From Green Berets to the S-1 clerk and everyone in between, every soldier has something in common with each other: they’ve all started their military careers at the U.S. Army’s Basic Combat Training.

Airman 1st Class Edren Jash Pena wore a big smile after graduating from Air Force basic training on Wednesday. He'd endured 7½ weeks of early morning wakeups, physical conditioning on the drill pad ...