Go!
[trainees yelling]
Drill sergeant: Relax. Relax, men.
Narrator: This is day one for new Army infantry soldiers.
Drill sergeant: Hey, if you're in formation,
I should be the only one talking!
Narrator: Their 22-week training
begins with an event known as the "first 100 yards" ...
Come on, first!
Narrator: Where different platoons compete in events
that test them mentally and physically.
Leyton Summerlin: The entire intent behind it is that
they understand that the Army's all about teamwork.
Winning matters, and it sets that tone
for the rest of their 22-week cycle here at Fort Benning.
[trainees cheering]
Narrator: The winning platoon receives a reward.
And the losers face consequences.
We need the pallet!
Pallet!
Narrator: It may seem intense,
but it's markedly different
from what day one used to look like.
Drill sergeant: Why are you switching bags?
I thought I was --
Drill sergeant: Shut up! Shut up!
Shut the hell up.
Why are you switching bags?
Narrator: In February of 2020,
Insider got a look at what used to happen on day one.
Get your bags up!
Narrator: An event known as the "shark attack" ...
You're a tough guy, aren't you?
Don't move!
Do something! Do something!
That's what I thought.
Narrator: An unofficial tradition born in the Vietnam era,
when soldiers were drafted to serve in the Army.
Summerlin: It was a very different Army.
You had guys coming from prison,
and the drill sergeants needed to assert that dominance.
Why are you moving? Why are you moving?
Summerlin: What we know now is that
there's no reason to put somebody through that.
Drill sergeant: Shut your mouth!
Summerlin: That's why we went away from the shark attack.
Narrator: The Army officially replaced the shark attack
in the fall of 2020.
Drill sergeant: Get off the bus, let's go!
Get off, let's go!
Narrator: Insider returned to Fort Benning ...
Drill sergeant: Let's go, hurry up!
Narrator: To see the first 100 yards in action.
[trainees yelling]
Drill sergeant: Get your freaking big boy pants on!
Trainees: Yes, drill sergeant!
Summerlin: As far as it being easier, that's not the case.
Drill sergeant: Head and eyes straight to the front.
Summerlin: The physical stress is still there.
The mental stress is still there.
Drill sergeant: We're not moving
at the position of attention!
Summerlin: And the drill sergeants
are bringing the intensity.
Trainees: Yes, drill sergeant!
First sergeant: Attention!
Parade rest.
Narrator: Divided into four platoons,
the all-male Delta Company
of the 1st Battalion, 50th Infantry Regiment
forms up to begin the event.
First sergeant: Upon the completion of your training,
you will be inducted into the brotherhood of the infantry
that has fought and defended our nation's freedom
for the last 246 years.
Your mission: complete four collective tasks
as quickly, accurately, and violently as possible.
Completing the mission by closing with
and destroying the enemy
during the last 100 yards yields victory.
In combat, there's no prize for second place.
So today, only winning will be rewarded.
Narrator: We followed 2nd Platoon,
signified by red jerseys.
Trainee: Let's go, boys!
Trainees: Let's go! Let's go!
Narrator: After a short run,
the platoon encounters a mass of supplies
arranged in a very specific way.
Drill sergeant: You three, look.
Trainee: Freaking look at it.
Drill sergeant: Remember how this is set up.
Do you remember?
Trainee: Yes, drill sergeant!
Drill sergeant: You guys have 10 more seconds.
Pay attention to how this is set up.
It's going to pay dividends later, men.
Narrator: With about 30 seconds
to memorize the configuration of supplies,
they'll be expected to recreate it later.
Drill sergeant: Everybody will carry something
at least once. Understood?
Trainees: Yes, drill sergeant!
Drill sergeant: Let's go.
Hey, let's go, men, let's go!
We gotta move. Hey, men!
Narrator: The trainees have to move the supplies
while avoiding obstacles on their path to the AO,
or area of operations.
Trainee: Hey, watch the log!
Summerlin: The scenario that we create for it
is that you're conducting a resupply mission,
but the goal is to get everybody to work together
to accomplish that mission.
Trainee: Hey, watch these trees.
Watch the trees.
Hey, watch this log!
Drop the gear.
Narrator: Rearranging the supplies
as they initially found them comes later,
after a series of events
that will give them plenty of time to forget.
Drill sergeant: Move it!
Four ranks, four ranks.
First sergeant: How many of you guys actually read
that study guide? Raise your hand.
Narrator: The trainees are quizzed on facts
included in a study guide issued to them
upon arrival at Fort Benning.
First sergeant: Me and the commander will tally up
total points,
and that will be the winner of this next event.
Who is your battalion command sergeant major
and battalion commander?
Drill sergeant: Talk it over, take your time.
Do it right the first time, so you don't do it again.
Trainee: The brigade commander, what's his name?
Trainee: Who's the brigade commander?
Trainee: And rank.
Drill sergeant: Just write something down.
Let's go, men. Run, run!
Summerlin: It gives you a little bit of insight
for the drill sergeants,
as to what kind of guys you're going to have
and maybe where you need to focus on,
as far as the development of the trainees.
First sergeant: First, where's your answers?
You got to -- if you don't fight to the front, men,
you ain't going to be winners!
All right, men, go to the backs of your ranks.
Hurry up.
There can only be one winner.
For this event, it was 3rd Platoon.
[trainees cheering]
Drill sergeant: One, two, three.
Trainees: One!
Narrator: For the losers,
the consequence is what's known as corrective training.
Drill sergeant: One, two, three.
Trainees: One!
It just reinforces that winning matters.
Drill sergeant: Stay with the count.
Trainees: Three!
Drill sergeant: Sound the fuck off.
Trainees: Four!
First sergeant: Your next task is to build a bunker.
The dimensions for the bunker
are going to be five wide in the front,
two sandbags deep, and three sandbags tall.
The team that builds this bunker to standard
in the quickest amount of time will be the winners.
Get ready!
Go!
Trainee: We gotta go!
Drill sergeant: There should be more over there.
Trainee: Right over here, right over here!
Drill sergeant: Hey, men, they're doing it that way,
let's go. What are you guys doing?
Trainee: We're running out of time.
Drill sergeant: Men, we're going to lose. Come on.
Summerlin: Everybody's got to pull their weight.
Just like when they get to their first unit of assignment,
you got to pull your own weight.
Drill sergeant: Who thinks they won?
Trainees: 2nd Platoon!
Drill sergeant: Well, the winners are 4th Platoon.
[trainees cheering]
First sergeant: Drill sergeants,
give your platoons their rewards.
Drill sergeant: The forward lunge.
Trainees: The forward lunge!
Narrator: After two events without a win,
2nd Platoon doesn't have time to relax.
Their next task is to resupply the bunker
with the supplies they carried through the woods.
Build it exactly as you found it back at the road.
Narrator: Nearly an hour has passed
since they had 30 seconds to memorize
how the gear was arranged.
Get ready, go!
This was three long, four high,
one in the middle between the two on top.
Drill sergeant: Work together!
You're going to mess it up. Work together.
Trainee: It was three by three!
Summerlin: It's just a mentally challenging event.
That was three long, right there.
Test and assess the mental capabilities
of these individuals under stress now,
and then see how far they come 22 weeks from now.
Trainee: It was three, four,
three, four, two, one.
Trainee: Here, move. Let me do it!
Producer: How could that be applicable in combat?
Summerlin: It could be as small as
you have to be able to remember
where the closest piece of cover behind you was.
Trainee: Just put something on top of it
so it stays! Let's go.
Summerlin: Once you're put in a stressful environment,
now you have to remember something from before,
and you have to act.
First sergeant: Every platoon has deficiencies.
However, the closest platoon to being correct
was 2nd Platoon.
[trainees cheering]
Drill sergeant: All right, men.
Keep that military bearing, all right?
Now go back to parade rest.
Drill sergeants, give your platoons their rewards.
Drill sergeant: One, two, three.
Trainees: Three!
Drill sergeant: One, two, three.
Trainees: Four!
Drill sergeant: Hey, men, just because you won this one,
all right, you can be up here.
But stay humble, all right?
Trainees: Yes, drill sergeant!
Drill sergeant: If we win this next one,
we have a good chance of taking the whole thing
and getting that reward.
You guys want that reward?
Trainees: Yes, drill sergeant!
Drill sergeant: I promise you it's a pretty damn good one,
all right? All right?
Trainees: Yes, drill sergeant!
Narrator: The final event simulates a medical evacuation,
where the trainees race to move
all the sandbags to a finish line.
First sergeant: You will use the litter.
One casualty is six sandbags.
So you can only transport six sandbags at a time.
Drill sergeant: What I want is six men
staged, ready to go each time.
Narrator: A win for 2nd Platoon
would clinch an overall victory.
Drill sergeant: Go, go, go, go!
Trainee: Let's go, baby, let's go!
Narrator: But a costly stumble could ruin their chances.
Trainee: Slow it down a little bit!
Trainee: Let's go, let's go!
Narrator: Things looked bleak when 1st Platoon
celebrated as though they'd won.
Form it up! Go to parade rest.
What platoon do you think did the best
across all the events combined?
[trainees yelling]
First sergeant: I keep hearing 2nd Platoon,
which is wild because, points accumulated,
they took first place.
[trainees cheering]
Drill sergeant: Hey, hey! Relax.
First sergeant: So over the next 72 hours,
every meal, they will be the first platoon to eat
for the next three days.
On top of that, they will also not come down here
to clean up all the sandbags and everything later today.
That'll be 1st, 3rd, and 4th Platoon.
That is their reward.
Drill sergeant: Individual soldier discipline,
military bearing, you understand?
Trainees: Yes, drill sergeant!
Drill sergeant: We're going to win everything
the whole cycle.
You still stay humble, all right?
Trainees: Yes, drill sergeant!
Summerlin: We want them to be motivated, absolutely.
Motivated soldiers are better soldiers.
Drill sergeant: Stay humble while you're here.
Summerlin: But there also needs to be some,
a humble aspect to a soldier.
Humble, but not passive.
Same as aggressive, but not reckless.
And that's what that drill sergeant's getting at,
is ensuring that military bearing's there
and staying humble.
[gunshots]
Narrator: The first 100 yards concludes
with a demonstration performed by active infantry soldiers.
Summerlin: This is what perfect looks like.
Now you've got 22 weeks to work and develop yourself.
Hoo-ah!
Summerlin: You become that perfect infantryman,
which is what they see.
Drill sergeants, take charge of your platoons.
Drill sergeant: Men, your 22 weeks starts today.
Trainees: Yes, drill sergeant!
Yes, drill sergeant!