Alright, I gotta hear some stories from y’all.
Who was that one CSM, 1SG, LTC, COL, or even a General who was the unit’s boogeyman whose name alone could strike fear into an entire formation. Who was your unit’s final boss, and what did they do to earn that reputation?

I’ll take the lettuce wrap burger I’m watching my figure.

Had a friend tell me my battle buddy was telling people out SL groped her. I 100% don't buy this for a second because she has bragged about false sharping people twice and still talks to said people while trying to act all cute with NCOs ontop saying he texts her yet she directly tects him if she cant come to formation and he never responds to anything else , she has disgusting behavior that deserves its own santas christmas list.

I can 100% guarantee this because she never spends time alone with out SL nor has she ever attended our Squad events/outtings and for the past 2 weeks she has been under my supervision due to a delegated task and this past month

Anyways i didn't really think this through and acted more on morale than anything else since he's the best SL i have and even fought to remove a counseling i shouldn't have gotten.
Anxious? Mayhaps just wanted to write this to release some thoughts

I’ve been studying for my promotion board coming up in November, and it got me thinking: what are the best and worst board stories you’ve experienced, witnessed, or heard about?

Best experiences: looking for some motivation and things to remember when I go.

Worst experiences: lessons learned and things to absolutely avoid.

Funny stories are welcome too!

I know there’s not a lot of specifics that people can share, but what do I need to know to help myself get mentally and physically prepared? I’ve also heard there’s a difference between the one at Rucker for aviation versus the one at Bragg for ARSOF… is that true? I’ll be going at Bragg.

So I got told COB Friday that I’m going TDY starting tomorrow. Pretty inconvenient timing but it’s only a 3 hour drive away. However I’m confused on how I’m gonna handle lodging considering I’m still waiting on further DTS guidance. Am I just gonna have to pay outta pocket for a hotel?

Don’t want to bore anyone with a sob story so I’ll give the BLUF:

- came from the Marines in 2023 to the Guard
- was erroneous reduced to E-5 from E-6 (yes erroneously. Written signed 4187 from the state. However didn’t get this until present day)
- the rule they used was from a regulation not published yet.
- was an E-5 from 2023 - 2026 then promoted back to E-6
- their “fix” was the reset my DOR back to previous. Problem is, now I’ve missed out on idk how many EPS boards and my last NCOERs are now in the grade of E-5.

What can I do, career wise, to make sure I can salvage something from this.

Thanks in advance.

Moving to Fort Stewart after completing Osut. 19D

I have a wife and Kid. Any recommendations and tips about the base. Thanks in advance

I'll have a blue slushie

I wanted to post this somewhere where people who are getting ready to go to THE United States Army Drill Sergeant Academy (SHE SAID IT) can get a good idea of what they’re walking into. This is current as of October 2026, and I’m in Phase II rn. This is fully based on my personal experience. Boffum. I got dropped and had to go back.

BLUF: Have your study method down for the modules/pitches, be prepared for the first 72, and go to the range as much as you possibly can before you report. Start shooting with only your back-up iron sights (BUIS) if you haven’t been already.

People get dropped left and right for not knowing/being able to pitch verbatim, failing WHtR or the AFT, and not being able to group and zero.

Pitching means reciting the module exactly how it’s written, in the order it’s written, while directing a demonstrator through the movements.

Modules: The modules are awkwardly written and won’t make sense until you understand them/learn how to study them in general. You have to be able to study AND pitch them under pressure. You’ll get the Top 3 with your welcome letter, but I have digital copies if anyone needs them.
WHtR: They do the H&W as WHtR, and they will not do you favors. Don’t show up borderline, it’s not worth it. You’ll get a negative 1059 if you fail it and will just get sent home just to have to come back later.
AFT: You need 70 in each event to meet the USADSA standards. You can pass the AFT with 60 in each event, but you’ll have to retake it in Phase III, the same week as the 10 mile ruck march and land nav. I don’t recommend it, tbh, but you do you.
Grouping and zeroing: You have to get 8 out of 10 rounds within 6 MOA to make it to qual. This is where a bunch of people get dropped because they haven’t touched a weapon in years, only shoot with CCO’s/ACOGS or because they have bad shooting habits and can’t group and zero to academy standards. Consistency is key.

3 Phases

Phase I is all about reteaching you the fundamentals of forming ranks and columns, standing at the position of attention, sounding off, using your Drill Sergeant voice, etc. This is all about the modules/pitches (Set 1, Set 3, and Set 5) and being evaluated on PRT. They throw a lot of information at you and break you out of bad habits by treating you exactly like they would treat trainees.

Phase II so far is all about grouping/zeroing and rifle marksmanship.

Phase III is land nav, the 10-mile foot march, tying everything together, and not getting in trouble or complacent. My understanding at least, and what other candidates have said.

I’ll be harping on Phase I since I just got to Phase II. Later, I might come back and add to the other phases if there’s value in it.

1. The Top 3 Modules: Position of Attention (POA), Rest Positions at the Halt, and the Hand Salute

Know them verbatim before you report. Don’t gamble on knowing only POA. Learn them all.

I got dropped the first time because I gambled and didn’t learn the Hand Salute. I got the Hand Salute the first time, and I got it again the second time I had to go through the academy. Womp womp.

For me getting dropped meant going back to my unit with my tail tucked between my legs until HRC got tired of me asking for a new school date and sent me back. It was 3 weeks for me, but it can vary. I know one candidate who got dropped right before starting Phase II and was back as a day 1 restart the next day.

I learned how to study the modules from another candidate before I got dropped, and that helped with breezing through the other sets this time.

Understanding them really helps with learning them and being able to pitch them.

POA: If you notice, it’s going from bottom (heels at a 45-degree angle) to top (keep the head erect) and then back down to the arms and fingers.
Rest Positions: Follows a pattern: Parade Rest, Stand at Ease, At Ease, Rest. Learn what you can do in each position and which positions you move into from which. It’s just tricky because of all the notes.
Hand Salute: It’s long but extremely repetitive. It’s saying: this is what a salute is, this is how you salute in general, this is how you salute with headgear, this is how you salute with no headgear and with glasses, and this is how you salute in other scenarios.

They all have basically the same beginning (preamble) and end, so you’re not changing too much. Use the repeated wording to your advantage. Understanding them will also help with the other 2 random pitches you’ll draw from the other sets.

For the Top 3, you’ll get one randomly to pitch the day of evaluation, btw. You’ll pitch it in front of 10–20 other candidates, but don’t worry. They’re so in their own heads about their pitch and will just stare at you lifelessly while you do yours. I wore sunglasses and closed my eyes, it helped.

For the pitches for the other sets you’ll have 2–3 days (the weekend basically ) to learn them and then pitch them, also verbatim. For example, you’ll draw your module on a Friday, and then Monday you pitch.

They changed it so you only get two attempts for the Top 3 pitch and three attempts for each of the other pitches. A 70 is passing for pitching and PRT. You can only miss a certain number of words, can only pause for 5 seconds without getting docked points and you can’t skip or change the order.

Studying the Modules

You have to have your study method down. I cannot stress this enough. I suggest you get comfortable pitching them while using another person as a demonstrator to do/show the movements, as this is how you’ll get evaluated at the academy. They want to see how effective you are at teaching the modules after learning them.

Also, do the movements yourself as you’re listening to a recording of yourself saying them.

To study a module:

-Print out the modules and put them in document protectors.
-Learn one at a time so they don’t get jumbled up in your brain.
-Write or read 2–4 sentences a couple of times.
-Record yourself trying to say them from memory.
-Play it back while following along with the printed module.
-Use a marker to mark/ highlight the words you miss.
-Learn it like this, chunk by chunk.
-Move on to another chunk once you can say it twice with no or minimal mistakes, then practice connecting the chunks.
What worked for me was studying in 20 minute intervals and taking a 15 minute break each time. Walk away from the study material, then come back.

This is great for self study, but I also bullied my friends into helping me, so I would pitch to them and they would mark up what I missed. If I struggled too much with one sentence/module, they would stop me, correct me pointedly, and then I would keep going.

Rule of thumb, keep it under 20 missed word. More than that and you’re cooked.

There are videos on YouTube of the sets/pitches from the academy (US Army Drill Sergeant Academy on YouTube) that show the pitching/ demonstration if I’m not explaining it well enough . You can slow them down and loop them, too.

There’s also a great app called “Memorize By Heart” that has the modules in there. That’s good for practicing and learning them in other ways.

1. First 72 Hours

You’ll report on a Wednesday, and the next day you start your 72. When you report, they’ll have you tape up your CamelBag, do admin stuff, they start calling you Drill Sergeant, and assign you to either the barracks or a hotel. I was permanent party, so I got to go home every day. Would’ve taken a barracks room if offered tho.

The first 72 are rough. Early mornings, 0300–0500, and expect to be getting off around 1830–1900. It’s basically a red phase consolidated into 3 days of in-processing. You’ll get yelled at a lot and get treated like doo doo. It gets better. It reminds you why you’ll make trainees do dumb stuff like sidestepping and food tasting better with your heels together.

You won’t really have time to study during this. which is why everyone stresses knowing the Top 3 before you report.

You’ll take your AFT, do your WHtR, do a UA, do your gear layout, and do this event called defender pickup (there are YouTube videos about it), all within those 72 hours. Be ready.

The first time, I took my AFT the day after I reported, had WHtR and the UA the next day, and then did defender pickup that Saturday. The second time, I did my WHtR and UA on day 1, AFT on day 2, and defender pickup on day 3. Basically, just be prepared for whatever order it ends up landing as.

Have all your gear from the packing list packed up and in your car if you’re permanent party. Also, just keep it in your car since you’ll randomly have to bring stuff or get told you need something with very short notice.

That first Saturday has been the only Saturday we’ve had to go to the academy so far. Other weekends are yours to think about your life decisions and how you landed here.

1. Creeds

Write the Drill Sergeant Creed 10 times. It’s awkward and a little hard to learn, but you’ll have it down well enough afterwards.

You’ll get told to say it randomly when standing in line to eat, and if you don’t know it, you get sent to the back of the line. Annoying at worst, but some days you’ll be starving. You’ll get counseled if you don’t know it, too, depending on what company you land in.

Brush up on the Soldier’s Creed and the NCO Creed since they like to switch it up.

1. PRT Evaluation

PRT evaluation are pretty easy, but small things can get you caught up. You only have to know the prep drills, CD1, CD2, HSD, and the recovery drills as of rn.

I’m dropping what helped me learn the order/remember them better below. They go over how to do the exercises pretty in depth at the academy.

The evaluation is more about being able to explain the exercises to someone new to the Army and being able to do them correctly. You also have to switch between doing them/leading PRT and being the alternate instructor who explains how to do the exercises while someone else leads.

Prep Drills

Be right home real soon. We found privates behind Popeyes.

BE — Bend and reach
RIGHT — Rear lunge
HOME — High jumper
REAL — Rower
SOON — Squat bender
WE — Windmill
FOUND — Forward lunge
PRIVATES — Prone row
BEHIND — Bent-leg body twist
POPEYES — Push-ups

Recovery Drills

Only rangers enjoy this shit. Go crawl home.

ONLY — Overhand arm pull
RANGERS — Rear lunge
ENJOY — Extend and flex
THIS — Thigh stretch
SHIT — Single-leg over
GO — Groin stretch
CRAWL — Calf stretch
HOME — Hamstring stretch

Conditioning Drill 1

PT very motivated little Soldiers. (Or) People value money like silver.

PT/PEOPLE — Power jump
VERY/VALUE — V-up
MOTIVATED/MONEY — Mountain climber
LITTLE/LIKE — Leg tuck and twist
SOLDIERS/SILVER — Single-leg push-up

Conditioning Drill 2

This session has some 8 counts.

THIS — Turn and lunge
SESSION — Supine bicycle
HAS — Half jack
SOME — Swimmer
8 COUNTS — 8-count T-push-up

Hip Stability Drill

Let me break some shit.

LET — Lateral leg raise
ME — Medial leg raise
BREAK — Bent-leg lateral raise
SOME — Single-leg tuck
SHIT — Single-leg over

I hope this helps. Overall, it’s not impossible or super hard. It’s actually very manageable. Be locked in, show up halfway physically ready, be flexible/teachable, and be able to ignore the other candidates who have huge egos and can’t put them aside for a PME and/or put your own ego aside.

From one dead eyed NCO to another, good luck.

Edit: formatting errors

I'm so tired of this damn administration violating rights when it comes to marginalized groups. And the people in the military, especially medical community saying "ItS nOt A hIpPa ViOlAtIoN."

so im a specialist with about 2 years left on my contract and plan on re-enlisting

im currently at bragg and looking to get yalls opinion about wherever yall are stationed and yalls school opportunities both college and military schools

aswell as how often yall operate and if yall do any meaningfull operating projects, not just fighting positions and such

To my understanding we can roll our sleeves up past our elbow at our own will, but at the same time I have seen army posts stating that it is at the commanders decision. I just need some clarification from some smarter folk. Can I roll my sleeves up at my own will with the commander deciding camo in/out, or is it fully dependent on commanders discretion on if it is rolled or not? This whole thing is confusing for me. Posting here was my final decision since my leadership doesn't know either after showing them AR 670-1, 4-3 b(3)/(4), and DA PAM 670-1 4-8 e.. I am also aware that AR takes precedence over DA PAM. Any help with more insight would be appreciated! Thank you!

Ill take a coffee and a box of donut holes for my CQ shift.

I'm in the marketplace and my options are currently Hawaii and Germany. The wife and I both prefer Germany but she owns her own business that makes significantly more than I do. From everything we're seeing, she would be taxed in the U.S. and Germany at almost 50%. We want Germany but don't think we can justify losing that much income over 3 years. Has anyone gone through something similar and provide some insight.

EDIT: She does work in social media, entirely online and only US based clients.

Long story short. My spouse was left to figure out the process of moving our family from Hawaii to North Carolina. We’ve already requested a pickup date for household goods and waiting for movers to be assigned to us. Our requested date is Nov 13 for pickup. We get keys for on post housing on Nov 17.
Here’s the main issue… while her first line supervisors agree that this move needs to happen, there isn’t a single ounce of guidance/help. We’ve figured everything out as stated thus far BUT my spouse is getting mixed messages about PTDY and if it’ll get approved due to a FTX early Dec. (which is when we were looking to make the move happen). No, the FTX isn’t JRTC or any extended field problem. My spouse is thinking of using Christmas block leave for the move but I feel that’s asinine to use chargeable leave for our move. *Ultimately what I am enquiring about is, can leadership deny the PTDY due to this FTX or some other lame excuse they come up with? If so, what recourse do we have if it does get denied?

Thanks for any insight given and if details are needed for clarification on our situation, feel free to ask away.

I’m asking for advice on how to treat my current soldier, the last soldier I had was lazy and unmotivated but because I didn’t counsel them it came back to bite me in the ass. (Lessons learned there)

The new soldier is fed up with the army and has finished their SFL TAP. They have a Sec+ certification, they have a decent financial cushion (but that’s only been talked about, I don’t know if it’s too invasive to ask to see bank statements) What are some things I’m expected to do for this soldier, I was going to ask them about Linkedin, certifications, and any savings for when they transition out, I’m not sure what else I’m expected to know.

If I was someone getting out I would be looking at places to stay, this soldier says they’d be living with their aunt.

They have a significant chunk of cash (80k) is what they said. Since there’s no rent to be paid, that’ll last them about 10 months maybe.

The soldier said they’d drive the family car. No car note. Also no debt.

Are there boxes in neglecting to check off?

Wondering if everyone with permanent residency got their citizenship after enlisting or if anyone stayed as a green card holder even after enlisting?

I did a try one in the Reserve after I left active duty, and now I got the 1SG calling and texting me asking me to complete stuff, sign DD93s, do all sorts of bullshit even though my contract is complete and my CAC expired by like 4 months.

Now, I have nothing against my former 1SG, but I straight up told him that none of this was my problem and that the unit needs to fix its own problems. He completely understood this but did want to warn me that I'm still on their system and apparently the Army has a new system (shocking, really) that would require me to log in and "excuse myself" from drill; otherwise, I would be considered unauthorized absence. He wasn't sure if this would cause any problems but did say my IRR obligation was until December and anything could happen.

This to me sounds like a bunch of bullshit that I don't need to be bothered about. I feel like none of this is my responsibility, and considering I cleared my unit, turned in all my stuff, and fucked off, I don't see why I'm being annoyed with calls about there maybe being negative consequences for not getting a new CAC and excusing myself from drill AFTER my contract.

I asked for the contact information for brigade legal, and the man said they were useless. I'm going to school now, so I'm probably going to my school's veteran legal clinic, but all of this is ridiculous.

Does anyone know anything about something like this?

Edit: I did 6 AD, 1 Reserve

What’s your stories on voluntary demoting was it worth it and why ?

so I recently came back from OSUT this fall from infantry school.

and I cant help but notice the changes in me physically. like(civilian) food sitting with me weird, broken sleep patterns, random medical happenings, etc

and im curious is that normal or am I a special case?