How to Win Over Your Drill Sergeant!

5 Things That Will Impress Your Drill Sergeants At Basic Training

Estimated read time: 1:20

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    Summary

    This video by Matt Ward walks recruits through five imperative steps to impress their drill sergeants at basic training. It emphasizes adopting a loud voice through "sounding off," demonstrating initiative and leadership by taking charge, making decisive yet unified decisions as a group, memorizing crucial army knowledge like the Soldier's Creed before arrival, and always moving with a purpose. These actions not only reflect motivation and teamwork but help trainees stand out positively, potentially securing leadership roles and preventing the notorious "smoking session" disciplinary actions.

      Highlights

      • Yelling 'Yes Drill Sergeant!' using your diaphragm shows your motivation and can save you from the wrath of the drill sergeants! 🎀
      • Moving with purpose reflects discipline and can boost your standing with the drill sergeants. No more casual strolls! πŸšΆβ€β™‚οΈ
      • Leading your platoon in PT and mental preparations can earn respect and set you up for leadership roles. πŸ‘¨β€βœˆοΈ
      • Always make a decision, even if it might be wrong, as indecisiveness is worse than being unified in a mistake. 🧠
      • Knowing the Soldier's Creed and key military knowledge sets you apart and is essential from Day 1. πŸ—£οΈ

      Key Takeaways

      • Show enthusiasm by yelling 'Yes Drill Sergeant!' as loudly as you can. Drill sergeants love it when you sound off! πŸ”Š
      • Power walk everywhere and always move with purpose to show you're motivated and serious. πŸƒβ€β™‚οΈ
      • Help your platoon improve their PT scores and learn their military knowledge to shine as a leader. πŸ’ͺ
      • Don't overthink it - make a decision, right or wrong, and own it. Better to be united in the wrong than divided with indecision! πŸ€”
      • Memorize the Soldier's Creed, General Orders, and other essential info before arriving. Knowledge is power! πŸ“š

      Overview

      Headed to basic training soon? Matt Ward's got your back with five surefire ways to impress those fierce drill sergeants. From 'sounding off' at the top of your lungs to making on-the-spot decisions, these tips will help you stand out as a motivated and disciplined recruit.

        The secret sauce lies in moving with intent and taking initiative. Help your fellow recruits in their physical training, memorize essential military knowledge before arriving, and you'll be the talk of the training camp - in a good way!

          Avoid the dreaded 'smoking sessions' by showing you are committed and prepared. Loudly yell when addressed, make decisions swiftly, and march with determination. Start memorizing that Soldier's Creed before you even step foot at the reception!

            Chapters

            • 00:00 - 01:00: Introduction This chapter introduces the concept of drill sergeants and how new recruits can impress them. The narrator acknowledges the nervousness that those about to leave for basic training feel, and provides an understanding of what experiences to expect with drill sergeants. It's intended to prepare recruits for the unique and possibly intimidating nature of interacting with drill sergeants in basic training.
            • 01:00 - 03:30: Sounding Off The chapter titled 'Sounding Off' discusses the intense and intimidating experience of dealing with drill sergeants. The narrator describes the fear and confusion recruits feel when drill sergeants yell and scream at them. The discussion focuses on tips to impress drill sergeants and avoid their wrath. The first tip mentioned is simple yet effective in keeping drill sergeants in a good mood.
            • 03:30 - 06:00: Move with Purpose The chapter 'Move with Purpose' emphasizes the importance of communication with conviction, especially in a military context. It highlights the practice of 'sounding off,' which involves responding loudly and clearly to a drill sergeant's commands or when leading a platoon. This practice ensures clarity, instills confidence, and reinforces the chain of command during exercises such as 'fall from the right column.'
            • 06:00 - 08:00: Take Charge This chapter emphasizes the importance of communication and assertiveness, using loud, clear, and confident expressions. The narrator advises the use of one's diaphragm instead of the throat to project the voice effectively. This technique, learned during basic military training, helps command attention and conveys authority, particularly when addressing figures of authority like drill sergeants. The essence is to use an affirmative tone in interactions to ensure clarity and assertiveness.
            • 08:00 - 11:00: Make a Decision In this chapter, the focus is on the importance of vocal intensity and enthusiasm, particularly in a military setting. It emphasizes how yelling the soldier's creed loudly can be seen as a sign of motivation and is closely observed by drill instructors. While there may not be direct rewards for this behavior, failure to exhibit such enthusiasm might lead to punitive measures, like additional physical training or 'smoking' by the drill instructors. The underlying lesson is about displaying motivation and commitment through vocal expressions, as perceived by authoritative figures.
            • 11:00 - 13:00: Know Basic Army Information The chapter provides insights into basic army information, focusing on the behavior and commands expected from soldiers during drills. Drill sergeants look for motivated soldiers who loudly and clearly repeat commands given by the platoon leader, such as "file from the right column." It is crucial for soldiers to yell commands to demonstrate motivation and ensure clarity in communication. Soldiers who fail to do so may attract negative attention from drill sergeants.

            5 Things That Will Impress Your Drill Sergeants At Basic Training Transcription

            • 00:00 - 00:30 today I'm gonna tell you guys about five things that will impress your drill sergeants what's going on guys so a lot of you are about to leave for basic training whether it's in the next couple of days weeks or months and you're gonna be encountering these strange creatures called drill sergeants right they're gonna be a type of person that you've never experienced before it's like it's gonna be really weird you're gonna see these
            • 00:30 - 01:00 things they're gonna have these drill sergeant caps on and you're gonna be terrified they're gonna be yelling they're gonna be screaming and you're not gonna know what to do you're gonna be like shell do this [Β __Β ] if you guys shall do whatever and it seems like everything you do is gonna piss them off right and so today I'm gonna talk about five things that are actually going to impress your drill sergeants that might actually put them in a good mood or might actually make them not smoke you the first thing I want to talk about is a simple one but it will do wonders with the drill sergeants and if you don't do
            • 01:00 - 01:30 this you might be getting yelled at by them on a pretty constant basis right the first thing is sounding off now what is sounding off it all it really is is yelling right it is yelling whenever a drill sergeant is talking to you and you have to reply yes drill sergeant don't just say yes drill sergeant yell yes drill sergeant when you're in command of your platoon if you happen to be the platoon leader if you're doing faul from the right column right if you're doing one of these different movements that
            • 01:30 - 02:00 you have to do don't just say things yell things like yell them as loud as you can and you maybe if your voice cracks or whatever yelled right below that point also you might want to learn how to use your diaphragm rather than your throat to yell that's something that I learned in basic training since I have to march everywhere but that's a side story use your loud voice your outside voice whenever a drill sergeant are talking to you they're actually in question of certain things like that you'll know the Crick snare you know if you're just talking to a drill sergeant you and your babble buddy and you're
            • 02:00 - 02:30 just inside or something don't just yell at them and they'll be like off guard you guys will figure it out but when you get to reception whenever especially you're in the platoon you're saying the soldier's creed if you're ever asked to say the soldier's creed make sure you yell it as loud as you can basically when you're saying it and these things are going to be things that the drill starts are going to look at you and they're not going to like reward you or anything but they will possibly smoke you if you don't yell they might smoke a little tune be like y'all aren't motivated because sounding off and yelling is kind of a sign of motivation
            • 02:30 - 03:00 right so these drill sergeants are looking for that be like hey this guy's motivated he's yelling if the platoon leader is saying file from the right column right the soldier who is in the first squad should yell call him right and then march right so if you're doing any of these commands you need to be yelling them and if a drill sergeant sees that he's gonna be like okay okay okay and if you don't do that if you just say things like your normal voice then drill sergeant might come over to
            • 03:00 - 03:30 you and start yelling at you so that's my first little tip the next tip is also a simple one but if you don't do it you might get in trouble and if you do do it the drill sergeants are gonna look at you again like hey this guy is motivated and that is move with the purpose and any time in the military you're gonna hear this term move with the purpose move with the purpose move is the purpose which is basically exactly what it sounds like move with the purpose like when you're walking somewhere don't just you know nonchalantly walking like you're just gonna go to the refrigerator to pick up some food or something like
            • 03:30 - 04:00 that anywhere you go anytime you're doing something move with the purpose you're pretty much gonna be power walking anywhere you go and then if your drill sergeant ever calls you and he says private so-and-so come here you want to first of all say coming drill sergeant and then run over to them if you start walking over to the drill sergeant whenever they call your name they're gonna start yelling at you you want to move with the purpose go over and talk to them if they actually do something move with the purpose to do whatever it is that you're going to be doing in
            • 04:00 - 04:30 basic training and that's gonna be one of those subtle little things that they're gonna pick up on that doesn't mean soldiers that do it and soldiers that don't do it it just can be one of those little things and especially for those of you guys who want to be the leaders at basic training if you can do these basic few tips and you can do them they're really simple but if you can do them it'll help you stand out a little bit more help you look more motive like you're more into things and they're more likely to you know pick you to be the platoon leader or the platoon sergeant assistant PT whatever if you
            • 04:30 - 05:00 want to do that the next thing that is going to impress artists is take charge and developing your platoon both physically and mentally right so this is something that I did myself and I know for a fact that it definitely impressed my drill sergeant it's not didn't you know saying anything myself it was just something that was just naturally doing helping my platoon and building other people up that's kind of what I do and it impressed the drill sergeants fourth shirt right but what I would do is every single night I would do PT with those in
            • 05:00 - 05:30 my platoon that needed to work on their PT that wanted to do PT with me because every night I would do push-ups and sit-ups in the first night it was just like me and my buddy and then after that some other people were like hey can I join and then I was like yeah sure you know come on and then eventually I was like you know if anybody's around I went around everybody like if you're failing an event and your PT test you should probably help work with us you should workout with us every night where we will work on our push-ups and our sit-ups and then eventually once we have
            • 05:30 - 06:00 the privilege to go run we will go on run right so my platoon out of the company went from being the worst platoon at PT to finishing off the basic training cycle being the best platoon at PT for the average PT test right so that was in part because every single night I helped out everybody try to improve their PT score and I just did wonders right and I remember one time drill sergeant came in I was like what the heck is going on and this other you know
            • 06:00 - 06:30 private or whatever basically explained it and he was just like oh okay and he really saw that as a good leadership quality that I had whenever I was trying to help improve everybody physically the other thing that you can do is for example when you have the red face test coming up which is a pretty simple test but there's gonna be certain things that you're gonna have to memorize like the chain of command you're gonna have to know your chain of command all the way from your company first sergeant your company commander all the way up to the commander and chief which would be Donald Trump right now so you're gonna have to know the chain of command all
            • 06:30 - 07:00 the way up until then and those are going to be some of the basic questions that you're gonna be answering me things like that that you're going to want to make sure that your platoon knows as a whole and then whenever it comes to the final test for the blue phase test which is basically an interview where you get all dressed up in your asu's your class B's and those going to be these higher-ups like first sergeant's you know master sergeants company like a whole bunch of really high up people will come around they're going to inspect your equipment
            • 07:00 - 07:30 and they're gonna ask you questions and these going to be pretty basic questions like what's a soldier's creed what's the General Order you know what who is your brigade command sergeant major they're gonna actually certain questions like that if you want to make sure that your soldiers angel platoon especially if you're the platoon leader or if you just want to help develop your platoon to be the best that they can be you want to make sure that they are mentally prepared and they know the things that they need to know and by whatever means necessary a drill sergeants gonna find
            • 07:30 - 08:00 out about it and they're gonna find out who the source of that knowledge the source of that that person who is starting this to helping everybody become physically fit to helping everybody know all the things that they need to know and they're gonna look at you and you know they're not going to be like all he's the suck-up or anything that it's not going to be like that but they will know that hey this guy is going to make a good soldier in his career one big thing that's going to help you guys out that trips up a lot of people in the military and that is tip
            • 08:00 - 08:30 number four make a decision no matter what the case may be make a decision it doesn't matter if the decision is the right decision or the wrong decision but you need to make a decision and have everybody go towards that common goal if possible because the basic training a lot of times drill sergeant is just going to say hey do this the bulletin leader is going to communicate that information over to the platoon and everybody's going to do it there's any other scenario sueΓ±os heart is gonna maybe ask you what to do or is gonna give you some vague rules writers and
            • 08:30 - 09:00 they tell you to do something but there's gonna be multiple different ways that you can do it and then maybe everybody in the platoon or you know a couple different people in soon are gonna have different ideas if you're the platoon leader you need to make the decision whatever that decision is and y'all need to all go for it if you're not double tuned leader you need to kind stress to everybody that it will be far more beneficial to you that making a decision whether it's the right decision or the wrong decision is better than
            • 09:00 - 09:30 people being on different pages people want to do different things and then you're going to be wasting a lot of time doing that because your drugs aren't you can tell you this you know when you get to basic training you will know exactly what I'm talking about they're going to tell you this probably no matter what because at some point or another you're gonna fail to make a decision at least fast enough and what they're going to tell you is it doesn't matter if it's the right decision or the wrong decision if you're confused about what uniform to wear the drills aren't you're gone and you have to like figure it out like what
            • 09:30 - 10:00 are we going to wear you're gonna pick some equipment you're gonna wear it you're gonna wear your Flik you know should we carry such-and-such thing on our Flik you don't know make a decision on what to put on there get everybody in the platoon to be in the proper uniform the same uniform going to the same place and if it's the wrong thing if you're all doing the wrong thing but if you're all doing the wrong thing together the drill sergeants are going to be more likely to just be like okay you did the wrong thing you should not have freaking done that that was really stupid but
            • 10:00 - 10:30 that is gonna be better than you all showing up in different uniforms or you're gonna be late because you couldn't make a decision and then the drill sorry that's gonna smoke you and he's gonna yell at you and is gonna lecture you on what the heck like what's going on and you're gonna be you know super tired so make a decision that is a huge huge thing in the military especially if you're in the leadership position make a decision the final tip I have for you guys before you get to basic training you can do this one and that is know the soldier's creed know
            • 10:30 - 11:00 your General Orders and know the army song if you can have those three things memorized then you'll be pretty good to go at the very beginning of basic training and even at reception because our reception that's going to be like that time where you have a little bit of leeway to memorize this but you know after the first date reception they're gonna go around they're going to start asking people what's the sort of creep what sort of creep what's the sort of treat they may not even let you go eat lunch at the D Factory dinner or whatever at reception until you save the
            • 11:00 - 11:30 soldier's creed correctly I could that could be a thing so if you can get to basic training or get to reception before your shift date if you can have those things memorized the army song your general orders and the soldiers Crete if you can have those things memorized then that is going to be kind of impressive to your drill sergeants they're not going to first of all you're not gonna have to worry about getting smoked or getting in trouble or getting yelled at because you don't know it and the drill sergeants assisted me a thing again in the back of my neck okay you know it's day one in basic training
            • 11:30 - 12:00 this guy already knows a soldier's creed that is you know good so if you have the self motivation the dedication or whatever to memorize those things before basic training I definitely recommend doing it so that's gonna be it for this video those are five things that you can do to impress your drill sergeants I hope you guys enjoyed it if you did you can't that like button that would be awesome if you wants to grab some more of my videos you get that subscribe button that would be even better if you do have any comments questions or concerns the comment section is down below you can also hit me up on Instagram and snapchat link is right
            • 12:00 - 12:30 there or the username was right there but anyways I hope you guys have a great day and I will see you guys later [Music]