Among the first group of women to do basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.

I joined the Army in October of 1978 and was among the first group of women to do basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. We had three platoons of men and one platoon of women in our company.

My first thought when I arrived was, "What did I get myself into?"

The first moments I remember were three drill sergeants yelling at us that we had five minutes to get up three flights of stairs with everything we owned on our backs—out of the "cattle trucks," up the stairs and back down to our first formation. Soon to be soldiers, we were falling up and down the stairs in our haste to accomplish that mission.

We settled in and had many experiences I'll never forget: throwing a live grenade, firing a machine gun, using a grenade launcher, doing obstacle courses, the nightfire and qualifying on the rifle range. I remember being dubbed Annie Oakley after hitting 38 out of 40 targets, with my lovely black military glasses to help me see those pop-up targets. Who knew a non-rifle-toting gal could do so well with a M-16?

I also recall a female soldier losing her M-16 rifle during a hurried visit to the military version of an outhouse; we think accidentally knocked into the outhouse hole. I don't remember what the outcome of that was other than it caused a major delay of us getting back to our warm barracks.

Wondering from day to day if I would ever make it through this transformation, the 4 a.m. wake-ups, the inspections. Are those military corners on the bed sheet and blanket perfect? Are those uniforms in perfect position and all the the socks rolled right and everything in its place during locker inspection? Is everything in its proper place on my uniform and are my boots highly shined?

Well, somehow the rest of my comrades and I did make it through. I remember boarding the bus and heading on to the next leg of my military journey, advanced infantry training. Who knew what kind of adventures would be awaiting me there. Alas, I thought to myself if I could make it through basic training, I could make it through anything!

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