Sgt. Kliber Salinas, an Alpha Company drill sergeant, motivates his Cadets by leading them in singing a cadence, fashioned to keep a formation marching in step. Drill sergeants are recognized by the distinctive hat of authority, and some don sunglasses to hide their eyes from Cadets. Photo by Heather Cortright/LTC PAO.

By Sara Nahrwold
Staff writer

The brim of the coveted drill sergeant hat rests just above his eyebrows, allowing Sgt. Kliber Salinas, a drill sergeant at the Leader’s Training Course, to pierce his fierce eyes through the next Cadet who makes a wrong move.

“Drill Sgt. Salinas has a very commanding, very strong leadership voice,” said Michael Thomas of the University of California-Davis, who is one of Salinas’s Cadets. “You can tell when he’s happy with what you’re doing and when he’s completely on the rocks about it.”

Drill sergeants have developed a reputation to be tough on Cadets but their goal is not to berate them as they might basic trainees. Their goal is to train them and set Cadets up to be leaders in the U.S. Army.

Though LTC is officer development, drills are vital to the training in building a foundation of Soldier skills. Drills are a fixture at the course, with about 20 per platoon.

Sunday, June 12, was only the beginning as Alpha Company Cadets arrived for LTC and were met with the deep, loud voices of drill sergeants.

“They seemed really rude and disrespectful, like we were nothing to them,” said Kenneth Pairmore of North Georgia College & State University. “I didn’t know what to expect, and it was pretty powerful and intimidating.”

The first day is when Cadets are yelled at the most, simulating basic training.

“I expected them to be like they were on Sunday the whole time, but they’ve actually had their times when they are like that, but they have their times when they’re very mentoring and they just talk to us and teach us,” Pairmore said. “That’s something I didn’t expect.”

Although the loud voice is a signature trait of drill sergeants, constant yelling isn’t the answer, Salinas said, who at 22 years old is the youngest drill sergeant at LTC.

“If you’re always yelling at a Cadet 100 percent of the time, they’re just going to shut down,” he said.

Much of the job of drill sergeants is to teach and train Cadets. That’s a mission that can be considerably rewarding.

“I like seeing them at the beginning, them coming in and not knowing how to do anything and then seeing the end result and seeing that they’re men or women now, as opposed to coming in as kids,” said Sgt. 1st Class Stephen Schmeichel, another drill sergeant at LTC. “They leave with some kind of real-life lessons that they can pass on, so they will be self-sufficient as opposed to needy.”

Part of that training is to prepare Cadets to become officers. Drills are the primary trainers during the Soldier First phase — the first three days — acclimating Cadets to the Army way of life. They teach them everything from how to wear the uniform to how to march and salute.

“They need to have that kind of motivation to get things done faster,” Salinas said. “They need to understand why they’re doing it.”

Drill sergeants, they say, need to have characteristics such as patience, compassion, maintain command presence and have natural leadership abilities to maintain their leadership role.
Salinas and Schmeichel both wanted to become drill sergeants and both knew early on in their careers.

“I always knew I wanted to wear the hat,” Schmeichel said, who has been one for almost four years. “The mere image of the drill sergeant is power-based.”

“I can never forget the image of my drill sergeants, the way they treated me, the way they taught me everything,” said Salinas,  who has been a drill sergeant for just under one year. “I always wanted to be a drill sergeant to make sure one day I passed on all my experiences and all that I learned on to somebody else.”

Although the first Cadets have been at LTC for a little more than a week, they already know the importance of the drill sergeant’s role.

“I think the first week of Soldier training and everything like that is the vital groundwork of what we’re trying to do,” Thomas said. “You can’t do tactical works, you can’t do anything in the Army without first knowing how to be a Soldier. They are the building blocks of what we have to do in our futures.”

“I think that without them, it would be hard to establish leadership and people would be harder to lead,” Pairmore said. “The way they cut you down, it shows you how to follow and then in turn it shows you how to lead later.”

The drill sergeants have influence over their Cadets from early on in training.

“I think they’ve taught me a lot, and they’re still teaching me,” Pairmore said. “They inspire me to put everything into what I’m doing and not hold back.”

Both Cadets respect their drill sergeants and look forward to learning from them. And the instruction is continuous.

At a recent morning PT session, Cadets were introduced to new exercises they didn’t know. Salinas was off on the side, showing his Cadets how to do them.

“You can tell he wants to help us through every step of the way,” Thomas said.

“He’s (Schemikel) not as loud as the rest of them,” Pairmore said. “He will talk to you with a normal voice and it makes me respect him a lot more. I don’t want to be wrong, I want to try harder to not have him disappointed.”

Although drill sergeants are able to joke with their Cadets, at the end of the day the hat still means business.

“They see you without the hat, and they are more relaxed,” Salinas said. “You open that door and you walk in with your hat, and it’s like they all go to attention really fast and they all freeze … the hat has power.”

Drill sergeants with Alpha Company, all of whom are Reservists, instruct Cadets through physical training Thursday. Photo by Dorothy Edwards/LTC PAO

By Caitlin VanOverberghe
Staff writer

For the first time in the Leader Training Course’s 46 years, Reserve drill sergeants, rather than active duty troops, are acclimating all Cadets to the life of a Soldier.

To fulfill requirements that drill sergeants must be used to train Cadets, for years LTC had relied on Fort Knox-based 1st Battalion, 46th Infantry, a basic training outfit. But with Base Realignment and Closure, the 1/46th uprooted after the close of last year’s course and settled in a new home at Fort Benning, Ga.

In anticipation of the battalion’s loss, course leaders had Reserve drills oversee training of the final two LTC cycles in 2010 with guidance from their active counterparts. It was as much a move to acclimate the new drills to the training regimen as much as it was to identify potential hiccups.

Cadets in all four companies in 2011 will be under the tutelage of drills from the 2nd Battalion, 485th Infantry of Orlando. There are 20 drills per company.

Maj. Mark Reed, chief planner for the Leader’s Training Course, said representatives with the 2/485th knew well in advance this summer’s mission and were able to visit the course last summer to learn about LTC and smooth the transition. Command Sgt. Maj. Luis Vila, the battalion’s top noncommissioned officer, was one of those who came to Knox to observe the 1/46th in action and oversee those final two companies.

“They got a flavor of LTC with the 1/46th Infantry drill sergeants still working with them, so that this year they weren’t just thrown into it,” Reed said.

After returning this year, the battalion went through a quick period of drill sergeant proficiency training, where they were reminded of their role as drill sergeants for the Leader’s Training Course. They also learned the ins and outs of training at Fort Knox and how to conduct that training safely.

While the transition will not affect the Cadets’ training, there are some differences in the way drill sergeants behave at LTC compared to basic training.

“The thing that makes LTC unique from what these drill sergeants are normally used to is that those companies operate somewhat independently,” Reed said. “But when you come to LTC, that structure changes. So there is a marriage of Cadet Command and drill sergeants, and they are brought together and ultimately speak with one training voice to the Cadets.”

To accomplish that training, drill sergeants tone down their behavior significantly compared to their behavior at basic training. The intent is to give Cadets a peek at the life of the Soldier and to decide whether they ultimately want to be part of the Army ROTC program – and a future Army leader.

“They volunteered to come here and try it out,” Reed said. “They’ll go back to their college campuses to make that choice. So there are intense periods, but it’s not like basic training – there is still an element of recruitment.”

Vila described teaching elements that exist at LTC that are not present in basic training. Since LTC exists as a 29-day program to catch up students who previously did not take ROTC classes at their schools, there are certain time constraints.

“In basic, the first two weeks are dedicated to converting a Soldier from a civilian to a military person,” Vila said. “Here, it’s an effort to show these Cadets what military life is all about and understanding that we do have values and discipline, but everyone is still treated professionally.”