Ysabella Radecki has had an interest in the army for as long as she can remember. She signed herself to the National Guard as soon as she was eligible at 16. Once she graduated from Waterford High School in 2024, she wasted no time and immediately went into Advanced Individual Training (AIT) and Basic Training.
AIT, aka Advanced Individual Training, is to teach the recruits their job specific skills to perform their tasks. Basic training is the initial training the recruit will get, and while the recruit is there, they learn the basic skills required to become a soldier.
There is various training the upcoming soldiers have to endure such as the confidence course, the rappel tower, long range days, field training, and a live hand grenade practice.
Radecki was gone for two and a half months at basic training. The hardest thing she had to go through was “getting out of [her] comfort zone and achieving what [she] wanted for years.” Those two and a half months helped her grow not only as a soldier, but as a daughter, sister, and friend: “I gained more confidence and got to experience something entirely new” she says.
Working as a team with a lot of new people was also very challenging for her: “We had to run a lot of laps and do a lot of pushups and V-Ups.”
While the physical exhaustion was draining, being away from her family for an extended period of time was equally as challenging: “Prior to shipping out, I was never away from home, and if I was, I knew at least one person there. Going into a new atmosphere knowing nobody was definitely challenging but so worth it.”
Ysabella has never been away from her family for as long as she was when she was in Basic Training and AIT. She said it was a lot of hard work, mentally challenging, and worth it.
Among the many lessons she learned during Basic and AIT, one of the most important was the value of self-advocacy and resilience: “You are the only person that knows what you need. If you don’t stand up for yourself, you won’t get anything done.”
In addition to that, Radecki stated that there were multiple times that she was uncomfortable doing something, but at the end of the day, pushing through those situations helped shape her into a stronger, more capable soldier.
Radecki said, “It ultimately made me a better soldier.” While she looks back on the experience as one of the most fun and fulfilling periods of her life, she does admit that she would never want to experience it again.
Today, Ysabella Radecki holds the rank of Private First Class (PFC), formally recognized as PSC E3.
Ysabella Radecki’s formal official title is Private Radecki, representing her hard work and dedication to serving her country.
