Basic Training, Pandemic-Style

Born in Grafton, Wisconsin, Sam Bulgrin, 19, studies criminal justice at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. He enlisted in the Wisconsin Army National Guard in December of 2020. In the first few months of quarantine, Sam went to basic training at Fort Jackson in South Carolina.

Q-Sonnet Bayer: What was your first reaction to COVID-19?

A-Sam Bulgrin: I thought it was a joke. I thought it was something made up to get everyone hyped up for some reason. I didn’t believe it at first, but obviously that’s not the case now because it’s been over a year, so clearly my thoughts have changed.

Q: What was your reaction when UW-Platteville sent you home?

A: I was surprised at first. I was happy to get an extra week of spring break.

Q: Were you nervous about starting online classes?

A: A little bit because I have never done online classes like that before, and I hated it. I didn’t hardly do it.

Q: Do you like it now?

A: I’ve been forced into it. I would much rather be in a classroom interacting with other people.

Q: Has your life changed a lot since the pandemic?

A: Not really, but I’ve been gone for most of it. That was a whole other experience.

Q: When did you enlist in the Wisconsin Army National Guard and why?

A: I enlisted on December 12^th, 2020 to be a wheel vehicle mechanic. I live my life with the purpose of helping others and I take great pride in my country, state and community. I joined to serve others that are less fortunate than me and are unable to serve themselves.

Q: Did the pandemic hinder you from enlisting?

A: It did not because the pandemic wasn’t around when I enlisted, but hypothetically if the pandemic was around by the time I enlisted, I think I would still enlist.

Q: Are you glad you left at the time you did?

A: I am 100% thankful that I was gone during a pandemic, strictly based on the fact that I did not miss much at home. I did not miss many family events and experiences, but I did miss out on other aspects that I wish I did not miss out on.

Q: What was basic training like in a pandemic?

A: Basic training is broken down into three phases: red, white and blue. Because of COVID-19 we had a phase added. It was a quarantine phase where we were isolated in our platoon gender. During those two weeks we couldn’t do anything hands on. It was probably the most difficult thing I’ve ever done in my life. It was mentally draining. You would sit there all day, so all you had to do is just think about how you were on your own. It doesn’t feel real and then you’re sitting there for two weeks and you realize that you’re on your own and that you’re really doing it. I was a little depressed during that time, but it was something that we had to do.

Q: Did you have to wear a mask?

A: We had to wear a mask anytime outside of the bay. It got less strict towards the end. During physical training and field events we didn’t wear a mask.

Q: Did you have COVID-19 tests?

A: I got tested twice, before I got there and before I left. We got our temperatures taken twice a day for the 10 weeks.

Q: Do you think COVID-19 increased your level of homesickness?

A: COVID-19 made my homesickness less because we got our phone more to contact our family. I had a 15 to 30 minute phone five weekends in a row.

Q: What would happen if someone found out their family member had COVID-19?

A: You have letters and phone calls to figure that out and there’s the Red Cross hotline. Someone at home would send the message to Red Cross and they would contact the chain of command. It’s an instant notification instead of having to wait through letters or a phone call.

Q: What would have been your reaction if someone you knew had COVID-19?

A: It would have been difficult. It’s not like I could have been there, but basic training is built on being mentally tough and mentally strong and you want to focus on what’s at hand and what’s going on and you think about being successful and outside things hinder that. That `would have definitely made everything more difficult on top of the stress and anxiety that comes with being put in a situation like that.

Q: Do you think basic training helped you to stay strong through the pandemic?

A: I have always seen myself as a mentally tough person to begin with. I don’t see myself getting as stressed as some of my fellow peers. I have things that I have done to mentally cope, and I have my own coping methods, but at basic training I didn’t have any of those methods. Basic training helped me to develop different ways to deal with mentally tough challenges and situations like a pandemic. It made me more tough because it taught me how to do things at a different angle.

Q: What have you learned at basic training?

A: Everyone thinks we had an easier experience, but I didn’t see it that way. At the patching ceremony you earn a U.S. Army patch and you become an official soldier. I 100% believe that I really earned it. I think that the title of a soldier, which is something that is near and dear to my heart and to other’s hearts and is a big accomplishment was honestly kind of handed to me. It sucks. I’m a soldier with an asterisk next to it. I didn’t do everything I was supposed to do. I didn’t have a true basic training experience because of COVID-19. The common person sees it as nice that I didn’t do that because it was a more enjoyable experience. It’s like going to an amusement park and you’re expecting it to be a certain way and you get there and the one ride you wanted to go on is closed. Was it still worth going and doing it? Yes? Maybe depending how you look at it. Was it still worth the ten weeks? For me kind of. If you had the opportunity to go back and do it again with all the rides open where I could do everything I hoped and wanted to do? Yeah, I would do it again. I would wipe my slate clean and go back and do the ten weeks and I would do all the things I was supposed to do to earn the title of soldier and feel deep down that that I deserved it, because I don’t feel that I deserved it at all.