When she went undercover as a basic combat trainee last month, Staff Sgt. Caroline Burga-Bagwell pulled her hair into a messy bun sure to irritate a persnickety drill sergeant.
She wore eye pros to hide her face and donned a set of ACUs much too large for her small frame, the better to look as if she were just ending training and had shed a few pounds.
"I felt very awkward," she said in an interview after her mission ended.
"I had to separate myself from the Soldiers (to become a drill sergeant. And then), I had to blend in with them."
Normally, Burga-Bagwell works in reception integration training for the Drill Sergeant Academy.
That is, she trains drill sergeants. The leadership of the 165th Infantry Brigade chose her for that position and, ultimately, as the super-secret battle buddy because she always has been "an exceptional Soldier."
Burga-Bagwell, said Command Sgt. Maj. Mark Barnes of the 165th, exhibits "maturity, judgment, professionalism, communication skills and character. She was just the total package, (and) she was a heckuva guide" to partner with a distinguished visitor.
Also, Burga-Bagwell is a neat 5 feet tall. Her buddy was 5-1.
Apparently, the drill sergeant's preparations -- and the week of advance physical training with her distinguished protégé -- worked.
The bun won her a scolding, as did the religious medals she habitually wears. (Sloppy. Unsafe.)
And only one other Soldier saw through her disguise ("Is that you, Staff Sgt. B.B.?"), although it's unclear whether he believed it when she told him her surname name was "Flores."
But, most of all, the distinguished visitor she had been chosen to accompany completed her mission of learning firsthand how Basic Combat Training works. The visitor -- the civilian equivalent of a four-star general -- since has returned to her post in Washington and has asked not to be named publicly.
For her efforts, Burga-Bagwell received an Army Commendation Medal.
For 10 days, Burga-Bagwell and the faux Pvt. Underwood acted as if they were fresh-off-the-bus recruits.
They practiced night maneuvers, wearing full body armor and Kevlar helmets as they elbowed their way over the sandy ground, tracers soaring overhead.
They won -- with their platoon -- a marching contest, and then had to perform pushups after cheering themselves for the victory.
And they practiced weapons firing, rappelling down Victory Tower and surviving a gas attack.
"My biggest fear was of her getting hurt," Burga-Bagwell said. "That whole week and a half, I didn't sleep. (But drill sergeants) take care of our own; we take care of whoever we're put in charge of."
For her part, the visitor tried everything, and "she didn't give up easy; she pushed herself" even when a knee began to swell.
"She never once told me, 'OK, I'm done,'" Burga-Bagwell said. "I have a lot of respect for her."
Instead, "she was like, 'Man!' She was amazed at the stuff Soldiers go through on a daily basis.
"Everything she did -- and the Soldiers do -- is to make them all better and to face their fears."
Burga-Bagwell, 24, encountered basic for the first time six years ago.
"The Soldiers, they thought I was 18 years old," she said of her undercover stint. "They were too afraid to ask (about her companion). They didn't want to be disrespectful.
"They could tell that she was a little bit old (to be a typical recruit). Some of them thought we were mom and daughter."
Burga-Bagwell emerged from the experience with a new contact. She and the distinguished visitor still email each other: "Ma'am, are you still doing your PRT?" (She'll have to if she wants to make a return trip. She wants to tackle Fit to Win.)
"She is a very down-to-earth individual," Burga-Bagwell said. "She listens to you, (and) she's not a very hard person to work with. She was not uptight at all."
Visiting a TRADOC post without letting people know who she was a different experience for her.
"She's always been surrounded by officers (at work)," Burga-Bagwell said.
Before the visitor came to Fort Jackson, "She never knew how non-commissioned officers were.
"She never knew how much passion we had for the job."
A learning experience
The distinguished visitor wasn't the only one who learned something during her 10 days of stealth.
Staff Sgt. Carolina Burga-Bagwell came away with a few lessons for herself and those she teaches at the Drill Sergeant Academy:
1. Recruits work better as a team when the drill sergeant's not around: "Away from drill sergeants, (recruits are) more helpful to one another. I never knew that."
2. Yelling isn't always the way to motivate. Explanation sometimes works better: "I understand where they're coming from (when recruits don't seem to respond to a raised voice). The Soldiers listen to you more and respond to you more if you talk to them."
3. "The more females you put in a (sleeping) bay," the more bickering breaks out. Burga-Bagwell and the visitor were assigned to more than one bay during the visit.
Secret plans
Staff Sgt. Brian Smilowska started planning the super-secret visit three months ago, as one of his first duties after being posted to G3 on Fort Jackson.
"It was a good opportunity" even though it was "a bit challenging at times," Smilowska said.
"Our intention was to fill 10 days of training," including three days in each of the red, white and blue phases of Basic Combat Training. To do that, the schedule "kind of jumped around from one company to the other."
The challenge wasn't the schedule but to keep the visit quiet -- although some might argue, seeing the number of officers watching the visitor train, that the visit was the worst-kept secret on post. Still, non-commissioned officers did not know about the visit.
"In the end, we met the intent" of keeping it all on the QT, Smilowska said.
"She was very pleased with the way training turned out," he said. Smilowska was awarded an Army Achievement Medal for his efforts.
"It was good to be recognized for planning," he said.
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