[June 10, 2025] Ever since I was little, I “played army” with my brother and friends. While it was not ordained that I would eventually join the U.S. Army, it would be in my early 20s that I would decide that now is the time. On August 1, 1974, I walked into the Army Recruiter’s office in Lubbock, Texas, with my mind made up. I would sign that day and two weeks later, ship out to Fort Polk, Louisiana, for Basic Combat Training. My personal life’s goal was to join. And here I was. I wanted to make myself a better person, and I was determined to make my time in the Army work toward that goal. I was to learn that good people help others be good, too.
The 10-man squad of recruits was crawling through mud and under barbed wire while being continuously screamed at by U.S. Army Drill Sergeant Bryant. If the recruit failed to complete the obstacle course within the allotted 20 minutes, he had to start over. Sergeant Bryant told us that his job was to make us better soldiers. And he was going to make us bleed until he got what he wanted. If we were to suffer, so be it. He would make us good soldiers, and the suffering we were about to endure, which tested us to our souls, was a price he would happily make us pay.
I’ll never forget him saying that to make good people better, required him to put us through the most rigorous (some say unnecessarily brutal) training he and the other Drill Sergeants could muster. Army Basic Combat Training was no treat, and all of the hardship at the hands of the “brown boot” Vietnam combat veterans. And, we all hated Sergeant Bryant’s guts for what he did. We didn’t know it at the time. Still, the program of instruction was designed to increase resilience, teach elementary soldiering skills, and most importantly, teach us the mindset of a soldier who could fight and win.
By the time our class of recruits graduated eight weeks later – those who made it anyway – we were tougher, meaner, more adaptable, and determined than we had ever been in our previous civilian lives. And that made us better.
I kept in touch with three of my classmates during my long military career. We often compared notes and spoke about what we learned; most often, what we learned the hard way. It seemed the hard way was the preferred methodology, “You learn it better that way,” according to Sergeant Bryant.
Sergeant Bryant was a typical hard-nosed, no-nonsense NCO of the old school of doing the Army’s business. He took no crap off anybody. Once, a recruit from my class challenged Sergeant Bryant to a fight. I saw the whole thing take place in slow motion as the recruit-soldier hit the pavement with one massive blow from Sergeant Bryant, so much for challenging these NCOs.
Most of us were soon in combat; a few to Vietnam (it was winding down) and others to smaller skirmishes across the world. The Gulf of Sidra encounter, the Lebanese Civil War, Grenada, Panama, the first Gulf War, and so on, were just a few that were made public. I remember thinking back to Sergeant Bryant during my first combat assignment, and only then did I appreciate what he did. Sergeant Bryant was an Infantry NCO who had been awarded the coveted Combat Infantry Badge.
Drill Sergeant Bryant treated us fairly. He was hard – very hard – but he was fair. His job was to make good people better than they were when they came into the U.S. Army. It should come as no surprise that NCOs like him are considered the backbone of the military. That is what makes our military stronger than all the others.
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Please read my books:
Crawling through the mud, the blood, and the beer. Oh, I added those last two, but you get the picture. Gen. Satterfield again shows us how he learned many of the lessons he learned early in his life. See his book “5* Rules for a Good Life” to get a full picture that both summarizes those lessons but presents us with the best of those lessons.
https://www.amazon.com/55-Rules-Good-Life-Responsibility/dp/1737915529/
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Yes, fantastic matrix that isolates the 20 top crucial aspects of being a leader.
Yep!
Terry, short but the right answer. Gen. Satterfield again uses his experience to show us how being better can be very difficult and sometimes people fail to make the grade. But as he has written many times before, the content of your character is not how many times you fail, but that you get up each time and try again.
Good one, Gen. Satterfield. I always wanted a good idea of your upbringing and now with your “Letters to My Granddaughter” series and these new add-ons, I’m getting plenty of that info. What I’m most interested in is how these experiences helped make you for what you became. Is it you or is it the experience? That is the question.
A mini story telling us that authority figures deserve respect and when challenged, they are able to assert their ability. “ Sergeant Bryant was a typical hard-nosed, no-nonsense NCO of the old school of doing the Army’s business. He took no crap off anybody. Once, a recruit from my class challenged Sergeant Bryant to a fight. I saw the whole thing take place in slow motion as the recruit-soldier hit the pavement with one massive blow from Sergeant Bryant, so much for challenging these NCOs.” — Gen. Doug Satterfield
Nailed it, Eva. This is why we are better young men, because we discovered that boys need a lot of exhausting outside activities to burn up their energy.
I think all the boys “played army” growing up. Boys need rough and tumble play. It shows them the limits of themselves and others , and to follow rules, and the basics of being a good person.
Let’s not miss the point that Gen. Satterfield is making here and although not as obvious as he typically makes his point(s). First, we learn best when challenged and pushed hard. That’s what this drill Sergeant Bryant is doing. He may not know why, but the technique works well. Second, that there are those who do not make the grade/pass. We don’t find out what happens to them, presumably they are discharged from the army but we never find out. And lastly, we see that Gen. Satterfield as a Private is learning that he can adapt to the rigors of a hard and very challenging life. And, now, we see what this experience has produced. Would everyone come out the same? No, but much of what Gen. Satterfield has done is take the positive aspects of his training and incorporated it into himself.
Frankie Boy, some good oiints here but I don’t know why Gen. Satterfield has not made these lessons clearer. A mystery. But I guess he wants us to eke out those lessons for ourselves.
EXACTLY
Nothing like some life lessons in the early years of Gen. Satterfield’s long and illustrious career. The fact that he took this harsh treatment and turned it into something valuable for him to use, speaks volumes. 🫡
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Big Big Big fan of Gen. Satterfield here!!!!!
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Good to hear stories about your younger life. And your struggles are clearly what made you.