Drill sergeant: Why are you moving?
Why are you moving?
Huh? Huh? Huh?
Drill sergeant: Get out of my way!
Narrator: This is Army boot camp.
Before they join the United States Army,
all recruits have to graduate
from a 22-week program
known as One Station Unit Training,
also known as OSUT.
It happens here, at Fort Benning,
a 182,000-acre military installation
that straddles the Alabama-Georgia border
about 100 miles southwest of Atlanta.
Every year, more than 18,000 soldiers graduate
before joining the more than 470,000 people
actively serving in the Army.
Recruits: 13, 14, 15.
Narrator: Although most of the recruits that we
saw during our time there were male,
recruits train together
in gender-integrated platoons.
Christopher Ricci: These young men and women that
volunteer to serve, they show up to us as civilians,
and then we take them through
a transformative process
to turn them into soldiers.
Drill sergeant: Just go to the position of attention,
and you stay in the position of attention!
Narrator: On a rain-soaked week in February,
we spent four days inside
the Army's Maneuver Center of Excellence,
which trains soldiers to serve in the
infantry and armor branches.
We saw different companies
at various stages of training.
On day one,
new infantry recruits on a bus
from the Atlanta airport
arrive at the 30th AG Battalion Headquarters,
where all new recruits are received.
Drill sergeant: Listen up!
The only thing I wanna hear from you
at this point is, "Yes, drill sergeant"
or, "No, drill sergeant." Do you understand?
Recruits: Yes, drill sergeant.
Drill sergeant: When I tell you,
you will pass your folders to the front.
Narrator: The minimum age to enlist in the Army is 17,
and the maximum age is 35.
The base salary for an entry-level private
is about $20,000 a year.
Drill sergeant: Let's go! 30 seconds!
Drill sergeant: Hurry up! Find your bag!
Narrator: Once they're off the bus...
Recruits: Yes, drill sergeant!
Narrator: The first order of business is
establishing the code of conduct.
Drill sergeant: Because I promise you,
if you don't pay attention
to what I'm about to tell you,
you're gonna make your Army career very short.
You treat everybody with dignity and respect,
regardless of race, religion,
color, national origin, gender,
sexual orientation, and all other
protected categories. Yes?
Recruits: Yes, drill sergeant!
Drill sergeant: Sexual assault is any
unwanted physical contact in a sexual nature,
so if you put your hands on another individual
and you're not instructed to
and you're not saving their life,
and they file a sexual assault,
and it comes down that you put your hands
on this individual when you weren't supposed to,
that is gonna be on you.
You will get kicked out of the military,
and then you'll probably have to file
as a registered sex offender. Do you understand?
Recruits: Yes, drill sergeant!
Narrator: Before they go inside, the new recruits
learn some basic commands and standing positions.
Drill sergeant: Attention!
Drill sergeant: Everyone look down at their toes.
You should be able to fit a slice of pizza
in between your toes.
If you look around, they're gonna see you,
'cause you're taller than everyone else!
Drill sergeant: Quickly!
Drill sergeant: Everyone move your feet!
Drill sergeant: Grab one and go, it's all the same.
Narrator: The recruits grab the snack
that's waiting for them inside,
consisting of a fruit cup, sunflower seeds,
a granola bar, and a juice box.
Drill sergeant: Watch the video. Remain silent.
Video: Since 1775,
the Army has been the bearer
of our nation's strength
in every crisis or conflict.
Make no mistake about it:
The journey you are embarking upon
will not be easy,
but you wouldn't be here if we didn't think
you couldn't meet the challenge.
Drill sergeant: Listen up! Your last four of your social.
Narrator: After being welcomed,
recruits begin what's known as processing,
which can take one to two weeks
before their actual training begins.
Drill sergeant: In a little bit, we're gonna give you
a period to go in a room by yourself.
Narrator: First, they're given one last chance
to discreetly dispose of prohibited contraband
like drugs, alcohol, tobacco,
and inappropriate photographs.
Drill sergeant: If any photo you possess on your phone
is less than a bathing suit,
you will not have it.
You will delete them all.
Narrator: Recruits get rid of contraband
in an amnesty room,
where they dispose of it
by throwing it down a metal chute.
Recruit: Is anybody confused on what you
can and cannot have?
Narrator: The next morning, the recruits report
to the barbershop,
where one barber has one worked at Fort Benning
for almost 60 years.
Jay Shortz: I've been here ever since 1963.
That's a long time.
I should've been retired a long time ago,
but I wake up in the morning now,
be wanting to come out here and go to work.
Narrator: Recruits are issued uniforms.
They receive a series of immunizations and vaccines.
And get their official photo taken,
along with myriad housekeeping details that fill up
their one- to two-week stay in processing.
Drill sergeant: Hey, sit up straight!
Narrator: That is, until processing ends
and the time for training finally arrives.
Drill sergeant: Let's go. Grab your bags and go.
Narrator: We found a company of recruits
about to begin training in the armor school.
These recruits are about to be picked up
and taken to their barracks,
where they'll reside for the rest of their training.
Drill sergeant: Let's go. You guys are
going to the front bus. Go!
Narrator: This is the last chance
for recruits to change their minds
before training begins,
like one recruit who decided to stay behind.
This short bus ride,
from processing to their new barracks,
will be the most peaceful moments
these recruits will experience for a while.
What happens next is known as the shark attack.
[whistle blowing]
[Drill sergeant yelling]
Drill sergeant: Get your bags up right now!
Get your bags up!
Drill sergeant: This way! Let's go!
Drill sergeant: You're a tough guy, aren't you?
Do something! Do something! That's what I thought.
Drill sergeant: Why are you still not understanding?
He just said it!
Ricci: It's really just a little shock to the system
so we can break them down
to build them back up.
Drill sergeant: Answer me!
Talk to me!
Drill sergeant: Shut up! Shut up!
Shut the h--- up!
Ricci: We're breaking a lot of habits
from the civilian world, and nothing better
than a little shock to the system
to establish that that drill sergeant is in charge
to let us start our training.
Drill sergeant: Pick up your bag and hold it.
Narrator: The recruits spend much of the shark attack
holding their heavy rucksacks above their heads...
Drill sergeant: Over your head!
Narrator: Which takes a physical toll.
Drill sergeant: Why is that so difficult?
Drill sergeant: You can't pick that bag up?
You decided to join the Army,
and you can't pick that bag up?
Drill sergeant: Right side bag, right side bag.
Right side bag.
Narrator: After about 20 minutes,
the intensity begins to subside,
and the drill sergeants' tone changes...
Drill sergeant: We will produce the best
soldiers in the United States Army.
Narrator: Before training officially begins.
Recruits: Yes, drill sergeant!
Narrator: After the shock and awe the shark attack,
things do appear to calm down.
Recruit: It's a video.
Recruit: Oh, is it? Recruit: Is it a video?
Recruits: Movie, yeah! Movie! Hey.
Recruit: I always wanted to be a star!
Narrator: We found this group of infantry soldiers
in week 11 of their training
practicing on the firing range.
[gunshots]
Narrator: The mood was much more relaxed.
[laughing]
Narrator: And their conversations with their
drill sergeants are conducted at normal volumes.
Like when this drill sergeant educated
the recruits on the meaning of
the military expression "ate-up."
Kelly Craig Lord: That dynamic changes because
we want the soldiers to become more critical thinkers.
At that point, we are
turning into more coaches and mentors.
We dial it back a little bit.
So, we don't want them frightened;
we want them to be comfortable
and in a state of mind that is receptive to
learning and performing at that level.
[gunshots]
Narrator: Up to 241 hours of infantry OSUT
are devoted to marksmanship,
where recruits fire about 2,500 rounds
using the M4 carbine
as well as the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon, or SAW.
Ricci: We create lethality.
We create expert marksmen
at their individual weapons,
because as an infantry soldier,
that's what we're asking them to do.
Narrator: Recruits get one of the most painful
parts of training out of the way early.
Drill sergeant: Once we check your seal,
you will not touch your pro-mask.
Narrator: This group of infantry recruits
was exposed to CS gas, or tear gas,
in week one of their training.
Drill sergeant: You're gonna continue to fall in
until we tell you to stop.
You're gonna place your back against the wall.
Narrator: The recruits spend about
five minutes inside the gas hut.
Upon exiting the gas hut,
the recruits are told to flap their arms like birds
to remove excess gas from their uniforms.
According to a drill sergeant,
the effects of the gas begin to wear off
after about four minutes.
Some training moves indoors, like combatives,
where recruits learn hand-to-hand self-defense tactics.
Christian Pensado: We're trying to teach them to
achieve a dominant body position.
So, to get out of one negative position
and then switch roles
so they end up having the upper hand in a fight.
Narrator: During combatives training,
recruits warm up with a particularly
painful-looking exercise referred to as the EO.
While laying on their backs,
they have to engage their core
to wiggle across the entire room.
Pensado: They use their momentum, shoulder blades,
their core, to help them create space,
warm up the body.
Narrator: Recruits work up a major appetite
during training.
But Fort Benning is big,
and they're not always within range
of the dining facility.
When they're training in the field,
recruits are issued MREs,
which stands for "meal, ready-to-eat."
Each comes with an entrée,
like this vegetarian pasta with taco sauce,
along with an assortment of items
like mixed fruit, an energy bar,
and this instant French vanilla cappuccino.
Recruits just add water, shake it up, and enjoy.
Once they're fortified,
recruits return to their training.
Recruits spend up to 60 hours
in training known as MOUT, which stands for
military operations in urban terrain.
Recruit: Go left, go left!
Dewayne Waugh: Infantrymen are expected to fight
in different types of terrain
and survive and win the fight.
And right now, they are getting their first taste
of what that's like in an urban environment.
Drill sergeant: Rolling T. All right, coming up.
Waugh: In operations across Afghanistan and Iraq,
we are conducting clearance operations,
and it's applicable wherever we go.
It's important for
the future soldiers' muscle memory,
because they are working as a team
with minimal communication,
and they have to understand how
that coordination works together.
Drill sergeant: Do it again.
Narrator: After 22 weeks of training,
these infantrymen are ready to leave Fort Benning.
Friends and family gather to watch
their soldiers graduate on Inouye Field.
Ricci: They look like soldiers,
they act like soldiers,
they're carrying their head high.
Recruits: I will never leave a fallen comrade.
Ricci: I have trainees
that were not alive when 9/11 happened.
I think that's pretty powerful,
that I still can find American citizens
that want to volunteer to serve their country,
when we continue to ask them to go to combat.
Narrator: These new infantrymen
don't have long to greet their loved ones.
Drill sergeant: Get on the bus!
Narrator: Or say goodbye to their friends...
before leaving Fort Benning
to begin their service in the United States Army.