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 :)!!!
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