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
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
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.
Monday, March 11, 2013
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!
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.
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.
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
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.
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.
Sunday, March 3, 2013
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
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
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