The rumors are true -- there is hardly any time to write, especially during the first few days (or weeks). I'm writing this a couple of days late, but I took notes on the main things that happened, so that when I did have time to write, I would remember. First of all, it was really hard to sleep last night (May 5th). We got cell phones back, so I talked to my parents for 45 minutes, and then Brittney for about an hour. So I got off of the phone around midnight. (This might be a repeat of the last journal, but I mailed it a few days ago, so I forgot what was on it). Anyway, we had a 0300 wake up call because we did ship! So we got up and packed everything up as well as cleaned up our bays. We went to breakfast and afterwards we made sure we had all of our paperwork with us. We then filed outside and waited until the drill sergeants came around the corner yelling to move and grab our gear. We threw our large green, army-issued duffle bags into a truck and then proceeded to hang onto our personal bag in our arms for over and hour... very hard! We then got on a bus and were shipped down range where we got off the bus and formed into our platoons for the summer. There's a total of 220 of us (four platoons of 55). All 220 of us were sent scrambling to a pile of everyone's duffle bags and we had to get ours. Someone yelled out "Sease," so I got mine quickly, but we only had two minutes, so of course we all got smoked because we didn't all have ours after the time limit. The rest of the day consisted of putting our gear away in the barracks and leaning Army basics. We had "Corrective Training" about once and hour, but for the most part, it has been fair punishment. People will thank the sergeant, which you aren't supposed to do, and they will call drill sergeants "Sirs," when only commanding officers are sirs. So while we are doing all of this corrective training, I am looking at it as a way to get stronger quicker. The last thing we did before we went to sleep was have a shower drill, where everyone holds their towel up with their right hand and their soap with their left, and we have 30 seconds per group of 8 to get showered. We were told we have personal time to write from 2000-2100, but we didn't get that tonight, so hopefully we have more time later. If anything, I will write the journals so everyone knows what is going on, and will wait to write to individuals once I am given time!
07 May 2009 (Day 12)
FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! The drill sergeants came in at around 0430 waking everyone up. Of course they briefed us the day before about what to do in case of a fire, but people forgot the fire extinguisher and also the lights, so we got smoked outside in the wet sandy/grassy hill -- which was not too fun at all. We came back up to our barrack (which is a three story building: main floor is open air, and second and third floors are giant rooms lined with beds), and made our beds and cleaned our barracks (sweep and mop floors, dust wall lockers, and clean windows and blinds). We left for breakfast and afterwards, got smoked again. Once our "punishment" had been served, we came upstairs and did more paperwork and inventoried our Army supplies that were issued in reception. After an hour or so, we went to the classroom and learned more Army basics. Then, we went to lunch and of course, got smoked again. We then got issued our weapons, which are M4s. We had a quick class over maintenance and use of the weapon. We took them apart, and then people got rowdy so we had to put them together on our own (given two minutes). I was one out of 48 who was able to put it back together without the drill sergeant's help (out of 220 total). So that was cool. (Although, having my own M4 isn't cool to me because I hope I never have to take someone else's life). After our weapon course, we went to dinner and then came back to our barracks to label our M4s (I'm roster #147), so that everyone can keep track of their own weapon (as well as all other gear). Our drill sergeants left for the evening, and didn't say when they would be back, so I got our platoon together and we cleaned our barrack. When the drill sergeants did come back, they told us to get showers (we had 60 seconds this time!) And we didn't get smoked either. I then had to wake up for firewatch from 0200-0300. I had to patrol the barracks and do a head and weapon count about once every 5 minutes. I'm not allowed to write during firewatch, and we still haven't been given free time to do so. I can't wait to be able to write to people instead of journals for all to read. Again, keep me in your prayers!
08 May 2009 (Day 13)
Due to time constraints and lack of personal time still, this entry will be short. For the most part, we didn't do much at all today. All we did was attend a class over sexual harassment and equal opportunities in the Army. We spent the afternoon working on our wall lockers -- organizing them and learning the proper way to roll clothing (no folding in the Army). This really did take a long time to do for some reason, and of course we paid the price for how long it took, but at least my locker looks good! But yeah, we pretty much got smoked all day today, and my arms were killing me. People kept falling asleep during the class, and not addressing our drill sergeants properly. Anyway, that's all I have for now.
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