Days 91-92

25 July 2009  (Day 91- 20 days to go)

(Continued from the previous night!)  So I woke up to the sound of the drill sergeant's voice and the lights being on.  I checked my watch and it displayed 2245!  Great, what did our fireguard do now!?  I got out of bed, stood at parade rest, and listened.  Apparently, yesterday when the military police were here, the kid who kept his cell phone and had it broken by Captain America (the nickname given to Dunbar since he always wants to come in and save the day) went to them and said things about the drill sergeant and how it was handled.  Anyway, the military police told the drill sergeant and so the drill sergeant came up to our bay to address the situation.  Basically, this kid is our bad apple, and the drill sergeant told us to just take care of it.  He likes our platoon because we are squared away and do the right thing.  So this kid ended up doing three hours of fireguard during the rest of the night, so my 2400-0100 shift disappeared, and I got to sleep until the wake up call at 0500.  When we woke up, we got ready, changed into sterile ACUs (today's PT on the board said GFT), and started cleaning the bay when the drill sergeant on duty came in and said first formation was changed to 0700!  We then finished cleaning the bay and sat around listening to music until it was 0700.  At 0715, we went to breakfast, where we had the surprise of having pork chops!  After I ate, we came back up to the bay, where I got a 30 minute nap in.  We were then told to go downstairs, and that it was time for GFT.  We spent about two hours in the classroom watching short videos and looking at pictures of the drill sergeant's previous tour overseas.  We were given a latrine break, and then it was time to start the GFT.  The The drill sergeant had music from his computer playing on the speakers and mats had been spread to cover almost the entire floor of the classroom.  Different people could call out others and challenge them to a GFT match.  Most people from our platoon only did one match, and a handful did all the fighting.  I chose not to challenge anyone, and no one challenged me, so I was able to skip out on any fighting.  A lot of guys are in the mindset to stay healthy and finish this next week.  We are so close to the finish, that an injury now would be devastating!  After about three hours of matches, each platoon picked their best fighter and so we had another GFT, single elimination tournament.  Our man chosen was Prohovich (who I'm now assistant gunner for), and he won his first round against third platoon.  Second platoon beat fourth platoon, so that left us and second platoon in the finals.  Prohovich came out strong, and then almost lost by the triangle choke.  He somehow escaped, body slammed the guy, and put him in a guillotine to win the match!  So first platoon now has "bragging rights," I guess!  After the match, we cleaned the mats, put them away, swept and mopped the classroom, and put the tables and chairs back into place.  We formed up and MREs were distributed to us to eat a late lunch (almost 1400).  After lunch, we went upstairs and changed into summer PTs, then went downstairs for area beautification.  My job was to take a broom and level/smooth out the rocks around the pull up bars, which took about 15 minutes.  When everyone was done with their areas, we went back up to our bays for a couple of hours and did whatever... or something productive, so I took a nap!  :)  I took some time to start a letter home (which I'll mail tomorrow night to go out in Monday's mail), and then it was time to go to dinner.  I went light for dinner, so I ate a salad and a deli sandwich.  After dinner, it was back up to the bay, where apparently a couple of our platoon's...dull crayons...were getting into it, so they decided to have a boxing match to settle the argument.  This was like a battle of the idiots, and even if our drill sergeants were here, they would have watched just because of who they were.  It was interesting, but after a punch to the face, the one forfeited and so the other "won."  After that, people dispersed and went to taking apart and putting together the M240B and the M249 blindfolded, writing letters, and just thinking about home and what they did in their free time.  At 1940, I decided to work out, and did about 500 ab workouts in about 10 minutes, but I had to pause because final formation was at 2000 instead of 2030 tonight (which I wasn't aware of).  We went downstairs, got a quick head count, and then went right back up to the bay where I continued working out, doing another couple hundred ab workouts and a hundred or so pushups.  I then took a shower, changed into clean summer PTs, and then got in bed a few minutes before 2100.  While laying there talking to the guys around me, someone mentioned something about Golem from The Lord of the Rings, and without thinking, I did my, "stupid, fat, hobbits" impersonation... which either scared the guys or made them laugh. Ha!  Oh well, they had me say a few more things, but lights were turned off at that point, so we just went to sleep!

26 July 2009  (Day 92- 19 days to go)

Last night, I had no responsibilities, so I got a good night's sleep!  I woke up at 0600, used the latrine, brushed my teeth and shaved, and got ready for... a nap!  We didn't have anywhere to be until 0740, so I took a nap, and then changed into my ACUs for church.  At 0730, we headed downstairs to form up for breakfast, and everyone who was going to church went first!  This might sound hard to believe, but they had fresh whole peaches for breakfast, so I ate one for you, Dana, since I'm in Georgia... the peach capital of the world or whatever.  So anyway, after breakfast, we went to church in battle buddy teams (instead of marching in formation).  The sermon was very good today, and we had a new chaplain, too.  Today's sermon came from Luke 18: 1-8, which is the parable of the persistent widow.  We are to pray always and not become discouraged (faint, lose heart, or give up and quit).  We need to be like the widow when we pray, just as she persisted to have her case heard by the judge (which would have been hard for a widowed female then), we need to pray persistently.  Unlike the judge who kept turning her away until she annoyed him, God will listen to our prayers.  As for going overseas, we don't have to worry about dying, because that's God's business and only he knows his plan for us.  We should not coward out of going to war, because we are just a part of the total picture.  I thought it was a decent service, but again, it was geared towards non-believers or those who are close to making the biggest decision they have to make in life.  It did hit close to my heart, because I have been praying a lot more persistently since I've been here, and I wrote about it earlier this week!  After church, we came back to the bay, changed into summer PTs, and headed our for some area beautification.  We came back up to the bay after 15 minutes, and found two guys in our platoon had gone to the PX, got on the computers to pay some bills or whatnot, and were caught by another drill sergeant.  The next few minutes were not pretty in our bay, so I sat by my locker while fists flew and tempers flared at the two individuals.  It ended after Captain America had his fair share of jabs, and we were all called back downstairs.  Word had gotten to our drill sergeant about what had happened at the PX, so he came in wearing flip flops, shorts, t-shirt, and a ball cap, and did some paperwork kicking the one individual out of the Army (for this, wearing a purchased special forces patch on his uniform, keeping his cell phone after family day, stealing NODs, and then taking gear from others at night during a bivouac...).  He is not the brightest guy.  So anyway, I got out of my bay because I didn't want any part of what was going on (although our drill sergeant, while I don't think he knew exactly what happened in the bay, did encourage the platoon to take matters into their own hands).  I went to fourth platoon and weighed myself again... 204 lbs.!  With FTX coming up this week, I'm sure all the intense hours in the field will be good for burning fat... It will be like going to Philmont, but on steroids.  At 1300, we had lunch, where I ate the driest chicken ever!  It fell apart like a cracker, so I had to eat it with my cheesy scalloped potatoes.  After lunch, it was back to the bay to listen to music, pack our rucks for the FTX, and enjoy the day off.  We were told that on Wednesday we would get transportation back to the barracks to take showers due to all the staph infections and other diseases going around.  At 1430, the day took a turn for the worse.  The kid from fourth platoon who had been arrested was brought back the previous day (building a case against him or something), stole food from the D-Fac and had it hidden in the bay.  The drill sergeant found out about it and called everyone down to the formation area.  We got a light smoking for it, but were kept downstairs for over 90 minutes.  We were told our phone privileges had been lost for the day, and to go upstairs, finish packing our rucks, and be back downstairs in formation at 1700.  However, because we were in formation, we had taken a head count, and we were short one person!  The kid who didn't get whomped on earlier fled (maybe thinking he was next), so we had to report him AWOL (Absent WithOut Leave).  After we informed the drill sergeant of our AWOL individual, we went upstairs and did what we had been instructed to do.  At 1700, we went to dinner, came back, and returned to the bay.  Then, someone came up and said, "Phone calls!" and the whole company rushed downstairs to call home!  With the entire company on the phones, time was short, so I made the decision to call Brittney, and if time permitted later, to call home.  I had already been writing a lengthy letter home starting yesterday, so at least they will receive that this week.  Brittney and I had a good, but short phone call.  I found out the weather for the week (since it is FTX and we will be out the entire time), coordinated outfits for pictures on turning blue/family day and for graduation, and told each other we missed each other and that we will see one another in a short 18 days (and going home in 19!)!!!  We hung up, and I returned to the bay to write about the afternoon's events and to make sure my ruck was ready to go for the FTX this week.  I staged my gear downstairs, and waited on my ruck, writing home and finishing this journal, hoping to get back on the phone to talk to my parents for even just a minute.  At 2030, everyone joined me in formation, and we got our nightly briefing.  Our guy was still AWOL, so our drill sergeant and first sergeant were called to be informed of the situation.  Our platoon didn't get in trouble, because he went to the PX without permission and our platoon didn't touch him when he got back (just the other guy who got kicked out).  Phone calls were cut off at 2045, and I was unable to call home.  The biggest event of the day happened next.  I didn't see anything, but something happened that involved the kid who stole money and was arrested yesterday, and who also stole the food and hid it today in the bay.  All I know is the drill sergeant left for about 10 minutes, and he came back and that kid was bleeding and needed to go to the hospital.  For the sake of legal issues maybe being brought up later (might even be tonight), I don't want to write about it.  I was on the other side of the deuce, in formation on my ruck, writing my journal when it all happened.  My hands are clean in this, and I have a few words or thoughts I would like to get out.  First of all, every Sunday a good 100 people or so go to the Protestant service (about half of the company).  On top of that, there are a few people that go to the other services of other faiths, so that's at least 75% of this company that goes to some sort of religious services on Sundays, which was TODAY!  I am a strong believer in what Jesus said about turning the other cheek, and it makes me sad to see a group of guys act like this- the same group of guys going overseas dying so we can have a free country.  It is not my place to judge others and their actions, because God has a plan for even them, but they should not judge others either.  In fact, he got arrested, and nothing happened to us, and he got in trouble for the stolen food-- which we did a handful of flutter kicks and pushups for.  So what, he took away 90 minutes of our Sunday to do some PT.  Family and friends, please pray for this company, and everyone in it.  I'm going to bed now, so I'm as well rested as I can be for this week.  FTX is this week, so you'll get more journal entries in another 5-7 days!

Days 89-90

23 July 2009  (Day 89- 22 days to go)

Last night, I finally had my first CQ shift, which is normally two hours, but because we had a PT test in the morning, we split the shifts into one hour shift, so everyone would lose a little sleep rather than a few people losing more!  Also, apparently a couple more people were caught with chewing tobacco, so we had to double our CQ shift (8 people per shift instead of four), so I got lucky!  When I was woken up at about 2250, I changed into my ACUs and went downstairs.  For my shift, my cleaning duty was taking apart and cleaning an M240B machine gun.  We shot blanks out of them the last few days, so they were dirty and covered with carbon.  This was very useful, because I had an hour to myself to take apart, study the parts and how it fits together, and then put it back together and do a functions check!  I finished with everything with a few minutes to spare, so I took the weapon upstairs to our bay and got replaced by the next shift.  I then changed back into PTs and fell asleep, not getting up until our 0400 wake up.  When I got up, I brushed my teeth, hydrated, and stretched out.  I prayed about every five minutes for God to help me do well, as long as He wanted me to do well.  We went downstairs and got in a testing line for my turn to do pushups.  I continued to pray up to the point when it was my turn to get on the mat.  Forty-two was the number that I had to get, but my personal goal was forty-five!  I cranked out the first twenty with ease, but the drill sergeant kept telling me to go lower.  I lost track of my count, took a breather (still in the front leaning rest position), prayed yet again, and slowly kept knocking them out.  My last pushup I had muscle failure and collapsed to the floor.  I looked up at the drill sergeant, and he said... forty-six!  That was one more than I thought I could do.  Thank you, God, for answering my prayer!!!  I knew I had this PT test after that!  Sit-ups,  I knocked out sixty-eight (nine more than last time), and my two mile run, I cut almost another minute off, with a time of 14:12!  We marched back to the bay from our run, and had a catered breakfast in our formation area.  After breakfast, I went upstairs and calculated my PT test score; 46 pushups = 66 points, 68 sit-ups = 84 points, and 14:12 two mile run = 83 points, for a PT test score of 233!!!  Hello, turning blue ceremony and family day on August 13th, and hello going home after graduation on August 14th!!!  Seriously, keep praying, because I honestly believe I couldn't have passed my PT test without Him!  If that was the reason for me enlisting, I pray ten times more than I used to, even though I have always been a firm believer in the power of prayer, this has been a huge "in my face" experience that shows me prayer works!  While most guys are here cussing and counting down the days to drink or smoke again, I feel that I have grown closer to Christ and have become a better Christian because of this!  I didn't mean to go off on a tangent, but it's what has been weighing on my mind.  

So anyway, I changed out of my sweaty PT uniform and into clean ACUs.  We straightened up the bay and got ready to go to the confidence course (where we went in week one that had the four floored tower and was like a C.O.P.E. course).  At about 0830, people started falling asleep, and by 0900, I was one of three or four guys still awake, looking our for when a drill sergeant would come in.  I set out on re-reading my letters from yesterday and responding to a couple of them.  The drill sergeants came back up around 1100, so those who were sleeping got a good nap in.  The drill sergeants then assigned some details to a few guys in the platoon, but I didn't get any jobs.  Also, Richardson and Rand (the last two guys from the cell phone incident in week three) were finally told that they were going home, so they got their personal bags back and will be leaving within the next 24 hours (Rand today, Richardson tomorrow).  We then went to lunch, and when we finished eating, we formed up downstairs and headed to the confidence course.  I don't know what got into the drill sergeants, but it turned into week one again.  We double-timed (ran) the mile there in our combat boots, got smoked for not sounding off  "loud enough," and got smoked between every station on the course.  The tall stations that we only did last time were closed for maintenance or something, so we did balance logs, rope swings, a monkey bar ladder, and back crawls.  It was high speed, but we had to do flutter kicks, pushups, mountain climbers, and anything else that the drill sergeants wanted to get creative with.  Just as we finished, it started pouring down rain.  We were all soaked through in a matter of seconds, so the best way to get out of the rain is to... double time back to the barracks!  It isn't fun running in soaking wet ACUs and combat boots, but I sucked it up, prayed for it to end soon (which 30 seconds later or so, it stopped raining... weird!), and made it back to the barracks, where we changed out of our nasty clothes, took a shower, and put on dry, clean summer PTs!!!  I decided it was a good time to do laundry, so I started a load before we headed to dinner.  After dinner, I swapped my clothes to the dryer, and went over to fourth platoon's bay to weigh myself.  I haven't changed weight (still 206 lbs.), but since I was there, I went ahead and worked out a little with a couple of guys I know.  I then went back to the laundry room, grabbed my clean clothes, and went upstairs to put them away.  When I was finished, I sat down on the floor to relax and continued to write letters while listening to music on our platoon's radio.  We then got called down for mail call, where I got another letter from Brittney and a postcard from my dad.  I went back upstairs to continue writing, until it was time for final formation at 2030 (form up 10 minutes early...2020).  Our drill sergeant was on duty tonight, but was away picking up people from our company at the hospital.  We ended up waiting around in formation for 35 minutes until he got back.  He got a final count, and we were released back to our bay.  We had about five minutes until lights out, so I grabbed my flashlight (with a red lens) when lights were turned off and finished a letter to Brittney and this journal entry.  It's 2125, so I'm dropping this off to our mail box on the fireguard desk, and hopefully will enjoy a full night's sleep.  Remember to keep praying, because God does answer prayers!

24 July 2009  (Day 90- 21 days to go)

How great does a full night's sleep feel...AMAZING!  We had a 0500 wake up, and I took my time getting ready.  We were just about to head downstairs for whatever (PT was a mystery) at 0600, when those who were already downstairs came back up, telling us to change into ACUs.  We changed as quickly as possible, and then headed downstairs for first formation.  Duty squad set up tables to enjoy a UPU breakfast, but five minutes later, they took the tables down, because we had a 0730 breakfast time in the D-Fac.  For unknown reasons, we stayed in formation until it was time to go to breakfast!  We went to breakfast, where I enjoyed lots of fresh fruit and some powerade!  After breakfast, we came up to the bay and did a weapon inventory.  Since we have had people come and go due to medical issues and getting in trouble, we have more weapons than we do people.  All extra weapons were taken downstairs and checked into the armory.  I then wrote a letter back to Angela and the Barnett family, and then was assigned a work detail outside that took about two hours.  My job (with about fifteen other people) was to take all the sandbags out of the trailer, count them, and put them in bags of ten (nine inside of the tenth one).  The drill sergeant thought we would have around 4,000... but instead we had nearly 7,000!  While I was outside, other groups cleaned weapons, cleaned out the deuce, and did paperwork tasks for the drill sergeant.  I got replaced around 1100, after we finished stacking all the bags after the count, so the next group finished cleaning out the trailer and had the task of fitting all 7,000 sand bags back into the trailer!  At 1200, it was time to head downstairs for lunch, which I had another chicken and noodle MRE!  After lunch, it was a pretty easy and relaxing day, which I spent most of it taking small cat naps.  We had a mail call, and I got another letter from Brittney and another postcard from my dad.  My family is on vacation with the Parks and Barnett families, so the postcards have been nice visuals of where they have been!  We then got reassigned weapons.  I was originally going to be the M240B gunner, but due to lack of weapons, I am now an assistant gunner to Prohovich (a re-class soldier who had been stationed with an infantry unit and trained in nuclear biological chemicals for the last two years).  So, now my job as Prohovich's AG (assistant gunner), we'll be bivouac buddies, and I will carry about five pounds of ammo for him, as well as an extra barrel (when you shoot 950 rounds per minute, the barrel gets too hot and needs to be changed out to cool down).  But that is only for now- there is still one M240B to be assigned, and I may or may not get it.  Being on B (bravo) team, I have a better chance of not getting it, because A (alpha) team is the first team in and has more fire power.  Time will only tell.  The platoon made a final PX run to buy any items people needed for a week out in the field.  I am pretty much set, so I didn't need anything.  I then spent some time with the M240B in our bay, still wanting to get familiarized with the weapon.  After I got tired with that, I went back to writing until dinner at 1800.  After dinner, good ole A company was at it again.  We had returned up to our bay after eating, when someone came up and told us we had to go downstairs for formation.  Great, now what happened!?!?  We got downstairs and found out that someone had gotten ahold of someone's ATM card, withdrew $1,500 from the account, and was being held by the drill sergeant and captain in the office, waiting for the MP (military police) to arrive.  The police arrived, filled out some paperwork, questioned the victim, and patted down and searched the guilty individual.  The MP ripped the American flag patch off of his shoulder, put handcuffs on him, and walked him out the side in front of the entire company, which had taken a seat to watch the entire ordeal.  He was placed in the backseat of the MP car, and we were then dismissed to return upstairs and take showers.  Towsend, the ex-swat cop, held a class up in our bay on how to search a detainee, which I paid a little attention to from the end of my bunk writing.  I then hopped into the shower, then changed into summer PTs.  At 2030, we went downstairs for final formation.  We waited around until 2050, because the MP, captain, and drill sergeant were talking with fourth platoon, and when the drill sergeant finally came down, he said that fourth platoon had returned back to red phase, and that he doesn't want any trouble from any other platoons tonight or they too will be going back to red phase!  We were sent back upstairs with the orders to go straight to bed, so I did just that.  I have a fireguard shift from 2400-0100, so I'm glad people didn't stay up chatting!  Hopefully everyone does what they are supposed to do tonight!  

(Later that night- 2245) I was woken up to the sound of the drill sergeant's voice and the lights on...to be continued.

Days 86-88

20 July 2009  (Day 86- 25 days to go)

Well, last night was peaceful.  The drill sergeant never woke us up for anything, so our fireguard must have been doing the right things all night to not give him an excuse to mess with us!  Wake up was at 0430, so we got up, brushed our teeth and shaved, and then took our linen downstairs to turn in.  We came back to the bay, did some packing for our 3 day/2 night bivouac field training, cleaned the bay, and went downstairs for my funeral detail briefing.  The rest of the company went downstairs to do PT, which today had workouts that involved their rifle.  The eight people doing funeral detail got to take showers, put on our Class As (jacket), and then eat breakfast.  After breakfast, we made sure our Class As were squared away, fixing buttons and other shiny pins.  After that, our group practiced our shooting drill and ceremony a few times, then waited for our transportation to arrive.  The bus finally arrived a little after 0900, and we didn't get to the cemetery until 0930 (over an hour late).  We basically got right into position, because the family started to arrive right after we got there.  We we supposed to run through it a few times before the actual funeral at the cemetery, but time didn't permit.  So, the family arrived, and we stood at ease for nearly 45 minutes in the sun, before it was our turn for the 21 gun salute.  We did pretty well, marched off, and then waited for the family to leave.  We picked up our brass and then loaded the bus to head back to the barracks.  While we were gone, the rest of the company got their transportation to the training site, so when we got back, we changed and got ready to meet them out in the field.  We made sure to use the latrine one last time, and then took our rucks and equipment downstairs to take the deuce out to our training area on the Malone Range.  When we got their (new bivouac site), the company had just finished eating their MREs for lunch, so the rest of us ate our MREs.  Dad, you said you wanted to know some of the best MREs I've had.  Well, today I had probably the best one- beef ravioli!  After I finished eating my fudge chocolate brownie (oh so good!), we relaxed by our rucks in formation.  It was then time to get on with today's training.  We walked through the woods for about 10 minutes to a large clearing and practiced squad movements for response to fire.  Basically, it's a wedge movement, where if we take enemy fire, A team gives suppressive fire, while B team moves into a flanking position.  A team shifts fire and then ceases as B team moves in to take out the enemy.  When all enemies have been taken out, you provide aid and check the enemy for useful information.  At 1600, we went back to our rucks, topped off on water, and then got to sit down, talk, and just relax again until it was time for dinner at 1700.  After dinner, we sat around for another hour before we put our rucksacks on and walked a couple hundred meters down the dirt road to where we were setting up our base for the night.  We set up camp and I had a new battle buddy, because Robbins and I are not in the same team, so no more tents!  First platoon had our area set up, and third platoon was told to sleep in our area, too, so we had a small area to guard, and nearly 100 people!  At 1900, our drill sergeant told us to grab our gear and meet him at the open field.  The person he told thought it meant to pack our gear up, so we started heading over with our rucks, and he told us to go back and leave them at our area.  So anyway, we go back with our FLCs and ACHs, and we got training over determining distances.  We had people stand out in the field, and we estimated in meters how far away from us they were standing, while our drill sergeant used a range finder, which gave him a fairly accurate distance when he looked through it.  Our objective was to come within five meters of the reading the drill sergeant had.  It was fun, and after it started getting dark, the drill sergeant from third platoon came over and told us stories of base life and deployment from before he was a drill sergeant.  That went on for nearly 90 minutes, and at about 2200, we finally left and went back to our shared patrol base.  I fell asleep around 2230, and enjoyed a peaceful night!

21 July 2009  (Day 87-  24 days to go!)

Last night got extremely cold!  In reality, it might have hit around 60 degrees, but with me being about 30 lbs. lighter with less fat and insulation, and my body being adjusted to the warmer weather, 60 degrees felt like waking up on a winter camp out!  Also, last night fourth platoon thought it would be funny to sneak over and take things, so when we woke up, we had a missing ACH and weapon.  Anyway, we packed up camp starting at 0500, and formed up for morning PT back at the field.  This morning, the drill sergeant decided to have a little GFT tournament within the platoon.  The drill sergeant had his truck in front of us, so it was pitch black out, with the headlights of his truck lighting up our GFT "ring."  Lucky for me, I had to leave to pick up breakfast before it was my turn at 0615.  So I hopped into the back of the deuce, and rode back to our barracks to the D-Fac loading dock to pick up our breakfast.  After it was loaded, we came back to our training area (which we found out is the same place we area doing are FTX next week).  We unloaded the truck and joined our platoon (the stolen items had been returned), and filed in for some food.  After we ate breakfast, we received some blank ammo to split up among the platoon.  It came out to everyone having 50 rounds to fill two magazines with 25 each.  We then marched down a sandy road, where we started training around 0900.  We went off into the woods and I was chosen to be a part of the "enemy," so me and two other guys set up in the hoods and waited for the squads to move in so we could ambush them with our blanks!  Each squad ran through the scenario, and I was replaced so I could run through it with my own squad.  As each squad finished, we would talk over what we did right and wrong, as well as hot to fix it for the future.  After all four squads went, we came back up to the main "base camp," topped off our water, passed out MREs, and ate lunch!  I had another good MRE today, Dad, the vegetarian meal...spicy penne pasta.  Once the platoon finished eating, we sat around for about an hour, and then loaded up on some more blank rounds and headed to a new spot in the woods.  For our afternoon training, we learned about near ambushes (within 35 meters) and far ambushes (farther than 35 meters...which 35 meters is the effective range of grenades).  I was on the opposing team, so I was one of three guys who did all the ambushing.  After we went through what to do if we are ambushed (pray that never happens...best rate of survival is 25% of living), we learned how to set up an ambush.  Depending on if the road is straight (linear ambush) or has a bend (L-shaped ambush), determines which ambush to use and where the M249 (saw gun) is placed.  After we set it up, and learned how to effectively use it, we packed up and went back to "main base" and topped off on water and sat in the shade until it was time for dinner at 1830.  We all snarfed down our food, and then sat around on our rucks until everyone had finished eating.  One of the drill sergeants who was staying the night with us told us our schedule for tomorrow (it's going to be tough and very busy), and said that we have a PT test Thursday morning.  We then had a class over TCP (Traffic Control Point), which is how to set up a road stop to check vehicles.  After our class, it was time to assign who would have the M249 saw gun and the M240B tomorrow for our events, as well as carry it all of next week during our FTX.  To my displeasure, I will be carrying the M240B machine gun (weighs 26.7 lbs., shoots up to 950 rounds per minute, and has an effective range of 11oo meters when  mounted on a tripod).  That's "only" 20lbs. heavier than my M4!  The worst thing about that is, Thursday is a PT test, and my pushups are my worst area (arm muscles), and now my arms will be sore...*sigh*...oh well.  At 2030, we got our rucks and went out to set up our platoon control base.  I got everything set up, changed socks, and then a drill sergeant came by and told us not to get comfortable.  We then were given 20 rounds of blanks to load into our magazine, and then we waited.  I dozed off, because this was cutting into my sleep time, when at 2230 or so we were given NODs and told to report to "base camp" for a night operation.  So we attached our NODs to our ACHs, and then got into a tactical road march formation (3-5 meter spacing on either side of the road).  We slowly marched along, not being told what was going on.  The drill sergeants threw a flash bang into the woods so we hunkered down and waited, but nothing happened.  We moved out again, and about 50 meters down the road, we started taking enemy fire from 6 o'clock (rear).  We pushed off the road and started planning our counter attack, when the drill sergeant called it off.  Apparently the guys from his platoon messed it up and didn't fire when they were supposed to, and although we would have taken heavy casualties, we were on the right path on how we were going about a counter attack.  We were sent back to our platoon area after turning in our NODs, and that was the end to our training.  The drill sergeant (same one we had Sunday) just wanted to have fun and got frustrated with his platoon, so he called the rest of the squads from our platoon off.  Oh well, whatever.  I lost about two hours of sleep because one drill sergeant wanted to have fun.  I got back on my sleep pad, put my PC (patrol cap) over my face, and fell asleep somewhere in the 2330-2400 range!

22 July 2009  (Day 88- 23 days to go)

I woke up a few times throughout the night because the temperature had dropped.  It wasn't as cold as yesterday morning, but it was still chilly.  Wake up was at 0500, so we woke up, packed up our rucks, and moved out by 0515.  We formed back up where we were the previous day, and sat on our rucks.  I fell back asleep for about 30 minutes, and at 0630, we went through TCP in the field area.  After a half hour of practice ran by our platoon's leadership, we fell back in our rucks and then got in line for breakfast.  We ate a much-needed breakfast, and then had some downtime to sit on our rucks, while the drill sergeants, I assume, were going over the day's events.  At 0900, more blank ammo was distributed.  We loaded it up into our magazines, and we were ready to begin today's training!  Instead, we practiced in the field for almost two hours of tactical maneuvers, until our drill sergeants came over and told us it was time to roll.  First squad went first, so being in fourth squad, we were last to go from our platoon, and second to last to go in the company.  There were basically three stations: React to contact, medical evacuation and IV, and TCP.  So we started out in a wedge formation in the field, and walked into the woods.  We then got "attacked" so we tactically moved into position to take them out.  Besides confusion with the lane beside us (which wasn't our fault), we cleared that objective successfully!  Next, we had a "casualty," so we had to provide medical attention to them.  Once we cleared that objective, we set up a road block and two of the drill sergeants pulled in, and we had to stop and search them.  The guy patting the passenger failed to find a small bomb in his sleeve, but I did my job well (stop the vehicle and ask for ID).  We then headed back to base camp, turned in ammo, and got lunch MREs (chicken and noodles!).  Transportation came at 1500 to take us back to our barracks where we showered, changed into PTs, and cleaned weapons until dinner.  After dinner, we set up the mats for PT in the morning, and then got mail!  I had 12 letters today (1 from mom, 2 from dad, 4 from Brittney, 1 from Brittney's cousin Kennedy, 1 from the Barnetts, 1 from Angela Barnett, 1 from Sease grandparents, and 1 from my Reinbold grandparents)!!!  I spent the next 90 minutes reading all of my mail, and decided to wait to respond until tomorrow.  We had final formation at 2030, and then it was upstairs to finish writing today's journal and then head to bed.  I unfortunately have a CQ shift from 2300-2400.  Goodnight!

Days 84-85

18 July 2009  (Day 84- 27 days to go)

Last night I got almost eight full hours of sleep!  The lights came on at about 0500, and I woke up finding a little more gunk in my eye... beginning stages of pink eye (or allergies).  So I cleaned it out and used eye drops, and went about the rest of my daily morning procedures.  At 0545, we headed downstairs for 0550 first formation to go do PT at 0600.  The drill sergeant on duty had us lead PT (call out the exercises) while he walked around.  I barely broke a sweat, and we didn't even run a mile around the track.  My feet are still sore from yesterday's ruck, so I'm glad PT was more of a stretch than a workout.  After PT, we went to the D-Fac and ate breakfast.  This morning, they had freshly cut strawberries and plums!  I had both, as well as an apple!  So yeah, I got my fruit servings for today!  After breakfast, we had a company formation, where we were assigned our areas to beautify.  While we were cutting grass and sweeping the parking lot, the drill sergeant called in first and third platoons.  While a group was cleaning the laundry room, a handful of cigarettes was found!  So, we were asked if we knew anything about it.  A few people came forward and the blame was put on the same guy who we kicked out of our platoon, and who was the same guy selling the chewing tobacco.  He was one of our "bad apples."  Along with him, a guy from our platoon was mentioned, because I guess someone overheard him talking about it.  To out the two together, the guy from our platoon was on a 30 day medical leave, and just recently came back.  So anyway, made for an interesting morning.  We continued working on area beautification until 1130, when we were allowed to come back up to the bay to cool down and fill up our camelbacks, before going downstairs for lunch at 1200.  After lunch, we went back out to finish area beautification, and then, when all the areas were pretty and met standard, we had a lecture over the EIB (Expert Infantry Badge) and how to earn it.  It is not earned at basic training, but rather you go out for it.  There are 64 tasks that you must pass, and you are allowed to miss no more than three.  This is something that would be fun to get, but I highly doubt I will ever go out for it, especially since I'm not staying infantry.  We had small review classes about terrain features, putting on the pro mask (gas mask), and properly shooting the AT4 (anti-tank missile).  We had about 45 minutes between classes and dinner, so we drank some Gatorade that was made for us and then used the latrine and put away our pro masks.  At 1700, we went to dinner, and then had an accountability formation before being sent up to our bay.  For right now, it's still unofficial, but from what I've heard, we have three days in the field (2 or 3 nights bivouacking) and then the confidence course, leadership course (water situations), and eagle tower.  I didn't hear anything about the obstacle course (low crawling through the muddy water).  We also have a PT test coming up sometime, but I'm not sure when.  We have a busy week, and the week after that is going to be even harder... It's our FTX (Field Training Exercise).  I'm not going to have mail for a week, so journals will be delayed a little bit.  I will mail out my journals when I get back (August 1st or so), and then Brittney will update when she gets them!  I have pre-addressed envelopes for Brittney and home, in case I have time to write when I'm out in the field (journals are first priority).  I'm so glad I get to be with my family in 26 days!  The days just keep going by, and although these next to weeks are going to be blah, hopefully being busy will help the time go by quickly!  Oh well, it's not like they take a vote on what everyone wants to do and majority rules!  I've learned to just do whatever it is that is planned, and that the clock keeps ticking.  Nothing lasts forever so just deal with it, and I will make it through and be just fine!  Speaking of making it through, I decided to do an upper body workout tonight since I have the day off tomorrow, being that it's Sunday.  I really need to pass my pushups, so since I won't need upper body strength tomorrow, I have a recovery day!  I started out maxing out on pushups...and I hit the needed 42 for my 60 percent!  After that, I rested and then did 10 regular, 10 diamond, and 10 wide armed pushups (with a ten second break between each set).  I then moved to the bench, where I maxed out on six sets of 135 lbs., trading off lifting and spotting.  I did a couple hundred crunches, and then took a shower at 2100.  I got into bed, before being woken up at 2400 for my fireguard shift.  

10 July 2009  (Day 85- 26 days to go)

I was able to get almost three hours of sleep before my fireguard shift last night.  I was the roaming guard, so I just walked around.  We had specific instructions on making sure our smoker didn't get out of there, and we have to have 100% accountability for him wherever we go.  Anyway, my shift was over at 0100, so I went back to sleep, and got a solid five hours of sleep until our 0600 wake up call!  We didn't have to be anywhere until 0730 for breakfast (moved up 30 minutes because B company is having their family day this weekend).  We just took our time getting ready and cleaned the bay before heading down for breakfast.  Because breakfast was early, we got to church early (0805) and so we sat around in the chapel listening to music until the service started at 0830.  Today's service was about facing the giants in our lives.  We are chosen people of God, and we need to know that we are being called.  Just as God chose David (being the smallest of his brothers), God doesn't care what we look like, but what's on the inside.  We have been empowered by the spirit of the Lord, and it is up to us to ask for God's help and give credit to our Lord, because without him, we can't do anything!  I know (and have written about) I have done a lot of praying  to help me out each week and each day.  I have noticed God helping me get physically stronger, and my PT scores are evidence of him working through me.  I felt the call to join the Indiana National Guard, and I still feel like I am here for a reason (although that reason hasn't made itself clear to me yet!).  We walked back from church and changed into PTs, where those who didn't go to church had already cleaned the bay, so there wasn't anything for us to do but enjoy the rest of the morning.  I had picked up a couple of booklets from the chapel, which I read both, and then it was time for chow at 1230.  While we were waiting in line, the drill sergeants on duty saw people talking, so we were put in the front leaning rest position until until the platoon behind us went into the D-Fac.  We were told to form up after lunch, so the mood of everyone was a little blah.  As soon as I was done eating, and being one of the first ones finished (I ate light so I wouldn't get sick if we got smoked), I grabbed my laundry and put it in the washer, and then formed up.  After waiting about 10 minutes, he called the PGs to the office, and they came back saying he told them to tell us not to talk in the chow line and to go back upstairs!  This was really weird for this particular drill sergeant.  He likes to smoke us for the simple reason that he felt like it.  But, because this drill sergeant is on duty today, we probably won't go to the PX, and I'm not even sure if we will be given phone calls, but we'll see later on today!  I don't have paper, envelopes, pens, stamps, or address labels for no reason!  Phone calls are so nice to have, so hopefully we get them!  Well, about five minutes after I wrote the previous sentence, we were asked to make a list of people and what they needed from the PX, so that's a positive sign.  They later came back up from showing the drill sergeant our list, and so everyone who needed something went downstairs and formed up to go to the PX (I wanted an 8 1/2 x 11 in. notebook with perforated edges), so we marched down to the PX and I got my notebook!  We came back a little before 1500, where we then practiced taking apart and putting together the M240B and M249 machine guns, as well as throwing grenades until dinner at 1800.  When we came back from dinner (we were the last platoon to eat), fourth platoon was using the phones and a few people from third platoon were using the other side.  I guess second platoon has their cell phones to use, so I don't know why as of 1900, we haven't been told we are allowed to use the phones.  I'm not going to let it bother me, because I'm done with training in less than two weeks now, but my platoon hasn't messed up this weekend to not get phone calls (just the one guy had cigarettes, but that wasn't a group thing).  If we don't get them, it will really be because of the drill sergeant on duty.  Anyway, enough light ranting about the lack of a phone call.  On the way up to the bay from dinner, I grabbed my laundry and brought it upstairs.  I then folded it up and put it away.  At 1930, we got bittersweet news.  We get phone calls...but they are only five minutes and we are going down by squads.  Because squads are twelve people, and "S" is toward the end of the alphabet, I'm in fourth squad, so I will go towards the end of the platoon.  (90 minutes later) Second platoon took all the time on the phones, so we didn't get to use them.  Then, at final formation, our head count was messed up, so the drill sergeant said it would be a fun night for us.  I'm going to bed to get all the sleep I can!

Days 82-83

16 July 2009  (Day 82 - 29 days to go!)

This morning, the fireguard turned on the lights, but didn't yell or say anything, making sure people woke up and got out of their bunks.  The drill sergeant came in at 0502, and over half of us were still asleep (including myself), so we were told to go downstairs and wait for him.  By 0530, he hadn't shown up, so our PG made the decision for us to go upstairs for first formation and go to PT.  PT was easy, being only warmup workouts and 20 pushups.  We were back inside taking showers by 0630, and we got dressed and packed our rucks.  I folded my laundry and then helped clean the bay before taking our rucks and full battle rattle downstairs and stacking it in our formation area.  We then headed to breakfast at 0730, quickly ate, put our gear on, and got transportation at 0800 to the live fire range for today's training.  The best way to describe today's training is as an old town, with rusted cars and "random" walls.  We had targets that popped up that we had to shoot, while covering the team next to us (just like we were in a real fire fight).  It took nearly for hours for everyone to get through with the first time through with blanks, so the first people who shot ate MREs while the last groups finished up.  We then picked up the brass from the blank rounds, and then put on our IBAs and got live ammo from the ammo point.  During the live fire, it was well over 100 degrees, which made for a fun time running from point to point...NOT!  When I got to one of my walls, I accidentally hit my magazine release, and my magazine fell out.  I went to put it back in and our First Lieutenant came up behind me to watch.  Well, apparently he saw me breathing heavy and my magazine out, and so he thought I was having a panic attack and took my weapon away.  I waited for him at the beginning of the range, and he told me what he saw, and I was very calm (and confused about what I had done so wrong to get kicked off the range) when he told me that  he didn't want me to be a hazard on the range.  I told him I was still fat and out of shape, but I was fine, and so he told me to get in line and do it again.  As people finished, we sat in the shaded bleachers and waited for about five and a half hours for everyone to finish.  While waiting, I made sure to stay hydrated and cool, because the word from the drill sergeants is that we have a ten mile ruck march tomorrow morning, and we're stepping off at 0300!  Again, more fun seems to be on its way.  Once everyone was finished firing, we ate dinner.  Thunder was heard in the distance, so the last people in line (including me) picked up brass on the range while everyone else ate, and as people finished eating, they came and relieved us.  The nice thing about being last was we got to pick and choose what we wanted to eat!  It was nice :)!  By this time, the thunder was more frequent and louder, and we even had lightening hit close by.  We got shaken down to make sure we didn't have any live rounds, and then we put everything back on.  Including our rucks.  Someone overheard the First Lieutenant talk about getting emergency trans out, but we started rucking the half mile to the bivouac site anyway.  We got to the bivouac site, and set up small areas for each platoon right in the parking lot/formation area, and didn't even bother sleeping in the woods.  The emergency trans was only a rumor, because we set up camp and dug in for the night.  The rain clouds moved on and it looked like we were going to get lucky!  Robbins and I were battle buddies for the night, so I quickly got to work on making a shelter using our rain ponchos.  I was basically done by the time people saw what I was doing, and so they came over to study the design and went back to work on their own.  We were then told that we had a 0145 wake up and we would be stepping off at 0300.  The rest of the platoon decided to stop working on their shelters and just get some sleep.  At about 0930, we had another sprinkle come through, and Robbins and I started laughing as we heard the rest of the platoon scrambling around to stay dry!  It only lasted about 10 minutes and didn't even get things wet, but nonetheless, I learned a slogan awhile ago, and that is to be prepared!  Throughout the night, I kept waking up because of the ants biting me, but they only leave small bumps compared to getting bit by mosquitos.  I may have gotten bit, but at least I would have stayed dry if it had poured!

17 July 2009  (Day 83 - 28 days to go)

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!  The drill sergeants threw three flash bang grenades at 0130 (fifteen minutes earlier than we were told).  We broke camp, tore down shelters, filled up on water, and got our rucks on by 0230.  We waited around until 0315 before stepping off on our morning "walk in the park."  Four miles into the ruck, we went back to the bay to drop off our ACHs and IBAs (an extra 25-30 lbs).  After that, our 45 lb. rucks felt like a bag of pillows!  We topped off on water and continued on rucking.  We finished all 10 miles a little after 0700, and took our gear up to our bay and then ate breakfast at 0730.  After breakfast, we went upstairs to hang up our nasty clothes, put away our rucks, take showers, and change into clean PTs.  I was one of the last people to shower, and by the time I came out, about 4/5 of the platoon was lying on their bunks asleep!  I changed and cleaned my weapon, posting as our guard to yell at ease or attention if someone was to come into the bay.  The platoon continued to sleep until it was time for lunch, which was MREs.  After lunch, I had a funeral detail practice.  I will be one of the seven soldiers to fire a shot at the end of the funeral (21 gun salute - each person shoots three times).  After the two hour practice, I came upstairs, found a nice "comfortable" position on the floor, and slept for about two hours.  At 1615, we were woken up for mail call downstairs.  I got a letter from my mom, dad, and Brittney, as well as baby powder from my mom!  Enclosed in my mom's letter were also small letters for Spence and Salado, and a letter from Devon!  My dad's had pictures from the weekend, which are nice to have!  I read everything before it was time for dinner at 1700, except the wrong time was given, so we came back up to the bay and relaxed until our real dinner time of 1800.  As we were marching to our fake chow, we passed a group of drill sergeants.  They were from D Company 1-50th, which turned blue yesterday and graduated today.  That makes A Co. 1-50, the company I'm in, as the senior company in our battalion (Treadwell barracks)!  We are the next company to graduate from 1-50, so that's a great feeling!!!  Anyway, we formed up for chow and ate, and then came back up to the bay.  Our PG led a small review class on things we need to know for the upcoming couple of weeks.  I then spent time writing until our final formation at 2030.  After formation, I got ready for bed and then went to sleep, letting my body enjoy a mattress and get a much needed rest.  

Days 80-81

14 July 2009  (Day 80- 31 days to go)

One month until I graduate!!!  At least thats good news...As for the broken cell phone, the guy who had his cell phone broken didn't tell anyone he was going to sick call, and so his number wasn't on the board and he wasn't woken up.  The entire company was woken up at 04530 (instead of 0500) because of this guy, so we weren't too happy (sleep is a premium here).  This guy is new, for he already passed basic training and his AIT, and has been at his duty station for two years.  He just acts too good for this place, and he has to learn that he has to follow the rules here!  We were kept downstairs doing pushups for over 15 minutes, and then had to be downstairs at 0530 instead of 0600.  It didn't give us much time to clean, but at least we were in PTs and had PT at 0600, so we didn't have to change!  For PT, we had pui sui.  Out senior drill sergeant led PT for our platoon today, and it kicked my butt!  We did over 250 pushups (alternating partners, doing 25 at a time).  After all the pushups, we did crunches and ab workouts (plank, bicycle, rocking chairs, etc...).  I was hurting afterwards, and when we were told to stretch, I couldn't even stretch my arms and keep them up, they were so drained and weak.  We went back to our bay, cleaned up, and changed into ACUs.  We then took our rucksacks, FLCs, and ACHs downstairs and staged them in our formation area.  Breakfast was at 0800 today, and then we left for our short two and a half mile ruck march to our training area.  By now, it was 1000, and it was really getting hot and humid.  We were all soaked in sweat and we had a half hour or so to cool down, drink water, and top off our camelbacks.  Once we were "rested," we marched down a hill, through a marshy area, and then to an area where the underbrush had been thinned out.  There, we put what we learned about squad movements into practice and went up and down the hill practicing the wedge and single file formations.  Next, our drill sergeant had some flash bang grenades and we would have to yell, "incoming," and dive to the ground, wait for our platoon sergeant (appointed position by the drill sergeants) to yell which way to run and how far.  We did this a few times, and then had a class over hand signals.  After our class, we came back up the hill to our rucks and ate MREs.  We did a mock 50/50 guard, where one person pulls security (take a kneeling or prone position and guard with your weapon up while your battle buddy eats/sleeps/cleans weapon), and in this case, the other person eats.  After everyone ate lunch, we went back down the hill and did two  man maneuvers, going from tree to tree.  After that, we did squad maneuvers again, but this time, used hand signals to halt, freeze, and switch between the wedge and single file movements.  After we practiced, we did it again, but this time we had blanks, and fired at our "enemy" (a couple of guys from the platoon shooting blanks at us).  At 1600, we finished up and came back up the hill and topped off our camelbacks.  We then went back down the hill to pick up brass.  We really got a good workout walking up and down this quarter mile path, but at least the last time we came up, we had dinner!  It felt so good to sit down and relax for once today!  After a couple of hours of just relaxing and sipping on Gatorade, we put our rucks back on and moved back to the hill to set up a perimeter and bed down for the night.  I was in a group of three (most were pairs of two), so we laid a couple of ponchos on the ground, put our sleeping mats down, and strung one about us in case it would rain, and we would squeeze up under the cover.  Our drill sergeant called us together and just wanted to know if we had any questions about today's training or any questions in general.  We finally got to lay down at about 2145, and I know I was asleep by 2200.  We pulled 33% fireguard, which meant one person was awake pulling security while two people slept.  I had a shift from 2330-0030, 0230-0330, and we split the last 90  minutes up so I had watch from 0430-0500 (wake up).  Welcome to AIT!

15 July 2009  (Day 81- 30 days to go)

Everyone woke up tired, and to the sound of a couple of flash bangs going off in the woods.  We struck camp, shaved, brushed teeth, and moved back to the area we had formed up in the previous day at the top of the hill.  It didn't rain last night, and the clouds cleared, leaving the temperature to drop!  I actually didn't wake up sweating like the previous bivouacs, so that was a nice change!  We then had PT, which consisted of using our M4 as a weight and lifting it over our heads, switching it from left to right, and other combinations of the two.  That lasted for a good 40 minutes or so, and then we sat on our rucks until breakfast at 0730.  Breakfast tasted really good, and we even got an extra juice box of orange juice!  After breakfast, we went off into the woods and practiced man up drills.  We ran from tree to tree, taking cover.  Yesterday, we were told to not low or high crawl anymore, but one of the guys did today, and got rewarded a phone call.  I must say, I would have done what we weren't supposed to do if I knew I would've gotten a phone call for it.  Ugh!  Oh well, I will hopefully get one Sunday!  After we finished, we took a water break, and then went to a new area and were taught about basic camping and survival skills.  The drill sergeant showed us how to make different shelters using a poncho, a few knots, and how to dispose of human waste (proper hole digging).  Being a Boy Scout, he knew that, and constantly asked me if he was right or if I knew a different method.  I helped him out, but I guess it wasn't enough to earn me a phone call.  When we were done, it was a little after 1100, so we ate our MREs, and then relaxed in the shade until 1230, when the rest of the platoons ate and were ready to ruck back to our barracks.  It was a hot march back, but we made it back in 45 minutes.  We took our rucks upstairs, took cold showers, and then started to organize ourselves, when we had to go downstairs for a quick 15 minute class over our training for tomorrow.  We will be shooting blanks and then we go from walls to cars and barrels using the man up drills we have been practicing.  When I gave Brittney and my parents a driving tour, I pointed this range out!  After the class (and the warning about not to aim live rounds at your buddy's back), we came back up to the bay to clean weapons and unpack, which eventually led to people napping and writing!  My arms and shoulders have been extremely sore today, because of pui sui yesterday and the M4 weight lifting this morning.  I'm glad they are sore though, because I need to reach 42 pushups to pass my new PT test standard.  Please keep me in your prayers that I do the right training and God gives me the strength to pass my next PT test!  As long as I stay healthy, I'll pass my sit-ups and run without a problem...I just need that upper body strength!  If I don't, then I would be held back until I can pass it, which to me isn't an option.  Please, keep praying for me!  We had dinner at 1800, which was nice to just sit down in a chair again to eat, as well as drink cold Powerade!  After dinner, we got mail, which I received a letter from my Grandma Sease!  It has been a little tough seeing my family this past weekend and then coming back to my Army mindset, so it was nice "hearing" a familiar voice!  I then started my laundry and wrote letters home!  We had final formation at 2045, and the drill sergeant on duty decided to have the "genius" from each platoon have a first ever A Co. 1-50 spelling bee.  I must admit, it was entertaining listening to these guys try to spell words such as "furious," "sergeant," "specialist," "jumbo," and "jericho."  The guy from our platoon lost on the word battalion, and the guy from second platoon won.  What an honor...haha!  Afterwards, I went up to fourth platoon's bay to weigh myself, and I weighed...DUN DUN DUN...207 lbs.!  I have now lost 30 lbs. since being here!  I then came up to the bay, finished up writing the journal (already put letters in the mail to my family and Sease grandparents), went and got my laundry, and then headed to bed!  Rumor has it we are bivouacking again tomorrow night, so I'm going to get some sleep!

Day 79

13 July 2009  (Day 79 - 32 days to go)

Welcome to AIT!  While I was on staff duty last night, that's what the drill sergeant told our company.  I have now decided to also add the days we have to go!  I'm so glad it's only a month.  Now that I had staff duty and the morning to think, I have an awesome family (but I already knew that)!  I had a great time with them, and even though our time was short, I greatly appreciated them coming (and bringing Brittney), and being able to spend nearly two full days with all of them.  It always hurts to say goodbye (or see you later...a month later), but it's only because I love them so much and so I'm counting down the days I have left here until I get to go home for good (31 days until I see them at my turning blue ceremony and family day pass afterwards).  Thank you again for making the 21 or so round trip to come see me, it was so great to be around family!

This morning we woke up at 0430 to turn in our linens and clean the bay.  Everyone was moving slow, because for the first time we had a weekend where it felt like returning to work Monday morning.  Even though I had two hours less sleep than everyone (being on staff duty), I popped right up (tired), ready to get this next month over with!  At 0600, we were downstairs formed up, and went to PT.  Today was actually chilly outside, and then it started to drizzle as we went out to PT.  PT was agility group runs today, and I had been running in C group, but today I did about 3 miles with B group (7:30 mile pace).  We were soaked with sweat and rain, because by the time we finished, it was a steady rain.  We came back to the barracks, went up to our bay, and quickly changed into ACUs, before heading downstairs and to breakfast.  Breakfast was quick, because we had to get back upstairs to get on our full battle rattle, form up downstairs again, and head out to today's training.  For the training, it had stopped raining, so that was good news, but when we got there (about half a mile away), we knew what we would be doing.  There were worn paths in the grass going from wooden barricades to wooden barricades.  We then spent about two hours low crawling in teams to the first barricade, then high crawling to the second barricade.  From there, we got up and ran and dove to the third (shouting, "I'm up, he sees me, I'm down"), and then commando crawled (held weapon by the handle aiming forward) to the last barricade.  As we finished crawling to the different safety points, we had a class on limit of advance, which has two squads that flank each other and cover each other's side, while advancing.  Then, you swipe through, and any enemies that were shot, we were shown how to properly check them for valuable information, as well as get out of the way if they have a grenade or other explosive.  After our class was over, we marched back to the barracks and ate MREs in our formation area.  After MREs, we went upstairs, took off our full battle rattle and ACU tops, and then cleaned our weapons (crawling around got a lot of sand on the outside of it).  Around 1430, we went downstairs and got clean linens, then made our beds.  Spence had caught the flu or something, and went to sick call this morning, and when we came back from PT this morning, he was packing his bag to stay at the infirmary.  I then had to get his linens, too, so I made both of our bunks.  The drill sergeant told us to make sure we had our rucks packed with the usual packing list, so this could be an indication of an upcoming ruck march tomorrow.  After awhile, people started falling asleep, and so when our drill sergeant came out of his office, he decided to do a relay race to wake people up.  First and second squad was on one side of the bay, while third and fourth squads were on the other.  The relay race consisted of going over and crawling under every other bottom bunk in our rows.  Being on the bottom bunk, my while bed was messed up and my sheets and blanket were on the floor.  We won the relay, and so he said to stay awake!  Mason came and helped me make my bed (which took about a third of the time).  Afterwards, the duty day was over, and being AIT and no longer basic training, we had time (starting at 1630) to do what we wanted in the bay!  This will be awesome if this is the case for the next two weeks before our FTX (field training exercise).  I should have plenty of time to write and respond to letters.  The only problem, that's also a lot of downtime, so I will just need to stay busy.  A lot of guys brought back books from this weekend, so the guys read, took showers, did laundry, and wrote.  Then, the unthinkable happened- someone kept their cell phone!  Sigh.  His excuse was he had too many things stolen, and when we turned them in, we placed them in bags and on top of a box outside of the drill sergeant's office.  So anyway, one of those young, right out of high school guys took the phone, got mad he had it because of what happened in week three, and snapped the cell phone in half.  He took it downstairs and put it in the amnesty box, and then we went to dinner.  After dinner, the drill sergeant came in and asked for Dunbar (the kid who broke his phone).  They went outside and apparently he told the drill sergeant he didn't do it.  They came back inside and asked the platoon what happened.  The drill sergeant told the platoon about what was in store if no one came forward, so Dunbar said he was the one who did it.  The drill sergeant exploded and went on a rant about lying to the face of a drill sergeant and then took him with him to his office.  This is just me talking, but people need to know to follow the rules and do is expected.  I'm tired of these kids and their games.  There's a good chance that he will be gone now, so as bad as the situation is for him, he was way out of line.  Hopefully this doesn't cause the platoon to be punished for their stupidity, but we'll see.  Our drill sergeant isn't on duty tonight, so we'll see what happens tomorrow.  For the rest of the evening, there was some uneasy tension in the bay, which I made sure to stay out of.  We had final formation at 2030 and received milk and mail (no letters tonight), and then I went upstairs and went to sleep.  It sounds like we are bivouacking tomorrow, so hopefully this unusual cool weather lasts a little while!

Days 77-78 (Family Days!)

11 July 2009  (Day 77)

I woke up after a good night's sleep, because I was ready to see my family!  If I had chosen a different MOS, I would be graduating basic training and heading to another fort or base to finish with AIT (Advanced Individual Training), so I'm glad I get a family day, even though graduation is in less than five weeks!  We cleaned the bay thoroughly and got dressed in our ACUs and headed downstairs for 0600 first formation.  At about 0630, we had our catered UPU breakfast, and while I was eating, I saw three familiar individuals walking down the hill towards my barracks!  I waited until they were within earshot and whistled the family "hooty hoo" call, which Brittney heard!  I started smiling so big and just waved, not being able to talk yet.  My parents and Brittney went into the classroom to get their family briefing while we cleaned up from breakfast and then marched down to the ceremonial field, where the D&C competition would be held.  We waited around for about 30 minutes before we saw the parents walking down the hill!  Again, I saw my family and smiled, but being in formation, I couldn't do anything (but they saw me!).  When all the families were seated, we began the competition, and so being first platoon, we went first.  We did alright, but our drill sergeants really don't care about D&C, so we didn't practice as much as the other platoons.  I did just about perfect, so I can't complain!  We weren't told what place we came in, but third platoon won, which was fine with us, I just wanted to be on pass!  When the competition was over, we put a mock smoke session of doing pushups (but that didn't last long), and then headed back to our barracks where we cleaned, changed into our Class Bs, got inspected, received our cell phones back, and then formed up downstairs.  We were given our paper passes (signed by our captain), and then we were let loose for the best two days since I've been at basic training!  (I was so busy enjoying and spending time with family, I didn't get a chance to write until after the weekend was over!).

When I finally got to be with my family, Brittney came walking briskly to me, where we hugged tightly and cried tears of joy!  I then went to hug my  mom, then dad, feeling relieved that family day was here and I was actually with people I love!  My dad went back to the van to grab the tub of cookies Brittney had made for Spence, Salado, and of course, me!  The other guys in my platoon started coming over for them, and within about thirty seconds, all but two had been devoured (which I held back for me to eat later).  We then walked back to the van, talking and enjoying time with each other.  I then directed my dad where to drive, taking about an hour to give a tour of the training and living areas I have had to call home for the last two and a half months.  We then went off base to Olive Garden to eat lunch, where I got a chicken and broccoli pasta dish!  It was nice to eat somewhere other than the D-Fac!  After lunch, we headed to a couple of Army surplus stores to look around and try to find something I needed, and then headed to a Civil War Naval museum.  It was interesting, and the time spent with family was what mattered most!  After the museum, we went back to the hotel and relaxed for a couple of hours before heading to dinner at Longhorn Steakhouse.  Dinner went by fast, and soon after it was time to head back to Sand Hill to check in for final formation.  It was easy to say goodnight, because I knew I had another day ahead of me!  When we got called back to form us, we had our bags searched and then were dismissed to change into PTs.  We went back downstairs to get smoked for about 6-10 minutes, doing nothing but ab workouts.  After that, we went back upstairs, where I talked on the phone with Brittney, falling asleep sometime before 11:00 pm.

12 July 2009  (Day 78)

I woke up at 0400 ready to go!  I knew I had to get more sleep, so I slept until 0500 and then finally got up at 0520 to talk to Brittney!  I then took a shower, brushed my teeth and went back to my locker to change.  By now, it was time for everyone else to wake up, but I just took my time getting dressed and formed up downstairs, being released at 0650.  In fact, I was already halfway to the parking lot when I met my family going down the hill to see me!  I motioned for them to turn around and walk back to the van as I ran to catch up with them, because I was ready to leave again and spend time with my loved ones!  We headed back to the hotel to enjoy breakfast, where I ate a waffle  and drank a cup of apple juice.  After breakfast, we just sat around in the hotel room planning out the rest of the day.  At 9:30, we left the hotel and went to explore the main post of Ft. Benning.  Brittney got to take some pictures for her dad and saw where he went through jump school nearly 20 years ago!  We then went to the main PX for a little while (which was like a department store), and left there to go to the National Infantry Museum.  When we got there, we had a little hold-me-over picnic lunch out of the back of the van, and then went inside.  We spent about 3 and a half hours looking at all the exhibits, which again I got a little emotional thinking about everyone before me and all they did, and where I fit in to this large puzzle.  After the museum, we went out to eat at Country Barbecue (where Brittney, my mom, and my dad went to eat on Friday) for dinner.  It was good, but I heard they were known for their homemade watermelon pie (not really, because it was gross-- it was like watermelon chopped up in cool whip with a graham cracker crust).  I had a sampler plate with pork and ribs, so I felt pretty good afterwards, even eating early at 4:00 pm.  We went back to the hotel for about two hours, where we took some pictures (and created me into the Avatar for Devon!).  After the fun, I started getting emotional and Brittney lost it with me.  Words didn't need to be spoken, but basically just when I got to see her, we had to be apart again.  At least it's only 4 and a half more weeks!  We went back to the barracks to make sure I was on time and took more pictures outside of my barracks.  It was tough to say good bye (or see you later), but knowing I only had a month left helped.  I then had final formation, went upstairs, sent a final text message telling my family I loved them all, and then got searched for any contraband.  I snuck in one last call to Brittney before putting my cell phone in a plastic bag with my name on it and turning it back to the drill sergeant.  Spence and I were up for staff duty, so we went to that, put in our time, and then went to bed at 2300.  I sure love my family, and seeing them this weekend was amazing!  I can't wait for my turning blue ceremony on August 13th, and then going home after graduation the next day.  I had a lot to think about falling asleep, but I was able to sleep and get back into the mindset to return to work.  Thank you mom and dad for coming, because you being here meant a lot to me!  I can't wait to see everyone in a month, and please please please keep me in your prayers!

Days 73-76

07 July 2009  (Day 73)

This morning, 0330 came fast, but I'm glad we got up early while it was still cool outside (upper 70s).  We changed into ACUs, quickly cleaned the bay, and went downstairs to put on our rucks that we stored the night before.  At 0430, we stepped off and completed 8 miles in a little over 3 hours (I'm not sure what the Army standard is, but the Army ranger standard is 12 miles in 3 hours!).  When we finished at our training site (about 1,000 meters down the road from our barracks).  I felt really good and hydrated, and honestly could have rucked another 8  miles!  Once we got to our training site, we ate a catered breakfast, called UPU (unit pick up), which I think I mentioned a month or so ago, but didn't find out what it stood for until now.  Anyway, after breakfast, we broke into groups by platoon and practiced room clearing for a couple of hours.  We started at a center fed room (doorway in the center of the wall) and then practiced at a corner fed room (doorway in the corner of a room).  When we finished, we ate MREs (chicken noodles and...peanut M&Ms!) and then got our rucks on and marched two minutes back to the barracks.  When we got back, we cleaned our gear and took showers.  We then swept the floors before going downstairs for an hour of drill and ceremony practice.  One of the guys in my platoon talked to his wife last night, and she talked to the first sergeant, who told her that we will have our drill and ceremony competition from 0800 until 1000 (where our family gets to watch us perform), and then we will be released for our family day pass.  After drill and ceremony, we came back upstairs and hung out, doing whatever except sleep.  I hadn't had a chance to write for the day, so I caught up on what had happened, then helped sweep the bay again while Spence followed with the mop.  I had a good discussion with another eagle scout in my platoon, and compared our scouting experiences and how different Texas scouting was from Indiana.  I couldn't believe he had never heard of Philmont (or Northern Tier and Sea Base-- but those aren't as well known).  We talked merit badges and different camping trips  we'd been on, and the fact that he didn't know much about Order of the Arrow.  Anyway, while we had been waiting around in the bay, our platoon guide and squad leaders were at a meeting and learned more about our family day.  It was basically what I said earlier, but a couple of times were off an hour or so, but exacts weren't known and we'll play it by ear this weekend.  I'm just thankful that I get to see my parents and my Brittney!!!  We went to dinner at 1800, and then it was back to the bay for the evening.  Salado and I got ready at 2030 for my 2100-2200 fireguard shift while the rest of the platoon went downstairs for final formation and mail call.  I was surprised that I didn't have any mail, but oh well.  I'm sure I will be getting some at the next mail call.  Everyone returned upstairs,  Salado and I got our count, and everyone headed to bed.  I was in charge of the front desk while Salado roamed around/read the news.  We were relieved a few minutes early by Spiva and Spence, so I changed back into PTs and fell right asleep.

08 July 2009  (Day 74)

This morning we had a 0400 wake up call, but someone forgot to get their laundry, so we were woken up at 0330.  Everyone was tired and moved slow, but we got the bay cleaned and were in formation for PT by 0530.  We did only warmup workouts today, and then spent time on drill and ceremony for about 45 minutes, which was nice since I was till sore from the ruck yesterday (and so was everyone else).  So after our drill and ceremony PT, we went up to our bay and changed into ACUs, then headed to breakfast.  As people finished eating, they went upstairs and got their battle rattle, and then we formed up downstairs and marched the half mile or so to our training area.  Today's training was room clearing, but with actual rooms with doors, and not lines painted on the ground or sticks marking the doorway.  We used blanks to fire with our weapons, and had covers for the end of our muzzles.  Being the bigger guy, I was the #4 man in my group most of the time (we switched it around), so my job was to cover our rear, but then come to the front and kick the door in so the rest of my team could go inside.  The drill sergeants then would throw a smoke grenade into the room from the catwalk that went above the training rooms, which made it almost impossible to see the targets in the corners that we were aiming and firing our blanks at.  It was a fun couple of hours of training, but the break for lunch to eat MREs was welcomed.  After lunch, we picked up all the brass our of the rooms and then formed up and marched back to our barracks.  We cleaned our weapons once we returned, and just enjoyed some downtime to relax and listen to the radio (which one of the guys got in the mail last night from his wife after he asked permission from the drill sergeants last week).  We then went to dinner at 1800, and afterwards we cleaned the bay (still waiting for that locker inspection) and then I spent some time shaving the inside of my beret, soaked it in water, and formed it to my head.  I then sat in front of the fan to get it to dry faster, and once it was pretty dry, I set it out on my bunk and checked on my laundry.  We then had final formation at 2030, where we didn't get any mail or milk, so we came back upstairs, got a head count, and then got ready for bed.  I was to go downstairs to pull my laundry out of the dryer, when someone brought it up to me, so I put it at the end of my bunk, grabbed the blanket out of my locker, and waited the couple of minutes for the lights to go out!  Only a couple more days until I get to see my family!!!  I cannot wait!

09 July 2009  (Day 75)

This morning we didn't have to wake up until 0500.  I got ready and then folded my laundry.  We cleaned the bay, knowing we will have a locker and bay inspection today or tomorrow (which they say how we do will affect our family day pass).  At 0600, we had our first formation, and then headed to the paved lot in the middle of our half mile track to conduct today's PT.  PT today, after our stretching and warmup exercises, was all running and sprinting.  My legs felt like jello after the 300 meter suicides, but it felt good getting in about 45 minutes of intense cardio.  After PT, we changed into ACUs and staged our battle rattle in our formation area.  We went to breakfast, and then marched to the woodline behind our barracks to get platoon pictures taken. Only two of our three drill sergeants were in the picture (the one I liked best was on duty all night, so he had already went home for his day off).  After pictures, we went back to the formation area and put on our battle rattle and marched to the same training area we were at yesterday.  For the morning, we used blanks again and did about 4-5 run throughs per four man team.  By the time our whole platoon was done, we went and ate MREs for lunch, and then went back to shoot a chalk round that was made for the M16/M4 (kind of like  paint ball, but in a metal casing like an M4 round).  We ran through clearing rooms another 4-5 times per team with masks on, and then picked up the brass and marched back to the barracks.  We got ready to relax in the bay for a couple hours, and take showers then change into summer PTs.  We headed downstairs around 1600 and marched to the area where we practice drill and ceremony.  We worked on our marching for another two hours and then marched back to the barracks for dinner at 1800.  After dinner, we formed up and received a briefing over tomorrow's mid-cycle assessment and family day.  The whole company was allowed to use the phones for an hour to call if someone was coming for family day (that's 200 people on 7 phones in 60 minutes).  I called home first and everyone was over celebrating Devon's birthday, so I spent about a minute telling my parents to be here by 0700 for a meeting over family day, and then at 0800 we would have a drill and ceremony competition, where I would be released afterward.  After saying hi to both my Sease and Reinbold grandparents, I was going to take another 30 seconds to call Brittney, but she was at my house, too, so I got to talk to her there and save some time.  I told her where to look for me in the drill and ceremony competition, as well as it will be in the low 90s this weekend.  I then went back to the bay where people were finishing cleaning the bay.  We had formation at 2030, where they passed out mail (one letter from my Grandma Reinbold and two letters from Brittney), so after formation I read my mail before lights went off at 2100.  Lights had only been out for about two minutes when we were all called back downstairs to get name badges for our Class A and Class B uniforms.  We then went back upstairs and turned the lights out, where I laid in bed thinking about tomorrow and family day is less than 34 hours away!

10 July 2009  (Day 76)

We have a full day ahead of us, so a 0350 wake up call was apparently needed.  We changed into our ACUs (with white socks and running shoes) and wore our FLC.  We were downstairs for a 0425 formation, where we got a head count, passed out cereal, and a one page written test that had to be completed by 0515.  It had some easy questions on it, and most people were done by 0450, so we got a bowl of cereal and waited around until 0600, where we marched to our first testing station near eagle tower.  For our first station, we had to assess four wounded victims call medivac, and transport them to the LZ (landing zone).  Each squad in the platoon went, so all stations were by squad, but we couldn't move to the next station without our entire platoon.  After our first station, it was time for breakfast, so we had UPU (the catered meals- unit pick up) and then went on with our other events.  Our second event, we had to go one mile, with the entire squad pushing a giant tire, carrying our heaviest guy on a stretcher, and carrying a full (and heavy) ammo box filled with rocks.  Our squad did it pretty quick, and I know it was the fastest time within out platoon!  From there, we went to a pushup and pull-up event, where each squad had 10 minutes to complete as many pull-ups as possible and 10 minutes for pushups, one man at a time.  We did pull-ups first, which my squad dominated the event.  Only one platoon had to go after us, and we beat second place by nearly 60 pull-ups or so!  We then did pushups, and our squad also won that event, with nearly 80 more pushups than second place with 826 pushups!  Our last event was a land navigational course all around our area (about a 3 mile diameter area on the map).  There were 10 points to find, which had to be done in 30 minutes or less.  Our group jogged basically the whole time, and only got 8 of the 10 points.  We were so exhausted when we finished at 1100.  Afterwards, we stayed downstairs in formation waiting for MREs, but then went upstairs to shower and changed into summer PTs.  We went downstairs and ate MREs for lunch, and then marched down to the main post PX to get haircuts and purchase our platoon t-shirts.  Today, those who passed their PT test were allowed to buy milk shakes from the little sweet shack (or whatever it was called).  I didn't get one because I'm still watching what I eat and don't need the junk while I'm here.  As people finished, they walked back to our barracks and cleaned.  Being in the 4th squad, I was in the back and one of the last to get a haircut, so when I got back at 1530 (took about 90 minutes to get everyone through), the cleaning was finished, and everyone was filling out the paperwork for their family day pass.  I can't wait for this weekend, but at the same time, I know Sunday is coming and I will have to say bye :(.  It's actually making me more homesick every passing hour, but I can't wait to see my parents, and of course, my Brittney!  We then hung out in the bay, fitted our berets to our newly shaved heads, and then went to dinner at 1800 in the D-fac.  All but 4th squad went to dinner, because we had to collect the dry cleaning from the guy who brought it in his van.  When we hung all of the Class Bs on people's bunks, we then headed and ate dinner.  After dinner, I started my laundry, and then our drill sergeant had us get our Class B shirts out and helped us get squared away for tomorrow by putting rank and name badges on and trimming belts.  After we were looking sharp, he had us sit down in the front and gave us a briefing about this weekend for about  45 minutes.  I then moved my laundry to the dryer and came back upstairs to make sure I was ready for this weekend.  We didn't have any kind of final formation tonight, so we just straightened up the bay and then went to sleep at 2100!  I can't wait for tomorrow :)!!!

Days 69-72

03 July 2009  (Day 69)

On any other day, at 0700 I would have already been up for at least two hours and have a good workout in-- not today!  The fireguard woke us up at 0700 (which was only about 6 and a half hours of sleep), and we cleaned the bay, changed into ACUs, and moved our weapon racks to third platoon's bay to be watched for the day.  We then headed downstairs to form up and head to breakfast.  After breakfast, we had around 90 minutes before transportation arrived, so we just hung out in the bay until it was time to be downstairs for the buses to take us to the National Infantry Museum.  It was about a 15 minute ride to the museum, and when we got there, a class had just finished graduating and the place was really busy because of it.  But anyway, the bus pulled around back and we unloaded and marched as a company to the museum.  We went inside and filed into a room where we got a presentation over the history of the infantry.  Spiva (the guy I did IVs with) recognized the speaker from a number of television shows such as Weaponry, Top Sniper, Modern Movers, Top 10 Rifles, and some other 20+ shows on the History, Discovery, and Military channels.  After our very informative lecture, we went in groups through the museum.  I started getting choked up walking through it, with history just now hitting me and what I have gotten myself into.  Our country has come so far to defend the freedoms we take for granted- worshiping whatever we believe in, disagreeing and having our own opinions, and the rights that other countries have.  One of the ladies who was a volunteer there held my hand for a couple of seconds and just thanked me.  I haven't ever done anything worth being thanked for, but just her gratitude really made me think of home and I got teary eyed.  After we had some time upstairs (exhibits about basic training), we went to lunch and swapped places with another group.  Lunch was outside in a WWII style chow hall across from the stands at the graduation field.  It was catered to us, so today was free-- no museum entrance fee and we didn't eat at the museum restaurant like we were told we would be doing (oh well, I didn't want to spend the money anyway!).  After lunch, we marched back to the museum and toured the downstairs exhibits.  Downstairs, it is broken up into rooms by either time frame and conflicts/wars.  There are items from that time period and all sorts of videos and special effects throughout.  I want to go back to the museum with my family, either next week during family day, or after my turning blue ceremony on August 13th (plus my parents will then know where to go the next day for graduation)  At 1430, we formed up and marched back to the bus loading/unloading zone.  We came back to the barracks and went up to our bays until dinner.  After dinner, we changed into PTs, and for those who wanted to, they went out to the track for 30 minutes to do whatever PT they wanted to do.  I decided to run 3 miles, so I got my 3 miles in and then cooled down and went back inside.  I then joined those who didn't want to go and lifted weights and did pushups.  I then got a quick shower and went downstairs for final formation.  We had a mail call, and I got a letter from my Grandma Reinbold that included more address labels and the latest race stats for Dreyer and Reinbold racing team.  After we came back up to the bay, I got ready for bed and fell asleep shortly after.  It's nice to be on phase down for my basic training portion of this summer!

04 July 2009  (Day 70)

Happy 4th of July!!!  We woke up this morning at 0500, cleaned the bay, and went downstairs for PT at 0600.  Today's PT was more like a smoke session, but oh well, at least it was a good workout.  The drill sergeant in charge had up do four laps around the track, but we sprinted one straight-away, did forward lunges around one turn, ran backwards down the back straight-away,  and then did bear crawls (crawling on your hands and feet, stomach towards the ground) for two laps and crab walked the other two laps along the second turn.  It wore me out!  Afterwards, we did a little area cleaning and then took showers and changed into clean PTs.  We then headed downstairs and on to breakfast.  After breakfast, each platoon was assigned an area of our company area to compete area beautification for one hour.  When we finished, we formed back up and went to our bay after the drill sergeant moved a TV in there to watch Body of Lies, starring Russel Crowe and Leonardo DiCaprio.  We had to stop the movie to go to lunch, but finished it once we got back.  Third platoon was in our bay and fourth platoon was down in second platoon's bay, so we switched DVDs, and started watching the HBO series, Band of Brothers.  Before we finished the first episode, we had a 1520 formation, where we were told we had another hour of area beautification.  We have done at least four hours this week, and with 200 people in the company--there is not 800 hours worth of area that needs to be beautified.  Pretty much everyone just stood around and talked, because there wasn't anything left for us to do.  When our hour was up, we came back upstairs and finished part one and then watched part two.  When that was over, we had about 20 minutes until we had to head to dinner, so we took our time getting ready, and then went to dinner at 1800.  At dinner, we caught sight of the 6 o'clock news, and North Korea launched 7 missiles.  After dinner, we worked on drill and ceremony for about a half hour.  When we came back, the drill sergeant on duty was on his soap box about making something out of our lives and how America is rotting away to technology.  After listening to him rant for almost an hour (and going into movie time), we went back upstairs and just worked out and took showers.  At 2100, lights went out, I finished writing, and then went to bed.

05 June 2009  (Day 71)

I was woken up at 0145 for my 0200-0300 fireguard shift, so I got changed into my ACUs and then reported to the front desk with Spence.  I chose to be the roaming guard, which meant I walked around the bay, and Spence sat at the desk.  While I was roaming, I decided to take a ten pound dumbbell and do arm workouts for over 30 minutes.  I also counted out the ceiling tiles (4' x 2') and I know that it takes about 29 laps (28.8) to equal a mile, so I can easily walk 1.5 - 2 miles each fireguard shift (I walk at a slow patrolling pace).  Anyway, we were relieved by Spiva and his battle buddy, and went back to sleep until 0600 wake up.  When everyone got back up, we cleaned the bay and those who were going to church changed into ACUs.  At 0730 we headed down for chow formation, and at 0745 the protestants went to breakfast, and then on to church!  The sermon was pretty good today.  The chaplain started out asking what freedom meant, and took answers from the congregation.  He went on to preach that freedom is about making the right or wrong decision within a specific perimeter, such as when our forefathers made the decision to fight against the British to become a free nation, and how just a few make the decision for millions to enjoy their daily lives in America today.  It is the same with Christ.  Within Christianity, we have certain freedoms, but we have to make the decision that would fit within the perimeter or if we will indulge in sin.  It sounded good and made more sense when he said it, but oh well, I got a lot out of it, it's just sort of hard to put it into words.  After church, we came back and did an hour of more area beautification, and then came back up to the bay to cool down and then head to lunch.  After lunch, we hung out in the bay for about an hour, and then we had the pay phones from 1300-1500.  I was put in charge of timing everyone, making sure everyone stayed within their 12 minute phone call time frame.  Our PG gave me extra time, because I gave up two hours of my time (time away from writing!) to time people, but at 1430, we had a couple of ladies come in to give a lecture about buying class/Army rings.  So while the company was in the lecture, I chose not to get a ring, so I stayed back and talked to my family and then with Brittney!  I can't wait to see them this weekend--but wait, maybe not :(.  After everyone got back, a display ring was unaccounted for.  The ladies said they brought 21 rings, and only had 20 now.  We searched in what we were wearing- nothing.  It was then time to eat dinner, but a lot of people lost their appetite...especially since if it wasn't found, we would be losing our family day pass and be going back to red phase for the rest of our duration here.  By red phase, I mean red phase privileges: no phone calls, limited mail, drill sergeants always around, smokings for no reason...everything I wrote about 6-8 weeks ago.  After dinner, our platoon guide and squad leaders went upstairs to search beds, shoes, rucksacks, and other areas in the bay while the rest of us were supposed to work on drill and ceremony--The motivation was gone.  After dinner, we almost accepted the fact that the ring wasn't going to be turned in and the life had been sucked out of us.  Mood swings started to flare.  We came upstairs after dodging a few tempered individuals, and had to take our shoes and dump then upside down and take the soles out.  Nothing was found by the drill sergeants, and I'm confident that my platoon is innocent.  When the drill sergeant left, we had the rest of the evening to ourselves, which I sat and wrote out the events of today in my journal as well as talked through the different scenarios or outcomes that could happen.  We really think it's too short of notice to let family cancel plans and that the blow to morale would do more harm than anything--but we'll see what it to come.  I also did my laundry tonight, so at 2030, I got my laundry out of the dryer, started folding up my laundry, and then took a shower.  I then went to bed and laid around thinking of what was to come, before I fell asleep around 2130.

06 July 2009  (Day 72)

Nothing happened throughout the night, except for me waking up thinking that something was going to happen.  We woke up at 0430 and turned out linens in by 0500.  We spent the next hour cleaning the bay and making sure our wall lockers would pass a white glove inspection.  I finished folding my laundry and then helped others out.  At 0600, we had first formation and headed out to do PT.  Those who failed their final PT got to make it up this morning.  Today's PT was pui sui.  I really enjoyed it and felt like I got a lot out of the workout.  After PT, we ate breakfast and then came upstairs to shower and change into ACUs.  The retests came back from their PT test, and found out their scores.  Five of the seven guys failed again and will be restarting with C company (pronounced "Charlie company"), which is just mow starting week 3.  I'm glad I passed my PT test the first time, because I couldn't handle a restart.  Out of the guys who did fail, unfortunately they were kind of the odd men out, and talked about computer games, and obviously didn't live active lives.  As for the missing ring, nothing has been mentioned about it, and we are just going about today as normal and will enjoy our family day this weekend unless we are told otherwise.  Only first and second platoons got to use the phones yesterday, so I'm thankful I got to talk to my family and Brittney yesterday!  It's also good that they don't know about this, because when I talked to them, they sounded excited about seeing me, especially Brittney!  It's hard enough for me to have this situation working about, so at least I only have to deal with this!  I would hate for Brittney (and my family) to be thinking about this, wondering if they need to cancel hotel rooms and days off work.  Anyway, we went downstairs at 0900 and had a class in the classroom over CQC (Close Quarter Combat), or room clearing.  They had technical difficulties, so they had to write and draw everything out on the board.  Our platoon was paired up with second platoon in the classroom while third and fourth platoons practiced the technique in our formation area.  When we finished in the classroom, we went to our formation area, got new linens, and then practiced drill and ceremony for over 90 minutes until it was lunchtime.  After lunch, we weren't sure if we were going to go through the process of clearing a room or not (we have practiced before), but we never did and were sent upstairs to make beds, clean weapons, and do something productive.  Because of yesterday's ordeal, it took away my writing time, so after I finished making my bed, I wrote back to the Winkos.  In the meantime, people were called into the drill sergeant's and more guys found out where they were going to be stationed.  When everyone had been called into his office, he called for me, and I was caught off guard seeing the First Lieutenant in there as well.  The drill sergeant was staring at the PT score board (or at least I think he was), and asked me how much weight I had lost.  The the First Lieutenant asked me if my wife or parents were coming to see me, and I said, "Parents, drill sergeant...sir" (oops!).  Then, the drill sergeant asked me if I was even married, and I said, "No, sir...drill sergeant."  (I was all messed up).  My drill sergeant told me to leave before I embarrassed him anymore (he could tell I was a bit flustered), so I left, now with all sorts of questions in my head.  Why did he want to know?  Are some of us or the squared away guys going to be able to stay out with our family for family day?  I just want to know what their intentions were in asking those questions.  That's going to bother me for a little while, and hopefully we get to stay out, because I would love to get out of here!  Oh well, I can't dwell on this for too long.  So anyway, we were told to go downstairs--and to our surprise, we had a mail call!  I got two letters from Brittney, a letter from my mom about catching a criminal, and a letter from my dad.  We then went to dinner, and when we got back, we had to pack for an eight mile ruck march in the morning, and stage our gear downstairs in our formation area for the night.  We then took showers, and those who didn't get to make phone calls yesterday could make them tonight (our drill sergeant was on duty, so he took care of his platoon).  For the remainder of the evening, I made sure to hydrate every 15-20 minutes and then had final formation at 2030.  We didn't get any milk, so it was just a final head count before it was back up to the bay and off to bed!