Friday, December 25, 2009
Nov 29 (Sun) – Day 25 – 1700
Nov 28 (Sat) – Day 24 – 0900
This morning for pt, we had to run on a track. The faster group (which included me) ran 4 laps but also ran up and down the bleachers, which sucked. The slower group ran 8 laps but skipped the bleachers. I was one of the last few to finish, and those bleachers really killed my legs. I know I would be a lot faster and have way more endurance, but my legs are weak right now. I can tell I’m getting stronger but it still sucks right now. I think our first real pt test is next Saturday, so I’ll find out how good my running is then.
The rest of the day has been personal time, which has been really boring. I read my Bible for most of the time, then tonight I started writing the screenplay for Parlor Games 2. I don’t think I’ll ever get the chance to make it, but it helps get my mind off of everything army.
Nov 27 (Fri) – Day 23 - 1730
And the drama unfolds… we had a lot of down time today, so there was a lot of time that we had to deal with each other. The females have stated going after each other, and our bay is all on edge half of the time. The funny thing is, it’s always over something stupid and it escalates way too fast. I’m trying to stay out of all of it, and I’ve done well so far.
It’s been a nice few days though, because of Thanksgiving. We haven’t done much since we got back from the 1 day FTX (field training exercise). Since we start BRM (basic rifle marksmanship) on Monday, I don’t expect too much else to be going on. Being in white phase is nice though, we have a little more freedom, and the DSs are backing off just a little.
Just a quick side note, I really want to play poker right now. I have to wait until exodus though, because gambling is against the rules and I really want to avoid trouble.
Nov 26 (Thurs) – Day 22 - 1800
Nov 25 (Wed) – Day 21 - 1800
I had no problem with inspection today, the first sergeant ran out of time and skipped over me. Before that, however, most of my platoon showed their complete stupidity and incompetence, and could not answer most of his questions. The DSs were pissed so they held us back in red phase. We got to phase change to white phase with the rest of the company, but 2nd platoon and us (3rd platoon) both have our flags furled still, and we still have red phase privileges. It’s annoying, but the morons in my platoon deserve it, the rest of us don’t. Thanksgiving is tomorrow though, so we’re about done for the week. Just a few little times for training I think. And then next week we start shooting! That should be awesome. I hope I can pick it up quickly, because our first qualification is the week after. My goal is to shoot expert, which means hitting 36 out of 40 targets. We’ll see how that goes though.
Ok, so we just got to use our cell phones for about 15 min. That was highly unexpected. I got to talk to most of my family again, and that was really nice. Tomorrow we might even get another call if we’re lucky. We also just found out that we get a nice meal for lunch tomorrow because of Thanksgiving, then we get to go into a big classroom and watch football! It’s been almost a month without football, and I think I’m on withdrawal. I’m definitely on withdrawal from music… 3 weeks from today and I should be on my way home though.
Nov 24 (Tues) – Day 20 - 1930
Nov 23 (Mon) – Day 19 (Week 3) - 1900
Today we got up at 0330, and marched 2 to 3 miles before dawn again. Then we ser up our tents and everything. We spent all day learning different movement tactics and the basics of MOUT. I don’t know what that stands for, but it’s just entering and clearing a room. That was pretty cool. We also had to low crawl and high crawl through wet sand and mud. That was cold and really sucked. After dinner, we just went back to our tents, and could do whatever. I was asleep by 1930 (7:30). It was great.
Nov 22 (Sun) – Day 18 - 1900
Church again this morning, which was pretty good. All day we jus got ready for our 1-day trip tomorrow. We’re marching out early in the morning and spending a night out in the field. I also got appointed Bravo team leader. That is pretty cool, but I’m super low on the pole. If a DS isn’t there, the platoon guide (PG) takes over. Then the assistant platoon guide (APG), then the squad leader (SL) then the team leader (TL). For team leaders, there is alpha and bravo (A and B). So all that to say that I have some responsibility, but not too much. We’ll see how it goes.
Nov 21 (Sat) – Day 17 – 2030
I’m still coughing a lot, but I don’t think I’m sick anymore. That dumb gas is still affecting me. Today we did the confidence course, and it was kind of fun. We only got through 4 of the 5 events because one guy refused to do a 30 ft tall zipline. He’s terrified of heights, and even when the first sergeant came over, he still wouldn’t go. So then the command sergeant major and the captain came over, and I think he’s gong home now. Anyway, the scariest part of today was climbing up a 30 – 40 ft tower with 4 platforms in groups of 4. We had to reach each platform with no help but each other, then go back down the other side. I really had to trust my teammates to not le me fall when they pulled me up! I’m starting to get excited for Christmas exodus now, which is bad, because it’s still 3 weeks away. Oh well, we should start doing more stuff pretty soon, which should pass the time even faster. Before I know it, I’ll be at home typing this up!
Nov 20 (Fri) – Day 16 – 1630
So much worse than I expected. My eyes were on fire, my nose was dripping snot a foot down and an inch think my throat was burning and I couldn’t breathe. The more I coughed, the less I could breathe. The 15 seconds without my gas mask seemed like 10 minutes, then when I got outside, it took another 15 minutes until I could bear it, overall, that was probably the worst experience of my life.
ACTUAL ACCOUNT
We put our masks on before we went in, and were all checked by a cadre member. When it was our turn to go in, we went in two lines and lined up against opposite walls then they closed the doors. At first I thought it wasn’t that bad. In the center of the room, there was a small table with two big coffee cans and a small fan. One of the DS’s started stirring up one of the cans and some smoke began to fill the room. The DS filed down the line and made us lift our masks one by one and say our name, rank, and social security number. When it was my turn, I got half of it out then choked through the rest of it. By the time I went to put my mask back on, the room was filling with more and more of this weird smoke, and somehow I didn’t seal it right, so I was choking and my eyes were burning for several minutes while I adjusted it and cleared it. Finally I got it working. Then the DS’s swirled around those cans again, and soon the room was covered in a fog. They counted 10 people off and lined them up at the door. They then had them take off their masks completely and sing the national anthem. This is about what it sounded like: Oh say can, COUGH COUGH COUGH HACK HACK CHOKE PUKE COUGH COUGH… you get the picture. This went on for 15 slow, slow seconds, and then they were let out. Next it was my turn. Once I took my mask off, I immediately started choking, I just sat there hoping - no praying for the suffering to end, then finally, the doors opened! We went out, and I thought I would never recover, I could barely open my eyes, and I still couldn’t breathe. Snot was hanging way down off my face. About 10 minutes later, I could finally breathe normally again, and the pain had mostly faded. About 8 hours later though, I’m still coughing, and I think that crap is still in my lungs…
Nov 19 (Thurs) – Day 15 – 2100
Well today I was up, and did a 2 mile march with 40 lbs of equipment before any of you were even awake. And before the sun came up. We started around 5 am. Today was fun though, we did the land nav course. We had 5 points to find, and we were in groups of 3. My group messed up on the first point, but we didn’t realize it until point 3, when we found the real first point. Then I took over, and gave up on all the calculations, and just found the general direction and distance and we started going. We found the last 3 points my way, and I was glad that it worked out. Not much else happened today, but I did laundry, only all of the dryers were broken or full, so my clothes are now still damp. Most of them are hanging in my locker now, so they better be dry by morning. One quick note about tomorrow, we have the gas chamber at 1330. I’m not exactly looking forward to it, but it will be a good story after the fact. Get ready for my awesome story tomorrow!
Nov 18 (Wed) – Day 14 - 2100
Lights are about to go out so I’ll be quick. We did 30/60’s for pt today, which is just running fast for 30 seconds, then walking for 60 seconds. It wasn’t that bad though, for being my second time running since I got here. Again we sat around for a while, and then this afternoon we had a land nav class for like 4 hours. Tomorrow’s wake up is about 0330, and then a 2 mile march to the land nav course. That should be fun, and way better than sitting in a classroom. I also learned today that red phase should end next Wednesday and we should go to white phase. That means a little less yelling and craziness, and later wake ups. Of course if my platoon keeps screwing up, we’ll go right back to red phase…
On a positive note, I got me 10 min phone call home today, and mom finally answered! It was great to actually talk to someone from home, even just for a few min. time is going really fast, so here pretty soon I’ll be on my way home for Christmas exodus.
Nov 17 (Tues) – Day 13 – 2000
Pretty boring day today. PT this morning was good, but after that we pretty much just sat around. We did get our gas masks though, and learned how to use them for Friday. Oh, and last week sometime our DS said that if we could clear, disassemble, reassemble and functions check out rifles in under 15 min, we would get a 10 min phone call. I actually did it, and the thing that most people messed up was the function check at the very end I think about 6 people got it right, so we should get to call tomorrow. Maybe I’ll actually get to talk to someone this time.
Nov 16 (Mon) – Day 12 (Week 2) – 2000
Today was fit to win and the team development course. Fit to win is just an obstacle course, it was kind of fun. After the whole company went through, there was a competition between the platoons – our platoon won by 2 pts. So now we get a little streamer thing on our flag. Heck yes. The team development course (TDC) was ok, but as usual, there were too many leaders and not enough followers. My team finished 2 out of 4 of the events we did.
So I’m still feeling pretty sick, my throat is sore and I think I have a slight fever. I’m waiting it out, but it’s really annoying right now. Up for tomorrow is some land nav classes, so that should be fun. I think on Friday we go to the gas chamber too, so it should be an exciting week!
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Nov 15 (Sun) – Day 11 – 2000
Pretty boring day overall. I went to church and bible study today, and it was great. I’m glad I got to get away from all the craziness and crap of the army for an hour or two. I’m going to try to read my Bible more too, but it’s tough with about 45 min in the morning and 45 min in the evening. That’s all I get for personal time. So that kind of sucks, but I think it should get better. One week down today, and 4 more until Christmas exodus. Lolz, some people are already counting down the days… I just take each day as it comes. I’m still feeling sick, but we went to the px and got haircuts yesterday so I got some cough drops. Oh, we also got to all home today for 7 min, but since I didn’t think to buy a phone card, I had to borrow one. The family was still at church though, of course, so I was forced to leave a message again. Hopefully the mail will go out quickly and I’ll get a letter back this week even. I guess I’ll see.
Nov 14 (Sat) – Day 10 – 2100
PT test today. It was just the 1-1-1 assessment though (1 min of pushups, 1 min of situps, and a 1 mile run) so that was fine. I got 35 pushups, 34 situps, and ran the mile in 8:02. I am pretty happy with that. Then for the next hour or two we learned combatives, or something like UFC stuff. That was pretty cool, but I don’t remember half of the stuff, and I need a lot more practice with it. We also made a trip to the PX (store) and I got another haircut. Not much else happened today, and tomorrow should have even less.
Nov 13 (Fri) – Day 9 – 2030
Best/worst day so far. I’m not feeling great as I write this, and I’m a little upset. First, the good. Victory tower. Awesome. I pwn3d the rope course, and did well on the rappelling. It was definitely the most fun I’ve had in a while, and I wish we could go back every few days! Now the bad part of today that just keeps going. My platoon just does not learn, so we got smoked tonight after dinner, and it had to have lasted over an hour. I don’t even remember what we did to deserve it, but I know we did over 150 4-count jumping jacks, which is really 300 jumping jacks. Starting this morning my throat has been a little sore, and I feel like I’m starting to get sick. That doesn’t help anything. Now I’ve just learned that I have fireguard from 0100 – 0300, and the PT test is sometime in the morning. So now you know why I’m not in a great mood right now. There are other things too, but I think you understand. I’m praying this weekend is easier so I can take a break and recover a little bit. I wrote a letter to my family with my address, so I should be getting all of your letters soon! (you did write to me, didn’t you?)
Nov 12 (Thurs) – Day 8 – 2000
We got smoked about 5 times today for a total of probably 2 ½ hours. I’ve decided to really push myself through these things until they don’t bother me anymore. Tomorrow is our first road march, and it’s only about a mile. Then we have victory tower – a 60 ft tower we have to rappel down, among other things. It should be fun, especially after the march. Not a whole lot else going on for now, we still have random classes every day though. Hopefully things will pick up soon.
Nov 11 (Wed) – Day 7 – 2030
We got our rifles today! They’re pretty freaking sweet. We had to relearn everything about marching and saluting because now we add the weapon to it. It’s king of annoying since we have to bring it everywhere. But once we start shooting (in a few weeks) it should be worth it. Our DS warned us today that about 10 to 14 of the 60 in our platoon would not graduate. I was worried for a second because I have been struggling with some of the endurance stuff, but then I realized that if I do my best and don’t quit, they won’t let me fail. I will never accept defeat, I will never quit. (that’s part of the warrior ethos, something I had to memorize.) Oh, and for PT this morning we ran. But since it was pouring outside, we ran in the barracks. For like 25 minutes… I think we did about 50 laps around the room, and I got really tired by the end. It was good though, and I pushed myself during it. If this is really the worst part of basic, mentally and physically, then basic should be no problem. I just hope it doesn’t get too much worse.
Nov 10 (Tues) – Day 6 – 2100
We had pt in the morning, which was pretty rough. For some reason I’m struggling with pushups the most. I think it’s from the shots I got, and then holding my bags over my head, so now my shoulders are sore. It should get better soon, but overall basic is not really that bad. I like my DS’s, one of them is pretty cool, and I think we are his last cycle until he’s done training recruits. The other two aren’t bad either, but one can go a bit overboard with smoking us. We had to do 50 4-count pushups today (I only got to 13 without stopping) but he said by the time we got done with basic, we would do 500. Yes, 500. That’s absurd. Unfortunately, I don’t stay in the bay with our DS’s because that bay is for the females (3rd bay). Instead, I’m with about 14 other guys from 3rd platoon staying in 2nd bay. Their DS is crazy. He’s super strict and seems to be on a power trip, which is what a DS is, so I guess he’s good then. I wish I wasn’t with him though. We also had a few classes about random crap, mostly pretty boring though. Ok, well I guess I’m going to bed now, since they just turned off the lights and I had to write these last few sentences by flashlight.
Nov 09 (Mon) – Day 5 (Red Phase – Week 1) – 2140
Crazy day. It all started with the Drill Sergeants screaming as soon as we got off the bus. That wasn’t as bad as I expected yet *crosses fingers* but once we got our bags we had to hold them above our heads for a few minutes at a time. That I should have expected, but it was still awful. My arms are still sore from the shots we just got, and once again I find myself questioning if I can make it. Then I think about how I can’t quit, for one because I signed a contract, but two because that would be lame. It will only get easier… after tomorrow.
Nov 08 (Sun) – Day 4 – 0840
Again nothing to do. I didn’t go to church because I had to do laundry and I didn’t really know what was gong on. I have to get changed now, so I can eat lunch. We’ll see if anything else will happen today…
0100 – We got stencils and put our names on our bags, then came back to the barracks to pack. We just found out that we are going to basic tomorrow around 3. I’m assuming he meant 3 in the afternoon, not 0300… so we’ll see. I got almost everything packed in my duffel bag, so I won’t have to carry much else, thankfully.
Nov 07 (Sat) – Day 3 – 2100
Kind of a waste of a day. We didn’t do anything all day, but every few hours, we had a formation. All day long was personal time and cleaning time, then later on we had a formation and learned about at ease, and attention, saluting and that stuff. I’m still a little confused about some of it, but I’m catching on quick. No fireguard tonight!!
Nov 06 (Fri) – Day 2 – 2000
Up at 3 for fireguard, then formation at 4, so it was an early morning. After standing at ease for about 20 min, we went to get our ACU’s. We got in around 0700, and didn’t get out until 1300. We were supposed to be somewhere else at 1030, so… I think the problem is our platoon has 60 people in it, when most of the others have around 20. I got to talk to some guys who are already in BCT, I think in week 6, and that was pretty cool. Thy made me feel better about it by saying the insanity doesn’t last for long. I’m still worried about those first few days though… I have fireguard again tonight, this time from 0200 to 0300 so that sucks, I’m going to bed.
Nov 05 (Thurs) – Day 1 (Reception) - 2100
Up at 4 and standing in line all day, Lots of waiting, but not all that bad. I got my head shaved too, and it’s weird – I am not used to this short of hair! I was really questioning if I should be here last night, it was rough. Today was pretty good though, I felt much better about this. I have fireguard from 0300 – 0400 tonight so I’m going to bed.
