Basic Training 2001: Every road march was a tremendous challenge for Bobbie. She usually ended up behind some 6 foot plus guy, which meant she had to jog most of the way. The rucksack, the rifle and the rest of her gear must have weighed almost half her weight. However, she knew she couldn’t afford not to pass Basic Training. She had to continuously motivate herself, “One more step.” Other drill sergeants and Soldiers gave her motivation as well, which she learned to pass down to other Soldiers. Bobbie recalls the most challenging ruck marches were the last two, the last one being 12 miles. The one before the 12 miler was painful because one of the female drill sergeants handed Bobbie the guidon to carry, along with all the other crap. Bobbie was in tears at the end of that ruck march. For the last one, Bobbie barely made it. She felt like she was going to faint towards the end when the ruck march came to an abrupt halt. However, as Bobbie slowly started falling forward, a 6ft plus Soldier in front of her (who was often in trouble by the drill sergeants for being lazy and unmotivated) quickly turned around and put his hand on her kevlar. She was very grateful. Looking back, everyone—regardless of how flawed they may appear on the surface—has their strengths, as well as their purpose in the contribution of the collective soul growth. Without the so-called unmotivated male soldier/battle buddy catching Bobbie, she would’ve failed the final ruck march. She couldn’t believe she had made it, especially when Soldiers much bigger and taller than her had fallen out of the ruck march.
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