Army Strong

My parents, Sullivan, and I spent February 7-12, in South Carolina to attend Heather's Army Basic Training Graduation at Fort Jackson. It was a pretty awesome two-day event. The first day was family day. They did a cool Army demonstration which included the taliban, smoke bombs, two Army squads, gun-fire, and pump-you-up music over the loud speaker. I discovered that the Army is much cooler and funnier than I had ever thought possible. It was great entertainment!

Once the demonstration was over they lit colorful smoke bombs all along the tree line, then thousands of soldiers in uniform then came running through the smoke towards the stands. It was amazing and quite the sight to behold. Pride doesn't even being to describe what I felt for those soldiers, my country, and for my sister, who was now a part of the great Army of the United States. It was truly amazing.

Heather, this video is for you! :)

As the soldiers made it through the smoke they assembed into company formations and came forward towards the stands. Once the soldiers were in perfect formation, the Commander said a few words and then he let us all rush the field in search of our soldier. There were thousands of soldiers, and thousands more family members, but I'm pretty sure none of us had any trouble finding our soldiers. It was such a happy reunion!

Then we spent the day seeing where Heather had been staying, eating, working out, marching, standing, and freezing for the past 10 weeks. It was so fun to get a glimpse into her life at basic training.

We also took a self-guided tour of Fort Jackson. It's a pretty cool place, complete with a museum, two bowling alleys, one movie theater, multiple places to eat, multiple churches, amazing parks (which Sullivan thoroughly appreciated), a water park, the PX (post exchange...mini-mall and walmart-type store), soldiers everywhere, and multiple neighborhoods full of the cutest little houses I had ever seen. All day long I kept thinking,"This is just like an episode of Army Wives!?" I obviously watch too much tv. :)

Day two was Graduation Day! The soldiers marched out to the field, the Commander said a few words, they gave awards for the top soldiers, and then they marched by the stands. It was short and sweet and to the point. Then we found our soldier once again and Heather was free to leave the base for a day!

In the bottom-left picture, Heather is on the second row,
right in the middle, just to the right of the flag.

In the top right picture, Heather is on the second row, second one in.

I am so proud of her!

Being there almost made ME want to join the Army. :) While Heather said that Basic Training was definitely horrible, she is definitely glad she did it and she wouldn't have changed anything. Her only regret was that she didn't do this sooner!? She is now completely debt free, and will be paid to finish her education. Not a bad gig!? She is staying at Fort Jackson to complete her AIT (Advanced Individual Training) in Finance for the next eight weeks, and then she'll come home and have a normal life again, serving her one weekend a month in the Army Reserves. What a great adventure she's embarked on!? And I'm am thoroughly enjoying living vicariously through her!