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 Leonard Wood! This week, they face the ultimate test in Army Engineer 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! Hooah!
The Forge
The “Forge” is a grueling, 96-hour, cumulative training exercise that puts 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 tactical decisions will be made by the platoon leaders and squad leaders. 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 the trainees, 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 and battle drills, as well as hand-to-hand combat with pugil sticks – all while running on minimal sleep, while lugging lots of heavy equipment. Overall, this test is something that 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.
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.
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.
Letters From Home = Morale
This week is one of the most significant weeks of Army Engineer OSUT. 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, be sure to congratulate them on everything they have achieved. They will be happy to hear from you.
Although Sandboxx letters arrive the next day with return stationery, a pre-addressed envelope, photos, and a gift card feature, don’t feel like you have to use Sandboxx to send letters. We encourage handwritten letters and cards – these are super important.
The Making of Your Soldier
Stay tuned for more insights into Week Ten and beyond. Follow us on social media for the latest updates, letter ideas, and more.
That’s a brief look at the intense but rewarding journey your Trainee is on. Let’s keep supporting them every step of the way!
You can always find me via chat in the Sandboxx app or happiness@sandboxx.us — just ask for Kris, and myself or another teammate will get back to you as soon as we can.
Hooah!
SGM Kris Broadus, U.S. Army (Ret)