COLUMBIA, S.C. — The sights and sounds of celebration filled the grounds of Fort Jackson early Thursday morning as 707 soldiers graduated, with students from 49 states, 3 territories, and 13 countries.
For all the families it was a moment to be proud of their loved ones, but for the Husted family, it was all of that and then some, as their son's graduation continues their legacy in the military.
Chantz Husted's completion of the program makes for three generations of a family training at Fort Jackson.
"My father, who was in the military back in the 1970s, he actually graduated basic training from here and then he served in the Texas National Guard," Col. Robin Husted said. "Then after that, my husband and I were both here as AG officers, as lieutenants, and we came back as captain, and we did our captain's career course at that time."
"I used to be a commander here, and 20 years ago I was doing this with my soldiers, and I never imagined I'd be standing here in the stands watching him do it," Lt. Col. Patrick Husted said. "So, I never thought I'd be here to see him do this. We never pushed him, but I think he recognized 'Hey, it's something I have to do.' He came to us and said he was going to join the Army, and we're like, 'Yes!'"
After Chantz went to basic training at Fort Jackson for what was a long and challenging 10 weeks, but he pushed through.
"There were some really easy parts, and there were some really hard parts," PFC. Chantz Husted said. "Waking up in the morning, that's the easy part. Getting through the day til' the end, that's the hard part. Just knowing that you have the days left, counting down on the calendar til this day, that's the hardest. Seeing your family at the end, that's really everything."
"I'm also amazingly happy, kind of in shock, because I never thought I'd get this far," PFC. Chantz Husted added. "Sometimes I wanted to quit but, you know, I pushed on and here I am."
As for what's next, Husted plans to go into Advanced Individual Training to work on Black Hawk helicopters.