2/2/10 Sat
So it has been a few days since I last wrote, but we have been pretty busy. As I said, I didn’t get my Hawkeye goal, but I did shoot expert, which I am very pleased about.
Later that night after we got back to the company and 1st SGT tallied up the scored from each platoon, we formed up downstairs to find out who was the best shooting platoon the prize is a pizza party on Sunday, movies and our cell phone (smile face). A lot of people in our platoon didn’t think we would win cause it didn’t seem like we had that may experts or sharpshooters. As the 1st SGT was reading the results, he announced a two way tie for 2nd place, which was 2nd and 4th platoon and the 1st place platoon is 1st platoon, which is my platoon. Freaking right on! I was really surprised we won I there was 6% difference between 1st place and 4th place, so it was really close, but we won it. Granted we can do something to tick the DS’s off and they will take it away, but right now so far so good.
Let’s see what else has happened. Oh, when we came back from BRM, bunks were tossed everywhere. If someone’s bunk looked like crap, it was tossed. Mine wasn’t (smile). Once soldiers fixed it and we left our bay for some other training, a DS went through and checked again. A couple of the same soldiers were tossed again. It really isn’t that hard to make a bed, and make it look good. Oh, the one soldier who doesn’t shower…a DS female saw inside his locker last night and tore him a new one. I guess he has pies of dirty laundry in there. He even started using another locker to store stuff. His laundry bag was stuffed, almost busting the seams after he put his infected clothes in there. This morning when we came back from our PT test, his locker was tipped over, bunk tossed, crap everywhere. It was rather humorous. I don’t think this kid is gonna last. I say that cause he threatened another soldier who has been trying to help him. That soldier is obligated to report it. Other soldiers heard it too. So yeah, that should get him kicked out.
While at the range we were required to keep our bolt locked back. If someone was caught with it forward, instant Article 15. Well I think total I all there were a dozen or so who were busted. I think they only received a counseling statement though, with like three days of extra duty. That kind of sucks.
Yesterday we went to the confidence course. It is, for the most part, a chance to have some fun while also using team building. It is a big course too but we only did five of the obstacles. We ended up only doing three of them before a different company showed up. It kind of sucked, I didn’t get to do the zip line. I did do the one where you climb maybe two stories, then have to slide down this robe, head first, upside down. It was pretty cool. It wears the hands and forearms out real quick.i don’t think we will be going back either, poopy.
I am finally getting over this freaking cold. I was able to get a good night’s rest last night without waking up to cough or cause my throat is so dry cause my nose is all stuffy. I still have a little bit of a cough, but nothing to worry about. We went to the PX today and I bought some cough drops. Hopefully a couple more days and I will be better. Then I can eat the cough drops like candy.
So I learned a nice lesson last night. I kind of already knew it, but in the moment it just slipped my mind. We were in company formation about to get our usual brief for the PT test. Another soldier and I had to go dig through this plastic crate to find something. Well, DS Shortty had his “smokey the bear” had sitting on top of the box and I grabbed it to get in the crate. Well, I wasn’t going to set it on the ground, so I held on to it. Well it didn’t take long till one DS saw it in my hand and old DS Shortty. Well he spun right around, got this look in his eye like I just touched the Holy Grail, called me out to the front where he was at giving the briefing and made me get in the front leaning rest position. If you don’t know what that is, it’s the start of the pushup position. So he asks why I was “contaminating” his hat. I told him I thought it was better than setting it on the ground. Well he asked me that like five more times, each time walking a bit closer to me to where he was right in front of me and then squats down and moves his hat right in front of my face. There he proceeds to recite some stuff as an apology to his hat that I have to repeat. It was stuff he was making up, but still pretty funny. After my “apology” I have to “knock out 25.” So after 25 pushups and staying in the front leaning rest position for a bit, I am allowed to continue on. So yeah, that was in front of the company. Lesson learned . Never touch a DS’s hat, EVER!
Today besides the PT test, which was the first 2-2-2 test, we haven’t done a whole lot. Got haircuts, PX, was issues the M68 “CCO” (close combat optic), which is a red dot sight, and now in a class learning about these and the NVG’s 14. We mounted out M68’s on our M16’s and I think later we get our NVG’s (night vision goggles), which attach to our ACH. Some fun stuff.
Yesterday our bay was issued the M249 SAW, M240B, and the .50 caliber machine gun. We get to shoot all those this coming Friday (smile). The 240B is a beast, but the .50 cal is a freaking monster. Should be fun.
I guess on Thursday we head back to 120th, which is where I spent my first few days at reception, to get our class A uniforms. That means we are getting closer to graduation (smile). Plus I should get my “Expert” badge for shooting on expert (smile).
2/21/10 Sunday
Right now I am at church. What a nice break from the platoon it is. Just before I left, we were given our cell phones for the day (smile). Plus we wrote down our pizza orders. The TV was wheeled out ready for movies. I don’t have my cell phone here with me. I didn’t think that would be smart and my suspicion was confirmed when I asked Female DS what I should do about it and she said to leave it in the bay. No worries, I locked it up and it will be sitting there when I get back. I did talk to Amy for a few minutes though, very nice.
Last night while we were zeroing out M68’s in the bay, DS Lead came in and wanted to have a talk with us about PT scores. Sounded like we screwed those up. He didn’t look happy and we were ready for a nice butt chewing. He read the stats for each platoon and when he read ours, turns out we were the best platoon in PT as well! That’s freaking awesome. DS Lead told us that he didn’t think we could do it, but we pulled it out so by now his serious tone took on a humorous tone. He is always doing that to us. Being all serious and makes it seem like we are in trouble or we suck at something, but then it turns out he is pulling our chains. Pretty funny.
I took some pictures with my cell phone for the few minutes I had it before leaving. I will send them to Amy and maybe get them posted. (Amy writing…never got them, bummer)
Well I got to talk to a few people before DS came in and took them away from us. He is getting back at us cause we kicked his platoon’s butt at BRM. He is the only DS here so he is in charge. He doesn’t want us letting the whole company use our cell phones. Yeah, ok butt hole, we are stuck in our bay, can’t go anywhere. Besides, we were all busy on our cell phones, you really think we are gonna let someone else use our cell phone? Freaking ree-ree. Oh well, I did talk to some people, so I am happy. Well, that’s it for this week.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Monday, February 22, 2010
2/9/10 to 2/17/10
2/9/10 Tuesday
Right now I am standing in formation. It is 05:45 and a little chilly. We are preparing for the range again today. They have this setup where you shoot at a target that is 300m away and wherever you hit, it shows up on a computer monitor that is sitting next to you. So that will be cool.
Yesterday t the range was zero day. Everyone had to zero their weapons. I was having a hard time zeroing. My first time up I came close but didn’t meet the standard of 5 out of 6 consecutive shots. The second time I was struggling again. But then I realized my front sight post was bent a little it. So every time I adjusted my elevation, it screwed up my windage (?). once I let a DS know and she fixed it, my final six shots were spot on. That made me feel much better. So I really don’t suck.
Now we are at the range. It looks like it might rain too. Freaking weather! I am starting to feel sick now. There are a lot of soldiers who have coughs and colds and stuffy noses. I am surprised I made it this far without getting sick. They make us stand out in the cold so much and then they wonder why so many people do to sick call. Oh well, hopefully I don’t get much worse. The only way to get any kind of meds is at sick call. And that will take away from training so ya, I don’t want to go to sick call.
Yesterday I was made squad leader for the 3rd squad. That’s cool, but I would still rather get a new PG. she still sucks. One of the two scratchers I wrote about earlier finally left. Well, she went back to where we were for reception. There she will sit for like one to two weeks. And that freaking sucks. Freaking detail work all day. But I guess she gets to go home sooner than me. But I would rather stay where I am at.
We got like four or five soldiers in our company yesterday. Two of them were in their last week of basic but decided to go to the PX for some reason, got caught, and they shipped them to us. So now they have six more weeks. Freaking suckie! That would be so crappy. But, that’s what you get for breaking the rules. Some of the others were recycled because they can’t shoot. Most of those are females. They take this stuff pretty seriously. I was working with one female as a coach trying to help her zero and she wasn’t doing so hot. I actually was helping several females but they weren’t doing so hot. One came close. There is a male in my squad who I was able to help him zero.
So we were at the range for 10 hours today. Most of that time sitting around doing nothing. I did help with some range detail. I was operating the weapons check in/out point and did some coaching. I got to shoot again and zeroed just fine again.
I was freezing my butt off all day today cause I am getting sick. This sucks cause tomorrow we are out here all day too. Hopefully I can get a good night’s sleep tonight and I will feel better tomorrow. I have the body chills right now and being in the cold doesn’t help. Wednesday we don’t have much planned so maybe I will go to sick call then.
So on Sunday there was a group of soldiers who went to church in the classroom that we would sit in for our classes. Well there are some computers in there and two of our soldiers decided to use them. They weren’t on for very long, but long enough to get in trouble. Yeah, they got an Article 15. Freaking ree-ree’s I don’t know why they would think it was ok to get on the computer. But then again these two soldiers will probably get recycled anyways.
2/10/10 Wednesday
Wow, it’s the 10th already. Just yesterday it was the start of February it seems like. That’s good, time is flying by.
We are at the range again today “LOMAH” is what it is called. Location of Misses and Hits. Today we are wearing our gear while shooting. IBA (which is body armor), FLC vest, and ACH helmet. This should be interesting. We will be shooting at 75m, 175m, and 300m targets in three positions; prone supported, prone unsupported, and kneeling. There are sites above 10 soldiers who need to zero, sucks to be them. They are behind and if they don’t zero chances are they won’t qualify. Which means: recycled to different battalion.
Today is sunny but chilly. There is some wind but it’s not too bad. I am feeling a little bit better today. I’m happy the sun is out, wish it were a little bit warmer, but oh well.
The second female who “scratches” herself is gone. And you know what? It’s amazing how much quieter our formation is. Sure people still talk but it is much quieter. It sure is gonna suck for those two whenever they try and get a job or anything really cause whenever their records get pulled, it will show as them having “mental illness.”
Each night we are given soldiers time but ¾ of that is eaten up by standing in final formation to get a snack. Then depending on who the night shift DS is they will do other things like sing some cadence then after that we have to go to our bay and “toe the line” so they can get a body and weapons count. It’s retarded how much time is wasted. It makes writing letters more difficult cause there is no time to write, except on Sundays.
I just got done shooting. I hit 37 out of 40 (smile face). That’s the highest so far in our platoon. Granted it doesn’t really mean anything except I have bragging rights. I guess when it comes to qualifying next week, we will be shooting with all this gear on. Now that sucks. These ACH’s have these straps that run down the side of the cheek and it makes for a very difficult time trying to rest the cheek on the butt-stock. So most of the time I was supporting my head. I guess if I can shoot 37 out of 40 that way I will be ok.
Just got done shooting another 40 rounds and I hit 37 out of 40 again. On the print out though the DS wrote down 27, so I think he messed up. Either way right now I am shooting expert (smile). I bet it changes come qualifying though cause the targets pop up for “x” amount of time which means you can’t take your time. That isn’t till next week though. This round of shooting one soldier in our platoon shot a 38. But he is expected to do well cause he has done ROTC and other stuff with some weapons training.
This round of shooting resulted I more people hitting in the 30’s. That’s good cause DS James says 1st Platoon always does the best in BRM. I don’t know how well the other tree platoons did, but again this was just practice. Tomorrow we get to go back to the simulation. That will be cool to perform in again.
After we arrived at the company we had chow and did PT. the PT here at Basic really is pretty weak. Aside from the running the muscle protection is a big letdown. There aren’t a whole lot of smokings either. DS Byles will tell individuals to “knock out 25” whenever he wants, and it’s actually pretty funny with the way he says it. So yes, it is a must to do pushups and sit-ups on our own.
Got two letters tonight. One from Amy and the other from her parents. That was surprise, but very welcomed. The downside is, it sets me back one more person to write. But this is what Sunday is for. In the letter, Amy’s dad gives me crap and calls Basic “scout camp.” Well, can’t really argue with that. He is also a former Marine (Amy writing: I TRIED to convince Vinnie he needed to go Marine…he wouldn’t go for it) so there is that Marine/Army bashing. I can’t really think of a comeback either which sucks, cause that usually doesn’t happen.
Another thing I wanted to mention; I have said it before that our PG sucks, well doing PT tonight we got to performing pull-ups and she wouldn’t go. She told everyone else to go in front of her. That’s a great leader right there. It finally took DS Byles and a lot of soldiers around her yelling at her to do them. Such garbage. Everyone can’t believe that she is still our PG. she won’t march us, tries to slack on PT, only knows one or two commands, and other things. She just plain sucks. No initiative whatsoever. I hope she fails at BRM qualification so she can go to a different company.
Been hearing some c hatter about a couple females “fraternizing” if you know what I mean. I was wondering why the DS’s gave us a little female speech awhile ago. Pretty funny.
2/11/10 Thursday
Right now I am sitting outside working at the mouse traps. This is simulation the pop-up targets when we qualify. We can only go two at a time so it’s gonna take awhile.
We just got smoked pretty good this morning every Thursday is bed linen turn in but people don’t seem to remember that. We were smoked as a company cause people were taking their time, freaking lame.
2/13/10 Saturday
I am sitting in sick call cause I feel like crap: sore throat, coughing, body chills, fever, ect. I think I finally caught what everyone else had. If anything, I picked a good time to get sick. It snowed yesterday, yes you heard me, snow. Which cut our training short. Today we were supposed to go to Victory Tower, that’s not gonna happen. Then it’s Sunday., which nothing goes on that day. Come Monday it is a holiday; President’s Day, I believe. Which means no DS’s around. I think it is going to be a movie day. So I have three days to get feeling better. I feel a little bit better from last night. I was burning up, but after some good sleep I feel better about the fever. I paid someone $20 to take my fireguard shift so I could sleep. Now here I am waiting to get checked out.
Yesterday we went to the range to practice single and multiple targets. Three targets, one at 75m, another at 175m and the last at 300m. They would randomly pop up and we would cap them. Pretty sweet. Out of 44 shots I hit 42. 22 shots are from prone supported, 11 from prone un-supported, and 11 kneeling the two I missed were from kneeling.
We were back at the company by 13:00 cause that is roughly when the weather was gonna get bad. We cleaned weapons for most of the day. So this one soldier who doesn’t like to shower was chewed out by our lead DS in front of everyone. I guess he hasn’t showered for awhile again. He wasn’t too happy, but what do you expect? He made another soldier go in there with him to make sure he cleans all his hot spots, haha.
So those two soldiers who got on the computer last Sunday, well they definitely got an Article 15. One of the soldiers is the one who doesn’t shower. The other soldier is the one who dropped out of a foot march at the beginning and has a messed up mouth. Her front teeth are all chewed up. Anyways, she has been going to sick call for like the last two weeks cause her knee hurts. Well she is getting booted from the military, but before that happens she has to fulfill her Article 15 punishments. Oh yah, she got another Article 15 cause she has basically been faking her knee injury. When she is in her bay she will walk around normally, without her crutched, but once it is time to come downstairs or a DS enters the bay, bam! She is limping and using the crutches. What a tool. Anyways, so now she has two Article 15’s, which results in lost pay and 28 days of extra duty. Extra duty means she keeps working till 23:59 every night and still gets up with the rest of the company. Sucks to be her and that other soldier.
So far today we are sitting in class going over Troop Leading Procedures. I have a feeling this is all we are gonna do all day. I am ok with that cause I wouldn’t want to feel like crap doing training.
This morning after sick call we marched to chow and while waiting for the chow hall to open up I got really light headed and started to feel all woozy. Guess I was pretty pale too. So yeah, almost passed out. I think all I needed was some food. A couple soldiers helped walk me to the CQ office and then to sick call, again. The doc guy said the same thing: probably just needed some food.
2/15/10 Monday
So when people ask me what I did in Basic, I am going to say: shot weapons, pagils, road marched, gas chamber, and um, had a snow day and spent a day watching movies, like we are today. It’s President’s Day and there are only three DS’s here in the whole company. What a way to spend a day at Basic. We are watching Zombieland right now. Next might be We Were Soldiers or Saving Private Ryan. Relaxin’ Jackson indeed.
When we were first issued our M16’s we were told to always have them on us and if we were not able to take it with us, like sick call or church, then to leave it with a battle buddy and then it is their responsibility. Well when I go to church I handed my weapon off to a soldier next to my bunk (Tears of the Sun is the next movie) Well, all the other soldiers who went to church just locked their weapons in their wall locker. When I came back from church SD Shorty was going on a rampage cause he found out about that. Well, he asked me where my weapon was and if I locked it in my wall locker. I told him I left it with my battle buddy. Dude locked my weapon in his wall locker. So he got in trouble instead of me. LOL. Hey, I did my part. I did the right thing. All those soldiers received counseling statements. Nothing too serious, but it is a mark on their records.
Well, no we are watching Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. Just kidding, We Were Soldiers. I’s like little kids in here trying to pick out a movie. Freaking “I don’t like to shower” soldier was all upset that he got vetoed.
2/16/10 Tuesday
Today is day one of three at the qualification range. We get two days to practice and then the final day is where we make our money. 40 targets (30 prone and 10 kneeling). There are seven targets at various distances that will pop up. Multiple ones will pop us as well. This range is a lot different from the others we have shot on, in the fact that there are more targets, and it’s not open. Each lane has trees lining it casting shadows which make it pretty difficult to see the farther out ones. I was in the first group to shoot. I shot a 34 out of 40, which is sharpshooter, but not expert. I rushed a couple shots and it didn’t help that there was a little breeze which froze my hands while shooting. Either way, I will be able to get expert. I do think I can attain the prestigious “Hawkeye” which is 40 out of 40. Today was a familiarization to the course.
Our platoon is on detail this whole week so we have to provide personnel for the range and serving chow. When I was done shooting I was told to go relieve some of the guys in the warming tent. So for most of the morning I sat in the warming tent. That term is kind of an over-statement. It really isn’t that warm. There is a coal burning stove in this big canvas tent. It doesn’t stay heated very well, but it is better than standing in the cold. Since I am still sick, it was appreciated.
My cold has slowly moved to sinus congestion and headaches. I still cough but not as harsh. It just sucks cause I don’t want to do anything. I want to do what I would do at home: sleep and take meds. But here, I get lack of sleep and some meds. So the cold will last longer, freaking sucks. Perhaps someone could send some cough drops??? (Amy speaking….he’s all better now and was able to buy his own at the PX)
After the range we did a run for 20 mins. That sucked cause, again, I don’t feel good. I was hoping the run would help me feel better, but I didn’t.
2/17/10 Wednesday
Wakeup at 04:00, crap downstairs, I feel like a vice is latched onto my head, and ready to repeat the same thing again today. Hopefully today we will shoot twice. Yesterday they ran out of ammo cause people are still trying to zero their weapon! That really sucks cause they haven’t practiced on any of the other stuff, which makes their chances of success drop severely. Hopefully they can get it. It would suck a whole lot to get sent to another company which is a couple weeks back from us to do BRM all over again. But if you can’t shoot, you can’t shoot. One of the females we acquired a couple weeks ago I don’t think is gonna make it. Poor lady. But she is hitting like 12 out of 40 in qualifying. Ouch!
Just got done with breakfast. When we go to the range, we don’t eat in the DFAC (lunchroom), instead detail gets breakfast for the company from the DFCA and an assembly line is setup. The food is usually ok. Never fills me up and it’s the same thing over and over.
2/18/10 Thursday
Up at 04:00 again, downstairs information by 04:30. Today is linen turn-in. We get new sheets later when we come back from the field.
Yesterday at the range I shot a 32 and 36, so I achieved my expert status with the 36. I am the only on in our platoon yesterday to get expert. Most of the platoon was complaining that it was the range for their poor shooting. Overall our platoon shot lower scores. Really? Blame it on the range? The targets came up the same; it was warmer, so fingers didn’t freeze. I don’t know. I think it is an excuse. I am even shooting sick. Today is the final day to qualify. Up to this point has been practice. So what is shot today is what counts, according to our lead DS. But just about every other DS says it’s the highest of the three days. Sometimes our lead DS will tell us stuff to get us motivated. This is probably on the those times. I am going for Hawkeye today.
11:30
Well, I didn’t shoot Hawkeye, but I did shoot expert. I am still pleased with that. Both times today I shot 36. The second time shooting, my 300m target was seriously covered by shadows. It was very hard to see. Not that I am making excuses, but it was hard to see. Someone in 2nd Platoon shot 40 out of 40, the punk. A good number in our platoon have shot expert. Not sure if our platoon will have the highest BRM. Have to wait till everyone shoots and scores tallied. We still have a handful of soldiers who haven’t qualified. They are close, but close won’t prevent you from getting booted or sent back a couple weeks.
So not that most of us have shot twice, I think we are done; well the ones that have qualified at least are done. We are scheduled to be here till 17:30 What the freak! That’s a long time to sit her on our cans doing nothing.
Right now I am standing in formation. It is 05:45 and a little chilly. We are preparing for the range again today. They have this setup where you shoot at a target that is 300m away and wherever you hit, it shows up on a computer monitor that is sitting next to you. So that will be cool.
Yesterday t the range was zero day. Everyone had to zero their weapons. I was having a hard time zeroing. My first time up I came close but didn’t meet the standard of 5 out of 6 consecutive shots. The second time I was struggling again. But then I realized my front sight post was bent a little it. So every time I adjusted my elevation, it screwed up my windage (?). once I let a DS know and she fixed it, my final six shots were spot on. That made me feel much better. So I really don’t suck.
Now we are at the range. It looks like it might rain too. Freaking weather! I am starting to feel sick now. There are a lot of soldiers who have coughs and colds and stuffy noses. I am surprised I made it this far without getting sick. They make us stand out in the cold so much and then they wonder why so many people do to sick call. Oh well, hopefully I don’t get much worse. The only way to get any kind of meds is at sick call. And that will take away from training so ya, I don’t want to go to sick call.
Yesterday I was made squad leader for the 3rd squad. That’s cool, but I would still rather get a new PG. she still sucks. One of the two scratchers I wrote about earlier finally left. Well, she went back to where we were for reception. There she will sit for like one to two weeks. And that freaking sucks. Freaking detail work all day. But I guess she gets to go home sooner than me. But I would rather stay where I am at.
We got like four or five soldiers in our company yesterday. Two of them were in their last week of basic but decided to go to the PX for some reason, got caught, and they shipped them to us. So now they have six more weeks. Freaking suckie! That would be so crappy. But, that’s what you get for breaking the rules. Some of the others were recycled because they can’t shoot. Most of those are females. They take this stuff pretty seriously. I was working with one female as a coach trying to help her zero and she wasn’t doing so hot. I actually was helping several females but they weren’t doing so hot. One came close. There is a male in my squad who I was able to help him zero.
So we were at the range for 10 hours today. Most of that time sitting around doing nothing. I did help with some range detail. I was operating the weapons check in/out point and did some coaching. I got to shoot again and zeroed just fine again.
I was freezing my butt off all day today cause I am getting sick. This sucks cause tomorrow we are out here all day too. Hopefully I can get a good night’s sleep tonight and I will feel better tomorrow. I have the body chills right now and being in the cold doesn’t help. Wednesday we don’t have much planned so maybe I will go to sick call then.
So on Sunday there was a group of soldiers who went to church in the classroom that we would sit in for our classes. Well there are some computers in there and two of our soldiers decided to use them. They weren’t on for very long, but long enough to get in trouble. Yeah, they got an Article 15. Freaking ree-ree’s I don’t know why they would think it was ok to get on the computer. But then again these two soldiers will probably get recycled anyways.
2/10/10 Wednesday
Wow, it’s the 10th already. Just yesterday it was the start of February it seems like. That’s good, time is flying by.
We are at the range again today “LOMAH” is what it is called. Location of Misses and Hits. Today we are wearing our gear while shooting. IBA (which is body armor), FLC vest, and ACH helmet. This should be interesting. We will be shooting at 75m, 175m, and 300m targets in three positions; prone supported, prone unsupported, and kneeling. There are sites above 10 soldiers who need to zero, sucks to be them. They are behind and if they don’t zero chances are they won’t qualify. Which means: recycled to different battalion.
Today is sunny but chilly. There is some wind but it’s not too bad. I am feeling a little bit better today. I’m happy the sun is out, wish it were a little bit warmer, but oh well.
The second female who “scratches” herself is gone. And you know what? It’s amazing how much quieter our formation is. Sure people still talk but it is much quieter. It sure is gonna suck for those two whenever they try and get a job or anything really cause whenever their records get pulled, it will show as them having “mental illness.”
Each night we are given soldiers time but ¾ of that is eaten up by standing in final formation to get a snack. Then depending on who the night shift DS is they will do other things like sing some cadence then after that we have to go to our bay and “toe the line” so they can get a body and weapons count. It’s retarded how much time is wasted. It makes writing letters more difficult cause there is no time to write, except on Sundays.
I just got done shooting. I hit 37 out of 40 (smile face). That’s the highest so far in our platoon. Granted it doesn’t really mean anything except I have bragging rights. I guess when it comes to qualifying next week, we will be shooting with all this gear on. Now that sucks. These ACH’s have these straps that run down the side of the cheek and it makes for a very difficult time trying to rest the cheek on the butt-stock. So most of the time I was supporting my head. I guess if I can shoot 37 out of 40 that way I will be ok.
Just got done shooting another 40 rounds and I hit 37 out of 40 again. On the print out though the DS wrote down 27, so I think he messed up. Either way right now I am shooting expert (smile). I bet it changes come qualifying though cause the targets pop up for “x” amount of time which means you can’t take your time. That isn’t till next week though. This round of shooting one soldier in our platoon shot a 38. But he is expected to do well cause he has done ROTC and other stuff with some weapons training.
This round of shooting resulted I more people hitting in the 30’s. That’s good cause DS James says 1st Platoon always does the best in BRM. I don’t know how well the other tree platoons did, but again this was just practice. Tomorrow we get to go back to the simulation. That will be cool to perform in again.
After we arrived at the company we had chow and did PT. the PT here at Basic really is pretty weak. Aside from the running the muscle protection is a big letdown. There aren’t a whole lot of smokings either. DS Byles will tell individuals to “knock out 25” whenever he wants, and it’s actually pretty funny with the way he says it. So yes, it is a must to do pushups and sit-ups on our own.
Got two letters tonight. One from Amy and the other from her parents. That was surprise, but very welcomed. The downside is, it sets me back one more person to write. But this is what Sunday is for. In the letter, Amy’s dad gives me crap and calls Basic “scout camp.” Well, can’t really argue with that. He is also a former Marine (Amy writing: I TRIED to convince Vinnie he needed to go Marine…he wouldn’t go for it) so there is that Marine/Army bashing. I can’t really think of a comeback either which sucks, cause that usually doesn’t happen.
Another thing I wanted to mention; I have said it before that our PG sucks, well doing PT tonight we got to performing pull-ups and she wouldn’t go. She told everyone else to go in front of her. That’s a great leader right there. It finally took DS Byles and a lot of soldiers around her yelling at her to do them. Such garbage. Everyone can’t believe that she is still our PG. she won’t march us, tries to slack on PT, only knows one or two commands, and other things. She just plain sucks. No initiative whatsoever. I hope she fails at BRM qualification so she can go to a different company.
Been hearing some c hatter about a couple females “fraternizing” if you know what I mean. I was wondering why the DS’s gave us a little female speech awhile ago. Pretty funny.
2/11/10 Thursday
Right now I am sitting outside working at the mouse traps. This is simulation the pop-up targets when we qualify. We can only go two at a time so it’s gonna take awhile.
We just got smoked pretty good this morning every Thursday is bed linen turn in but people don’t seem to remember that. We were smoked as a company cause people were taking their time, freaking lame.
2/13/10 Saturday
I am sitting in sick call cause I feel like crap: sore throat, coughing, body chills, fever, ect. I think I finally caught what everyone else had. If anything, I picked a good time to get sick. It snowed yesterday, yes you heard me, snow. Which cut our training short. Today we were supposed to go to Victory Tower, that’s not gonna happen. Then it’s Sunday., which nothing goes on that day. Come Monday it is a holiday; President’s Day, I believe. Which means no DS’s around. I think it is going to be a movie day. So I have three days to get feeling better. I feel a little bit better from last night. I was burning up, but after some good sleep I feel better about the fever. I paid someone $20 to take my fireguard shift so I could sleep. Now here I am waiting to get checked out.
Yesterday we went to the range to practice single and multiple targets. Three targets, one at 75m, another at 175m and the last at 300m. They would randomly pop up and we would cap them. Pretty sweet. Out of 44 shots I hit 42. 22 shots are from prone supported, 11 from prone un-supported, and 11 kneeling the two I missed were from kneeling.
We were back at the company by 13:00 cause that is roughly when the weather was gonna get bad. We cleaned weapons for most of the day. So this one soldier who doesn’t like to shower was chewed out by our lead DS in front of everyone. I guess he hasn’t showered for awhile again. He wasn’t too happy, but what do you expect? He made another soldier go in there with him to make sure he cleans all his hot spots, haha.
So those two soldiers who got on the computer last Sunday, well they definitely got an Article 15. One of the soldiers is the one who doesn’t shower. The other soldier is the one who dropped out of a foot march at the beginning and has a messed up mouth. Her front teeth are all chewed up. Anyways, she has been going to sick call for like the last two weeks cause her knee hurts. Well she is getting booted from the military, but before that happens she has to fulfill her Article 15 punishments. Oh yah, she got another Article 15 cause she has basically been faking her knee injury. When she is in her bay she will walk around normally, without her crutched, but once it is time to come downstairs or a DS enters the bay, bam! She is limping and using the crutches. What a tool. Anyways, so now she has two Article 15’s, which results in lost pay and 28 days of extra duty. Extra duty means she keeps working till 23:59 every night and still gets up with the rest of the company. Sucks to be her and that other soldier.
So far today we are sitting in class going over Troop Leading Procedures. I have a feeling this is all we are gonna do all day. I am ok with that cause I wouldn’t want to feel like crap doing training.
This morning after sick call we marched to chow and while waiting for the chow hall to open up I got really light headed and started to feel all woozy. Guess I was pretty pale too. So yeah, almost passed out. I think all I needed was some food. A couple soldiers helped walk me to the CQ office and then to sick call, again. The doc guy said the same thing: probably just needed some food.
2/15/10 Monday
So when people ask me what I did in Basic, I am going to say: shot weapons, pagils, road marched, gas chamber, and um, had a snow day and spent a day watching movies, like we are today. It’s President’s Day and there are only three DS’s here in the whole company. What a way to spend a day at Basic. We are watching Zombieland right now. Next might be We Were Soldiers or Saving Private Ryan. Relaxin’ Jackson indeed.
When we were first issued our M16’s we were told to always have them on us and if we were not able to take it with us, like sick call or church, then to leave it with a battle buddy and then it is their responsibility. Well when I go to church I handed my weapon off to a soldier next to my bunk (Tears of the Sun is the next movie) Well, all the other soldiers who went to church just locked their weapons in their wall locker. When I came back from church SD Shorty was going on a rampage cause he found out about that. Well, he asked me where my weapon was and if I locked it in my wall locker. I told him I left it with my battle buddy. Dude locked my weapon in his wall locker. So he got in trouble instead of me. LOL. Hey, I did my part. I did the right thing. All those soldiers received counseling statements. Nothing too serious, but it is a mark on their records.
Well, no we are watching Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. Just kidding, We Were Soldiers. I’s like little kids in here trying to pick out a movie. Freaking “I don’t like to shower” soldier was all upset that he got vetoed.
2/16/10 Tuesday
Today is day one of three at the qualification range. We get two days to practice and then the final day is where we make our money. 40 targets (30 prone and 10 kneeling). There are seven targets at various distances that will pop up. Multiple ones will pop us as well. This range is a lot different from the others we have shot on, in the fact that there are more targets, and it’s not open. Each lane has trees lining it casting shadows which make it pretty difficult to see the farther out ones. I was in the first group to shoot. I shot a 34 out of 40, which is sharpshooter, but not expert. I rushed a couple shots and it didn’t help that there was a little breeze which froze my hands while shooting. Either way, I will be able to get expert. I do think I can attain the prestigious “Hawkeye” which is 40 out of 40. Today was a familiarization to the course.
Our platoon is on detail this whole week so we have to provide personnel for the range and serving chow. When I was done shooting I was told to go relieve some of the guys in the warming tent. So for most of the morning I sat in the warming tent. That term is kind of an over-statement. It really isn’t that warm. There is a coal burning stove in this big canvas tent. It doesn’t stay heated very well, but it is better than standing in the cold. Since I am still sick, it was appreciated.
My cold has slowly moved to sinus congestion and headaches. I still cough but not as harsh. It just sucks cause I don’t want to do anything. I want to do what I would do at home: sleep and take meds. But here, I get lack of sleep and some meds. So the cold will last longer, freaking sucks. Perhaps someone could send some cough drops??? (Amy speaking….he’s all better now and was able to buy his own at the PX)
After the range we did a run for 20 mins. That sucked cause, again, I don’t feel good. I was hoping the run would help me feel better, but I didn’t.
2/17/10 Wednesday
Wakeup at 04:00, crap downstairs, I feel like a vice is latched onto my head, and ready to repeat the same thing again today. Hopefully today we will shoot twice. Yesterday they ran out of ammo cause people are still trying to zero their weapon! That really sucks cause they haven’t practiced on any of the other stuff, which makes their chances of success drop severely. Hopefully they can get it. It would suck a whole lot to get sent to another company which is a couple weeks back from us to do BRM all over again. But if you can’t shoot, you can’t shoot. One of the females we acquired a couple weeks ago I don’t think is gonna make it. Poor lady. But she is hitting like 12 out of 40 in qualifying. Ouch!
Just got done with breakfast. When we go to the range, we don’t eat in the DFAC (lunchroom), instead detail gets breakfast for the company from the DFCA and an assembly line is setup. The food is usually ok. Never fills me up and it’s the same thing over and over.
2/18/10 Thursday
Up at 04:00 again, downstairs information by 04:30. Today is linen turn-in. We get new sheets later when we come back from the field.
Yesterday at the range I shot a 32 and 36, so I achieved my expert status with the 36. I am the only on in our platoon yesterday to get expert. Most of the platoon was complaining that it was the range for their poor shooting. Overall our platoon shot lower scores. Really? Blame it on the range? The targets came up the same; it was warmer, so fingers didn’t freeze. I don’t know. I think it is an excuse. I am even shooting sick. Today is the final day to qualify. Up to this point has been practice. So what is shot today is what counts, according to our lead DS. But just about every other DS says it’s the highest of the three days. Sometimes our lead DS will tell us stuff to get us motivated. This is probably on the those times. I am going for Hawkeye today.
11:30
Well, I didn’t shoot Hawkeye, but I did shoot expert. I am still pleased with that. Both times today I shot 36. The second time shooting, my 300m target was seriously covered by shadows. It was very hard to see. Not that I am making excuses, but it was hard to see. Someone in 2nd Platoon shot 40 out of 40, the punk. A good number in our platoon have shot expert. Not sure if our platoon will have the highest BRM. Have to wait till everyone shoots and scores tallied. We still have a handful of soldiers who haven’t qualified. They are close, but close won’t prevent you from getting booted or sent back a couple weeks.
So not that most of us have shot twice, I think we are done; well the ones that have qualified at least are done. We are scheduled to be here till 17:30 What the freak! That’s a long time to sit her on our cans doing nothing.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Feb 1 to Feb 6
2/1/10 Monday
Today started out with a PT test. It was a 1-1-1 assessment. One minute pushups, sit-ups and one mile run I improved all across the board. Did 45 pushups, 32 sit-ups and the 1 mile run in 8:23. I am feeling pretty good about the PT tests. The cool thing about the PT tests is when the final one comes around I will be 32 which puts me into a new category so I don’t have to do as many reps or run as fast, lol =)
After the PT test we had chow and then had to gather our gear for our road march out to the land navigation field for an overnighter. The march pretty much sucked. My heels are killing me. The blisters are gone but it’s the sore spots as the skin heals that is killing me. So that part sucked. Anyways, the march was 3 miles. About half way through the first mile we encounter an incline and I don’t know why this time it was killer but it smoked me good. I was sweating pretty badly. My eye-pro (safety classes) started to fog and wouldn’t clear up at all. So the rest of the way I was rubbing my eye-pro with my fingers so I could see. Finally we arrive to our land now. We placed and set up our sweet one-man tests. I like these I may need to get one. Anyways after that half the company went on their land now course and the other half practiced rifle drills.
Lunch was MRE’s. Those are quite tasty. I got the beef stew.
On our land now we had five points we needed to find that we plotted yesterday and we had three hours to do it. It was pretty easy. We got the first spot wrong but we were able to get it right on our way back. We were in teams of four.
Once everyone returned we had dinner and then night land now. That was pretty cool. We were in squads for that because the DS’s didn’t want us to get lost. And we only did three points instead of the five.
Now here I am in my sleeping (bag), nice and toasty. I didn’t pull fireguard =) so I should be able to get a good night’s rest. I am waking up at 04:20 to pack my crap. March back pulls out at 05:30.
2/2/10 Tuesday 09:30
Right now we are back at the barracks getting out feet checked. A lot of people have blisters and whatnot. The thing I am doing is wearing two pairs of socks. DS Byles wants me to wear only one pair of sock and then check my feet after a week. Now that I am only wearing one pair, it does feel better.
Anyways, the march back wasn’t as bad, except my busted feet. We were up at 04:45, broke camp, got a Vicksburg snack (which was a granola bar), and came home. I was pretty toasty in my bad last night, which was nice. But, I am starting to dream about basic training. Like last night I dreamt that DS Logan was yelling at us to get in formation but it was 01:00. So I am furiously trying to find my flashlight to get ready, but then I realize how quiet it is so I realize it was a dream and went back to sleep. It happened like two or three more times last night. It also happened last week too. I spring out of bed and start undoing my lock, then realize it was a dream. Yeah, it sucks.
2/3/10 Wednesday
The remainder of yesterday consisted of BRM drills in our Bay and weapons maintenance. It was a nice way to end the day. We did some PT at night as well. The DS will be pretty coo at times. They will joke around with us every now and then. It makes it fun. We had a platoon sound-off after PT. We had a garbage bag full of mail that DS Byles said if we want it, we will win this. The phrase we had to say was, “Motivated, motivated, downright motivated! Oh! Ah! I wanna kill somebody! Ooh aah! I wanna kill somebody! Shoot ‘em in the head! Shoot ‘em in the head! OOO-AAAHH!” We say that anytime a DS asks us if we are motivated. It’s pretty cool. So we won. Whenever it comes to competing with other platoons, we usually win. But some reason our platoon still can’t quite get it together. We are a lot better, but still a few issues to work out.
I got six letters yesterday =) After the 2nd letter, we had to start doing pushups: 10 pushups a letter, so I had to do 40. A female in our platoon received 24 letters. Lucky her, LOL!
Today we are doing more training with our weapons. We just did a simulation where we go into a room, there are realistic M-16’s hooked up to computers and we shoot at a target that is projected 25 M. It’s pretty cool. The weapon recoils as if you were actually shooting it. Once done the computer shows where you shot, if you grouped, your trigger squeeze, what your weapon does before and after you pull the trigger. It is pretty high tech. I grouped first try. My weapon doesn’t hardly move before the shot and a little bit after. Defiantly neat to see how your mechanics are.
After that we had show and did some concurrent training. More or less we did drills to get into a prone shooting position and changing magazines quickly. Plus stuff to help our mechanics. It was a nice day to be outside. I actually got a little sun. The weather here is freaking annoying. One day its nice and sunny, but then the next two or three it’s cold and rainy.
2/5/10 Friday
Today is going to be a shooting day like yesterday. We will be at the range all day. Yesterday was more grouping. I was able to group pretty quickly. So for the rest of the time at the range it was a whole lot of sitting around. It didn’t help that it was cold outside. There are no buildings, just a warming tent with a coal burning stove. We could only stand inside for like 1 minute then out we go. Luckily it didn’t rain, just cold.
Today though is 100% chance of rain. Oh goody. Once we get to the range and the first shooters commence shooting, it starts to rain. We arrive at the range at like 07:00 so the cold morning plus rain really made it miserable. We are scheduled to be here till 15:00 =( The humidity doesn’t help. The cold cuts right through the clothes and to the bone I was moving onto zeroing but after my first six shots, the call was made to cancel shooting and head back to the company. Sweet! A lot of privates moved faster today than on their PT run.
Once back at the company we were told we are going to take our red phase test today. Since today is our last day in red phase, we need to pass to go to white. The test wasn’t bad. I knew a lot of the stuff. Some privits (yes Amy I spelled that right) did crappy. There was one acronym, “SAPR” that I got wrong. Mainly because DS James was calling us “SAPR’s” earlier in the week, which stood for “sorry ass privates,” so that’s what I put. Well, it actually stood for “sexual assault prevention and results.” Oops! Haha! I think I did really well on the test. Guess I will find out later.
After the test we were pretty much done for the evening. The DS’s were leaving for a military ball so we were done at like 17:00. Had to do some barracks maintenance. Then some free time. Actually we got to make a quick phone call. I got a hold of Amy =) That was nice. At the same time it makes me a little homesick. But that soon passes once I got off the phone and have to perform duties and come back to a room full of men.
Back at the barras I wrote a letter and organized my wall locker. Got some of my laundry back from the laundry service. Then I went to bed.
2/6/10 Saturday
Today was pretty un-eventful. We were gonna do combatives but it was pretty much like a Sunday. The main thing that took place today was the “passing of the phases.” Two platoons in our company officially advanced to white phase, the other two are stuck in red phase for another week. Our platoon and one other advanced. That is nice but a little bit of a surprise. We have gotten better at a lot of things, and compared to the other platoons we are further along, so that’s good. As a bonus we get to watch the first half of the Super bowl tomorrow =) DS James, our platoon Drill SGT is the guy in charge of the company tomorrow so I bet he lets us watch all of it. The reason they won’t let us watch it all is because it will be late when it is over and we need our sleep. Guess we will see.
We graded our red phase tests today as well. Only five people passé out of 45. I am one of them =) So I don’t have to retake it. Tomorrow all the failers have to retake, haha. Well, it isn’t that funny cause it’s my team, but still, some of these people are border retards. Anyways, I am helping some people study, so I will be back.
Well, the rest of the evening was pretty uneventful. We formed up outside for a “Vicksburg snack” and some briefing about tomorrow. There was another company in the platoon area next to ours sounding off and it was hard to hear our DS so we had a little sound off competitions. It was pretty cool. It’s little things like that that make being here that much more enjoyable.
Well, I think this is it for the week. Tomorrow is Sunday, not a whole lot goes on, and so I probably won’t write.
Today started out with a PT test. It was a 1-1-1 assessment. One minute pushups, sit-ups and one mile run I improved all across the board. Did 45 pushups, 32 sit-ups and the 1 mile run in 8:23. I am feeling pretty good about the PT tests. The cool thing about the PT tests is when the final one comes around I will be 32 which puts me into a new category so I don’t have to do as many reps or run as fast, lol =)
After the PT test we had chow and then had to gather our gear for our road march out to the land navigation field for an overnighter. The march pretty much sucked. My heels are killing me. The blisters are gone but it’s the sore spots as the skin heals that is killing me. So that part sucked. Anyways, the march was 3 miles. About half way through the first mile we encounter an incline and I don’t know why this time it was killer but it smoked me good. I was sweating pretty badly. My eye-pro (safety classes) started to fog and wouldn’t clear up at all. So the rest of the way I was rubbing my eye-pro with my fingers so I could see. Finally we arrive to our land now. We placed and set up our sweet one-man tests. I like these I may need to get one. Anyways after that half the company went on their land now course and the other half practiced rifle drills.
Lunch was MRE’s. Those are quite tasty. I got the beef stew.
On our land now we had five points we needed to find that we plotted yesterday and we had three hours to do it. It was pretty easy. We got the first spot wrong but we were able to get it right on our way back. We were in teams of four.
Once everyone returned we had dinner and then night land now. That was pretty cool. We were in squads for that because the DS’s didn’t want us to get lost. And we only did three points instead of the five.
Now here I am in my sleeping (bag), nice and toasty. I didn’t pull fireguard =) so I should be able to get a good night’s rest. I am waking up at 04:20 to pack my crap. March back pulls out at 05:30.
2/2/10 Tuesday 09:30
Right now we are back at the barracks getting out feet checked. A lot of people have blisters and whatnot. The thing I am doing is wearing two pairs of socks. DS Byles wants me to wear only one pair of sock and then check my feet after a week. Now that I am only wearing one pair, it does feel better.
Anyways, the march back wasn’t as bad, except my busted feet. We were up at 04:45, broke camp, got a Vicksburg snack (which was a granola bar), and came home. I was pretty toasty in my bad last night, which was nice. But, I am starting to dream about basic training. Like last night I dreamt that DS Logan was yelling at us to get in formation but it was 01:00. So I am furiously trying to find my flashlight to get ready, but then I realize how quiet it is so I realize it was a dream and went back to sleep. It happened like two or three more times last night. It also happened last week too. I spring out of bed and start undoing my lock, then realize it was a dream. Yeah, it sucks.
2/3/10 Wednesday
The remainder of yesterday consisted of BRM drills in our Bay and weapons maintenance. It was a nice way to end the day. We did some PT at night as well. The DS will be pretty coo at times. They will joke around with us every now and then. It makes it fun. We had a platoon sound-off after PT. We had a garbage bag full of mail that DS Byles said if we want it, we will win this. The phrase we had to say was, “Motivated, motivated, downright motivated! Oh! Ah! I wanna kill somebody! Ooh aah! I wanna kill somebody! Shoot ‘em in the head! Shoot ‘em in the head! OOO-AAAHH!” We say that anytime a DS asks us if we are motivated. It’s pretty cool. So we won. Whenever it comes to competing with other platoons, we usually win. But some reason our platoon still can’t quite get it together. We are a lot better, but still a few issues to work out.
I got six letters yesterday =) After the 2nd letter, we had to start doing pushups: 10 pushups a letter, so I had to do 40. A female in our platoon received 24 letters. Lucky her, LOL!
Today we are doing more training with our weapons. We just did a simulation where we go into a room, there are realistic M-16’s hooked up to computers and we shoot at a target that is projected 25 M. It’s pretty cool. The weapon recoils as if you were actually shooting it. Once done the computer shows where you shot, if you grouped, your trigger squeeze, what your weapon does before and after you pull the trigger. It is pretty high tech. I grouped first try. My weapon doesn’t hardly move before the shot and a little bit after. Defiantly neat to see how your mechanics are.
After that we had show and did some concurrent training. More or less we did drills to get into a prone shooting position and changing magazines quickly. Plus stuff to help our mechanics. It was a nice day to be outside. I actually got a little sun. The weather here is freaking annoying. One day its nice and sunny, but then the next two or three it’s cold and rainy.
2/5/10 Friday
Today is going to be a shooting day like yesterday. We will be at the range all day. Yesterday was more grouping. I was able to group pretty quickly. So for the rest of the time at the range it was a whole lot of sitting around. It didn’t help that it was cold outside. There are no buildings, just a warming tent with a coal burning stove. We could only stand inside for like 1 minute then out we go. Luckily it didn’t rain, just cold.
Today though is 100% chance of rain. Oh goody. Once we get to the range and the first shooters commence shooting, it starts to rain. We arrive at the range at like 07:00 so the cold morning plus rain really made it miserable. We are scheduled to be here till 15:00 =( The humidity doesn’t help. The cold cuts right through the clothes and to the bone I was moving onto zeroing but after my first six shots, the call was made to cancel shooting and head back to the company. Sweet! A lot of privates moved faster today than on their PT run.
Once back at the company we were told we are going to take our red phase test today. Since today is our last day in red phase, we need to pass to go to white. The test wasn’t bad. I knew a lot of the stuff. Some privits (yes Amy I spelled that right) did crappy. There was one acronym, “SAPR” that I got wrong. Mainly because DS James was calling us “SAPR’s” earlier in the week, which stood for “sorry ass privates,” so that’s what I put. Well, it actually stood for “sexual assault prevention and results.” Oops! Haha! I think I did really well on the test. Guess I will find out later.
After the test we were pretty much done for the evening. The DS’s were leaving for a military ball so we were done at like 17:00. Had to do some barracks maintenance. Then some free time. Actually we got to make a quick phone call. I got a hold of Amy =) That was nice. At the same time it makes me a little homesick. But that soon passes once I got off the phone and have to perform duties and come back to a room full of men.
Back at the barras I wrote a letter and organized my wall locker. Got some of my laundry back from the laundry service. Then I went to bed.
2/6/10 Saturday
Today was pretty un-eventful. We were gonna do combatives but it was pretty much like a Sunday. The main thing that took place today was the “passing of the phases.” Two platoons in our company officially advanced to white phase, the other two are stuck in red phase for another week. Our platoon and one other advanced. That is nice but a little bit of a surprise. We have gotten better at a lot of things, and compared to the other platoons we are further along, so that’s good. As a bonus we get to watch the first half of the Super bowl tomorrow =) DS James, our platoon Drill SGT is the guy in charge of the company tomorrow so I bet he lets us watch all of it. The reason they won’t let us watch it all is because it will be late when it is over and we need our sleep. Guess we will see.
We graded our red phase tests today as well. Only five people passé out of 45. I am one of them =) So I don’t have to retake it. Tomorrow all the failers have to retake, haha. Well, it isn’t that funny cause it’s my team, but still, some of these people are border retards. Anyways, I am helping some people study, so I will be back.
Well, the rest of the evening was pretty uneventful. We formed up outside for a “Vicksburg snack” and some briefing about tomorrow. There was another company in the platoon area next to ours sounding off and it was hard to hear our DS so we had a little sound off competitions. It was pretty cool. It’s little things like that that make being here that much more enjoyable.
Well, I think this is it for the week. Tomorrow is Sunday, not a whole lot goes on, and so I probably won’t write.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Day 11-15
Day 11: 1/27/10
Yesterday we did some team building events and rifle stuff. We had to road march with all our gear (rucksack, ACH, helmet, FLIK, vest M16*that he named Amy*) about a mile. I thought my feet were getting used to these boots but by right foot on this march started to hurt due to a blister. At the end of the day my skin had rubbed off the heel. Oh well.
We started out learning range procedure. Properly sighting targets. Then how to sight, post, sprawl. Pretty much you’re walking or running, you see the enemy, get into an offensive stance pointing the weapon at the enemy, squat down sticking one hand on the ground, then kick the legs out to a sprawl. Kind of cool.
After lunch we went to a sort of obstacle course as squads and had to manipulate them as a team in a certain amount of time. It would be hard to explain, so I won’t. We didn’t complete it, but came close.
We marched back for chow, had another combat life saving course, then personal time. Spent it writing the freaking Soldier’s Creed.
Day 12: 1/28/10
Today we were at the firing range to group. We got 18 shots and have to get 6 consecutive shots to qualify our grouping. The range is 25 meters away and we are aiming at a target made to be a similar size as if we were shooting at 300 meters. My first 6 shots were close but not quite in the 4 cm circle to be considered “grouped” but after that, I was right on, so I grouped my weapon the M-16 doesn’t have a whole lot of recoil either. It was weird when the round discharges, really all the shooter hears is the buffer spring absorbing the recoil. Pretty interesting.
There is a soldier in our platoon who shot too early and his ass is grass. He is gonna get an Article 15, which sucks. Feel bad for the guy. He is a good kid. Not sure what happened, but either way it’s poopy.
Right now we are waiting for the rest of the company to finish up shooting. We just had lunch and now we wait. I really hope I can do well when it comes to qualifying. It would be coo
Well the people who haven’t grouped are shooting again the rest of us are sitting in the bleachers. This is boring. Then the soldiers start talking and the DS’s get pissed at us. I know it’s red phase and all, but this is retarded sometimes.
We left the range and came back to the barracks. DS Logan was doing question and answer thing. She went down to check for mail cause everyone seems to think the DS’s hold our mail. Well, she came back with a big ‘ole garbage bag full of mail and like 6 packages. So yeah, they have been holding on to it. I got 3 letters from Amy (big smile face) and one from Abe. That was nice. Amy wrote a novel which I enjoyed reading. After reading some mail I finished up cleaning my weapon, showered, then off to bed. I have fireguard tonight.
Day 13: 1/29/10
Today was a busy day. We started out early and marched to our “Fit to Win” obstacle course. It was about 3 miles to the course and we were in full combat gear again. Ruck sack, FLC, SCH, and M-16. This time my ruck weighs a lot more cause of the extra stuff they want us to bring. The march isn’t bad, but again these stupid boots are shredding my heals. At the end of the day I had 2 monster blisters on my heels that popped and the skin worn away. I am glad it’s Sunday soon so I can wear my winter boots cause they are way more comfy.
The obstacle course was fun. There were about 20 different obstacles we had to negotiate. We ran the course as squads and the times of the four squads are added up and the platoon with the shortest time wins. Well our platoon won (smile). We smoked the other three platoons by at least 10 minutes. We had a female in our squad who jacked her ankle pretty bad. She is either gonna have to sit around till it heals and then finish Basic, or get discharged.
After the “Fit to Win” we marched up the road to the gas chamber. This is kind of a nervous excitement time. I am looking forward to it but at the same time nervous cause I know it’s nasty stuff. But then again I have never done anything like this so let’s get it on. We get a quick briefing on what we are about to do and what we need to do to pass.
We are lined up by platoons and since we are 1st Platoon we were first in the chamber. We walk into this room with the platoon divided on either side. Gas is floating around everywhere. Already I can feel the tingling on my neck. The first thing we have to do is break the seal on our gas mask; say our name, rank, and social security number, close the mask, reseal, and then clear the mask. So I take a deep breath, close my eyes, break the seal and say the required stuff. Sealed my mask and things were pretty good. There is still some of the CS gas in the mask, but not enough to freak you out.
Some soldiers couldn’t do that, they were already hacking and coughing. But they eventually got under control. This soldier behind me was freaking out so I was calming him down I can tell the next part coming up is gonna suck.
Now they line us up in 2 rows of 10 and we have to take the mask off and recite the Soldiers Creed. Just before I take the mask off I take a deep breath to hopefully recite it in one breath. Well, once the mask was off and I started to recite I tood a breath out of natual reaction when one begins speaking well, I ony got the frist sentence out, then I was bent over hacking and coughing and spitting and snot running down my nose. I kept my eyes closed so no tears. So here I am bent over, can’t breath, the snot just running down my nose. I didn’t think I was gonna make it when we finally get the clear to head out once outside the effects of the gas are dissipated very quickly. Finally I can breathe but sill hacking up saliva and snot out the nose. So we walk down this hill flapping our arms like birds to help rid us of the CS gas in the clothes. Finally I am getting back to normal.
Almost everyone has snot hanging on their nose. We are told not to touch our faces cause it will make matter worse if we do. What a trip that was, definitely suckie, but a fun experience nonetheless.
Once all 4 platoons ere through DS Byles told us e are going through again cause it’s something the “Ruff Riders, 1st Platoons” do. Oh fun. So back up to the chamber we go. But at least the chamber has aired out some. The plan is, go inside the chamber and all of us have to do 10 pushups. We have to wait till everyone gets in to start. I am one of the first ones in and this time around I have my eyes open. It takes a few moments before I start to feel the effects, but yeah, it still sucks. It is even worse with the eyes open. The gas smells like fireworks and pepper spray on steroids. We crank out our 10 pushups and the whole snot, spitting, coughing thing is in full swing again. It was definitely a pride thing too, cause no other platoon went through again. So as we were leaving the area, we held our heads a little bit higher.
Once back e started a class on land navigation. This I am looking forward to. It will be coold to be able to land navigate military style. I mean, I did some in Boy Scouts, but this is Military Navigating.
Day 15: 1/31/10 Sunday
Right now I am sitting in church. Coming to church is a nice break and good way to relax. Plus I get my emails from the elder missionaries. So far the only ones to email are Amy and my mom. The rest of you need to email me. I may not be able to write you back, but trust me, I appreciate it very much.
Yesterday kind of sucked. We were going to a PT Assessment but it was raining so that got aced and we did normal PT in our platoon area. It’s freaking cold here. The humidity suck. When it’s cold and rainy, that eats right through the layers. Today is sunny though.
We had our first bay inspection yesterday by the 1st SGT well, needless to say, we failed. No bay passed. But it is the first inspection. We stand in front of our locker as the 1st SGT walks u and down and inspects each soldier. He would stop on some and drill them with questions, especially if something was crappy with their uniform or locker. Guess I was squared away enough cause he took a quick look, check something, and went on his merry way. This is how it works, we get drilled and fail cause we didn’t have everything the same way as a team. So they yell and curse and are told the smoking is gonna happen (which probably will today), but next time we know what to do so we should pass. I guess in the female bay some female took a dump and didn’t flush, so it was floating there when the 1st SGT inspecting and he was pissed. That’s pretty funny.
We had another bay meeting about getting our act together as a team. We really need to otherwise we will be stuck in red phase which will suck. I sure hope we can get it together. We have a group that just can’t stop goofing around. Any little bit of freedom we get they are joking around, farting, etc. they are laughing and it’s frustrating cause this is where we need the discipline. We need new leadership too. Our bay leader sucks, our PG sucks. I think the only reason why she was made PG is cause her husband is in the military and the DS wants to give her some leadership or feels obligated. I don’t know, but she sucks. She won’t march us and usually cops an attitude when we talk. What a wench.
Just talked to another soldier who was in the same RSP company back in UT and is a week ahead of me, he says they just went to the white phase yesterday and they are having the same issues that we are going through. That’s some relief to hear, but we will see for sure.
Anyways, I’m gonna go. Gotta get this week’s worth of entries sent out.
Late.
Yesterday we did some team building events and rifle stuff. We had to road march with all our gear (rucksack, ACH, helmet, FLIK, vest M16*that he named Amy*) about a mile. I thought my feet were getting used to these boots but by right foot on this march started to hurt due to a blister. At the end of the day my skin had rubbed off the heel. Oh well.
We started out learning range procedure. Properly sighting targets. Then how to sight, post, sprawl. Pretty much you’re walking or running, you see the enemy, get into an offensive stance pointing the weapon at the enemy, squat down sticking one hand on the ground, then kick the legs out to a sprawl. Kind of cool.
After lunch we went to a sort of obstacle course as squads and had to manipulate them as a team in a certain amount of time. It would be hard to explain, so I won’t. We didn’t complete it, but came close.
We marched back for chow, had another combat life saving course, then personal time. Spent it writing the freaking Soldier’s Creed.
Day 12: 1/28/10
Today we were at the firing range to group. We got 18 shots and have to get 6 consecutive shots to qualify our grouping. The range is 25 meters away and we are aiming at a target made to be a similar size as if we were shooting at 300 meters. My first 6 shots were close but not quite in the 4 cm circle to be considered “grouped” but after that, I was right on, so I grouped my weapon the M-16 doesn’t have a whole lot of recoil either. It was weird when the round discharges, really all the shooter hears is the buffer spring absorbing the recoil. Pretty interesting.
There is a soldier in our platoon who shot too early and his ass is grass. He is gonna get an Article 15, which sucks. Feel bad for the guy. He is a good kid. Not sure what happened, but either way it’s poopy.
Right now we are waiting for the rest of the company to finish up shooting. We just had lunch and now we wait. I really hope I can do well when it comes to qualifying. It would be coo
Well the people who haven’t grouped are shooting again the rest of us are sitting in the bleachers. This is boring. Then the soldiers start talking and the DS’s get pissed at us. I know it’s red phase and all, but this is retarded sometimes.
We left the range and came back to the barracks. DS Logan was doing question and answer thing. She went down to check for mail cause everyone seems to think the DS’s hold our mail. Well, she came back with a big ‘ole garbage bag full of mail and like 6 packages. So yeah, they have been holding on to it. I got 3 letters from Amy (big smile face) and one from Abe. That was nice. Amy wrote a novel which I enjoyed reading. After reading some mail I finished up cleaning my weapon, showered, then off to bed. I have fireguard tonight.
Day 13: 1/29/10
Today was a busy day. We started out early and marched to our “Fit to Win” obstacle course. It was about 3 miles to the course and we were in full combat gear again. Ruck sack, FLC, SCH, and M-16. This time my ruck weighs a lot more cause of the extra stuff they want us to bring. The march isn’t bad, but again these stupid boots are shredding my heals. At the end of the day I had 2 monster blisters on my heels that popped and the skin worn away. I am glad it’s Sunday soon so I can wear my winter boots cause they are way more comfy.
The obstacle course was fun. There were about 20 different obstacles we had to negotiate. We ran the course as squads and the times of the four squads are added up and the platoon with the shortest time wins. Well our platoon won (smile). We smoked the other three platoons by at least 10 minutes. We had a female in our squad who jacked her ankle pretty bad. She is either gonna have to sit around till it heals and then finish Basic, or get discharged.
After the “Fit to Win” we marched up the road to the gas chamber. This is kind of a nervous excitement time. I am looking forward to it but at the same time nervous cause I know it’s nasty stuff. But then again I have never done anything like this so let’s get it on. We get a quick briefing on what we are about to do and what we need to do to pass.
We are lined up by platoons and since we are 1st Platoon we were first in the chamber. We walk into this room with the platoon divided on either side. Gas is floating around everywhere. Already I can feel the tingling on my neck. The first thing we have to do is break the seal on our gas mask; say our name, rank, and social security number, close the mask, reseal, and then clear the mask. So I take a deep breath, close my eyes, break the seal and say the required stuff. Sealed my mask and things were pretty good. There is still some of the CS gas in the mask, but not enough to freak you out.
Some soldiers couldn’t do that, they were already hacking and coughing. But they eventually got under control. This soldier behind me was freaking out so I was calming him down I can tell the next part coming up is gonna suck.
Now they line us up in 2 rows of 10 and we have to take the mask off and recite the Soldiers Creed. Just before I take the mask off I take a deep breath to hopefully recite it in one breath. Well, once the mask was off and I started to recite I tood a breath out of natual reaction when one begins speaking well, I ony got the frist sentence out, then I was bent over hacking and coughing and spitting and snot running down my nose. I kept my eyes closed so no tears. So here I am bent over, can’t breath, the snot just running down my nose. I didn’t think I was gonna make it when we finally get the clear to head out once outside the effects of the gas are dissipated very quickly. Finally I can breathe but sill hacking up saliva and snot out the nose. So we walk down this hill flapping our arms like birds to help rid us of the CS gas in the clothes. Finally I am getting back to normal.
Almost everyone has snot hanging on their nose. We are told not to touch our faces cause it will make matter worse if we do. What a trip that was, definitely suckie, but a fun experience nonetheless.
Once all 4 platoons ere through DS Byles told us e are going through again cause it’s something the “Ruff Riders, 1st Platoons” do. Oh fun. So back up to the chamber we go. But at least the chamber has aired out some. The plan is, go inside the chamber and all of us have to do 10 pushups. We have to wait till everyone gets in to start. I am one of the first ones in and this time around I have my eyes open. It takes a few moments before I start to feel the effects, but yeah, it still sucks. It is even worse with the eyes open. The gas smells like fireworks and pepper spray on steroids. We crank out our 10 pushups and the whole snot, spitting, coughing thing is in full swing again. It was definitely a pride thing too, cause no other platoon went through again. So as we were leaving the area, we held our heads a little bit higher.
Once back e started a class on land navigation. This I am looking forward to. It will be coold to be able to land navigate military style. I mean, I did some in Boy Scouts, but this is Military Navigating.
Day 15: 1/31/10 Sunday
Right now I am sitting in church. Coming to church is a nice break and good way to relax. Plus I get my emails from the elder missionaries. So far the only ones to email are Amy and my mom. The rest of you need to email me. I may not be able to write you back, but trust me, I appreciate it very much.
Yesterday kind of sucked. We were going to a PT Assessment but it was raining so that got aced and we did normal PT in our platoon area. It’s freaking cold here. The humidity suck. When it’s cold and rainy, that eats right through the layers. Today is sunny though.
We had our first bay inspection yesterday by the 1st SGT well, needless to say, we failed. No bay passed. But it is the first inspection. We stand in front of our locker as the 1st SGT walks u and down and inspects each soldier. He would stop on some and drill them with questions, especially if something was crappy with their uniform or locker. Guess I was squared away enough cause he took a quick look, check something, and went on his merry way. This is how it works, we get drilled and fail cause we didn’t have everything the same way as a team. So they yell and curse and are told the smoking is gonna happen (which probably will today), but next time we know what to do so we should pass. I guess in the female bay some female took a dump and didn’t flush, so it was floating there when the 1st SGT inspecting and he was pissed. That’s pretty funny.
We had another bay meeting about getting our act together as a team. We really need to otherwise we will be stuck in red phase which will suck. I sure hope we can get it together. We have a group that just can’t stop goofing around. Any little bit of freedom we get they are joking around, farting, etc. they are laughing and it’s frustrating cause this is where we need the discipline. We need new leadership too. Our bay leader sucks, our PG sucks. I think the only reason why she was made PG is cause her husband is in the military and the DS wants to give her some leadership or feels obligated. I don’t know, but she sucks. She won’t march us and usually cops an attitude when we talk. What a wench.
Just talked to another soldier who was in the same RSP company back in UT and is a week ahead of me, he says they just went to the white phase yesterday and they are having the same issues that we are going through. That’s some relief to hear, but we will see for sure.
Anyways, I’m gonna go. Gotta get this week’s worth of entries sent out.
Late.
Days 8 and 9
Day 8: 1/24/10
Today is worship services; I am really going to like Sundays not a whole lot going on and get to sleep in till 05:00. But mostly cause not much goes on, it’s mostly soldier time. I need to do laundry is what I need to do. I am getting sick of hand washing stuff in the sink. Another good thing about Sunday is on the way to church, we ride in a van and depending on the DS, they will crank up the music. Pretty cool.
The elderly missionaries here at church have this system set up to where people can email them at fbfull@hotmail.com and put my name In the subject line, then write out the email and they will print in out and give ti to soldiers every Sunday. So everyone, write me! No excuses. I got 2 emails today one from Amy and one from my mom. Looks like snail mail takes about 6 days to get to UT/ID. It was wonderful receiving those. Probably better than getting the letters in the mail cause this will be all at once.
After worship services I started laundry. Then those of us who were doing laundry had to come up to the barracks and some of us needed to go on a cleaning detail. We had to rake our whole PT area.
Back to the laundry room I went after the detail was done. Had to come back out cause 1st SGT chewed us out for 3 soldiers leaving their weapons unaccounted for. Those 3 got a personal does of 1st SGT after the company left. Pretty much after that it has been cleaning the barracks and sriting letters.
Day 9: 1/25/10
Today started out waking up at 04:00. Formation at 05:00. We went to the PT field, which by the way it was drizzling, which was fun. We did CD-1 PT. which is a series of 10 exercises. They don’t really feel like they do much. Even while doing PT they want us to stay in an extended formation and everything has to be precise. We went on another run again. I swear we went slower than last time. I definitely need to move up to to the B running group.
And now here we are in a class again. They are passing out ID cards. And now we have another class which is very hard to stay awake in. Soldiers are popping up and moving to the back so they won’t get caught sleeping. We still have soldiers falling asleep though.
DS James is a little pissed off at us. In class during a break he asked if anyone wants to go home. One person raised his hand. Another wanted to talk to him (the one who didn’t shower), he may be gone soon as well. DS James I more pissed that we aren’t using discipline. In properly talking to NCO’s, standing in formation, ect.
Well those 2 soldiers are back. Wonder what DS James said to them. Find out later I’m sure.
So it looks like on soldier wants to leave for sure. He isn’t leaving right away either. Don’t know for sure. But he is pretty much screwed. Getting an Article 15 when he is 19. Good luck getting a real job. I guess there are 2 females who are “scratching” or cutting themselves to try and get out. Now they can’t carry their weapons so 2 other soldiers have to carry their weight. They aren’t getting out. They just have a profile and are made fun of by DS’s.
We pretty much had class and then on our march back we were taken to the PT field and smoked cause we pretty much suck. We can’t get the little things, which sucks cause that’s the easy stuff.
After the smoking we were done for the night. We were given homework to do. We had to write the Soldiers Creed 5 times and our chain of command 10 times. That’s what people did for the night. Shower time is the best. Even if all we did was sit in class, it’s the one time we have away from the DS’s and can relax.
Today is worship services; I am really going to like Sundays not a whole lot going on and get to sleep in till 05:00. But mostly cause not much goes on, it’s mostly soldier time. I need to do laundry is what I need to do. I am getting sick of hand washing stuff in the sink. Another good thing about Sunday is on the way to church, we ride in a van and depending on the DS, they will crank up the music. Pretty cool.
The elderly missionaries here at church have this system set up to where people can email them at fbfull@hotmail.com and put my name In the subject line, then write out the email and they will print in out and give ti to soldiers every Sunday. So everyone, write me! No excuses. I got 2 emails today one from Amy and one from my mom. Looks like snail mail takes about 6 days to get to UT/ID. It was wonderful receiving those. Probably better than getting the letters in the mail cause this will be all at once.
After worship services I started laundry. Then those of us who were doing laundry had to come up to the barracks and some of us needed to go on a cleaning detail. We had to rake our whole PT area.
Back to the laundry room I went after the detail was done. Had to come back out cause 1st SGT chewed us out for 3 soldiers leaving their weapons unaccounted for. Those 3 got a personal does of 1st SGT after the company left. Pretty much after that it has been cleaning the barracks and sriting letters.
Day 9: 1/25/10
Today started out waking up at 04:00. Formation at 05:00. We went to the PT field, which by the way it was drizzling, which was fun. We did CD-1 PT. which is a series of 10 exercises. They don’t really feel like they do much. Even while doing PT they want us to stay in an extended formation and everything has to be precise. We went on another run again. I swear we went slower than last time. I definitely need to move up to to the B running group.
And now here we are in a class again. They are passing out ID cards. And now we have another class which is very hard to stay awake in. Soldiers are popping up and moving to the back so they won’t get caught sleeping. We still have soldiers falling asleep though.
DS James is a little pissed off at us. In class during a break he asked if anyone wants to go home. One person raised his hand. Another wanted to talk to him (the one who didn’t shower), he may be gone soon as well. DS James I more pissed that we aren’t using discipline. In properly talking to NCO’s, standing in formation, ect.
Well those 2 soldiers are back. Wonder what DS James said to them. Find out later I’m sure.
So it looks like on soldier wants to leave for sure. He isn’t leaving right away either. Don’t know for sure. But he is pretty much screwed. Getting an Article 15 when he is 19. Good luck getting a real job. I guess there are 2 females who are “scratching” or cutting themselves to try and get out. Now they can’t carry their weapons so 2 other soldiers have to carry their weight. They aren’t getting out. They just have a profile and are made fun of by DS’s.
We pretty much had class and then on our march back we were taken to the PT field and smoked cause we pretty much suck. We can’t get the little things, which sucks cause that’s the easy stuff.
After the smoking we were done for the night. We were given homework to do. We had to write the Soldiers Creed 5 times and our chain of command 10 times. That’s what people did for the night. Shower time is the best. Even if all we did was sit in class, it’s the one time we have away from the DS’s and can relax.
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