From drill sergeant to comrade

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class David Chapman | Sgt. 1st Class Joe Lane, 3rd Corps Support Command, Headquarters and Headquarters Company maintenace section noncommissioned officer in charge. Lane was a former drill sergeant now working at Logistical Support Area Anaconda who met 26 of his former Soldiers during Operation Iraqi Freedom 06-07.  

IRAQ

06.16.2006

Courtesy Story

3rd Corps Support Command

Every Soldier in the U.S. Army has made the journey through Basic Combat and Advanced Individual Training, and has had a drill sergeant that they will remember for the rest of their life.

Good or bad, these NCOs guide Soldiers through their introduction to the Army.

Sgt. 1st Class Joe Lane, of the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3rd Corps Support Command, command maintenance section, now works alongside the Soldiers that he helped nurture at the start of their career.

Lane served as an AIT drill sergeant at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. For three of his 18 years in the Army, he enjoyed the time that he was able to spend with his Soldiers.

Now, downrange at Logistical Support Area Anaconda, Lane is getting to see Soldiers apply the skills he taught them in BCT and AIT.

"I have seen about 26 of them, and that's not all of them yet," said Lane. "It's fantastic. They will come up to me and remind me of all the things I use to do as a drill sergeant. They always tell me what's going on in their life now."

Lane has had Soldiers approach him in a variety of places at LSA Anaconda. He remembered some Soldiers, but others were leery to approach him.

"I was in the chow hall and heard someone yell "Superman," which was my call sign as a drill sergeant. I turned around and it was one of my guys," Lane said.

"Some are hesitant to come up to me, because there is that fear and respect thing, they still go to parade rest and ask me what I'm doing."

For Lane, the unexpected reunions are anything but a nuisance.
"I love seeing my Soldiers, it makes my day " they are mine," said Lane. "A lot of times it is not even guys in my platoon, they were just in the company."

Spc. Robert Clark, a technical engineer specialist with the 84th Engineer Combat Battalion (Heavy), passed through the same company as Lane in 2004 as a student.

"I remember that he really knew what to do and he had a lot of confidence," said Clark. "He was a little intimidating, but caring. And he didn't need to do a lot of yelling like the other drill sergeants, but he still got his point across."

In light of all these reunions, Lane has one regret.
"I wish I had written down all the names of the Soldiers I had seen so far, so that I could keep track," Lane said. "But I never thought I would see so many of them."

Now that Lane is sharing the same combat area with his former Soldiers, his expectations of them have not changed.
"I want them to do their job, get back home safely and train other Soldiers," Lane said. "They are going to be the leaders of tomorrow's Army, I hope they can take what they learned from me and incorporate it into their training style."

• Date Taken: 06.16.2006
• Date Posted: 06.16.2006 09:23
• Story ID: 6827
• Location: IQ