LTC memory: DS Rhine-Russell

We had four drill sergeants (DS) assigned to each platoon during LTC, and one in particular stood out today when I decided to write. DS Rhine-Russell was the only female DS in our platoon. I think that is why she was also the toughest DS we had. She would come in with an apathetic attitude in the morning, chewing gum, and looking like she woke up on the wrong side of the bed. She wasn't that tall either, so that physical appearance would fool someone into thinking she wasn't going to be hard.

I remember she was always there for a smoking session. A smoking session is when the privates/cadets messed up something and is decided that physical punishment is needed. It varies from the smoker to smoker: it could be pushups, mountain climbers, overhead arm claps, flutter kicks, side straddle hops, etc.
Her favorite lines to say during the smoking sessions was, "Wah wah wah, want to go home; want my milk and cookies."

A fellow cadet of mine said Rhine-Russell instead of DS Rhine-Russell in one of his conversations and she was actually walking by. She overheard it, and as punishment she made him write a five page essay on some random Army value. That was a horrible punishment considering we only had five hours of sleep a night.

It's always funny when you look back on it, but at that time it sucked a lot.

DS Rhine-Russell was in charge of the female barracks, and she was extremely picky on how neat it had to be. She told them later that she was hard on them because they are a minority in the army. Women have it a lot tougher, so they have to set their own standards higher than the rest. I thought that was a pretty good philosophy to teach by.

Just when we all thought she hated us, DS Rhine-Russell actually told the girls that she was proud of them. I don't know if it was part of her job to tell them that, but I would like to believe she meant it. I'm sure they'd like to believe it too.

During our FTX, the DS were very laid-back and had fun with the cadets. Even DS Rhine-Russell had some fun. Of course, by fun, it was at some cadets' expense.