Drill Sergeants: An Inside Look

An inside look into the life of a drill sergeant - what a drill sergeant does, why some decide to become a drill, and their influence on Cadets.
Shot and Edited by Brad Rea.
Intro/Outro Titles designed and composed by Brad Rea.

[@dineauxjones]

"People will remember their Drill Sergeant" ...yes..yes they do

[@JoeTufanoTheMovieGuy]

LaDinosaurJones It's been 4 years since I went through basic training and I still remember my Drill Sergeants.

[@dineauxjones]

Four years? Shit, 20 years ago about this time is when I went from the reception battalion to week 1 of basic training. Granted it was Fort Jackson but I'll never forget DS Pickle (yes, that was his real name) and his "Pickleisms" such as "ghost turds" for dust bunnies and "grippies" for the brown Army issue briefs.

[@GuardianofAges2023]

"Why do you have a comb? What are you brushing?" -That had me rolling. xD

[@Killertoenail]

GuardianofAges2007 thought I was the only person that caught that

[@1997olly]

Right before that he said, "Uncattywompus yourself right now!" ?

[@guardianknight5842]

GuardianofAges2007 and the army goes rolling along wait wrong thing

[@MrRed424]

GuardianofAges2007 what happens if that makes me laugh if I was a private?

[@MrGophillyeagles]

For the longest time I thought he was actually saying why do you have a coat

[@coonclan]

My senior Drill back in 97 told us up front that he didn't believe in yelling but would PT us until we died from it. "The meanest dog is always the one that barks the least" so his overly cool manor and Cheshire Cat smile when we f.ed up make him doubly scary. I learned shiza a lot faster and on the first time through his method then any other, and gained 15 pounds of not fat

[@jasonjackson9064]

+jgjkgckgccghhgc Sounds exactly like my Sr DS from 96 at Fort Sill. That guy scared the shit out of us and never once screamed.

[@ABlickShiningInDarkness]

I'm pretty sure these Drill Sergeants are keeping it PG for the camera. My DSs made these guys look like the Muppets.

[@anotherarmchairhistorian2831]

Broderick Morgan mine were Satans in hats.

[@snyder03cobra]

Its todays Kind and Gentle Army...

[@robertsimon3065]

You sir are exactly right! Drill Sergeant Jackson was and still is heard in the back of my mind.

[@josepharce5218]

Especially at Fort Benning holy shit

[@demetriusporter7740]

"GET OFF OF MY GRASS!!!"

[@JSmedic1]

yeah! That was funny ... it brought back memories.

[@emilytownsend7449]

Demetrius Porter you have to say sorry grass if you do it lol

[@Batman96925624]

My drill sergeant would yell “GET OFF MY BUS”

[@beavernation1747]

everyone talking about the video. I'm here saying DAMN that is some good quality HD video shit man damn that's nice

[@gregvetter5070]

My drill sergeants would've devoured these guys!

[@georgekostis5403]

it's not really basic. just some rotc summer program. you can tell by the way they weren't running off the bus in uniform getting filed into their platoons.

[@joaquinmurrieta7008]

My wife is my drill sergeant when i get home from work 🙁

[@dwilson3297]

Rules for training 1. Address people properly remember rank calling a 1sg a sir is a no no 2. Don't be an jackass give everyone the proper respect don't call a DS an ass under your breath THEY CAN HEAR EVERYTHING! 3. Eat first taste later, everything can be made into a sandwich (waffles and sausage patties for instance or pancakes and potatoes etc) you will have a limited time to eat (5-10 minutes) and you will be constantly hungry so eat FAST! 4. If you are caught doing something you are not supposed to unless given an order to do so don't give an excuse you will respond with "No excuse Drill Sergeant!" 5. If you have off time use it to clean or work out (push ups and sit ups) 6. Keep your uniform clean and in regulations. (no loose threads on your uniform make sure all your patches are not crooked.) 7. Memorize The Army Values, The Soldiers Creed, ranks and whatever else you are told to commit to memory. 8. Remember the Drill Sergeants are there to train you and will be there if you need someone to talk to if you have a serious issue (don't be a snitch though you will get in trouble as a group and probably have an "accident" that night.) 9. Don't fight its a waste of energy you will all be stressed you are all in it together you succeed as a group and fail as a group (you'll all get punished for one person fucking up) 10. And lastly do your BEST give 110% don't give up it may feel like forever but the days pass slowly the weeks pass quickly you'll be through before you know it just do your best to stay happy remember you are doing something that will open a way for many opportunity in the future so keep calm and HOOAH!

[@samo8817]

These drill sergeants are the real deal, majority of them are combat veterans. During physical training days they have to sacrifice their physical fitness standards to get it down to yours, even though they can lap you on a run and do more push/situps than you. They spend a lot of their training time, away from their families, get down and dirty with you, and come back again 4 a.m. the next day, they have my respect. My drill sergeants in the summer of 2001 warned us because of 9/11, we had a high probability of being deployed, 2004 I found myself in the Middle East.

[@zach8969]

These are all Reservists and National Guardsmen that are training new ROTC cadets.

[@royboy6182]

At Ft Leonard Wood I remember the door of the "Cattle Car" swinging open and hearing "You got ten seconds to get off my cattle car...7,5,2, drop! everyone drop! I said drop...knock em out!" "I can't hear you Private" "Your going to be in the front leaning rest until I get tired!"

[@The_Scouts_Code]

What’s a front leaning rest?

[@joshmorton1036]

oh sure they act all nice for the camera.

[@sandtthomas1]

SFC Jeffery Remick at the end of this video was my platoon's drill sergeant 8 and a half years ago at Fort Jackson

[@CFL0LSmilyFace]

They truly are the backbone and the pride.

[@Cruz1214.]

These guys are the best of the best

[@TLACY606]

I just LOVE scrolling through the comments and reading all these petty arguments LOL!!! For my fellow serviceman and women this is not directly towards you, it's towards the idiots that stay home and play COD and Battlefield all day/night and still live with mom and dad at age 20+ most likely with not even a MINIMUM WAGE job under their belts. Don't waste time on these people, they would not last ONE week in basic training. I mean for crying out loud just reading their comments already shows they have a negative view of what branch is better than the other etc. The mature way to look at it is there men and women serving in all over the world, away from family and friends to make the world a better place, some even making the ULTIMATE sacrifice I OWE them the utmost respect. But that's enough preaching from me...I simply don't have time to waste on ignorant people.

[@AmericanPoliceState]

My uncle went through Army basic near the end of the Vietnam War. He was on his way to being shipped out when the war ended.

[@fcadcock]

AmericanPoliceState Cool story bro. I had an uncle who did something when something was going on once too... Nobody gives a rat's butt about him either.

[@darkshadow955]

Lmao. I'm rich and I laugh at your poor ass : )

[@BrobaFett2494]

LOL i was about to comment and be like im in the army and i play mad video games WTF!? then i read your whole comment and was like shittttt my bad i know what hes gettin at haha

[@sarge6870]

No reason to laugh. Just thank us because without us, you wouldn't have the facilities to be rich in the first place!

[@leap7in]

I graduated from a military school before i went into the Army, i spent 3 years there. Ill be honest, i knew exactly what to expect from the Drill Sergeants! I can honestly say i was not phased even a little bit by them; I had a leg up and knew what to do already, i knew the rank structure and how to shine my boots and what was expected of me. I remember my DI's after all of these years, but only 2 really stick out in my memory. Drill sgt laidler and Drill Sgt Morris, those two had some real wisdom to pass along and while they yelled a little, they mostly just would talk to you! If you screwed up they would make you feel like you had dissapointed them and that cut wayyyyy deeper than being PTed to exhaustion.

[@nbharr91x]

Brings back memories...

[@willniles6081]

Hell yeah. Everything my DS ever said is embedded in my brain.

[@jedimasternoob]

"Guess who you belong to!!!!"

[@spar0035]

These DIs are awesome for reservists, more hard core than my Camp Jackson experience!

[@tomyfamily1]

I joined in 2000 and I still remember my Drill Sgt voice, name and the 1st things he said to me. He walked to me, gritting his teeth and whispered, "You're fucked!"

[@fredmantis1550]

Fucking God bless these people, man. I am a firm believer that the world needs to be defended and protected by great warriors and that is them. I'm already volunteering as an assistant martial arts instructor within my community and I hope to be a cook for a military branch one day. God bless you and god bless the galaxy.

[@Hornetsdotmpeg]

Drill Sgt Hall was my drill Sgt, she is a great teacher.

[@Reverseflash1819]

My Drill sergeant in basic training were cursing 24/7 it was funny and kind of annoying when we get smoked too much

[@lukecole6203]

"Why do you have a comb? What are you brushing?" 😂😂😂

[@LTCPAO]

He actually says, "Why do you have a comb? What are you brushing?"

[@Jazzieey23]

Why do I lowkey miss this

[@SlimmieHendrix90]

That's my new unit now. Im a DS Candidate there. the unit is 2/485th out of Orlando Florida

[@Nick6Michael]

That's funny I don't remember DS being this nice.

[@JohnSmith09123]

I like how they say "set the army standard" even though in the operational side of the army just like the air force it's way mellowed down.

[@MrDevlin350]

I can recall every one of my drill sergeants and that was over 30 years ago,you never forget them.I would love to know what happened to them and what they are doing today which I know they are all no doubt retired.

[@LostPie]

the whole points of yelling at them is to make them tough, cause when they are on the battlefield they will feel more confident about dying.

[@THCv3]

In the description, why did you call them cadets?

[@falcon4272]

ahhh memories... I loved basic

[@matthewrowley9679]

I definitely remember my Drill Sergeants

[@michele40able]

In reply to Matthew Henry, totally agree. Correct that is LTC (Leaders Training Course) and is great motivating training for Cadets who have not contracted yet. The Drill Sergeants are great and it is not Basic Training. If you have a problem with Army Drills I suggest to anyone go to Basic Training and then become a Drill yourself if you can. I am an Army officer, an Army spouse and mom to Cadet daughter in college. I'm also a Navy brat and all branches have their strong points.

[@josephyannuzzi1195]

I am a Vietnam era Veteran, combat infantryman and former Army Drill Instructor. I was a 20 year old Staff Sgt. stationed at Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri for 18 months teaching basic training. The difference here is that when I went thru basic training at Ft. Bragg, N. Carolina in September of 1967, the D.I.'s were extremely tough on you and in some cases you might even get your ass kicked for doing something stupid...with the Vietnam war raging and the increased need for combat troops, the D.I.'s were very tough on us and it was for our own good. I took notice of this example and I trained my troops the same way...combining a "rough and tumble" ethic combined with extreme discipline in hopes that I would instill in my troops training that would enable them to survive the rigors of combat. Unfortunately, over the years, the tough training methods employed by D.I.'s has been diluted and filled with a political correctness that reeks of weakness as evidenced in this video, that will not produce the quality of soldier fit to survive combat situations...we should never allow politics or Politicians to make decisions on how to properly train our military men and women because we won't achieve the desired results to produce the finest soldiers. The D.I.'s in this video I am sure, were very well aware that they were on camera and kept their actions and remarks carefully scripted, but don't ever think these men are soft because I can tell you that the Drill Instructors that formed my company were some of the most dedicated, battle hardened, tough guys you would ever want on your side, in any combat situation.

[@multitieredinvestor183]

The second time I took basic after a four year break in service I sowed Basic Airborne wings to my fatigue uniform. Cadre started to question me. I showed them the DD 214. After that, they ran interference for me.

[@RebellionUnderground]

whats that unit patch? with the indian head. i had a fill in ds at infantry osut with that patch

[@akonicki3]

What is that top badge that the DS in the background at 0:31 has? It looks like navy jump wings to me but I can't really tell.

[@MasterVato831]

I believe that is the badge he earned for being an 11b, scoring 300 on pt, and qualifying as expert at the range. Forgot the name of it, but I saw plenty of soldiers with them in Fort Benning. Not sure why it's gold though. .

[@akonicki3]

MasterVato831 The badge you're talking about is the Expert Infantryman Badge. It's subdued/ black when on ACUs though and it's blue when worn on dress uniforms. There's a German Military Proficiency Badge that is gold, but it's a large oval shape and I've never scene them worn in ACUs. It's not impossible (just rare) for this DS to have been enlisted in the Navy/ Marine Corps before the Army and earned the Naval Jump Wings or he might've attended the Navy/ Marine Corps parachute school while in the Army.

[@timjameson8805]

HOLY SHIT drill Sgt. Bynes was my DS in FT. benning GA 06 - re up in 10 MOS change wow

[@KevinCummingsFitness]

Beasts!

[@TheWandererD2]

Ft. Benning's shark attacks really get you movin and groovin. Artie sims, blanks being fired, smoke grenades, crazy loud music of Ted Nugent - Stranglehold and AC/DC - Thunderstruck. Then duffle bag PT for like an hour. Good times. And that was only back in March 2010.

[@brycezen1896]

Those are reserve Drill Sergeants. I recognized that shit as soon as I seen their unit patch

[@PincheMugruso]

Did Staff SGT. Lewis say that he is a reservists 00:47 ?

[@pauljohnson3340]

PincheMugruso He more than likely volunteered for this duty. Remember, he said he was a teacher. This is probably his way of serving since he can't do much during the school year.

[@KatieBluntly]

"Stop running, walk!" Wow. My DSs never ever said anything like that. Would've been a nice break.

[@gaotu]

is this Ft. Knox??

[@MrDevlin350]

Strange isn't it ? And like me in 30 years or 40 you'll still remember.You would think we would hate those guys after all they put us through but in the end they feel like your best friend.

[@Christophernorbits]

DS Koellner and DS Mathews, Alpha Co, 795 MP BN, Ft Mclellan, Alabama.

[@GonanTheBarbarian]

HAHA "Uncattywumpus yourself right now!" That's one I never heard in BCT

[@AquaBoogie80z]

where did you go to basic. I joined in 99

[@XtreamatreX]

2nd Infantry Division Camp Casey Korea (im stationed there right now) has the indian head in the center of the patch

[@ethanmooney5683]

I might go into the service ,deciding between U.S.A.F. or the Army.

[@LethalSystem]

ok that sounds better.

[@sandinyourshoes4130]

Army recruiters really go out of their way to get people to join. I see them at my local colleges quite often.

[@tdcninja4143]

No blue disc=POG DRILL

[@mailman35419]

They need Drill Sergeants at LDAC. Cadets get it too easy. Which isn't right for people who are supposed to be future leaders and expected to lead troops in combat day 1 regardless if they are prior enlisted or not. As an enlisted soldier about to go officer via ROTC at military college, every officer I know who was prior enlisted says LDAC is a joke for former enlisted.

[@nick7698]

What ever happened to drill sergeants having tabs?? One of them did. That's embarrassing.

[@morganbangs2969]

Go go. Don’t run! Walk!

[@gambitxdaxgreat3463]

"Whoo guess who you belong to?" if I hear that at Benning that will make me question my entire life.

[@treysmith9772]

when you go to benning?

[@gambitxdaxgreat3463]

+Trey Smith August 1st is my ship date

[@treysmith9772]

The Great Gambino my ship date is Tuesday.

[@gambitxdaxgreat3463]

+Trey Smith right on brother. good luck out there.

[@treysmith9772]

The Great Gambino thanks, same to you for when you go.

[@FireForEffect1533]

Why don't they ever show the infantry Drill Sergeants?

[@fcadcock]

They weren't at benning. Some of the DS's were infantry soldiers though. They have a blue disk around the pins on their covers.

[@XtreamatreX]

unless your infantry, then your just some POG

[@Fhorn5114]

This makes me miss basic training.

[@chrisortiz7288]

"Push it UP.. push it upppppppppppppppppp"

[@craigwood7063]

I remember my Drill SGTs and one Drill Cpl.

[@Rebel9543]

Oh yeah, so hard core. If my DI saw these guys yelling he'd laugh

[@cliffhorn6657]

Why does these SME not have any COMBAT TIME ???

[@rickjamesbitch3169]

Army Bootcamp is like Marine MCT or SOI.

[@ErniePlazaSr]

Whats up Young Bucks! Don't Forget what we taught you!!!

[@enterchannelname2508]

Fucking dare you to go up to one and say that you'll be walking away in tears

[@DiveBum18]

this looks like heaven compared to Marine OCS......

[@mofo7689]

I never had a need to yell so much at recruits. As I listen to the yelling, it is more about tormenting the recruits vs instilling drive and discipline. If you want to torment, be a bully back on the block. If you want to be a Drill Sgt, dial them into instant obedience to commands. Do it only as a means to learn.

[@G.D.Martin]

did what they are doing for 12 years as a Reserve Drill Sergeant! 3/518th Ft Jackson SC

[@AngelSilverFourtySeven]

Super Pogs!!!! Wow!!!

[@TheWandererD2]

Man, I would seriously be bummed out if this was my "shark attack."

[@ed911detroit]

I like to see a KZbin about Drill SGT. school.

[@aek9535]

That's actually 98th Division Army Reserves

[@mangoo9807]

they're nice for the camera

[@wcatholic1]

Loses battles? What battles would those be...by name.

[@shenmueryu]

God bless the drill seargents

[@sneakerheaddaily]

fox company 1-19 infantry i just graduated September 20th 2013.

[@AquaBoogie80z]

Would her name happen to be Lowe

[@AlwaysDazed]

Not sure what this is, maybe a course to give a idea of what basic is like. But I'll tell you right now, when you're there for real ( at least at FT. Benning)it's about 10x this lol. This is nothing.

[@jacegoulding6286]

hes a teacher at home a student drops a pencil smokes the students get off my carpet now.

[@supajasiu]

I fucking hated my Drill Sgt. most of us believed the reason Drill SGTs aren't sent in to battle is b/c they would die to friendly fire 99% of the time.

[@johnmarist26]

Respect to the Drill Sergeants but Drill Instructors are scarier

[@sethwarrior9719]

people willingly sign up to get yelled at then killed by gun fire?

[@infamous17ful]

Your being negative

[@kutsumiru]

Army != Infantry

[@kliu8528]

i was just laughing during shark atk good times

[@citizensmith7759]

This is not basic. Its a summer ROTC course.

[@perezandy50]

Lol Bynes is my 1SG now

[@D3vilDogSemperFi]

Still too nice comparing to my Drill Instructors

[@raphmaster23]

Im actually friends with my old DS on facebook :p shes in Hawaii now.

[@rodneyperry6942]

That almost looked like the Disney Barracks at Ft Knox.......

[@ImperialInquisition]

POGS

[@danielemedina38]

RANT:: Sooooo this was pretty painful to watch. The problem I see here with our drill sergeants is the weekend warrior aspect in them, and it shows. The majority of the soft skill MOS drill sergeants are reservists who are full time civilian and part time soldier. Their life doesn't actually revolve, day in and day out, around their branch. They are civilians who play army every now and again for a few training weeks and then go back to being a civilian. Though there is nothing wrong with that as a reservist for weekend drills, when it comes to a special assignments like being a Drill Sergeant, I feel that it is immensely detrimental to the hard core grit needed in boot camp training. These drills lack speed, intensity, and overwhelming presence in all that they do. Their drill style tends to be that of smart asses or funny guys, just as a civilian in power does, as if it makes them stand apart from the privates simply because they do it under the Campaign Cover. Furthermore, and you can research this yourselves, almost every drill seen in these army motto videos is, just about, always alone. Blinded by tunnel vision in that they want to have fun yelling at some fresh meat coming through, they lack the aspect of establishing an overwhelming effect on the privates with more than one drill in their faces at any given time. Even in the infantey, which I served in for 8 years, I remember my drills being a sad disappointment as I expected much more professional and aggressive men in uniform. These fuckers had classes on tying our boots for God's sake sake!! For whatever reason, the incoming drills from after the year 2004 showed the norm had progressively gotten worse in terms of "mentoring" and being a "teacher" for these privates, which are silly terms interchangeably used by the drills who coddle the privates in a condescending manner. For example:: not yelling so as not to offend the private, a Drill Sergeant calls on a private:: "Hey warrior! come here! Yeah, YOU high speed ::no knife hand, drill, as this might offend the private:: What's this? Huh? Huh? It's an untied boot Diaz! Do you want to fall and bust your teeth Private!? Don't know how to tie them!! Mommy didn't teach you Diaz!? Really? Well that's ok Diaz. You're going to be my special child Diaz. I'm going to teach you everything I know. I'll think for you so that you won't won't have to do it since you seem to have a hard time with that private. Look Diaz, this is how you tie a shoe Diaz ::drill bends down to tie soldiers boot and "show the private by his own outstanding example how it's done".....good job guy....anyway:: Did you learn Diaz? Don't worry because that's what we're here for Diaz, to mentor you you and teach you how you how to be a soldier. Now get back in formation. Wrong way Diaz!!" See... what the Drill Sergeant should have done is bit his mother fucking head off and and told dumb Diaz that he is a Drill Sergeant here to train him to effectively annihilate his enemy and survive in any combat situations with his comrades, not to be his mommy and teach him how fucking knot boot laces for him. But there it is. The problem is that whole take these kids and just teach them how to get through boot so that they can be "soldiers" already. We need the Senior USMC Drill Instructors to train our Army Drills.....and that's real talk.

[@miguelpoky2]

I couldn't agree more, when I was in BCT last year I expected more from my drill sergeants, our senior DS seemed to be the only one who gave 110% to make as "soldiers", most had the mentality of just getting us though BCT, when I went to AIT this year I met people from really relaxed BCT companys usually from Fort jackson which made me wonder WTF was their BCT like. you're right most of them have just a funny guy attitude which is not doing anything towards making the private any better, I love the army but the marine corps drill instructors seem to do a better job

[@LarryJ602]

LMFAO, LTC is for officer Cadets in ROTC. I love now none of the DS said that, they said "soldiers."

[@attrimble]

These Drill Sergeants are soft lol

[@ogblackiechan8577]

It's like the news they do not want to hear them cussing

[@attrimble]

They're still soft either way. You can hear it in their voices.

[@its.Andy1]

Tyler Trimble compared to USMC drill instructors, this is nothing.

[@nicolasvillamil7523]

So simply because they aren't destroying their voices with recruits it means they're soft? What world do you live in? Army infantry or USMC infantry, it's all the same. The end result is to kill another human being. Even Drill Instructors could be considered "soft" because they don't go all out when the cameras are rolling.

[@nicolasvillamil7523]

You been eating too many damn crayons.

[@toomanyhungrycats8194]

im tiny and meek but i have always wanted to scream at someone for being stupid

[@KatieBluntly]

Can't be Ft Lost in the Woods, that's where I was.

[@shepherdoffire8788]

drill sargeant with out a combat patch? what the fuck

[@Daniel-36]

You have 3 seconds to un-catywumpuss (spelling is spelling) yourself. The only reason he said that was cause there's cameras there. Lol.