This morning I woke up and got ready our ruck march. I had my personal hygiene kit to pack after I brushed my teeth and shaved. At 0530, we headed downstairs to stage our gear in our formation area. We got our Nutrigrain bar, turned in our linens, and used the latrine one last time. We set out around 0630, and treked about 6 miles. We arrived at the range at 0915, which is about the time it is supposed to take to ruck 12 miles, but we had a couple of people go down, so we stopped for a total of over an hour to treat the victims. After we took our gear off, the drill sergeants had everyone take off their boots and socks and checked our feet. We then put new socks on (I had foot powder, so I put that on, as well), and a new undershirt, because everything was soaked with sweat. Once the entire company had changed, we lined up for a late breakfast (about 1000), and then we had ready-up drills. Those drills are where we stand in ready shooting position, and then react to the drill sergeant's commands to locate our target, aim, switch to semifire, say bang bang (shots fired), flip to safe, and lower weapon. Once all of the platoons went through the drills, the drill sergeants got out the MREs and we sat around in the shade and ate them. After lunch, we stayed in the shade just talking and protected our weapons from being taken by the drill sergeants (it started out as taking them from those who dozed off, but then they were doing it just for fun). Finally, at 1500 and the hottest part of the day (110 degrees), we lined up to shoot. We put the ready-up drills into practice, but with live ammo. The drill sergeant in the tower would call out which color of target to aim at (orange or black), and we would aim and shoot and go back into the ready position. After the entire company went, we had a catered dinner, and then it was back to the shade to wait for further instructions. A few days ago, my platoon attached a front plate to our ACHs, so today we actually attached the NODs (night optic device) to our ACHs, while fourth platoon attached a laser to their M4s. We then went to the range and zeroed the lasers with the scopes using the NODs. It was awesome. You couldn't see the laser with the naked eye, but you put the NOD on and there it is! It made shooting really easy! Because there was a limited supply of lasers and NODs, the entire company took turns using our ACHs (as well as shooting with fourth platoons weapons). The thought of a bunch of sweaty guys wearing my ACH was gross, so good thing the pads are removable and I can wash them before I have to wear it again. So anyway, the entire company shot, and after we cleaned up the brass, took off the devices from our equipment, and got shaken down, it was about 2330 and our buses pulled in ready to take us back to our barracks. We loaded onto the buses, and I was out shortly after. It was only a 15 minute bus ride (if that), so I woke up, got off the bus, and headed to the formation area. We got new linens and took them upstairs, and then back downstairs and brought up our barracks and weapons. We racked our weapons for the night, quickly got ready for bed, and most people were asleep by 0030 (12:30 am). I took a shower, just threw my sheets on the bed (planned to make it in the morning), and went to sleep. I had a 0445 wake up for my 0500-0600 fireguard shift, so it was important to me to get all the sleep I can! I love everyone at home and ask you to keep me in your prayers. Sounds like I have a busy and tiring three weeks ahead of me leading up to family day!
23 June 2009 (Day 59)
The morning came way too soon. I slowly got up and changed into my ACUs (thankfully didn't have to wear full battle rattle). Salado and I pulled our shift without any trouble, and woke everyone up at 0600. We took out the trash and the mail (all two letters), and came back to the bay to get ready and make our beds. The schedule for the day only said "ADMIN 0900-UTC," so everyone was wondering what that meant. We were all in our ACUs and about to head down, when the drill sergeant said to change into PTs for the day! We quickly changed and then went downstairs and formed up for breakfast. Our platoon was first in the chow line, so we got in and our of the D-Fac pretty quickly. We came back up to the bay to clean, and then waited until it was time to go. At about 0840, the power went out (never found out why), and so we headed down a few minutes early. At about 0930, we finally went to the classroom, because we couldn't until the power came back on. We watched a video on the effects of suicide on the loved ones left behind (part 2 of 3 classes over suicide). After the video, we went back to our formation area, then were told to get our weapon cleaning kits, and cleaned our weapons downstairs in the formation area. The power went out again, but we were outside, so we were only affected if we had to use the latrine in the bay. Once we were done cleaning our weapons, we came back up to the bay and did nothing but sit around and relax for about an hour (lunch was pushed back an hour, so we were putting our cleaning kits away when we heard the news). We then went to lunch and came back to the bay to do more nothing! Finally, the day got interesting, and was about to take a turn for the worse. The drill sergeant came in and told us to get toe to line. Someone in the company was caught with a can of chewing tobacco, and they told us we had five minutes to come clean...No one moved. We were then told that we could lose our family day pass. Since no one turned it in during the amnesty. The drill sergeants came in with four cans and said nine people in the company have been caught, and he was going to turn the bay upside down. He did exactly that. One locker at a time, he dumped everything out, flipped beds, took out ceiling tiles and searched our rucksacks and everywhere else. After searching the entire platoon, he found nothing! The only platoon and the company to not have something!!! Let's just say we were in good graces with our drill sergeant! We then had forty minutes to get the bay back together (took a little longer, but it didn't matter-- We're in blue phase and weren't caught with anything). It was then time for dinner. On the way back, the other platoons were saying since it was a company-wide ordeal, we weren't going to get our family day passes. For now, it's a rumor, and our drill sergeant said later that if this all pans out, and the platoon stays out of it, this would be the first time sine we got here that he was impressed with us! So I'm not going to think about it too much, because I'm sure we will get it! I then took out my pads and chin strap to my ACH, and went downstairs and started my laundry. We had final formation and got mail (one from mom, dad, Grandma Sease, Mr. Schumacher, Brittney's Aunt Debbie, and Brittney). I read them all before I took a shower, got my laundry, and went to bed. Thanks for all the letters!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment