The Board

Alpha Company is made up of four Platoons: Nightbreed, Death Row, Wolverines, and of course my platoon, the Undertakers. Each platoon is led by it's own Drill Sergeant team. Drill Sergeants are selected from the top 10% of Army NCO's. As such, they are very competitive.

One event is very important to them: the Leader of the Cycle Award. Each platoon's senior Drill Sergeant selects one soldier to represent the Platoon, and sends that soldier to a Leadership Board. That Board consists if the First Sergeant (the most senior NCO in the Company) and the four senior DS's (one from each Platoon).

I was the soldier selected to represent the Undertakers.

The Board is a formal process. The soldier reports to the President of the Board (in this case the First Sergeant). Then drill movements are presented (left face, right face, about face, rightstep march, and so on). After that, each Board member asks the soldier two questions pertaining to things we have learned at Basic Training. The Drill Sergeants from other Platoons try to trip you up and test your confidence. For example, after giving a correct answer they will give you a stern, disapproving look and ask if you're serious about your answer. Stick to your guns. That's what they want to see.

Two of the other soldiers weren't really competitors. They only started seriously studying the day before the Board. My Drill Sergeant gave me a week's warning, and I had been studying throughout the entire Basic Training course anyhow. One other soldier, however, was outstanding competition. He is focused on getting into Special Forces (through a program known as the Q-course), and comes from a long line of soldiers. He was good, but not good enough. I won the competition, earning the Leader of the Cycle distinction.