July 17, 1997 - Another Day, Another Inspection Prep

970717 - Nothing happened today. From morning chow to noon chow we prepared for tomorrow's series commander's inspection. Then we had drill for 2 hours and prepared for inspection until evening chow. Like I said, boring! 43 days left. One thing did happen; I finished reading Mark and started on Genesis.
Preparation for the Series Commander's Inspection was nearly identical to preparations for the previous, Senior Drill Instructor's Inspection with a couple of minor differences.

First, we had much less time to prepare. This is partly because our training schedule was moving more rapidly, what with swimming added to the normal classroom instruction. It's also partly because we didn't really need as much time to prepare for an inspection by this point. We had (slowly) gotten better at preparing our uniforms and the preparation for what to say to the Series Commander wasn't really necessary since it was the same as with the Senior Drill Instructors.

The other difference is that this time around, rather than having our rifles disassembled on the racks for the inspection, we would be standing with them. This meant that we would have to perform "inspection arms" when the Series Commander stood in front of us. Then, while asking his questions of us, he would look over our rifles. Our racks would contain other gear to be inspected, but I'll have more on that in tomorrow's post.

Some time before this day, I had actually met with the series commander, one on one. At some point in the training cycle, each recruit meets with the series commander. This is a chance for us to assure him that the Drill Instructors are treating us fairly and not abusing us. It is also a chance for the series commander to get to know his recruits, if only a little bit.

When I met with him, he asked me if I had any family in the military.

Me: Sir, yes sir. This recruit's name is Warren the third and both Warren Sr. and Jr. were in the military, Sir.
SC (series commander, not Santa Claus or Scott Calvin): Is that right? What branches were they in?
Me: Sir, this recruit's grandfather was in the Army infantry in the Pacific during World War II, and this recruit's father was in the 101st Airborne Division during Vietnam, Sir.
SC: Well, I guess each generation gets a little better than the last, then, huh?
Me: Sir, yes, Sir!

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