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TO BECOME A DRILL SERGEANT, YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO BE "SQUARED AWAY"

A spot in Drill Sergeant School. It's one of the highest honors the U.S. Army can bestow a Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO). Only the most qualified NCOs are chosen to attend Drill Sergeant School, where they are trained to fulfill a role of utmost importance—the role of a Drill Sergeant. After all, Drill Sergeants teach new recruits every aspect of Basic Combat Training—which means they have the great responsibility of shaping recruits into the best Soldiers in the world.

NCOs who attend Drill Sergeant School are called Drill Sergeant Candidates. Their training is strenuous. The School's curriculum mimics Basic Combat Training, week for week, because Candidates must be experts in all facets of BCT to begin training recruits. They receive top-notch training from their Drill Sergeant Instructors because they'll soon be expected to deliver great training.

For many Candidates, becoming a Drill Sergeant is a "military dream." It means they have proven themselves again and again—so much so that they're entrusted with training new recruits. They know that when they receive their Drill Sergeant hat, they'll have the ultimate job—being a role model—and they take it very seriously.

Earning the Drill Sergeant's hat is not easy. When NCOs are tapped to attend Drill Sergeant School, they know they'll have to be able to teach new recruits the proper way to do absolutely everything in the Army—from making a bed, to wearing a uniform, to firing a rifle. They will have to become the best, because U.S. Army recruits deserve to learn from the best. In the end, Drill Sergeants are instantly recognizable. Not only because of their unique hat, but also because of the way they speak with authority and carry themselves with utmost pride.

Training at this school is not MOS dependent. You can volunteer or be selected for Drill Sergeant School—only the most qualified from this group are chosen.

There are no related civilian jobs with this type of training, but you will gain confidence, leadership skills and a sense of pride.

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	SSG Christina Bhatti: The more I've worked with the Soldiers, it's made me realize that being a Drill Sergeant is a good thing—it's the most important job the Army can bestow on an NCO.
	SSG Michael Baliles: I would say the Non-Commissioned Officers wants to be a Drill Sergeant, because it is very rewarding. On day one, you're get maybe 250 civilians from off the street, from all over the United States of America and other countries as well. And in nine weeks, they're going to train them into a Soldier in the United States Army.
	SFC Donella Black: As the Candidates come in, we see a large transformation. First the come in as NCOs, and you think they're sharp NCOs. They're really squared away, and then you put this, and then you put this task on them of training civilians to be Soldiers, and they're in a different arena. They have to adjust their teaching styles, their training methods.
	Watching that transformation is like watching a light come on in their head. As soon as they realize how to motivate a Soldier as opposed to how to motivate a civilian to a Soldier, it's different. As soon as you see that light click on, they get so proud, and they just know that nothing is going to stop them.
	SSG Christina Bhatti: For me personally, the responsibility hit me just recently when we went to Victory Forge, because we were so hands-on, and we were really allowed to interact with the Soldiers. It brought to light what I'm really going to be doing in a couple weeks. And just seeing the Soldiers understanding why there doing something and how they're supposed to do it, it's a really rewarding feeling, and it's great to know that I'm going to be a part of that.
	SSG Michael Baliles: As Non-Commissioned Officers, we train Soldiers every day out in our own units, but the building blocks are already there, so it's not as difficult. Here you're going to train a Soldier everything. Everything that Soldier needs to know, you're going to be the first one to give it to him, to show him what the Army is really about. I believe this is going to be the most rewarding time for training Soldiers.
	SFC Shawn Willis: I think that sense of responsibility for me was not as great of an impact as it was for some of my peers, because I had a sense of accomplishment the whole time, but in a different light this time. Now, you're really on display as a Drill Sergeant. As they say with anything, with awesome power comes awesome responsibility—and that hat does give you a lot of power, but it's a responsibility to train the Soldiers, so I'm ready for that.