Georgia on my mind

I headed to Georgia last week to attend my son's graduation from Army basic training at Fort Benning and to see him for the first time in more than three months.  It's been tough not seeing him during his time there, but the letters and phone calls helped.  Now I was looking forward to seeing him again and celebrating this huge accomplishment.  I was also curious to see how he had changed physically and mentally.

Somewhere over Arkansas or Mississippi

My excitement for the trip was temporarily interrupted as my flight out of Denver was delayed almost an hour. Fortunately there were only two items on the agenda for the day: fly to Atlanta and drive from there down to Columbus, so one hour wasn't going to make much of a difference in the overall scheme of things.  I would be meeting up with my ex and her father, along with my daughter, in Atlanta and then we would drive to Columbus together.


Walking off the plane I could already tell that is was still quite warm on this Georgia afternoon--it was hot, but not stifling.  One of the things I must have forgotten from my last trip to this area was how the interstate is lined with trees and vegetation, so it's hard to see much of the landscape between Atlanta and Columbus.

My sister and her husband drove up from Florida and met us at the hotel later in the evening.

Thursday morning we drove to Fort Benning for the first of two ceremonies held to mark the end of basic training.  The first ceremony would be the "Turning Blue."  This is where the soldiers are given the blue cords for their uniform that signify that they are now infantrymen.  The second ceremony would be the actual graduation, which would be held Friday morning at the National Infantry Museum.

As we drove onto the base for the first time and made our way to Sand Hill, the area where the basic training companies are located, I was trying to soak it all in--this is where my son had spent the past 14 weeks.  We saw several units out on marches, while others were preparing to head out for other training exercises.  I couldn't help, but imagine all of the experiences he had been through going from raw recruit at the beginning of April to an infantryman.

The 1-19th barracks

Arriving at the barracks area for the 1-19th, I was surprised how much it looked more like a college campus than army barracks.  These were not the barracks of Gomer Pyle or "Stripes."  Or at least, not that we could see.  We could only see the outside, we weren't allowed inside.

The battalion commander held a meeting with all of the families prior to the ceremony.  He highlighted the training these young men had received during the past 14 weeks and welcomed us into the Army family.

Kanell Field

As we headed out to the "field" where the Turning Blue ceremony would be held, I kept imagining Bill Murray, Harold Ramis and John Candy and the rest of their platoon would be "boom, shacka-lacka-ing" their way onto the field at any moment.  Thank goodness for the covered bleachers and the jugs of cold water, because it was starting to get really hot.

The ceremony began with the four platoons of Bravo Company marching onto the field.  Then the game began for all of the families of finding your son out of the 200 soldiers, when they are all dressed alike.  Fortunately they came in order of platoons, so Erik was in the last platoon and he had said he should be in the second row.  As they marched in front of our stand I was able to pick him out and was immediately impressed with how he looked in that uniform.

I really felt for these young men.  They were wearing their class A uniforms, which are made from wool, and as they stood at attention in this incredible heat, you could see the sweat rolling down their faces.  But this training had obviously instilled a lot of discipline in them, because, even with sweat dripping from their noses, they never flinched.

Erik receives his blue cords from his grandfather

The highlight of the ceremony would be having the blue infantry cords put on their uniform.  At this point all of the families were invited down to the formation.  Erik asked his grandfather to do the honors.  It was so good to see him and be able to talk to him face to face again.

To finish up the ceremony, they all recited the Soldier's Creed and sang the Army Song.  Afterwards we were able to take Erik, and the majority of his gear, with us for the rest of the day.  First things first, he wanted to change out of the uniform and go to lunch.  He was glad to be out of the uniform and have the chance to eat something than the same old Army chow.  Later he took a break in the air conditioning of our hotel room before spending some time in the pool.  We had an early dinner, so we could get him back to his barracks before 8:00.

We were up early on Friday for the graduation ceremony and were greeted with overcast skies, which helped keep the temperatures down...a little.  Even with a little more humidity, the lack of sun made it quite comfortable.  The parade field at the NIM is only a year old and provides the perfect setting for the ceremony.  The bleachers are covered and have a great sound system.  It was mentioned that the field has dirt from various fields of battle from around the world to honor the infantrymen who came before these new soldiers.  An Army band played several songs prior to the start of the ceremony to keep the crowd entertained while waiting for things to get going.

At the beginning of the ceremony there was a demonstration showing the weapons and equipment of the modern infantry soldier.  They also showed how fire teams worked--one of the fundamental ways today's infantry operates.




Then the platoons marched onto the field--they looked much more comfortable today in their ACUs.  The bleachers provided a wonderful overall view of the entire company and the ceremony.

Bravo Co., 1-19th Infantry graduation ceremony

4th Platoon, B Co., 1-19th

There were several awards handed out, the battalion commander addressed the families and the soldiers, and he thanked the drill sergeants.

It was then time for the platoons to pass in review for the battalion commander, after that they again recited the Soldier's Creed and sang the Army Song, after which they were dismissed.  It was an impressive and very moving ceremony.  The families definitely wanted to hang around more than the soldiers--after 14 weeks they were ready to get out of there.

We were able to take the time to tour the NIM and it was well worth it.  The displays gave you a history of the Infantry and what all is involved in basic training.  I feel so fortunate to have been able to attend such an important step in my son's life.

Congratulations to all of the men of Bravo Company, 1-19th!  You are American soldiers!

Rock steady!  Hooah!

goo, goo g'joob