Eagle Tower... Again (Basic Training) Day 62

These entries are from the remaining letters that Brandon has mailed to me - the next several days up until Day 62 are letters that didn’t make it to me before I left to Georgia. His writing at times can be a bit difficult to determine his words... bare with me, I do my best, especially with army terms.

We were told that we would be running an ARG this morning. When we got down to formation there were 26 people in sick call. Our platoon had 4, which was the least, but holy cow! We ended up just doing 60/120 around the track (sprint for 60 seconds, walk/jog for 120 seconds.)

Some updates on people: We still have three that have not passed the PT test. The ones I was wondering about – PVT Diesel & PVT Spiderman because of their extended sick call still passed. PVT AA (his initials – he doesn’t have a drinking problem… that I know of) left this morning because of his mono. He will be gone for 30 days to recover. He will still get paid, but he will not graduate with us. He will have to come back and join the another platoon already in progress. PVT One Way has improved dramatically and no more negative counseling statements have been given to him.

We have had no pink eye or fever out breaks. The DS with the motorcycle accident has been back for a while and only walks with a slight limp and… PVT Home School still has not passed the PT test.

We went to Eagle Tower again today to make-up from the time we were cut short way back in red phase. So I finally got to repel down. The rope harness we used was pretty uncomfortable, but the experience was pretty fun. I just didn’t look down. LOL. We also had to cross a rope bridge with two ropes (one for our hands the other for our feet), then a bigger single rope we had to slide across, then across another rope bridge (V-shaped, 2 ropes for your hands & one for your feet) and finally down a big cargo net. 

After everyone was finished we had a little ceremony. Evidently we phased into “red, white & blue phase”. Not sure exactly if this will have any extra benefits. The Commander said it’s because we have finished all the major events of basic training. 

When we got back 5 people from our platoon were asked to hear about being rangers. They chose people based on their PT scores and part of their ASVAB scores. PVT Cock was one of those and he decided to go ahead and do it. (I’m way too old and my PT scores needs to be a little higher, but I wouldn’t want to do that anyways.)

The rest of the day included cleaning machine guns…again and cleaning our stuff we’ll be turning back in. I’ve been able to throw almost everything in the washer yesterday, so today was just double checking everything. We also were able to start cleaning our helmets since today was the last time we’ll be using them. With all the sweating we’ve done in them the pads in them were starting to smell pretty bad.

Our cool DS played some music for a lot of the evening, which was nice.  He then let us have a surprise 15-minute phone call, which was awesome! Before he left, he brought down the projector screen and showed us some of the pics that have been posted on FT. Benning Facebook page. He also showed us how to access some important information using our AKO (Army Knowledge Online) account online. 

Our ex-cop has started to make everyone a little nervous. Every time he takes a shower he faces everyone and stays that way for the entire time. Everyone else had their back toward everyone else. It’s starting to creep everyone out! LOL!

Random DS Quote: “You won’t be able to stand up, you don’t even wear underwear under those PT shorts” (our cool DS in the DFAC. The TV was on and he had to turn it off because some entertainment show was showing Sandra Bullock and Scarlett Johansson kissing… We are not allowed to look at the TV anyways, if one is caught they are usually forced to leave immediately no matter how much they eaten)

A couple of clips from the DVD I purchased from basic. (The footage is actually from the first time we went to Eagle Tower, but that page in this journal had a bunch of photos on it...so I decided to put the movie clips on this page)

This shows us getting fitted for our harness and then going on the practice wall 
before we went on the big one...Eagle Tower

This video shows everyone going down Eagle Tower. It may not look that high in
the video, but when you're up there and they ask you to go over the edge...it seems pretty high! 

Eagle Tower (Basic Training) Day 14

 A pic of a 2nd platoon soldier going down Eagle Tower

These entries are from the letters that Brandon has mailed to me. His writing at times can be a bit difficult to determine his words... bare with me, I do my best, especially with army terms.

Today we all got dressed up and slung on our backpacks and vest for the march to Eagle Tower. It’s not too far away, perhaps a couple of miles or so. When we got there we ate breakfast and then the company broke into the four platoons. Two of the other platoons started repelling down Eagle Tower. My platoon went to another station to keep us busy. We learned how to load a magazine of bullets in our rifles and how to check for problems when the gun doesn't fire. We were given a magazine of blanks and some that were designed to jam the rifle. It was interesting for the first few times, but after an hour it gets pretty boring. We then switched to practicing throwing a grenade. We used dummy grenades and threw them at a target (picture yourself standing in a line throwing something like a rock into the sand...over and over). After that we switched to get ready to repel. We all got harnessed up and then practiced on a mini version of eagle tower. (It was only 10' tall…a midget Eagle Tower if you will) When we finished, we headed over to Eagle Tower and waited in line. When I was about 10 people back all of sudden it started pouring down rain. They cancelled the rest of the event because of this. I didn't get to do it. We had to march back in the rain, then we all got to take showers that weren't timed (yahoo!) we just had enough time needed to be back in formation. 

The rest of the day was kind of strange, because the plan was for us to still be at Eagle Tower. The DSs gave us some informal classes on staff, we ate dinner outside in the courtyard because it was already set-up for us to eat at Eagle Tower.

The end of the night was our 3 DSs gathering everyone around and explaining why they joined the Army. Then they had each of us state why we joined. After that it was a Q & A session that lasted for a long time. It was interesting to hear their stories and have them act more like people instead of just yelling and swearing all the time.

Mail came tonight, everyone had to put on their protective eye gear and sit in a semi-circle around the DS. He would then read the name of who the letter was to. When the person would sound off, he would throw the letter in that general direction.  Envelopes were flying everywhere. A few "lucky" ones even got hit right in the forehead. It was pretty funny. No mail for me yet. The rule is 5 push-ups for each letter & 15 push-ups for every heart on the letters. LOL. Even though I didn't get any mail, I still ended up doing push-ups. When getting our protective eyewear I forgot to put my dog tags (they have my locker key on them) back down my shirt. 

Since I've been here the DSs have stated that basic training has changed a lot, and it is still changing every cycle. They said too many people were getting hurt because the generations coming into basic now are soft.… too many video games & sitting in front of the TV. The DSs also can't touch anyone unless they ask permission first. They can't even call anyone names. But they can get their point across.  Instead of saying "you're an idiot" it could be "you're acting like an idiot" with some more colorful language of course.

Random DS Quote: "How does 1st Platoon do everything?" response from the Platoon, "Sexy Drill Sergeant"

In formation for "Concurrent Training" (I'm the one in the front)

 A DS showing us how to conduct SPORTS to clear a malfunction. 

 A pic of our platoon "striking a pose". 

Some of my platoon throwing mock grenades.
 

A photo of our platoon in concurrent training 
with Eagle Tower in the background

 A DS explaining the steps involved to throw a grenade
 

Me in front "Striking a Pose"

Hew

talking about everyone with the ds and sitting in a circle reminded me of stripes with john candy lol!

Sunday, May 2, 2010 - 03:42 PM


FS SPC Miller

Haha yea, "I figured I would join before I got drafted"

Tuesday, December 28, 2010 - 12:20 PM