Hooah!! Welcome back for your Week Nine update. This is it—the moment your Trainee has been building toward since the day they arrived at Fort Benning! This week, they face the ultimate test in OSUT: The Forge! The Forge is a legendary 96-hour Field Training Exercise (FTX) that challenges everything they have learned—physically, mentally, and emotionally. It’s where all the skills, discipline, and toughness they’ve developed are put into action under the most demanding conditions yet. This grueling event is a true rite of passage, and by the end of it, your Trainee will not just feel like a Soldier—they will be one.
Week Nine Expectations: Blue Phase
Week Nine kicks off with full intensity as Trainees head into the field for four straight days of tactical missions, road marches, simulated combat, and survival challenges. Don’t worry if you don’t hear from your Trainee much this week—they’ll be fully immersed in their final test. The Forge is designed to push them beyond their limits and forge the resilience, grit, and teamwork needed to succeed in the Army. When they return, exhausted but victorious, there’s nothing more powerful than reading letters of encouragement from home. Your support will mean the world as they recover, reflect, and prepare for the proud moment that’s just around the corner—graduation!
The Forge
The “Forge” is a grueling, 96-hour, cumulative training exercise that puts week-nine trainees in a patrol base as they encounter a multitude of combat and logistical scenarios. It emphasizes battle drills, tactical operations, and numerous foot patrols. Your trainee will walk close to 30 miles throughout the Forge.
During the Forge, mental and physical abilities are tested to their limits. They are evaluated on everything they’ve learned in the prior eight weeks of training, from basic first aid to security and reconnaissance patrols. The drill sergeants will advise the trainees, but the platoon and squad leaders will make tactical decisions. While each exercise differs in scenarios, all Basic Combat Training programs include an FTX. They will complete the Night Infiltration Course and a Battle March and Shoot.
The Drill Sergeants (DS) make the experience as realistic as possible by providing the trainees with intelligence reports and throwing sporadic enemy contact at them, so they have to figure out how to secure the local area and their base from the threat. By the end of the Forge, your trainee will have completed 44 tasks, battle drills, and hand-to-hand combat with pugil sticks – all while running on minimal sleep and lugging lots of heavy equipment. This test will test your trainee physically, mentally, and emotionally. At the end of the FTX, trainees will conduct a 10-mile road march and return to garrison as soldiers after a short, informal field ceremony marking the culmination of their transition – The Soldier Ceremony.
Your trainee will also receive training on Improvised Explosive Device (IED) Defeat and Forward Operating Base (FOB) and Control Point (CP) operations. Each time they move out to a training site, they are in a full battle rattle, conducting tactical foot marches – learning to tie all their training together. Once your trainee is done with their time at the Forge, they’ll return to base with the rest of their platoon and will have some enhancement time for physical and psychological strength building.
Letters From Home = Morale
Your words matter. Letters from home are fuel for the fight—they lift spirits, inspire grit, and remind your Trainee they are never alone. This week is one of the most significant weeks of Army Basic Combat Training. They have put everything they have learned to the test. They have earned the right to be called a U.S. Army Soldier.
In your Letter to them, congratulate them on everything they have achieved. They will be happy to hear from you. Don’t forget to add Reply Postage to your Letter to make writing back easy for your Soldier.
Sandboxx makes letter writing easy—with next-day delivery, return stationery, pre-addressed envelopes, photos, and even gift card options. But whether you use Sandboxx or send a handwritten card, your support means everything. Every letter is a lifeline.
The Making of Your Soldier
The journey is just beginning, and the road ahead will be tough—but your Trainee is rising to the challenge. Next week, they’ll is another exciting event before you are reunited at the Turning Green Ceremony, they will take on the Confidence Rappel Tower.
In the meantime, follow us on Instagram and Facebook for inspiration, contests, and encouragement for your Soldier-in-the-making. And if you ever need anything, reach out to me through the Sandboxx app or email us at happiness@sandboxx.us—just ask for Kris, and I’ll be there.
We’re honored to be part of your family’s journey. Let’s keep the fire burning.
Hooah!
SGM Kris Broadus, U.S. Army (Ret)