By:  Chloe Ritchey

On December 19, 2019, Celeste Snyder and Scott Hamilton came to Tussey Mountain High School to help recruit for the Army. Both Snyder and Hamilton graduated from Tussey in 2019. They both just graduated in Dec. 2019 from basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. 

In basic training everything from making their beds to eating their meals is regulated. When soldiers make their beds, it has to be to a certain standard. When they are eating meals, “You have to sit at attention, you can’t lean over your plate. You have to bring your food to your mouth, your heels have to be together,” said Snyder. They are held at a high standard to teach them discipline. “If you can’t be trusted to eat with your heels together, like a simple task, how are you going to be trusted to protect your battle buddy next to you when you are being shot at?” Snyder explained. 

There are varying opinions about what the hardest part of basic training was. According to Snyder, “Arriving on base and being processed as a new soldier” was the hardest part; however, Hamilton thought that “making friends that you’ll never see again” was the most difficult challenge.

Hamilton and Snyder also had parts that they liked best about basic training. Snyder enjoyed live hand grenade training the most.  While away at basic training, they had to wait weeks until they were able to speak to their family. Snyder coped by staying busy and Hamilton wrote letters. 

After basic training, they both went to train even further. Hamilton went to Fort Leonard Wood “because it’s home to the engineers.” Snyder went to Fort Huahuca, Arizona to investigate the intelligence field. 

Hamilton and Snyder had varying reasons for coming back to Tussey to recruit. Hamilton came back because it “seemed like a good idea.” Snyder “was given the opportunity while I’m on leave from my current training,” and she could possibly get a promotion in rank. They both felt relatively the same about recruiting, “[I feel good about recruiting because] Uncle Sam always needs more souls to fill the boots,” said Hamilton.

Both Snyder and Hamilton had reasons for joining the army. Snyder joined because “ I wanted to be a part of something bigger than myself.” Hamilton comes from an army family; that’s why he joined. After joining Snyder now feels as though she has “a new home in the Army.”