US Army

FORT JACKSON Staff Sgt. Eric Hulien’s work on Wednesday began at 3 a.m., when he completed PT (calisthenics) and a brisk 5-mile run. Then came 15 stations where the Monmouth, Ill., native was graded on such things as reciting long sections of the Army training manual, inspecting a recruit’s uniform, and teaching a combat squad how to clear the enemy from a room. After that, he conducted a first aid exercise — complete with all the special effects of a Hollywood war movie — that recreated a grisly bomb explosion in a Middle Eastern market.