Update Time....Or That Time I Spent Four Months In Georgia Bored To Death

Well, not having internet access for the duration of my time at AIT really sapped my will to write. Even moreso, the monotonous routine of life in AIT took my motivation to keep posting updates in the few opportunities I had to borrow someone's wireless hotspot. Every day was the same essentially. Monday through Friday we would wake up around 0730, get dressed and head to PT formation which would leave for Barton Field (where we would conduct PT everyday) at 0815. About an hour or so later we would get back to the company and clean the barracks a bit and then shower. After that, around 1100, we would have free time till 1540 when we would have to go form up again for mail call and then head to dinner chow, which for us was really lunch. After eating chow, we would form up outside the DFAC and step off at around 1645 to go to Brant Hall where our classes were conducted. From 1700 till around 2300, we learned the basics of our jobs as 25Qs and how to use the equipment we would be handling day to day in the Army. After that we marched back to the barracks and had the option of taking part in the absolute best thing the Army has ever thought of: MIDNIGHT CHOW. Midnight chow is available from 2300 to 0100 on Mondays through Fridays and provides the option of either breakfast OR dinner. I always chose breakfast because we, as swings, would always wake up too late for the normal breakfast chow time frame. The amount of conversations and laughs held over midnight chow meals between me and my battle buddies is too many to recount. But it was a great way to finish off the day and I always enjoyed it. After midnight chow, we would head back to the company, in battle buddy groups of at least two of course, to enjoy what little time we had left till lights out, which was at 0100. The platoon sergeants would come up to do a bed check making sure that our lights were out and that no one was on an electronic device. We all became pretty good at tipping the guys in the next room off that the sergeants were heard entering the room down the hall or were on the way to our end of the hall. Texts from the fire guards that we knew were also helpful as they would let us know that the bed check was about to happen on our floor. It's amazing how technology can be helpful sometimes. Lol. After lights out, some of us would stay up late into the night. PV2 Bieber always stayed up the latest, sometimes on Facetime with girls and PVT Sleepy would watch movies on his phone. As for myself, I would play games on my laptop or watch movies.  Then somewhere around 0300, I'd call it a night and go to sleep, only to wake up and do the same thing all over again. Weekends were great except for morning accountability formations, which meant no true "sleeping in" was happening. Most of the soldiers around me couldn't wait to get off-post and to a bar or the movies. As for myself, I typically stayed in the barracks and watched movies or did laundry and talked with my wife or family on the phone. There were occasional breaks from the monotony like the incessant fire alarms that we endured for three weekends straight. Apparently, the alarm system is old and faulty, but that didn't change the fact that in one single night we had to head down (we were in a third floor room) to the parking lot SEVEN times due to evacuation and accountability procedures. As most of the guys had come back from a night on the town, many of them were more than slightly inebriated. PV2 Cartoon was completely gone and had to be helped upstairs by his battle buddies that had gone out with him, who included PV2 Bain and PVT Mimic. He had just passed out on his bed when the first fire alarm went off and then me and about four other soldiers had to help carry him down three flights of stairs that were tremendously crammed with soldiers trying to get out because they thought it might be a real fire alarm. After we got checked off for accountability purposes, they let us back upstairs which mean carrying Cartoon back up another three flights. Then the fire alarm kept going off. Rinse, Lather, Repeat, metaphorically speaking. We kept from going crazy by changing our clothes each time we went down. Various hilarious mixtures of uniforms and civilian clothes were donned and at one point about five of us all wore our long black Army dress uniform trenchcoats down and even got a pretty nice group shot in. On the seventh alarm, there were soldiers screaming up and down the hall just desperately hoping to go to sleep because it was nearly four in the morning by then and we had an accountability formation at 0800. The fire department finally disconnected the alarms and thankfully the platoon sergeant for the next morning was told about the previous night's trouble and mercifully let us sleep an extra three hours before our first accountability formation of the day. Aside from that night, there wasn't really anything exciting goin' on at good ol' Fort Gordon. The only other thing of note was that about three months in to my time there, the Army changed its policy on drinking and off-post priveleges for AIT soldiers. Even if you were of legal drinking age you were not allowed to drink and for two weeks off-post privileges were completely revoked, severely cramping many soldiers weekend plans and social lives. Me, I barely noticed or paid attention. Graduation was right around the corner and I was looking forward to what would come afterwards. The Real Army.

Welcome to the Jungle.....

First, let me apologize for the long delays in my posts recently. I don't currently have internet in the barracks and also have classes that keep me pretty busy so I've had to figure out the best time to try and fit in some writing time. My first week at A.I.T. was a shock and an awakening. I showed up to my first formation at 0800 hours and was amazed at the lack of discipline on display. People were talking in formation left and right and nobody even cared. I found out it was like this all the time. I was the only soldier from Ft. Jackson that had been assigned to Echo Company for the new class, so I was on my own with no familiar faces around again, just like when I showed up at reception. Well, at least it wasn't freezing and windy all the time like at Ft. Jackson. I found out that, with the exception of two guys who had basic at Ft. Sill, everyone else from our class was from Ft. Benning. I was in a room with some pretty squared away guys for nearly a week and then we finished in-processing (which is truly horrible, maddeningly boring, and essentially death by PowerPoint) and got split up into groups of days and swings. Me and Private Sleepy (because he spends all his free time during the week hibernating) were moved into the room next door, which initially worried me as I thought the new room might be less disciplined. It turns out the move may have been for the better anyways, as these guys are more like me in personality anyways, so we get along better. As the in-processing ended, we started classes with our instructor, who I'll call Mr. P. The first learning module, essentially the first week of class, was more death by PowerPoint but as the second and third week arrived we began to do some hands-on work with the equipment we'll be working with in our MOS. We've gotten to know our platoon sergeants and they all seem pretty laid back. We've got Sergeant First Class HotRod (named so because he drives a fast car that you can hear coming from down the street) and Staff Sergeant Cedric (because he looks like and reminds me of a skinny version of Cedric the Entertainer). We have more freedom here but there are still certain rules and regulations that must be followed. The battle buddy system is still in effect and soldiers must have a battle buddy with them any time they leave the company A.O. (Area of Operations).  There's also a Phase system that mirrors that of Basic Training's Red, White and Blue Phases, except ours are Phase IV, V, and V+. The advantages of phasing up are not having to go to formations every two hours on Saturdays and Sundays and being able to use tobacco products if we choose to. Phase V+ doesn't have to do fire guard or CQ duty shifts any more, but you have to be in your tenth week here before you can phase up to that. Phase V is available to start phasing up to after the third week but none of us passed on the first week. Me and another private were closest to making it but failed on our wall locker inspections. On the fourth week though most of our class phased up. The cast of characters here is interesting and I feel like our room gets along the best. We've got Private Mimic, who does really good impressions of people's voices. Then there's PV2 Bain, who frequently quotes lines from The Dark Knight Rises and loves to hunt. There's Private Grissy, who is from Haiti and always gets cracked on for his Creole accent. "Grissy" is how he said 'Greasy' in class one day and it's his new catchphrase. Then there's our resident crazy character who is so animated I'm gonna refer to him as PV2 Cartoon. We have PVT Beats, who is constantly wearing his 200 dollar Beats by Dre headphones and constantly asking what's going on because he didn't pay attention to what's goin on around him. Rounding out the room is PV2 Bieber who used to rock a Justin Bieber-styled haircut and is always talking to girls till late in the night. The guys are all pretty decent fellows and it was really interesting getting to know them. These soldiers would prove to be my closest battle buddies for the next 16 weeks. It was time to start learning how to do our jobs as soldiers.

Last Dance for G.I. Joe

Graduation Day. It's a moment that every soldier can't wait for from the moment they get to reception and before they've even seen a drill sergeant. It's the culmination of all the hard work that's been put into their development as a soldier for more than two months day in and day out. For the soldiers in our company it was an especially strong feeling because for that period of time our bodies were pushed to extremes harder than any other company at Ft. Jackson. Soldiers in other companies and even from other battalions had heard of our experience being harder than theirs. They'd heard of the mass cold weather casualties on our Field Training Exercises. They heard how nearly every night someone would vomit at hydration formation from drinking so much water so fast, while their companies didn't even have hydro forms. They heard how we had to stay out in the field even longer than their companies did. And they heard about how twice as many people from our company had been chaptered out of the military for various reasons. We had been forged in proverbial fire regardless of how much our drill sergeants may have wanted to downplay the toughness of our training. 
We lined up in the woods behind Hilton Field (the parade ground where every Ft. Jackson graduation takes place) on the day before Graduation Day ready for the events of Family Day. We lined up as a battalion just out of sight from our waiting loved ones and took a knee as our drill sergeants ribbed us one last time, calling out certain soldiers and asking what their MOS was and telling them how those jobs did or didn't suck. The 68Ws pretty much all got respect because they are combat medics and keep the infantry alive. Everyone else was subject to playful criticism that kept the mood light. The drill sergeants also made sure to give some last minute assessments of random privates and how they were going to screw up at AIT or their first duty stations. I saw through the cracks they were dishing out. They were saying goodbye in the only way they could collectively. They might have hated some of us, been indifferent about some of us or loved some of us, but I know that many of them were proud of us. We were their platoons, their soldiers and all the long hours and sacrifices they had made in their personal lives were culminating. Make no mistakes......As hard as it is to be a private in BCT, it is twice as stressful and exhausting for our drill sergeants. They get little sleep (typically three to four hours per night on average, have to be in peak physical shape and have few days off. They are there from the time we wake up till right before lights out regularly and they usually have more than 50 peoples issues to keep track of and take care of. The stress level for their job is something I don't envy, but the accomplishment of transforming civilians into soldiers physically and mentally is a source of personal pride for many of them. What many people also don't realize is that many of them don't ask for the job. The Army can tell any staff sergeant or higher to go do two or three years at any time without warning. To answer that call and perform a task so difficult effectively and consistently is something that I highly respect.
So, as we formed up in the woodline eagerly anticipating reunions with our loved ones, they were treated to exercises that demonstrated our training and how we had learned to be combat effective if needed. They stressed how even though we weren't in combat MOSes we were first and foremost soldiers who were trained and ready for combat should the need ever arise. As the Humvees raced across the field and blanks spat out from M16s our families got a glimpse of what we were now capable of. Then, once the demonstration (which had been performed by another company) was complete, we stood up and began to slowly march forward. As we reached the edge of the woodline, green smoke grenades had been popped to cover our entrance and simulated artillery rounds and gunfire began. We got into company formations led by our drill sergeants and marched proudly towards our families as soldiers for the first time. We knew they would be excited to see us, but I'm not sure if any of us were prepared for the roar of cheers and thunderous applause that greeted us as we came to a halt just in front of the grandstands. We were so filled with emotions that it was hard to keep our military bearing and maintain a position of attention. Collectively the feeling of accomplishment and pride was overwhelming and many of us had tears of joy welling in our eyes. Our battalion's command sergeant major spoke to our families briefly about how we had been through so much and to make sure not to let us do anything stupid on the day before graduation but still enjoy the time with loved ones . After the command sergeant major spoke, we were released to the care of our families for the rest of the day and they rushed down to us as we were not allowed to move until they had come and grabbed us out of formation. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my wife pass the rank I was standing in and then take a step back to make sure it was really me she saw. I had lost so much weight that she almost passed me by! :)  As she grabbed me out of ranks, we cleared the formation and collapsed into each other's arms in one of the truest and strongest embraces I have ever experienced. The man she tearfully sent off on the bus at MEPS to go to reception was not the same man holding her that day. In one of her letters, she had told me "I know you can do this. You're a soldier now. MY soldier.". It was one of the most encouraging things anyone has ever told me and it had spurred me forth during the harder parts of basic training to persevere. Now standing on that field, I felt worthy of her comment. Shortly afterward, I saw my mother and uncle who had been waiting off to the side of the field. Mom cried pretty much as soon as she saw me and hugged me close to her. For a brief moment, I was taken back to some early time in my memory when she hugged me tightly, as if it would be her last opportunity to hold her baby. I must have been about three or so. It was one of those types of moments I remembered about my father when he passed away and I'm sure it will be the same for mom. If anything, all the suffering of basic was worth it for those moments with my family. And looking around I could tell that my battle buddies were having the same experience.
So after our tearful reunion, my family knew I had one thing on my mind. FOOD. We went to Popeye's because I kept seeing it when we would pass by on the bus to the range every day for like a month straight and well, because honestly, I love that chicken at Popeye's. Lol. We ate the food at an activity center on post, the same one where we had our sexual harassment and assault class with the funny improv actors. I was really glad that my uncle was there also, because he spent more than twenty years in the army including spending time as a drill sergeant and we were able to trade stories about how it was for him in his day and how things are now. It was a great substitute for the conversation I desperately craved having with my father but never could. We also agreed that our extended family needs to stay in better communication with each other and agreed to talk more regularly regardless of distance, which was really nice. After we ate we decided to check the Army Basic Training Museum which was just down the street on post. It was really interesting seeing how things were for my father and uncle with items going back to World War II on display. Towards the end of the exhibit, I found myself getting really drowsy though and fell asleep standing up and stumbled forward about two steps. My family laughed a bit and we decided it was probably a good time to go. Then we went back to the company and, because my bay was the one on display for family day, I got to show them my bunks, wall locker and the bay I had called home for the previous nine weeks. Then we left to go to the PX and buy some supplies I needed like a duffel bag and garment bag. What I forgot to do before we left was close my wall locker (which I had never done all through basic) and I would find out that night how big of a mistake that truly was. One of our drill sergeants had found my locker open and closed it after making sure to write my name down as well as everyone else who had forgotten to secure their wall lockers. Because mine was completely open, my punishment would be more severe.
So I enjoyed the rest of my day with my family and got back to the barracks for the night. It would prove to be an even longer and more grueling night than the one before with nearly everyone pulling weapons cleaning duty for the majority of the night. At one point after my turn on weapons duty, the drill sergeant who found my wall locker open told me I had to go up to the bay and pack my bags as fast as humanly possible. I scrambled up and packed my things and when I was done I called down to the CQ desk to let him know I was finished. He then came up to the bay and had all the others who had left their lockers unsecured form a circle. Then he made me do lunges up and down the length of the bay carrying my bags over my head one at a time. While I was doing this, my battle buddies in the circle had to perform various strenous exercises. They also had to beat me down to the end of the bay doing lunges as well (without the burden of packed bags) every time I completed a lap or else they would get smoked longer. He said that securing items was extremely important and that he found in the past that imprinting things in a private's mind like this was necessary to being a good soldier. So I sucked it up and did the lunges, but by the end of the ordeal, my legs were burning, I was dripping with sweat and I was wobbly and shaking like a newborn calf. I dropped the last bag and collapsed on top of the pile of my belongings having fully learned my lesson and with the knowledge burned into my head that I couldn't be so careless again.
That night we got maybe a half hour of sleep, but we didn't care too much because we were so excited once Graduation Day began. We woke up, headed to chow and, right as were about to file into the DFAC, we were smoked one last time for no apparent reason other than to get one last smoke session in, which I thought was pretty funny. After chow, we went back to the barracks, got changed into our ASUs (the Army's dress uniform) and  loaded up onto busses heading towards Hilton Field. We got there and stepped off onto the back side of Hilton Field and formed up as a battalion grouped by company. We marched up and formed a line in front of the grandstands where the battalion commander spoke for about fifteen minutes about how the road was set forth in front of us as soldiers and how we had answered the call to serve our country during war time which was something most Americans will never be able to say they have done. He told us to remember to have integrity and carry ourselves like soldiers going forward from here. "Cowards never start and the weak never finish." That's what he said to remind us what separates us from the other 99% of the population that didn't answer the call to serve like we did.  We marched one last time as a battalion around to the side of the parade ground and then down past the grandstands. As we began to walk past our families we simultaneously snapped our heads to the right and looked in their direction as we passed then continued marching forward to the end of the parade ground where we were officially released. As our families rushed to the end of the field to come hug us and pick us up, handshakes, hugs and congratulations were shared among all of us. We knew it was only the beginning and that now we would all be split up to all parts of the country. We knew that there was more distance that would keep us from our famiies lying ahead. But that day was ours and we would revel in it.
After a trip to the PX and a steak dinner at Texas Roadhouse, we went back to the hotel where me and my wife enjoyed time together, but mainly I slept. Oh boy, did I sleep. I slept like a baby in the super comfy hotel bed with FOUR pillows instead of one flat, crappy wafer of a pillow. I slept for like eleven hours! I woke up after nine in the morning! No one yelled at me in the morning! It was, in a word, divine. That Friday morning, me and the wife drove my mom to the airport and said goodbye, then went to Waffle House for breakfast (cause they don't have any in Texas, which is just wrong). Afterwards,  we drove from Columbia, South Carolina (just outside Fort Jackson) to Augusta, Georgia where Fort Gordon, the site of my Advanced Individual Training, is located. We went on post and checked me into my battalion and company headquarters and then I received a weekend pass to go spend time with my wife. We went to see a movie and got some great food in downtown Augusta. It was a great day and the next morning when we had to say goodbye before she got on the flight back to Texas, there was a tearful goodbye in the rain that I fear will be repeated at points throughout my military career. It's the price to be paid to be able to say that you served your country with honor though. Now, it was time to take the next step in this journey: A.I.T.

The Home Stretch......Or Lunge.

So the days leading up to graduation just flew by. We were so busy that I didn't have time to write during the last two weeks. A few days before graduation, we were taken to a community center on post for a class about sex. It was awkward at first hearing them talk so plainly about rape occurring even to people in the military, but the manner in which the class was portrayed (two improv actors portraying scenarios filled with humor and audience interaction) helped to get the message across without embarassment. I was glad to see the Army making efforts to educate young soldiers on how to protect themselves and their battle buddies from sexual assault and STDs. Also, when we got back from our last FTX, the deep cleaning began. The entire bay, top to bottom, had to be cleaned. Lockers had to be wiped down and emptied of their contents, bags had to be packed and all of our equipment as a platoon had to be counted, turned back in and stored away properly. Our weapons were the worst part because the drill sergeants wanted them cleaned to the highest degree. Family day came with so much anticipation that we couldn't barely contain ourselves.

 On the night before graduation, they made us go from a normal two-man CQ shift to a 15-man CQ which meant that no one was getting much sleep. Normally while on CQ, you and a battle buddy just help out with cleaning the drill sergeants CQ office and latrines, moving things around or into storage, filling water jugs or loading up trucks for the next day or, if you're lucky, sitting in a chair trying not to fall asleep. Thanks to a scheduling error, one of the privates didn't know he had a CQ shift and because he couldn't find three other soldiers willing to go down and work the CQ shift with him, the drill sergeant on duty called back every fifteen minutes and kept raising the amount of soldiers he needed to bring down with him. By the time thirty minutes passed by, he had to bring down thirty other guys with him. With fourteen soldiers on CQ already and two on fire guard duty, there wasn't even thirty soldiers available that had not just gotten off of CQ to pull duty. At one point I was told by our drill sergeant that I needed to pack my bags as fast as humanly possible. Then I was told that I would have to carry each of my fully packed bags all the way down the bay (about 150 feet at least) and back one at a time. I had left my locker open during Family Day and about ten of my battle buddies had forgotten to lock theirs as well. Since mine was left wide open, I had the worst punishment, but the catch was that while I was doing the lunges, my battle buddies would be subjected to some crazy strenuous PT. Eight-count pushups and stuff like that and then halfway through he made them do lunges down and if I beat them back we would start it all over again. It was crazy and the bags got really heavy cause I had to carry them over my head and they were packed full. By the time I finished, my legs were burning up and I was barely able to stand. In fact, I collapsed on top of the bags as I set the last one down and it took about ten minutes before I could drag myself back to my feet. Needless to say, a lesson was very effectively learned that night. Securing personal items is key in the military and I shall not forget it anytime soon. Lol. After our four-hour shifts we were supposed to pack and then that left us with about a half-hour to forty-five minutes to sleep. Graduation day started early and by eight o'clock in the morning we were on a bus headed to Hilton Field for graduation to begin.

March, Soldier, March

Well, it's been a couple weeks. I imagine it's time for an update. I left off right before our last Field Training Exercise, which was a ton of fun. Actually it wasn't at all and I'm just kidding. It was a lot of standing guard and freezing our tails off. This time though, we did some pretty cool squad-based exercises. We fired a lot of blanks and took part in many scenarios to prepare us for real world situations that may arise. But mostly, we were cold. The temperature was nice during the days but hovered around 25 degrees at night and, without fail, it was typical South Carolina windy. I swear I've never been somewhere so consistently windy except maybe Kansas. One night, which had temperatures in the teens, we were at a checkpoint taking turns on guard and, when it was our turn to sleep, we slept on the forest floor with our wet weather tops and bottoms as our only blanket of any kind. That's the equivalent of using a grocery bag to stay warm. Our sleeping bags and all the rest of our gear was back at our FOB (Forward Operating Base), so we really didn't have a choice. The cold was so frigid, we ended up forming rows of males (and about 25 meters away a separate formation for females) that pretty much spooned for body heat. We must have looked hilarious to our drill sergeants, but it was SERIOUSLY cold. I woke up and the water in my camelback was actually frozen solid! I couldn't feel my legs below shin level and my hands were numb even with three pairs of gloves on. It was the coldest I've ever been in my life and for the rest of my days on this planet I doubt I'll forget what feeling like you're freezing truly  means. Another unfortunate occurrence while at the FTX was that PVT Tactics and PVT Seducer were both fired from their positions as Platoon Guide and Assistant Platoon Guide for messing up our personnel and weapons counts one day. I could tell it was coming though, because DS Amazon had grown increasingly frustrated with PVT Tactics recently for the very same issue. I had hoped that it wouldn't happen, but when I asked Tactics, he said he was kind of relieved actually. He mentioned that he had been voluntold to take the position in the first place anyways. Being voluntold is pretty much the same as being picked out to do something. It was unfortunate, but Tactics said that he ended up enjoying the rest of his time in BCT a lot more without the responsibilities of student leadership weighing him down. PVT Maestro was my faithful battle buddy yet again and this time we were joined by PVT Sulu as well (I call him Sulu cause he's reminds me of George Takei, lol). We had many laughs watching each other make trips out to the woodline to use nature's latrine (taking a squat behind a tree, lol), digging a three-man hasty fighting position and setting up a mega-hooch comprised of three ponchos with room for all three of us. Of course, it rained at least one of the days we were out there because , hey, it's Bravo company and we had to be miserable of course. I had a personal battle throughout the week because my knees were getting progressively worse as the week went by. Carrying our full battle rattle with a loaded ruck sack was almost too much to handle at times. I'm not sure of the exact weight but I'd wager to say it was around 70 to 80 pounds altogether. By the time day 5 of the FTX rolled around, it hurt even just to walk normally and my right knee was popping every time I bent it more than 70 degrees from a straightened position. I think I probably would have been fine had I had an opportunity to use some Ibuprofen or something to that effect, but it wasn't an option. PVT Maestro knew I was hurting and did his best to help alleviate the pain when he could, which I am severely grateful for. Sometimes it's the littlest things that get you through a situation, like when a battle buddy reminds you how little time there is left till you get out of said situation or even just distracts you from your misery by talking about home and family. So, at the end of the week, we marched 16 kilometers (about 10 miles) back from the FTX as a battalion of some 1,200 or so soldiers led by our battalion commander, the very same officer who called me out for a chat in front of the company the day we didn't get to eat dinner. On the last day, including the training exercises we did earlier in the day, which involved carrying our battle buddies who had been deemed "casualties", we probably marched about 15 to 20 miles. I didn't complain about the pain, but some of my battle buddies knew I was hurtin'. I was the last soldier in line in my platoon on the battalion march back, but I never fell out of the march and made it back to the company HQ feeling relatively okay aside from my knees. When we got back to the barracks they had rock music playing and tiki torches lit up all around the battalion to welcome us back. This was the start of our Rites of Passage ceremony which was when we were given our black berets and had them adjusted by our drill sergeants. Then they shook our hands and congratulated us, which was actually pretty nice. We may be at the bottom of the totem pole, but for a brief moment, with bagpipes being played in the background and our battalion commander telling us we made it, we felt like soldiers in equal standing. I must admit I got a little misty-eyed after Drill Sergeants Amazon and Action came through and placed my beret and shook my hand. Graduation was for our families, our battalion commander said, but this was for us. The sense of pride swept up out of us and we went back up to our bays with huge smiles on our faces. We had done it. We had completed every graduation requirement for Army BCT. All that was left was Family Day and Graduation.

Note from the Wife

Tuesday March 25, 2013- Hello all, wife here. :) As you may or may not know already, our narrator graduated from BCT on March 21, 2013. He is settled in at AIT, and will hopefully resume blog writing (he'll actually be doing all the typing now, not me!) very soon. They have more freedom there, but internet time is hard to get, so please be patient. He's determined to write some more about the BCT experience, a summary of sorts, as well as highlights and lowlights we haven't heard yet. He will be documenting his entire AIT experience as well, so we can have an idea what he is going through fro the next 16 weeks. If you are a family member of a soldier he was in BCT with, thank you so much for reading and supporting his blog. It was nice to meet many of you at Graduation, and please feel free to continue to read, even if your soldier is at a different AIT site.

Thank you to everyone who has supported him so far, and for your continued support for him and his new career path. This journey has changed him so much already, in ways you'll hear about, and some you won't (you wouldn't believe how amazing he looks now, at least 25 pounds lost and 10 in muscle put back on, woowie!) He relies on the love and support of friends, family and even the readers of this blog to keep him pushing forward. I can't wait to read what is coming next!

~Kat

Almost There

Sunday, March 10, 2013- We're on the eve of Victory Forge, our last field exercise and required 16K march. Everyone is excited because this time we get issued tents! No more sleeping in a puddle because the ponchos on a string let water in on all sides! Victory Forge is a 5 day event that will test all of the skills we've learned over the last 8 weeks and during which we will sleep VERY little. Everyone has been rushing around like crazy, washing clothes, prepping gear and packing our duffel bags and ruck sacks. There's so much talk of how close to graduation we are right now. Ten days and a wake up 'till we move on to the next phase of our military careers. Yesterday, we took our end of cycle testing over the skills we learned so far. It took all day but it was worth it. Everyone, for the most part, did pretty well. A few days ago, we took part in the Confidence Course, complete with rope swings, logs you roll over on your belly, walls to climb over as a group, a giant log thirty feet high to walk across and a long zip line down. The most imposing part was a forty foot tower that gradually gets wider at each successive level going higher up to the top. Teams of four were told to get up to the top and back down the other side without leaving anyone behind. I almost fell off the damn thing 35 to 40 feet up with PVT Sulu almost let me go and forgot to grab my belt while pulling me up. Lol. And just after getting up to the second level, I cut the crap out of my hand and started bleeding pretty ugly. I didn't quit though and we got up to the top of the tower. We were almost all the way down when PVT Sulu and PVT B-Boy were helping down PVT Jukebox from the level we just came down from. The way they pulled him in, his elbow swung in and down hard striking me right on top of the head!! It stunned the crap out of me and I blacked out for like five, ten seconds, but I finished the event and eventually the course. They said I looked pretty funny though. Lol.

Here Comes the Boom!!

Friday, March 8, 2013- So, the last week has been really busy as we go barreling on, closer to the finale of this crazy adventure called BCT. This last Saturday we started training with hand grenades an on Monday we went to the course and qualified. We got to throw two live grenades each and let me tell ya, it was pretty exciting! I walked away after the huge boom saying, "Now, THAT'S living!" Then, because we finished early in the day, we were tasked with range detail. In this case, range detail consisted of landscaping a huge area, trimming tree branches, clearing brush, laying rocks down in a drainage ditch and creating paths lined with sand bags. The next day, we did training for a live fire two man exercise designed to test the firing and movement techniques we've learned so far. The practice phase was kind of boring, but the next day, when we qualified with live ammo, it was intense because the risk of injury (or death) from a private not paying attention to detail is higher than almost any other part of BCT. Thankfully, I had PVT Maestro  with me as my battle buddy for qualifying so I felt more assured that I wouldn't get shot in the ass on accident. Lol. Our run went well with minor infractions that were addressed verbally, but we passed, which was a relief.

Our days are super busy now and there is very little personal time, if any. Training comes first and foremost, of course. My uncle, who has spent about 37 years in the Army told me some great advice before I came here. He said, "The Army is like a train. You can jump on and be along for the ride. If you do, it'll take you great places. But if you let it go, it'll keep rolling along without you. I've seen plenty of people let go of this opportunity and refuse to train. And I can't help but think of all they're missing."

We just had a bunch of new soldiers join our company. They're blue phase restarts, which means they got set back about to the six week point in training, usually for doing something stupid. We got about four new soldiers in our platoon. About 2 weeks ago, my bunkmate switched bunks to across the bay, so there was an empty bunk above me. One of the restarts took his place and it's so much better. No more holding my tongue all day because of someone else's bad attitude. No more hearing someone mumble negativity under their breath all day because they're a coward. My new bunkmate is pretty cool. He's gonna be a chaplain's assistant, which actually seems like a pretty cool job to have.

Man Down!

Sunday March 3, 2013- It's been so long since I've had a chance to write! This last week has been crazy! We started FTX #2 on Monday, which they refer to as Victory Hammer (or Vic Hammer for short.) It was insane. I'll go into greater detail later or when I have more time, but here's a summary. We built hasties the first day, which was cold as hell out but thankfully dry, and got ready for a long night pulling security. PVT Maestro and I were battle buddies again for the duration of our time there. After chopping through tree roots that were as big as my forearm with my E-Tool (the Army's collapsible shovel), PVT Maestro and I camouflaged our hasty real well. We had tree branches and small logs laid out over the back of our hasty to cover our ruck sacks  and then plenty of pine needles, grass and leaves covering the branches and hiding our entrenched position. Me and PVT Maestro got in conversation and stories during this time. We spoke of life, love, meeting our wives for the first time and how we proposed to our respective ladies. We talked about or past and present concerns. Maestro mentioned to me that not only had he never been camping before, but he had also never slept in a sleeping bag before. So this truly was an alien experience for him. Overall though, I'd say he handled himself pretty well. We had guard duty at 2100 and then another hour at 0100. When we woke up in the morning, it was raining and water had seeped in underneath our tent. We were dry in our sleeping bags, but I had taken my ACU jacket and placed it under the head of my sleeping bag for some extra padding during the night and it was completely soaked. No!!! Thankfully, I had two extra changes of clothing in  a waterproof bag in my ruck sack to change into. We got out of our tent after a dry shave 9OUCH! I cut the crap out of myself) and realized just how hard it was raining. Pelting us at a steady rate, this rain was constant and every five minutes would turn to freezing rain and back again. We then walked through rain and fog to the area where our platoon was lining up to go to eat breakfast chow. It was at that point that we heard that over a dozen people had fallen out as cold weather casualties. PVT Jukebox, who had been fighting a relapse of the pneumonia he came down with in the first couple weeks, somehow was released from  the hospital and taken straight out to the field. It was no surprise to me that he showed up late in the evening of the first night out there and by the next morning was already back in the hospital. Seems like he just wasn't fully recuperated yet, though I suspect they took him out there so he could get credit for participating in Vic Hammer, which is a graduation requirement.

So ,we're in line for chow and hear "Man Down!" to our left and then not even a whole two minutes later another "Man Down!!" to our right. We sat down to eat breakfast and I knew something was wrong when some people were so cold and wet they didn't hardly touch their food. While we ate, about four or five more people passed out and then the ambulances began to arrive on the scene to take people to the hospital. One female was being carried to an ambulance when the two females that were carrying her fell and dropped her in a huge puddle about six inches deep filled with freezing cold water. The sudden shock must have been too much for her body and she started to have a seizure. At nearly the same time, another private had been placed into the back of the company van and stopped breathing TWICE! The paramedics were on top of everything and did their best to treat them, of course. The private in the van started breathing again and the one with the seizure was okay eventually. I was standing at the port-a-john waiting in line when a private from my platoon passed out and fell straight backwards, hitting his head on the ground. Thankfully, he was wearing a helmet (we were all in full battle rattle) and it cushioned the majority of the impact. I walked up to PVT Intel who was lookin' really bad at this time and he said he felt frozen he was so cold. He's a Texas boy, like me, so I felt for him and told him we should take a walk because we had to keep moving and warm his body up. Shortly after our walk, DS Action Man came over and had us get in a shoulder-to-shoulder formation to try and conserve body heat. He then had us start marching in place and called out a bunch of cadences we had never heard before. The morale was actually improving for our platoon and we were warming up, but just then the drill sergeants that were taking over for those who were with us at night, came on duty. They were DS Poker Face and DS Amazon, who walked up and saw a bunch of privates complaining about how cold it was. DS Amazon threw a kind of concussion grenade (a dummy one, of course) about 20 meters down the road from our position and yelled "Incoming!" to which no one really responded. I guess we were just too cold and I'd like to think that she threw it to get us moving and warmed up ,but the response was abysmal. Because of our lack of reaction, she had us hike up a hill about 50 meters from our original position and then low crawl through the mud back. In our full gear, it was entirely, unmistakably and painfully real that we were in the Army now and that currently, Basic Training owned us.  As I crawled, I tried to keep in mind that I have no choice but to succeed here, for my family's sake. I was not about to throw in the towel on this whole thing because of some freezing mud. So, we're lined up after the low crawl, soaked and even colder. If we had been told to pack our wet weather bottoms it might have helped a bunch of people to not fall out. But no,  many of us didn't bring them because they weren't on the packing list that was given to us. At this point, a very high ranking Sergeant Major came over and assessed the situation, telling us we needed to pack it up and head back to Company HQ. We all felt like ice cubes but it was almost over. On the short march back to where the bus had dropped us off initially I realized I could not find one VERY important piece of equipment. Apparently, at some point after my gloves had gotten soaked and my hands went completely numb, they stuck tighter to my hands and fingers. So when they told us to take them off, because wet hands only make your hands colder, my wedding ring slipped off!! I was SO upset I started to tear up. How could this happen? I asked a Drill Sergeant and he said that Fort Jackson had claimed another one and that hopefully, it didn't cost too much. I'm still mad about it more than a week later, but I do realize I was practically hypothermic so I'm trying not to beat myself up. It meant alot to me though, with a great deal of sentimental attachment.

It's been cold and wet here, but they're saying the weather's gonna warm up soon. Yesterday was a clear day and warm in the afternoon. We're all just hoping it stays dry, and hopefully warm for Victory Forge on Monday. It's our last field exercise and lasts 4 1/2 days so we'll see. They don't treat us too badly here, but we're just cold all the flippin' time. It gets windy often here and that's the most annoying part. I may not get to write again for a few days (till Sunday) but I'll try. Everyone's excited for graduation in 2 weeks!

Mistaken Identity

Wednesday February 27, 2013- So, we're here learning how to clean and take apart the M249 machine gun. Earlier today, we held and practiced aiming the At-4 anti-tank rocket launcher and the M203 grenade launcher attachment for the M16 rifle. Last week we practiced throwing grenades and on Friday we're going to fire all of these weapons. I used to just play Call of Duty and now, I'm living it! Lol. Thanks go out to PVT Unknown for showing me how to disassemble the M249. Unknown gets his nickname from the fact that he successfully went about 4 weeks in 1st Platoon and someone asked him if he was a new guy. Then after being here SIX weeks, he went to ask DS Action Man for something and was told "Go ask your Drill Sergeant!" To that he replied "But you ARE my Drill Sergeant!" which caused DS Action Man and DS Punisher to breakout into laughter. DS Punisher, by the way, gets his name for the fact that he seems to be the most physically punishing DS to his platoon. They always seems to be doing push ups or some kind of physical exercise as punishment. But they pretty much deserve it because they're always talking and doing the wrong thing. I'm glad I'm not in that platoon, 'cause it would be super frustrating to get in trouble so often because other people can't just keep their mouths shut sometimes.

So, some things have changed around here lately. Since PVT Pixie is going home to recuperate from a broken leg bone, PVT Seducer has been promoted to Assistant Platoon Guide. This works out pretty well because, while PVT Tactics is a great P.G., he's not always loud enough vocally for the whole platoon to get the info he's trying to convey. Since PVT Seducer has absolutely no problem being loud sometimes, they complement each other pretty well. We also got broken up into four squads of eight to ten, squad leaders and team leaders were appointed as well. So, PVT Razorback, PVT Maestro and myself were all made team leaders. Team leaders are responsible for three to four other soldiers, keeping track of them and their gear and reporting to the squad leader. It's not a lot of work really, unless we're out in the field.

Rainy Days and Creaky Knees

Sunday February, 24, 2013-  Whoo! It's been a busy and crazy week! On Wednesday, the day after I fell out of hydro-form from the effects of cold weather, the morning started off great. PVT B-Boy got to call his girlfriend to wish her a happy one year anniversary and was on cloud nine. I was his battle buddy in a quiet hallway while he got a full ten minutes of talk time as I stood at the other end of the hallway to give him some sense of privacy. Thursday we went back to the range and did more ARM training. It's been so cold and wet here that everyone's been miserable. Apparently, it's usually warmed up by now, but this has been an exceptionally long-lasting and fiercely cold winter for South Carolina. Well, at least that's what I've heard.

On Thursday and Friday, we had night fire training and those were long days, lasting from around 0400 to around midnight. We got to use Night Vision goggles when it got dark and shot live rounds while moving towards targets. It was fun, exciting, nerve-wracking and frankly, flippin' awesome! It's feeling like real Army training now. Not that it didn't seem real before, but I guess what I mean to say is that when I was a kid and imagined what my two uncles, who both served in the Army for years, did for a living... this is what I envisioned.

Saturday we were supposed to go to the confidence building course, but as we were doing PT in the early morning, it began to rain. HARD. Now, we had only been at it for about 10 minutes and I though maybe, just maybe, we would stop right then and go back inside. Oh how wrong I was. We ran laps through puddles, we did pull ups of various kinds on slippery bars, and we did sit ups with rain drops the size of grapes smacking us in the face. I saw people looking like they were about to cry, they were so miserable. I actually didn't mind any of it until my socks and shoes got soaked. Lol. I must say, we are the most hardcore company here because, even though they talk tough, there was no one else out there pushing through the rain except for us.

After PT, they gave us extra time to get changed, so anyone even halfway wise took a hot shower and got into dry ACUs. Then we found out that the Confidence Course was cancelled due to the rainy Hand-of-God weather. It was a blessing in disguise though as the pain in my knees was getting to old-man levels. I couldn't take a knee without an audible groan and was starting to have muscle spasms in my upper legs. So I went to the clinic and the doc said the bands of muscle on the side of my knees were extremely tight and he said that, if I had waited much longer to be seen, I would have definitely torn some ligaments.

With some anti-inflammatory meds and some prescribed Ben-Gay, I should be a new man in a few days. I'm so glad that's not a concern like it had been the last week or two.  The problem isn't being able to be seen. It's finding a time to go that won't cause you to miss out on training that is essential for graduation requirements. I could have gone to the doc the day after my knees started hurting, but like many others, I waited a while to make sure it wasn't something that passed after a couple nights' sleep. BCT is a very complex game of managing time. You're rushing all the time to get things done, but when you're done, it'd better be perfect or else. And it always seems like you have to have eyes in the back, sides and any other part of your head to not suffer. It's exhausting sometimes! Lol.

Cold Weather, Close Call

Wednesday, February 20, 2013- I'm SO. Flipping. TIRED! Lol. It's not a "missed sleep one night" kind of thing either. It's a whole body exhaustion caused by weeks of erratic sleep that is always interrupted about every two hours by something. If it's not the fire guards waking us up to relieve their shift, it's the dreaded middle-of-the-night-race-to-not-wet-myself run from bunk to stall because we all down at LEAST one whole quart of water every night before bed at hydration formation. Never in my life have I woken myself up and made a dead run for the restroom holding my pants like a three year old hoping they don't wet themselves. Never... until now, that is. Lol.

The last two days have been REALLY long days. Waking up at four, getting out to the range by six or seven and firing all day before getting back to the company around nine or ten. On Wednesday, we had our 2nd Foot March, a 12K march, which pushed us hard.The 6K there was not too bad, but on the way back from the range, our 1st Sergeant led the way and we walked back at a ridiculously fast pace. I was fighting to keep up and was really feeling weak. One of the females tripped and fell flat on her face with another soldier landing on top of her in full 50 llb "battle rattle" (body armor, helmet, weapon, etc...) They told her to get up and push on and surprisingly, she did. Our assistant platoon guide, which was changed the day after the position was created to PVT Pixie, suffered throughout the march as well. It turns out that on the day of the PT test, she had injured her leg and just kept going on. But during the march, she had actually broke her tibia and didn't even know it.  She fell out, but amazingly, finished the march. They're gonna send her home to recover than come back to finish training with a different training cycle. It's too bad. She has a lot of heart and will be missed by the platoon.

And then, there was our cold weather casualty. This PVT was barely able to finish the march due to the pace and simply willed himself through the last 100 steps or so walking up to the company HQ and stumbling into the breezeway under our barracks. He had forgotten to take off his wet weather top and during the ruck march sweated through his ACUs 'till it looked like he had been swimming. He nearly passed out and was drinking about two quarts of water within ten minutes of the end of the march. Thinking he was okay and out of the woods as a possible pass-out, he helped 1st platoon unload the 1-ton (kind of like a giant cargo truck that we use to haul weapons, supplies and personnel to the range and elsewhere) and then stood out in the breezeway with the rest of the platoon waiting for mail and hydration formation to be completed. What he didn't realize was that the temperature had gone down to about 35 degrees (or lower) and his wet clothes were making him even colder. Later, PVT Maestro would tell him that when he took off his helmet at the end of the road march, he had frozen sweat on his brow.  So, this private, with his intrepidly plunging body temperature, thought he could tough it out a couple more minutes' till we all went upstairs and then he could get in a hot shower and warm PJs. But all of a sudden, he started shaking really hard; to the point where his arms were flapping at his sides. About this time, his battle buddies standing next to him in formation noticed this and asked if he was okay. Jut then, his entire body, it seemed,locked up and he began to fall to the ground. PVT Razorback happened to be ready for this possibility and slapped a hand on the soldier's chest and pretty much caught him, with the help of a couple other guys.  At that point, all the males (because hydration formation is divided up by male and female bays) began yelling "Man Down!!" as they're supposed to. In response, DS Action Man well... jumped into action. Lol. He ran over and checked the soldier out asking what was wrong with him and the only reply the soldier could muster was "C-C-C-COLD!" DS Action Man had the recruit taken into the CQ office and he slowly warmed up enough in the next 10 to 15 minutes to be able to make it up with some assistance from PVT Razorback. Then the private was pretty much okay but still a little rattled from his brush with cold weather danger.

So... who was this bowling pin of a soldier who toppled over in a strong breeze like a sumo wrestler on ice skates? Who was the guy gasping on a knee at the end of the march because he was barely staying conscious? Well, the truth is, faithful readers, it was none other than... ME! Yes, children, your faithful narrator learned a valuable lesson last night. 1st Sergeants walk FAST! Wait... no. I think it was that a lack of attention to detail can get you into some deep trouble. Yeah... that sounds better! Lol... J/K

2nd PT Test

Saturday February 16, 2013- Today we had the 2nd PT test. We were weighed last night and I officially gained 21 pounds because of the old scale they used the first time. This time they used a new digital scale and it was correct. I lost 8 pounds since I got here and I suspect that I've actually shed more than that but have added muscle mass. About the PT test though...

Our wake up time was 0400 with formation at 0430 and the first push ups starting at 0500. As we lined up to begin the push up portion of the test, I felt a slight twinge of nervousness, but I squashed it and reminded myself that with preparation, hard work and confidence comes success. The line moved up and it was my turn next as out 1st sergeant said "Ready... Begin!" and I got to pushing. I did pretty good for most of the two minute time period and then found out at the end that I DID pass the mark to score the minimum of a 50% score but was ONE push up short of the 60% score that I was hoping for! Next was the sit ups component which I passed pretty easily. I've always been better at sit ups, so I wasn't too concerned with that part of the test. I did score over 60% on the sit ups too, which was great. Then came the hardest part, for me specifically. I've always been a poor runner since I was a child and seeing how people run here, I think a lot of it was due to poor form. So, the two mile run has been the hardest adjustment for me to make. It has been interesting to see my endurance slowly increase. When we did the first PT test here, I scored a poor 19:47 on the two mile. This time, I pushed myself and actually shaved more than two minutes off of my previous time! I finished the eighth lap with a time of 17:44, which wasn't a 60% score, but it was over the 50% which means I passed the overall PT test! I was so happy when I got my scores. I know I might run slower than most of the young guys here and sure, some of them can do twice as many push ups. But understand that, for me, coming in with less than a month to train, and having been so sedentary in the past, this was a big accomplishment. At one point, during the fourth or fifth lap of the run, my knee was hurting so bad it felt like a twig about to snap. Three things kept me going at that point. One was thinking of my wife and kids and how they are the reason I'm here. It doesn't matter that my knees had been hurting for a week or that I couldn't catch my breath or that I had a cramp in my side. I was still here for them, and I imagined them at every corner of the track, watching me run. I can't fail them. I won't fail them. Failure just wasn't on option.

The second thing that kept me going was the fact that I was running with someone. PVT Intel is a couple of years younger than I am but still in the same group for PT requirements. Intel is also from Texas, coming out of the Houston area. There's a couple other guys here in my platoon from my hometown of San Antonio, but they're all young and fresh out of high school. Intel and I can hold a mature conversation about home and what we miss. Somewhere along the way, we found out we're both on about the same physical fitness level and decided to start running together when possible because we push each other to try harder. His nickname, by the way, comes from the fact that he's somehow always knowing what's going on and letting us know some kind of info about which rumors are true or false around the company. It's hard to get reliable info with so many kids puffing up their chests and exaggerating things around here, but I generally trust it's true if Intel says it. Regarding the run, Intel and I pushed our way through it, encouraging each other and finishing a second apart. He was just recovered from torn ankle ligaments a few weeks ago, so I really had no excise to fall off his pace. Lol.

The third thing that kept running through my mind were the recently spoken words of one of the other drill sergeants from our company. I'll call him DS Poker Face because he has the absolute best blank stare/ poker face I have ever seen. You just can't guess what he's thinking or what he'll say next. But about two weeks ago, when we were messing up as a company and acting dumb at hydration formation, he said to us "99 times out of 100, your mind will quit before your body does. You need to build mental toughness." For some reason, those words stuck fast in my mind. So, when I was about to slow down, start walking and tell Intel to go on without me, I remembered those words and forced the spirit of failure out of my thoughts and mind. I pushed through it and actually began running a bit faster once I had regained my mental focus. I finished out the run feeling proud of myself for not giving up. It was a great and defining moment for me personally. For everyone else, it might have just been a test, but for me, it was a victory! :)

The rest of the day, we did training in combatives, learning how to defend ourselves more on a hand to hand level. We were specifically instructed by our drill sergeants to stay down on our knees during the exercises and not to rise to our feet, but two females did not listen to instructions and when they came down to the mat, one of them landed on the tops of the other one's head and neck and she had to be taken to the hospital because she couldn't  recognize how many fingers the drill sergeant was holding up in front of her face. It seemed like a concussion, but I'm no doctor. It was good to see the drill sergeants take it seriously and ensure quick medical care was given, but I couldn't stop thinking that the whole thing could have been prevented by them simply paying attention to detail and following the instructions given to them.

So then, as we're getting ready for hydration formation, it started snowing! Not anything heavy, but still snow flurries are snow flurries. We have a couple of guys from Hawaii in our company and they were all looking around like kids because some of them had never seen snow before. It was fun. Merry PT test day, boys.

BUSTED!

Friday, February 15, 2013- Today we wore our full "battle rattle" which consists of our I.B.A. (bulletproof armor vest), A.C.H. (combat helmet) and FLIC (which is kind of like an ammo vest worn on top of the I.B.A.) It was the first time we had worn it all day and everyone was tired and cranky it seemed, because of the newly endured burden. The rifle simulator training was fine and we were back at the barracks by 1700 and sitting down just beginning to eat MREs for dinner, Then, the most interesting part of the day happened. Our battalion commander came walking right into the breezeway under our barracks and past two platoons who didn't  call the company to attention. That's a huge no- no here. Because they did not pay attention to detail, everyone had to throw away their MREs. The WHOLE company. I found out the reason for his visit right before that happened though. He was there to speak with me.

I remembered the first day we had spent here when he came through and was introduced to each platoon by their Drill Sergeants. DS Pain Bringer had actually said "You don't want him to know your name" because it usually means you're in trouble. And here he was, standing next to DS Amazon, asking me about my blog. You see, apparently, my wife had found our Company's Facebook page and had been conversing with family members of other people in company, and wanting to let them know what kind of experience their loved one was having, she gladly shared the link to this blog with the aforementioned soldier's relatives. The next day, DS Action Man came up to me and said he had read every page. Apparently, ALL the drill sergeants had and somehow word got up to the battalion commander and he read it as well. So one misplaced link took me from kinda blending in with everyone else to all the drill sergeants and the battalion CO knowing who I am. Well, I don't really mind who knows about it, I didn't start the blog to badmouth the Army. I simply wanted to let people know my experience. That it's different for everyone, and that it's hard sometimes (and for good reason, not just ANYBODY can join the Army.) That it can definitely change a person, can instill discipline and a sense of duty and responsibility to those that may not quite have that yet. And to those that already do, it can make them leaders of men. I knew my experience would be unique, due to my age and um... activity level, lol, but I wanted the world to see what the Army could do with someone like me, as a piece of clay in their potter's wheel and kiln.  In the short time being involved with the military, I've grown to love this environment and would never intentionally do anything to cast a bad light on it.

The battalion CO was very gracious during our conversation and definitely was aware of my freedom of speech rights. I think he just wanted me to be aware that certain things are of a sensitive nature and to be cautious. And I surely will be.

Valentine's Day

Thursday February 14, 2013- Today we took a trip back to the 120th Reception Battalion for our clothing issue for our Army dress uniforms. There was such a feeling of pride wearing it for the first time. I almost teared up a bit thinking how I was wearing the same uniform my father wore in his Army graduation photo. It's times like these that I miss him so much and feel so close to him at the same time somehow. It was also very interesting seeing the place we were before we knew a thing about being soldiers. After receiving our uniforms, I was placed on uniform issue detail because I was part of the first group of soldiers done. It was actually a great time 'cause there was no stress, no standing at attention  and oh yeah, I got to hear music for like a whole hour! Journey never sounded so good. Maybe it's 'cause I didn't stop believin'. Lol.

Range Fail

Tuesday February 12, 2013- Today was a stressful day. It was a range day, Pre-Qualification for BRM and we got bussed out to the range at around 0730. It was about 0900 by the time we started firing and it was perfect shooting weather. No wind, overcast sky, not too hot and not too cold were the conditions we were in for the first of two days that would determine whether we qualified for BRM and continue on to the next part of our training. Having just received a few white phase restarts (people who actually got further than us in BCT but can't shoot the broad side of a barn) we were are a little nervous and everyone wanted to qualify today in case the weather returns to being crappy tomorrow. It was drilled into our heads lately: Remember your fundamentals of shooting. We had been instructed by some of the best shooters in all of Fort Jackson on the technique and now, it was up to us to implement that instruction.  I went up in the first firing group confident after the previous day's shooting and ready to qualify. And then I promptly blew it. Lol. The qualifying score was 23 targets hit out of 40. My first time, I shot 17 and the next time I shot 15. I was so upset with myself that I didn't get it done the first time and tired my best not to stress out, which was difficult considering the importance of the task at hand to my future as a soldier.

At first, I thought that maybe my rifle had not been zeroed correctly. Zeroing is the process of adjusting the rifle's sights to the shooter and the particular way they hold the weapon. It is vitally important to have a proper zero in order to maintain accuracy and precision. When I went to the drill sergeant in charge of zeroing, he got upset because he said I was changing the way I shoot. After a LOT of him swearing at me and then making me wait an hour (to "think about how much I've wasted everyone's time being there as well as the Army's ammo") I finally got another chance to zero. During the wait, I had studied my shooter's manual to find out what had changed since the first couple days of firing and realized that I had definitely changed my aim. Once I moved back to my original position, I got into the very last group of shooters for the day. Keeping my breathing under control, I went up and laid down 26 targets. I passed! I walked off the range with the biggest smile I've had since we arrived here at BCT and it didn't go away for about ten or fifteen minutes. I was so relieved. And it's a good thing I passed on pre-qual day because the forecast for tomorrow is rainy and cold! One more hurdle surpassed.

Rain on the Range

Monday, February 11, 2013- Such. A. Long. Day! Wake up this morning was at 0430 and we got down into formation with our rucksacks packed and loaded up with a third of our respective body weights! It was for Foot March 2, but our company killed two birds with one stone and had us fulfill the requirement on our way to the range for a day. So we're downstairs and ready to get going when DS Action Man had us all get down on the wet and cold concrete and bust out a whole PT session while we laid there and soaked up the rain. We set out for the range and we did pretty good as a platoon as far as staying with the rest of the company for the duration of the march and not falling out. We got to the range and it was cold and still raining. We even ate breakfast in the rain! That really sucked. Around 1700, we got bussed back to the barracks (Yay! No more marching!) and tumbled out of the bus with our rucks front loaded. With our rucks on our bellies we all looked like pregnant women, waddling from the bus stop to the barracks. Lol. Then we cleaned our weapons for a while and got mail. I got a letter from my wife with pictures of her and the kids in it! I was so happy! A long, grueling day came to an end with a big smile on my face after a hot shower, while holding pictures of my favorite people. :)

Church and Chocolate

Sunday February 10, 2013- Today was a great day so far. This morning we had church, and while there, we were able to buy candy bars for $1! I got to eat one and a half bars. It was heavenly (no pun intended!), but the best part was that I got to borrow a phone from a guy in AIT and talk to my wife for like five whole minutes! It was so good to hear her voice. I was so happy, but what's even better is that we're getting our phones tonight to call home and from what I've heard we'll have them for upwards of 20 minutes! Gotta go, gotta mail this!

Shooting Fails and Personal Time

Saturday February 9, 2013- So, we're here at the range with our first attempts at shooting multiple targets with live ammo. It's been interesting. Almost everyone who shot failed the first time, including myself. Whoever thought to take a mound of dark red clay, place it 300 meters out, and then place a black target in front of it, while having us shoot at tit at the time of day when the sun casts a shadow over the whole target and the surrounding area is a freakin' idiot!! My first time, with 40 rounds, I only hit three! Some people only hit ONE! We shot again, and a lot of people improved but didn't receive the 20 out of 40 that were required. My second time I shot, I got 8. DS Amazon came over and I thought she was gonna yell at our group fro not passing but she said she simply wanted to see some improvement and that we were okay. Whew!

After that, we marched back from the range to the barracks which was about 5 miles. THen we had about an hour of personal time before hydration formation (which I'll just call HyFo for brevity's sake.) There are plenty of ways to use your personal time some of the guys crack me up with how they use it. One soldier who I'll call PVT Seducer (because he's always talking like a player to the females with a little gleam in his eyes) stands in front of the only full-length mirror we have and does curls with the only dumbbell we have. Another guy who always says it's too cold, just puts on like three or more layers of clothes and cocoons himself under his blanket. Another guy is like a one man radio, always singing like 15 or 30 seconds of a given song. I told him it's like Pandora with A.D.D., lol. I think I'll call him PVT Jukebox. He sounds like Jackie Wilson or Otis Redding and is always making us laugh. The funny moments here are what keep us sane.

The Next Chapter

Friday February 8, 2013- Today we went to the EST virtual shooting simulator again. I like to call it the Duck Hunt Chamber. It really is like a life sized video game except with real M-16s as air rifle controllers for it. I did well on the BRM qualifying test simulator. My score put me in the sharpshooter category! The rest of the day was pretty boring though. There was some news about people washing out though.

The first wave, including PVT Quitter, got sent home a few days ago. There area few reasons that people get sent home. One is injuries, which if legitimate, are perfectly understandable. The other is the Non-Trainers. These are people like PVT Quitter who gave up once things got too hard. Our platoon has about eight non-trainers and personally, I can't wait for them to leave. They suck away all the platoon's morale and all they do is slow us down and complain about the Army. Today, four more privates got called in to speak with our battalion commander, the Lt. Col., who informed them that they were being chaptered out. This is the end of their military careers. One of them was PVT Boricua, my Puerto Rican buddy, who just lost all motivation and desire to be here about a week ago upon receiving news of his grandfather's death. The other was a private who was a really nice guy and had told me that he looked up to me. This guy's big problem is that he can't get anything right. Whether it be a horribly lumpy and messy bunk, a shirt untucked, not being in the right place at the right time, being late everywhere, or being socially awkward, this guy could just not conform to the Army's way of doing things. It's too bad, 'cause he's a good kid with good manners and a good heart.

We also had a guy who got caught with his iPod on him and failed his PT test that got chaptered out. Most of the chapters are due to people failing their PT tests, so I was a little nervous because I found out recently that I failed the PT test also. I was a couple sit ups shy, about ten push ups short (because I forgot you can't drop a knee to the ground when you get tired) but amazingly, I passed the run which was my biggest  concern going into it. Today we had another AGR (Ability Group Run) and I actually improved a bit, finishing about two thirds of the way through the C group formation, instead of being one of the last few people. I've been doing like 200 push ups and sit ups a day. I crank out 25 of both before every meal and lately, every time we're not busy, me and a couple other guys will try to do 60 or mo in an hour's time every hour. Today it felt like I did 300 after that run! Lol.

I feel myself getting slowly stronger, just a little more every day. And two people in the last three days told me I look skinnier in the face since Reception! I'd wager to say I've lost 8 to 10 pounds but it could be more. I'm glad to be getting healthier, but right now, I could give my big toe for an Oreo! Lol.

We also recently got student leadership privileges, which consists of a Platoon Guide, Assistant Platoon Guide and Squad Leaders and Team Leaders. I'm pretty sure I would have been considered for the P.G. position if I hadn't failed my PT test as one of the qualifications is a passing score. These kids have so much to learn about discipline. DS Amazon came out to our formation a couple days ago and appointed the youngest female in our platoon as the Asst Platoon Guide which I found funny but she is actually pretty sharp. Then she appointed PVT Tactics to be our Platoon Guide. I'm glad she chose him as I feel he has the potential to do a great job. Or, he could get fired tomorrow for all I know. Lol. I think I would do a good job of leading them and inspiring them to be better. But hey, maybe I'll be made a Team Leader which is just a step below squad leader with four soldiers underneath the team leader. We'll see. A bunch of guys already ask me how to do stuff already anyways.

No Money, No Mail

Thursday February 7, 2013- So today, it was a different kind of day. We woke up at 0500 and went out for PT, which was a nice dose of muscle failure. They worked us out really hard, which was fine by me. I need to lose as much weight as I possibly can by the next PT test which is scheduled for 16 Feb. I need to pass it! And I will, dammit. I've been doing 25 push ups and 25 sit ups before I eat and at random times throughout the day. I'll just drop and start pushing. I'm not afraid of sweating or doing the work. We'll see how it goes.

It rained heavily today and we got to wear our Gortex jackets for the first time. Those things are really warm but it was still really cold out as we headed down to the troop store, which is like a mini-PX. Unfortunately, because I haven't gotten my first paycheck, I had to borrow ten bucks from on of the other guys to buy some essentials. It seems it's only the Active Duty people that haven't gotten paid, while the Reserve and National Guard guys did. Every time we got to the troop store, we have to get haircuts, which wouldn't matter except that the barbers miss patches of hair pretty much all the time and I feel like I wasted six dollars on a shitty cut. They also seem to cut me like, every time.

After getting back to the company HQ, we ate MREs and they actually let us eat the candy in them and chew the gum that comes with them! I totally got to eat M&Ms! They also let us chew gum, provided that when we stood up to leave the formation, we threw it away. So, PVT Rip (named so because he seems to constantly be ripping farts left and right) walks up to DS Amazon after the MRE formation to ask her something. DS Amazon (nicknamed that because she is kinda tall but crazy muscular and fit too) saw him still chewing gum and flipped out. She said that we lost any candy and gum privileges going forward period. We were all really bummed out. And then I got no mail at mail call. Now that I think about it, the evening pretty much sucked! Lol.

White Phase!

Wednesday February 6, 2013- Today was a tiring day. First we woke up at for personal hygiene followed by PT. Today they said that because we are transitioning into White Phase, that instead of 30/60 drills (running for 30 seconds then walking for ) we are bumping it up to 60/120s. They also said there will be no more walking for the latter portion, only jogging. :( We also did shuttle sprints before and after the 60/120s. To my surprise, I kept up with the group pretty much the whole time. Then we went out to the range for most of the day. I got to be an operator for the computer that tracks the speed and angle of the round after firing. It was a pretty cool system they had to track where people hit or missed the target, but after a while, it got kind of boring to watch people mostly missing targets. I almost fell asleep a couple times which I'm pretty sure wouldn't have gone over very well with the drill sergeant assigned to us for safety.

No Phone Call for You!

Tuesday, February 5, 2013- Yesterday, we went to the range. But most of us didn't shoot because the trip was only for those who hadn't grouped or zeroed yet. It was a pretty laid back day overall with a lot of sitting around and talking about home, and showing ID pictures from when we all still had hair. They said I looked like a hairdresser with my gelled up hair and trimmed beard in my drivers license pic, lol. We marched back around 1830, ate hot A's for dinner, then had mail call. I was hoping for a letter but no such luck. Then someone mentioned to DS Pain Bringer that  all the other platoons had gotten phone calls home, so shes aid we'd get to call home the next day! So today, everyone was on their best behavior  all day so we wouldn't get the phone call taken away. We went back to the range in the morning but this time it was a different range with targets that popped up. I did okay on the closer target that was about 175 meters away but  on the 300 meter target, I had some trouble hitting consistently. It wasn't 'till I was on my last five rounds that the DS overseeing us told me that the sand bags under my rifle needed to be higher all along. All of a sudden, I was shootin' right! The best part about the whole day was that we got to ride a bus over to the new range because it's so far from company HQ. And on the way back the bus driver had the radio on and we got to hear actual music! It was like some kind of 90's R&B rush hour megamix, but we didn't care. We were jammin' out. We got back to barracks, ate hot A's and were excitedly waiting for DS Pain Bringer to come back and let us have our phone calls. Then our new replacement Drill Sergeant (the one who replaced DS Hood who was sent to Charlie company) came up to us and told us we would have nearly an hour and a half of personal time (woohoo!) But when someone asked her about the promised phone calls, she said there wouldn't be any! I was sooo depressed. I would have rather not been given the hope of getting to call home  the n be promised it and have it taken away. Just hearing my wife's voice would have recharged my batteries for weeks, I'm sure. I nearly cried in the middle of formation 'cause I was so mad, sad and upset. It was a real morale drain. It's amazing how much something like a letter can make up for a bunch of pain and stress. I don't care how many push ups they make us do for each letter (right now it's between 10 and 30) I just want the emotional support. But I'll figure out a way to not let it bum me out when they don't call my name at mail call.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention! We had our second Ability Group Run yesterday morning. I was in C group, the slowest one. And we ran about  to 3 miles. They said whoever fell out would get a counseling statement or worse. So I pushed myself hard and even though I felt like I was gonna die right at the end, I actually made it and was genuinely surprised  because I had never run nonstop for that far. 39 people fell out. But not me. :)

Who ARE These Guys??

Sunday- February 3, 2013- So, it's been a couple of weeks and more personalities are starting to show up in the platoon, the bay, and the company. In our bay, there are all the makes from 1st and 2nd platoons. We've got PVT Sick Call who has spent more time at the clinic or in med quarters than he has in training. He broke his collarbone yesterday when 1st and 2nd platoons wrestled in combatives training or possibly the day before when firing his rifle for the first time on the range. This guy's immune system breaks when someone farts too hard next to him, it seems. PVT Grumpy is my bunkmate, who is always sour and complaining about people with not a positive thing to say ever. He has no clue what teamwork is and I feel sorry for him because it seems a life like that would have no hope or purpose it in. There is also PVT Goober who is a young kid from Oregon who is mostly clueless without much life experience. Then there's PVT Really, who sleeps in the bunk next to mine. He is very young, 18 I think, and ALWAYS losing his things because he's disorganized. What makes it worse is that he's always blaming people for stealing his stuff and I always tell him to look harder for it and inevitably, about 5 or 10 minutes later, he will come back around with a sheepish look on his face holding whatever item he claimed was stolen. We also have PVT Quitter, who gave up on the 2nd or 3rd day we were here and made up some BS excuse to try and go home. Now that he sees us doing all the fun and cool stuff, he regrets quitting but no one really feels sorry for him because he was bragging about going home and drinking or eating Burger King. He screwed it up and now he's gotta live with it. I personally can't stand the guy. He reeks of failure and laziness, both of which I'm trying my best to leave in my past. We also have one guy who is a Jehovah's Witness which is interesting. They can't accommodate his religious needs because he can only go to his own church. Anyways, I gotta go or else I won't get a chance to mail this!

I Will Not Submit!

Saturday February 2, 2013-
So, it's the end of week 3 pretty much. We've done so much this week I can't even remember it all. On Monday and Tuesday we did red phase testing. We had out first FTX (Field Training Exercise) on Wednesday. We left at like 0400 and got to the FTX site about 2 hours later. The whole time we marched, we had on our rucksacks with a lot of gear in them. And the march itself was about 5K! Once we got to the FTX site, they had us spread out and post security in teams of two in the prone position. The, once we had eaten our MREs (still laying in the prone position and taking turns watching security) we moved to the part of the forest that would be our platoon's patrol base for the duration of the overnight exercise. We were shown how to build hasties and then ordered to make one in teams of two around the perimeter of our triangular patrol base. A quick explanation: A hasty is a trench that is about the depth of two helmets stacked on top of eachother. It lies flush in the ground and the better versions have branches, logs and plant material to essentially conceal a V-shaped placement of two soldiers. For the field exercise, I buddied up with SPC Maestro. Maestro is a white guy from Maryland who is 29 also. I call him Maestro because he is well educated in the arts, holding a doctorate in Music. Maestro is married as well and has a precious baby girl that he showed me pictures of. With mutual love of music and both being older guys, we hit it off instantly. Unfortunately, our hasty wasn't finished in time so we were going to have a pretty crappy night pulling patrol every other hour. We were learning how to tie our ponchos and setting them up like tents for us to sleep in. And then the rain came in.  It had been relayed to us earlier that there was a big storm about 50 miles out. Then it was 25 miles out and the wind started to pick up a lot. Then, it was 10 miles out with trees bending, wind howling, and whipping and a torrential downpour. At that point, according to regulation, we had to be evacuated to a lightning protection area. So we pretty much ran as fast as we could to the entrance to the FTX site and into a trailer that looked abandoned. The doors were hanging off and with 60 people crammed in it, the floor boards were creaking and straining. There was office equipment and furniture lining the walls and a broken window, Oh yeah, and it was pitch black in there when we got in because no one had time to pull out their flashlights prior to our sprint there. We had been performing night ops training, meaning no flashlights, and moonlight only, so everyone's L-shaped flashlights were still packed in their rucksacks. Well... everyone except for yours truly and a couple other soldiers who had the presence of mind to grab theirs as soon as the evacuation order was given. So we're standing in the trailer and DS Pain Bringer comes in and lets us know that there is a Tornado Watch in effect for our location. At that point, everyone started to get pretty nervous and the rain started falling even harder! Then, all the Drill Sergeants came in to their perspective platoons, took us on another sprint through the woods to grab out rucksacks and then double time it out of there.  Then we marched as fast as our legs could carry us back to the barracks. On the way back, we were taking and alternate route that was quicker, but we cut through the woods, down a HUGE hill, over a tiny bridge over what had become a swollen creek and through swampy wet sand. Right when we were almost done with the sand, I said "How many shitty types of terrain can we go through?!?!?" then we hit a gravel bed going uphill at a steep incline. It was raining so hard, it felt like we were standing in the shower! We made it back to the barracks finally and got out of our sopping wet ACUs and everyone was glad to hit a warm bed. :) FTX One was done and over with.

On Thursday, we went to the EST, which is like a giant simulator that looks like a big game of Duck Hunt and then Friday we got out to the range and fired live ammo for the first time. We had 30 rounds to group and zero with, and I grouped within the first 10 rounds and zeroed in around 20 or 25 rounds. Some people have been trying for the last two days and still haven't grouped or zeroed. I'm so glad I got that out of the way. On Saturday, we went back to the range, but didn't shoot because the two other platoons who hadn't shot before were now up and ready to shoot. So instead we had a class on Combative, which is the Army's hand to hand  fighting style, extremely similar to MMA fighting, and got to square off against 2nd platoon in one on one grappling matches. I faced up against a young guy who had plenty of wrestling experience in high school, and kept blocking all my attempts to get him in a hold. But I weighed more and was stronger, so he couldn't get me into either. We came to a draw at the end of 3 minutes and I felt good, if not a little gassed. Our platoon won all but 2 of the 20 or so matches 'cause 2nd platoon is a bunch of prissy girl weaklings, lol. After all the one on ones, the drill sergeant overseeing it all put us into a 12 on 12 royal rumble style battle royale. Males were choking out females, I saw a female putting a male into a double arm bar and there was just general pandemonium. Our platoon won the first match and in the 2nd one, I was part of our team. We got beat, but I was the last man standing (well laying really) from my team with EIGHT people on top of me and I still didn't submit. One of the guys even had me in an arm bar and asked if I quit or not. I told him "no" emphatically, so he wrenched the arm and applied significantly more pressure. At that point, and after looking up and seeing about 8 or 10 blotting out the blue sky above me, I decided to reconsider his offer and tapped out, lol.
Well... I tried to, but every limb was being held by a couple of people, so I had to shout it out. Unfortunately, someone was already a front cross-grip choke hold on me, so it came out like Chewbacca gargling. Thankfully, the DS running everything noticed my predicament and pulled everyone off of the pile and put a stop to the whole affair. When I got up, my whole platoon was giving me props. I think it helped this old, chubby Texan earn some respect from the kids, lol! I know now what it would feel like if I was attacked by a zombie horde, with all the arms that were coming at me toward the end there. All in all, it was a great day. At one point, we even got a class from the battalion fitness instructor on how to stretch correctly. It was not the average day, and to top it off, I got like, SEVEN uninterrupted of sleep. SEVEN!! It was 'cause church was the next day, and I didn't have Fire Guard duty. Gotta go!

BRM

Yesterday, we had our first day of BRM, or Basic Rifle Marksmanship. BRM is pretty important as it's one of the requirements to graduate. We first practiced in a big room that has a giant simulator with air soft rifles. It was like playing a giant game of Dunk Hunt!! :) Today we are going to use live ammo for the first time, I'm excited! Gotta, go, we're heading out to the range soon but I'll update on my progress again soon.

Gas Chamber

January 31, 2013- So many things have been happening here. We went to the NBC Chamber (or gas chamber) two days ago. Everyone was so nervous! It actually ended up not being so bad after all. Someone said the drill sergeants were complaining that they don't use as much gas as they used to. Hell, it still made me cry and my nose started running like a Jamaican sprinter. I don't think anyone threw up in our platoon either. Lol. It's so difficult to find time to write because everything seems to have ramped up here in the last week. As we finish our third week, we just had our red phase testing on Monday, I think. It's hard to remember what day it is, most of the time. We had to know our chain of command, all the ranks, and we went to an obstacle course where we first performed our whole regular PT workout and then got to the obstacle course. In between each of the events, we had to do things like, say the Soldier's Creed and disassemble our weapons. Most everyone passed I believe and I feel pretty confident about my results. We will get moved up to white phase as soon as they see that we can be a little more disciplined. Hopefully, the kids can get their shit together soon.

A Day to Relax?

January 27, 2013- Sunday was great with a small amount of cleaning duties to be passed out. I decided to go to the gospel service this week, which was pretty great! Then we were formed up in the evening and they told us that the next day we would be going to the gas chamber!
we were issued our gas masks and told to go up to the bay and get our gear ready for the next day events. We were also warned by another  drill sergeant about how horrible it would be. I'll tell more about it later but I gotta go. we're leaving for a field exercise overnight  and it's already so hard to have time to write!

Land Navigation and Basic Training Hookups

January 26, 2013- So today was busy damn day! Wake up was at 0230, formation by 0300 and we were marching out to the Corregidor Land Navigation Training Course. We marched about 2.5 to 3 miles out there, then waited a bit for another company to finish up. By the time we got on the course, it was just before 0500 and it was pitch black in the forest. We were equipped with our flashlights (using the muted red lens only for plotting courses), our maps, protractors, and gloves. It was about 30 degrees when DS Action Man dropped us off at our start points in groups of two. Oh, and my battle buddy barely spoke English 'cause he's going into the Puerto Rican National Guard. He's a good guy, but it was basically all up to me to find our points. And you didn't get to eat breakfast until you found all five nav points. When we started, I had no idea what I was doing, but after wandering aimlessly for like an hour or so in sub freezing temperatures, I started to figure things out and we cam back around two and a half hours after setting out.  Everyone got a hot breakfast from the mobile catering containers that the Army calls "Hot A's" or "mermites." The new went back out to daytime land nav. This time, I was on top of it and we got done about an hour and a half into the three hour time period allotted, so me and PVT Boricua (called him that since he's from Puerto Rico) found a nice spot to lay down in the woods and took a nap for like 30 to 45 minutes at least. The sun came out and it was entirely bearable to be laying down out there with a log for a pillow. It was actually peaceful out there, just to be surrounded by quiet and lost in the woods. When we got back, we weren't even the last team to come back. That was the honor that went to the really hopelessly lost and those unable to use a compass or those who were going to make out or mess around in the woods. Yes, even though there are strict policies about fraternization with recruits of the opposite gender, some idiots still feel the need to try and get some action in the cold ass forest, behind the dining facility or the dumpsters, even holding hands on the sly in the back of crowded instructional formations. Those people can get chaptered out of the Army for this but they still try to push it. A guy in the bunk next to me has a "basic training girlfriend" which is more stupid than I can even explain. I'm so glad I have my wife and don't need to be concerned with any of that stuff. :)

No Sleep for the Weary

January 24, 2013- The days are crazy here. So many things to do and not enough time to do them in. I was laughing earlier today thinking about how grateful we are for little things like getting 10 minutes to eat chow instead of six or seven. And not having to take minute and a half long showers any more is pretty awesome. We had our Combat Life Saver test this morning. I got a 95!! Then we learned the basics of land navigation. Tomorrow night, we're doing late night nav in the woods up until the next morning. Tonight we got our assault pack ready and made sure our body armor fit correctly and that our ammo vests (called Flicks) were sized for our personal fits.  And in two weeks we start our rifle marksmanship training. I can't wait! 

Tomorrow is our first official PT test. I'm nervous 'cause I'm still not in good enough shape yet, but I'll do my best to pass. So much to do and not enough time. The crappy thing is the sleep. They interrupt sleep with things like Fire Guard and CQ Duty. CQ is pretty much standing guard outside the Drill Sergeant's office and performing any mundane task they can think of. I just finished and hour of CQ where aside from standing watch, my battle buddy and I were tasked with throwing away boxes and contraband candy. It was long and cold and boring and now I'm going to bed, I'm tired!

The Candy Gate Conspiracy

January 22, 2013- Today was eventful and boring at the same time. We started early waking up for PT at 0500. It was a good workout and then we went to chow. We're starting to get more than five minutes to eat, but not much more. We've been doing our Combat Life Saver training, which sounds exciting but most definitely is NOT. Everyone refers to it at "Death by Powerpoint" because tons of people are falling asleep during the class. When you fall asleep and they catch you, you gotta go to the back of the room and hold your rifle in the air at shoulder level for what seems like forever. 7.8 pounds weighs a ton after you've been holding it stationary in front of you for 20 minutes or so. Sometimes they make you do squats while holding the weapon too.

So, the morning was classroom time, followed by MREs for lunch. It was after that the great Candy Gate conspiracy was uncovered. You see, MREs come with candy inside them most of the time, but we're supposed to turn all the candy in to the Drill Sergeants when we open them. Well, a bunch of the females and a few males got the bright idea to offer to throw out the platoon's used MRE packaging and eat a bunch of it by the dumpster and pocket the rest for later. What these idiots forgot was that they were doing all this RIGHT BEHIND our Battalion Headquaters! The Command Sergeant Major simply had to turn his head and look out a window to witness a cluster of dumbass privates breaking multiple rules. The worst offense was taking food and trying to get it back in the bay to eat it later. They had us sign a paper when we first got here that said we wouldn't keep any contraband items in the barracks and it even mentioned MREs. I tried to warn them that they would be in big time trouble if they got caught, but they didn't listen. And I gladly steered clear from being involved and less than an hour later, I was proven right. They pulled our whole platoon out of the classroom training we were doing and performed on on the spot shakedown of every pocket on our ACUs. They even searched the pockets inside our PCs (the caps we wear with our ACUs.)  We were lucky they didn't make us empty our entire lockers because we had JUST organized our lockers to military standard. It's funny how much this place can feel like prison. We got guys walking around and asking how much for someone to wash their clothes for them. Cough drops are like freakin' currency here, lol. This week we had duty week which means that when the company goes out for special functions, we serve the food and bag up all the trash afterwards. The upside to duty week is you get extra food and as much punch as you can stand, lol.

It's been really crazy weather here. When we got in last Monday, it was nice and warm with highs in the 70's. We were told that was unusual for this time of year here, but we didn't expect for it ot change so rapidly. Last Wednesday or Thursday, we did this awesome obstacle course, and just as we finished running it, the sky just started dumping rain. I don't think, with the possibility of one hilarious exception from my first trip to Pennsylvania, that i have EVER been that soaked in my life. We had to wait in the rain for the rest of the company to finish, and that meant just standing there while you watched the guy in front of you have his ACUs plastered onto his body by hoe soaked they were getting. And of course, the same thing was happening to you simultaneously, Then, the wind picked up and the temperature dropped like 20 degrees in about and hour or two. So we did about a two mile march to get back to barracks and then stood in formation fro like another half hour or longer getting flash frozen by the wind. After that, the weather has been a high of mid-50's in the afternoons but lows around 30 degrees in the early mornings when we're out doing PT!

I'm a little nervous about passing the first APFT test on Friday 'cause I know I'm still not in great shape. But I also know I'm getting a little stronger and my endurance a little better as each day passes. We started our Combat Life Saver course on Monday and test on it Thursday. I hope I pass the first time (you only get two tries total.) We also found out from DS Pain Bringer that DS Hood will be transferring to another company on Monday. That sucks 'cause she was the most laid back and helpful out of all the DS's. She felt like an older sister or momma type figure becasue she always tried to keep us out of trouble ahead of the fact. I'm just hoping her replacement isn't too harsh on us compared to Hood. Also, rumor from a very reliable source that DS Pain Bringer is getting a promotion and DS Action Man will be our Platoon Sergeant. That's cool, 'cause he's already everyone's favorite.

So, I should also mention that I hate my bunkmate, He's a dude from Mississippi that is the worst ghetto and disrespectful type of person. He always has a bad attitude and complains about everyone yet can't admit when he's wrong himself. He is the opposite of a team player and the other day, he and I almost got in a fight because he was whining about stuff and wouldn't let me speak to him while we were on Fire Guard duty, which could've gotten us into big trouble for not following orders correctly. I usually just ignore him as I know I'm not his favorite person.

We've had about five or six people in our company quit and one guy get pneumonia and got quarantined in the last week or so. It's crazy how weak I feel in comparison to all these young guys in the prime of their lives. But I'll catch up soon. Gotta get some sleep. Wake up is in 5 hours!