There were supposed to be four phases to basic training, each with varying levels of freedom and responsibility. Red phase was the first and it involved having no freedom while the drill sergeants were as hard on the group as they could be. Our group spent the entirety of basic training, up to the day before graduation, in red phase.

On September 11, 2001, I walked into my ninth-grade algebra class just before 9:00 AM and found the class television playing footage of a building on fire. The sight was unexpected to say the least, but what was even more unexpected was the response from my teacher when I asked when the fire had started.