Day) is, we have found that if we do things together, through adversity, through things that challenge us, we build teamwork," Rudacille said. "So we thought we'd build teamwork among our (Family Readiness Groups) and (recreate) the experiences (Soldiers) go through every day because it takes an Army strong family to accomplish the things we do in this organization."
Krumwiede said he thinks allowing the spouses to gain a situational awareness of what their Soldiers do on a daily basis may, in turn, help their families grow stronger.
"It may help with the resiliency of that family, to (help) get through some of the long days and nights a drill sergeant has," Krumwiede said.
Grim said participating in the day's events gave her a new appreciation for her husband.
"I thought I knew a lot of stuff that he does, but being out here and experiencing it hands on (gives me) a better understanding (of) what he goes through every day," she said. "I think he's amazing and does a lot for our country."
Social Sharing