April 24, 2022
April 24, 2022
Sgt. Phillips was my Drill Instructor at Fort Leonard Wood in 1970. He was a soldiers soldier. I believe he had won a competion for the best Drill Instructor in the Army. He was the kind of leader you would follow because he was a good man, not because he would force or coerce you to do something. He never used foul language. He was a gentleman. I remember he would take off his Drill Instructor Campaign Hat and show us his very close cropped hair and say: "Men, I need two haircuts!" I heard that he would get up very early in the morning and meticulously shine his boots before arriving at our barracks. He liked to have us acknowledge when he told us what to do, and wanted us to respond with "CHECK-O" to affirm we got his orders. Everybody in the barracks referred to him as Sargent "Checko". A great man.