Harmony Church Fort Benning B-9-2 1984

I guess I've been thinking a lot about the Army now that my son is just weeks away from going off to West Point. He'll have a cadet basic training, a seven week period of intense Hades, I'm sure. At least they get to spend some time in the barracks. I don't know what all else they do... the Beast stuff... I still don't understand it all.

I was telling him about the barracks I did basic training at in Fort Benning, Georgia. They are gone now, finally giving way to the wreckers as they prepare Harmony Church for the Armored center. What's up with all this Maneuver Center stuff combining Armor and Infantry at Fort Benning anyway?

Harmony Church in 1984 sucked. I was 17, didn't know a thing about what was going on. I remember the reception station, the shots... my brother was on Reserve Duty when I showed up and he came to see how I was doing. That was before I got sent out to the unit. I was in B-9-2, the "Bravo Rangers." My platoon got there early for some reason so we spent about two weeks painting everything. Finally the rest of the company showed up and it began.

I was oblivious to what was happening. I think back on it, and I realize that I was in a fog. I didn't have any vision for my life. I had no purpose. I was there because of my mother and I had nothing to look forward to. There's so much I remember about that time though... I remember the overhead ladder that was mandatory to get into the chow hall. I remember being on KP once and passing out the "end of the loaf" and refusing to trade it for a regular piece when a trainee complained. I was standing in the chow line one time and I saw Sergeant Flowers. He looked different than most of the drill sergeants and I was staring at him as he was sitting at a table. I remember he said "Who are you looking at?" and I looked away. Sergeant Williams was the other drill sergeant for my company. He hated me. He called me names, he called me fat, he classed me in with Private Hall... I was the second most despised person in my platoon. It was hell. I was weak (I couldn't do pushups and the overhead ladder was always a challenge. sometimes I couldn't do it, other times I could, but I'd have to bring my trailing hand forward before moving to the next rung. I never could walk my hands through it.

The barracks were from WWII and they showed it. The toilets were separate from a shower room that were off to the right of the stairs. We never could get the floors shiny enough and we got kicked out of the barracks for not keeping it clean enough. We camped behind company headquarters from half of training. We had to have fire guards in the "camp" and fireguards in the barracks. We had round the clock cleaning teams... oh, it was bad.

The toilets had no stalls. I mean it. There were about six crappers out in the middle of a square room. I think the room may have had some washers and dryers in it too. Yes, I think so. Everyone sat on the toilets with their pants down and their hands screening their genital area. How horrible.

I was looking for photos of Harmony Church that I had found online years ago... I couldn't find them. There is a Harmony Church Facebook page that has some photos that sample the feel of what it was like back then.

Like every other time of my life, I had no friends. I had only a couple casual acquaintances that sometimes I could hang with, but I made no lasting friends and no one really liked me. In fact, I was mocked when I couldn't finish the runs, and I was ridiculed for the way I looked. I didn't know how to relate, and I had no perspective on life.

I remember too, the blisters I got on my feet because my boots were too big. It was horrible.