Conversion from civilian to soldier is a process that changes who you are and determines the trajectory of the rest of your life. Eric Wasileski’s poem “Soldierization” realistically and imaginatively captures this process in its truest form. To read more about Eric Wasileski see below the poem.

Soldierization

Stepping off the air-conditioned bus at
Ft Benning was jarring, as summer heat
and humidity was oppressive even
at night. We spent a few days just doing
nothing. We were issued our gear, only

one choice, boxers or briefs: everything else
was the exact same, got our heads shaved
then walked through an inoculation.

The line for shots was strange, we rolled up
our sleeves and walked through a room
as the medical personnel used shot
injectors, like air guns. They placed
them on our shoulders and we received
about ten shots in two minutes. One guy
fell down and started doing the “floppy
chicken” on the floor, he was “allergic
to something” they told us. They then gave him
every injection again to see what

it was. We never saw that guy again.

A couple of days of waiting then we
went to our training grounds, known as Sand Hill.
Our first few days were a blur of pushups
running, being yelled at, and insulted.
Not much sleep, lots of chaos and sheer fright.
After a few days we started taking
classes, learning things like enfilade and
defilade. One unofficial motto was
“If you ain’t cheating, you ain’t trying!”
We settled into soldierization
going from civilian to soldier.
 
Bio

Eric Wasileski (M.Div) is a Persian Gulf Veteran of Operation Desert Fox (98) and of Europe in Yugoslavia, Operation Joint Endeavour (96).Eric enlisted in the Army National Guard (11B) and later joined the Navy (advanced electronics Aegis, FC 1143).
He was in the military for over 8 years and has an honorable discharge. He is an active Quaker and also works in UU and Buddhist settings. He’s a lifetime member of VFP, a Warrior Writers facilitator and has published his own work in several genres. He is Chaplin of VFW chapter 8503 and former
VSO for local DAV.