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.