51-year-old finishes basic at Leonard Wood - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

51-year-old finishes basic at Leonard Wood

FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. — A 51-year-old woman has finished basic training at Fort Leonard Wood and has become one of the oldest people to go through the 10 weeks of physical and tactical drills.

Sgt. Sandra Coast, of Holmes, Ohio, will graduate Thursday from the program, which allows her to serve with an Army Reserve unit.

Coast served in the Navy for 11 years before leaving in 1993 to raise her son. When her son joined the Marines, she decided to join the Army.

She shed 30 pounds to prepare for training. Despite being older than most of the other recruits, Coast had one of the highest physical fitness test scores in the company.

Her unit’s first sergeant, John Byars, says Coast is “a prime example that age is just a number.”