For the last several months, CNN has followed the path of a young man from his small town to his coming of age in the U.S. military. Today, in the sixth part of a soldier's story, we check in at a very pivotal point of his young military career, a weigh station that could well lead to war.
CNN's Jason Carroll joining us now with a closer look. I mean, we don't often get chances to follow somebody for such a long period of time. Have you watched him grow up?
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I have. I've watched him grow, watched him change in just a short period of time. It's been fascinating to watch his transition. You know, what we want to do now is show you what happens to a private once the training wraps up. What happens? Where do they go next? Will McLain and the others are about to find out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go, go, go, go, get down faster.
CARROLL (voice-over): Urban warfare training.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, what your shooting at?
CARROLL: One of a series of crucial exercises soldiers like will McLain undergo at Ft. Lindenwold Missouri to become army combat engineers. Learning how to secure buildings and hostile regions is key.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on son. Get in the fight.
CARROLL: Nearly 13 weeks into his training, Will is beginning to learn how to become a leader.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Brother is coming out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go, go, go go.
CARROLL: But on this day, it's hard for all of them to stay on top of their game.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get from behind this corner, son. You can't shoot around corners. You're not superman.
CARROLL: Why is this day a distraction?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One. Go, go.
CARROLL: Now that Will has completed basic and is wrapping up specialized training, he and the others will get orders for their first station. It's where the army will send new soldiers for more training before many are deployed to Afghanistan or Iraq.
(on camera): We're actually talking to Will now before he's actually gotten his orders. How are you feeling about that?
WILL MCLAIN, U.S. ARMY RECRUIT: It's kind of like I'm anxious to see what I'm going to get because I know of so many places.
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