Many of Fort Jackson's Soldiers in Training experienced their first instances of "Hurry up and wait" in the wee hours of the morning, lying or standing in line for hours to board buses leaving post and then waiting even longer for their flights home for the holidays -- and their journeys back to training.
Fort Jackson began sending Soldiers home for Victory Block Leave by bus, train and plane Dec. 17 and 18. Basic Combat Training shut down until this past Sunday, giving drill sergeants time with their Families without worry about the details of the current training cycle.
Around the Army, that lapse in training is called exodus.
Fort Jackson calls it Victory Block Leave.
"I wish we didn't have to go (on leave) because during basic training, you are transforming yourself from a civilian to a Soldier," Pvt. Alexander Malkiewicz said before going home on leave. "You are kind of breaking away from what you are taught your whole life during that transformation process."
Malkiewicz had completed three weeks of basic training.
"Going back to the civilian world kind of pushes you back a little bit (from your training)," Malkiewicz, from Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 61st Infantry Regiment, said as he rested outside the USO at Columbia Metropolitan Airport, awaiting his 5 p.m. flight to Los Angeles -- a departure nearly seven hours away.
The long hours of waiting didn't seem break Soldiers' spirits.
"It's not the first time we had to do the hurry up and wait," Pfc. Deja Moore and Pvt. Jenny Ramirez of Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 61st Infantry Regiment echoed as they waited in line at the airport counter to check in.
While both professed to be so tired "we have bags under our eyes," they obviously were happy to be stepping away from training for a few weeks.
"I am really excited," Moore said as she waited to fly home to New Jersey. "I know my mother will be excited. She will ask me why not stay (at home), but I don't want to stay."
Before Fort Jackson Soldiers were delivered to the airport, bus or railroad depot, they first waited in higgledy-piggledy lines at the Solomon Center so long that they would rival those at any Disney theme park. Then they clambered onto buses to be taken to their departure points, received a briefing and were able to drop into amnesty boxes items not allowed on commercial transportation.
After waiting in long queues to depart Fort Jackson, Soldiers found they also had to hurry up and wait to return. Those arriving at airports in Charlotte and Columbia picked up their luggage from baggage claim and then had to wait until enough Soldiers arrived before loading onto buses and heading back to post.
Drill sergeants at Columbia Metropolitan Airport and in Charlotte began taking their posts at 7 p.m. Saturday in order to expedite Soldier travel back to the installation. Roughly 70 buses were scheduled to bring Soldiers back from Charlotte alone.
Some troops found Victory Block Leave fulfilling and had interesting stories to tell.
Pvt. Jessica Leavelle, a 21-year-old native of El Paso, Texas, with Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 34th Infantry Regiment, became engaged, while the Family of Pvt. Kameran Nabors, an 18-year-old native of Leesville, Louisiana, laughed at his haircut "because the last time they saw me, I had an Afro."
Michael Alger, a 19-year-old private with Delta Company, 3rd Battalion, 13th Infantry Regiment, said his Family also was surprised by his haircut.
"They knew what to expect," he said, because his grandfather had been a full-bird colonel. "But they said I looked bald. They couldn't stop rubbing my head."
Cadre from the 3rd Battalion, 39th Infantry Regiment were integral in ensuring that Soldiers arrived at Fort Jackson safely and on time. The battalion pushed more than 4,000 Soldiers through the bus, train and airport terminals and back to their training units on Fort Jackson.
"The Soldiers look excited," said Staff Sgt. Joseph Nicholson, a drill sergeant with Echo Company, 3rd Battalion, 39th Infantry Regiment.
"Some look like they are just coming back from vacation, while others look like they are nervous.
"Most of all, they are just looking to get back to work."
Soldiers found the holiday leave had recharged their batteries and said they were looking forward to going back to training.
Though he got to see his Family and girlfriend, Pvt. Freddy Hernandez, a Houston native with Delta Company, 2nd Battalion, 13th Infantry Regiment, said he wished he "would have stayed here to keep training."
The break was welcome, he said, but - like Malkiewicz - he wanted to keep concentrating on his training so he could move his career forward.
His Family are proud, he said, even though "I feel like I haven't done anything yet."
Twenty-seven-year-old Pfc. Anthony Jones of Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 39th Infantry Regiment didn't like going back to training but understood it must be done.
"I don't particularly like it because it's 'basic' training," said Jones, a Chicago native, "but I still know the reason and what's at the finish line."
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