Photo Essay — Day one of BCT with 434 FA

Photo By Monica Wood | First-day trainees with Fort Sill’s 1-31st FA Battalion run across the track with their drill sergeant demonstrating the First 100 Yards training. The training focuses on teamwork as trainees work together from the start to accomplish objectives like racing as part of the team to tag the next team and stay together. Some step out of their shell and become a self-appointed leader, while others are physically challenged in ways unfamiliar to them. The additional value is that the drill sergeants are involved in the physical movements which enables the trainees to understand that they are more than just drill sergeants, they are also Soldiers. This comes in handy when drill sergeants are doing more duties during the cycle such as removing their DS hats and having discussions about the Army with trainees.  

FORT SILL, OKLAHOMA, UNITED STATES

05.30.2023

Story by Monica Wood 

Fort Sill Public Affairs

FORT SILL, Okla. (May 30, 2023) — Take a look inside Day 1 of Basic Combat Training with the 434th Field Artillery Brigade at Fort Sill.

First day trainees with the 1st Battalion, 31st Field Artillery, 434th Brigade, got a lesson in teamwork with the First 100 Yards.

“The First 100 was the transition from the shark attack as we identified that the Army needed to transition toward a more teamwork-based focus, rather than the original mentality of breaking them down to build them back up,” said Capt. Alexander Crosby, Battalion S3, 1-31st FA Battalion.

“The First 100 immediately gets after this teamwork as trainees have to work together from the start to accomplish objectives like moving equipment from one location to the other,” he said. “Some step out of their shell and become a self-appointed leader, while others are physically challenged in ways unfamiliar to them.”

Trainees do a series of teambuilding events such as moving equipment from one end of the track together as a team. Then they perform the physical events of the Army Combat Fitness Test as a team, doing such movements as dragging a sled and carrying equipment.

• Date Taken: 05.30.2023
• Date Posted: 05.30.2023 13:54
• Story ID: 445773
• Location: FORT SILL, OKLAHOMA, US