FORT BENNING, Ga., (Jan. 20 2016) -- Soldiers of D Company, 2nd Battalion, 47th Infantry Regiment, experienced exhaustion, excitement and satisfaction as they marched the 16 kilometers from their final field training exercise to the company area with 35 to 40 pound rucksacks on their backs. Of all the emotions that overcame him, however, Pvt. Curtis Williams of Panama City, Florida, said the most important thing he felt was pride.
"I've accomplished something that only 1 percent of America has accomplished," Williams said of completing training. "It makes you feel very, tremendously proud of yourself."
The ruck march marked the final graduation requirement before the Soldiers ease into recovery and wrap-up basic combat training.
Pfc. Paul Spietz of Spanaway, Washington, said he was ecstatic to have made it and that the ruck march was the end of all the hard work the Soldiers had put in over the last nine weeks. For him, there was no giving up because he said he saw the light at the end of the tunnel.
"You know that you won't have to struggle like that again to achieve so much," Spietz said.
The ruck march was the longest the Soldiers had navigated in their training.
"It is the culminating gut-check event - the last hurdle that they have to cross before they can graduate successfully," said Capt. Shinwon Moon, company commander.
There was a closing ceremony at the end of the ruck march, where each Soldier who successfully completed the event had a gold U.S. Army emblem pinned to their lapel while "We Are Soldiers," by Otherwise played in the background
"We are the ones who will never be broken; with our final breath, we'll fight to the death - we are Soldiers," are the lyrics from the song.
Williams said the 16-kilometer ruck march, in 50-degree misting weather, was an unforgettable experience.
"We start off accomplishing the 4K (ruck march), and automatically we thought, with the 16K, we weren't going to be able to do it," he said. "After the ceremony, it felt unrealistic."
While basic combat training ends with graduation, the pinning and the ruck march marked the end of the most physically demanding portion of the training.
"I have accomplished something that I've wanted to do for a long time," Spietz said.
Soldiers spent the final week after the ruck march cleaning weapons, barracks, receiving classroom training and rehearsing the graduation ceremony.
Their final days at Fort Benning will be spent with their Families as they graduate, leave the installation as a Soldier and ship to advanced individual training.
"It is the end of a long journey," Moon said.
Editor's note: This is a story in a series on the U.S. Army basic combat training at Fort Benning. The next week's edition will cover the Family Day and the Soldiers' graduation from basic combat training with D Company, 2nd Battalion, 47th Infantry Regiment.
Social Sharing