Rehearsal Day (Basic Training) Day 70

I finally have access to my computer for a few days, so I thought I would give my wife a break and add some updates myself. Until she gets back home and receives some of my previous posts there may be a few days missing

Last night PVT Wal-Mart asked if he could have my fire guard shift...no charge. I couldn’t argue with that LOL. He wanted the extra time to clean his rifle before it was turned in. So I got a good night’s sleep!

After waking up and getting ready, we were rushed through a duty food breakfast in the CTA. Have I said I really hate being rushed through chow? DSs yelling the whole time “Hurry Up! Hurry Up! .. You’re Done!” I’ll be so glad to get outta here just to get away from that.

When we finished eating, we headed out to a field to rehearse for graduation. We ran through the process twice and then headed back to our bay. We had time to do a quick cleaning of our rifles before turning them in.

We were in for a couple of surprises when we headed down to turn in our rifles. The first surprise was that once we got in formation, we had to wait for an hour and a half. The epitome of “hurry up and wait”. The second surprise was unlike our machine guns, this inspection for our rifles took about 5 seconds. A corporal glanced down the barrel and our bolt, then told us to put it back together. We then filed into the supply room and read off the serial number. Once they checked it off we were done. All that waiting (and so many hours of cleaning) for a 30 second process.

News: PVT Home School will not be graduating with the company. He was unable to pass the PT test, so he will be chaptered out of the army.

After lunch we had rehearsal for family day. This rehearsal actually took longer than the graduation rehearsal. We had to go up all the stairs towards our bay, then come out to the CTA making our grand entrance...then we did it over and over again. We also had to practice putting on our berets really fast....and without a mirror LOL). Everyone was having some issues because we haven’t really worn them (except for pics and forming them on our heads)

Haircuts were next on the agenda for the day. While we were there, we were able to get milkshakes. Since I didn’t get one the other day and I wanted to celebrate the end of basic training...I got an extra extra large Oreo milkshake. It was beautiful. I am now bald and full.

We headed back to the bay to clean. We took a break for dinner and then came back and cleaned some more. We moved all the beds and lockers to buff & mop the floor. We are also supposed to be almost completely out of our locker and living out of our duffel bag.

When we were done cleaning for the night our cool DS and our senior DS just hung out and talked with us. They talked about this cycle, who the favorite DS and worst DS were, among other stories. They also wanted to know what kind of things happened that they didn’t know about...assuring us of no negative consequences. It was actually pretty cool and there were a lot of laughs from both the DSs and all of us as stories were told. At one point our senior DS took a plastic garbage bag and fashioned a diaper out of it. He then made PVT Colon Jr. put it on and taped it so it was airtight on him....all because he kept farting. If only I could have taken a picture of that.

Once story time was over our cool DS hooked his laptop up to the projector and speakers, so we could watch the movie “From Paris with Love” staring John Travolta. A pretty good action flick...bang bang shoot ‘em up entertainment, perfect for a bunch of soldiers. We did notice that when John Travolta used his AT-4 to fire a rocket at the bad guy’s car, he didn’t perform his safety check and didn’t say “back blast area clear”...LOL

We finished at 11:30, so I took a quick shower and now I’m going to bed. Tomorrow is family day!!!!!!

Random DS Quote “It has the texture of oatmeal” (A statement our senior DS told us that he made to the first sergeant. Our Senior DS evidently took a picture of his “capital dump” and sent it to the first sergeant. The first sergeant showed it to the other DSs at lunch and one of them gagged and was unable to eat anymore)

It turns out that after talking with PFC Metal, he had snapped a few pictures of the "diaper incident". Of course I asked him to send them to me so I could post them! (See Below...yup that's me sitting on the floor in the photo)

Seeing Red Again (Basic Training) Day 53

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.

This morning we had our PT test for the record.  I believe I improved at least a little in each event. I lost count near the end of both push-ups and sit-ups. I’ll find out for sure when they post the scores.

At the end of our run, one of our guys (I call him PVT Big Black because he’s the biggest black dude in our platoon) got into a little altercation with DS A-Hole. PVT Big Black left it all out there on the run. He was totally out of breath and exhausted. DS A-Hole was asking everyone for their time, so he could record them all. When he go to Big Black, I guess he didn’t hear him or he spoke too soft. DS A-Hole got pissed and started yelling at him. I guess Big Black gave him a look or rolled his eyes, which pissed off DS A-Hole even more. Then Big Black stood up. DS A-Hole later said that Big Black was getting ready to fight (total BS).  You see, Big Black was the guy who almost fought the DSs on the first day. He also got an article 15 for not wearing the correct underwear… multiple times after being warned. Now he got his rank stripped from E2 to E1. He also has extra duty now. DS A-Hole was so pissed he smoked us all once we got back to bay. Everyone was already tired from PT test, so it really sucked. He did a bunch of yelling and screaming and said our platoon is now back in red phase… timed showers, no personal time, DSs in our ass every minute. FML!!! All for one guy! I was so pissed. I’ve been looking forward to a phone call tomorrow. Our cool DS will be here and I was holding our hope that he give us extra time because of what happened last Sunday. (the five minute phone call).

We then marched to Cashetown for some more room clearing drills. We did it without ammo the first time and then used blacks the second time. After that the DSs started moving around the targets and even acted as occupants when we entered. It was cool; except I hate shooting those blanks, they jam all the time. 

We marched back for lunch and did a quick heat dump before we ate. We were in a rush to get down to formation and PVT Wal-Mart left his rifle in the bay… a big no-no. He realized it and ran back up to grab it, but it was gone. When we got back his rifle was in the middle of the bay. It was covered in foot powder and sun screen. It looked like it had snowed on it. The chamber was open and everything! Lots of cleaning for PVT Wal-Mart.

After a brief talk about the importance of keeping your rifle with you at all times, DS A-Hole said, “I’m going to do something I never do.” He said our platoon did so awesome in the PT test that he’s not going to take us back to red, we’ll stay in blue. We had a 90% pass rate and took over 1^st place again by a long shot. Everyone improved their scores, including yours truly. I scored a 57 in push-ups (+5), 45 in sit-ups (+3), and a 14:44 2-mile (25 seconds faster). What’s crazy is everyone did so much better I dropped from 8^th in the platoon to 13^th place with a total score of 232. (13 higher than my previous.) 

So I am happy again! No red phase!!! Our senior DS was then complaining about not having AA batteries and asked if we had seen any. I raised my hand and pointed out that were two next to his butt. (He was sitting on the desk.) Everyone laughed (he was actually looking for 4 boxes of AA batteries). He smiled at me and said, “start pushing”. D’oh, my arms were still dead from the PT test and the smoking we got. When I asked how many, he said, “one for each battery I’m missing… 96!” After about 15 other people started asking if they could do some of them for me. The DS then said “OK, everyone do 20 and get up”. It was funny, but you may have had to been there. 

The next few hours was packing for our FTX-3. We got a packing list of all the required items to stick in our ruck. We also got to go to the PX and purchase anything we need for the FTX. I only purchased bug repellent. I was eaten alive at FTX-2, so I’ll be prepared this time. We were also allowed to get milkshakes while we were there. Now that was awesome! This day may have had some ups and downs, but it sure ended on a positive note!

Random DS Quote: “Oh… it’s in your mouth?” (our senior DS was keeping count of PVT Cock’s sit-ups and he farted. He then asked PVT Cock if he could smell it yet. PVT Cock said “I’m breathing through my mouth drill sergeant.)

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Fancy Pants Uniforms (Basic Training) Day 50

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.

After breakfast today we (or I should say some of us) had to get more shots. Not even sure what it was, but I got it. I thought I was immune to all known diseases, but I guess they found more they had to vaccinate me for. 

We then went back to reception, (we did half walk, half run at times) to get fitted for our class A uniforms. It’s amazing how good everyone looked. When it comes time to wear them for real, everyone is going to look sharp!

By the time we got back it was time for lunch. MREs in the CTA. No candy in mine…bummer. The senior DS then said we were going to get haircuts. He said while were there we could stop at the PX and also get milkshakes! Woohoo!

When we got to the PX it looked like an entire company was in line for milkshakes, so the DS said no milkshakes today privates…bummer. We got our hair cuts and I got some detergent, soup & an organizer for my letters and such. When we got back to the CTA we cleaned our weapons and we were allowed to purchase Gatorade from the vending machine. 

The DS finally posted our PT scores from the last PT test. Our platoon fell to 3^rd place and he wasn’t very happy. Personally, I did as good or better in each event. 52 push-ups (+2), 42 sit-ups (same), and 15:09 for the 2 mile (10 sec better). My score is 219 and I moved back into 8^th best in the platoon. 

We were given a lot of free time after dinner. Time to put away all the new uniforms and such from reception, clean everything, start laundry, and read mail. We had some really late nights, so there has been no time to do much of anything when we got back.

Random DS Quote: “Step on his dick so he cannot contaminate the gene pool” (Our senior DS talking to another platoon’s DS about a private of his that wasn’t listening).

Blue is Beautiful (Basic Training) Day 46

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.

This morning we found out something funny happened last night during fireguard. You see, there is always a DS on duty all throughout the night. They will at some point check each platoon by doing a walk through counting the people and the weapons. They also check on the Fireguard to make sure they are awake and posted. Sometime in the middle of the night our APG (Assistant Platoon Guide) must’ve heard the DS come in, although only in his subconscious or dream state. The APG jumped out of bed and ran in front of the DS.  The DS said “Private…what are you doing out of bed? Where are your shoes?” Our APG said, “Drill Sergeant I’m giving a LACE report” (A LACE report was part of a battle drill that we had to do over and over again. The team leader checks his team and their equipment and reports to the squad leader.) I guess the DS was a little dumb founded he just stared at the APG. It was then the APG realized he was out of be and a DS was in front him. The APG said, “Sometimes I do stupid things in the middle of the night.” Then he went back to bed. The DS came back in the morning and told our DS what happened and they both had a laugh. 

We had a good PT workout this morning, then breakfast. After breakfast we had a little company ceremony to make our transition to “Blue Phase”!!! So we are officially now in the blue phase. Not sure what that all this entails, but it will be better than white phase…which has been better than red phase. There are rumors that we will get our cell phones longer. It that’s true, I’ll be super excited.

We got scopes for our rifles today and then went to the big computer simulator to train on rifles with scopes. I was a sharp shooter…well a virtual sharpshooter. Now if only I can do that with the real thing. 

We had our peer counseling results review with the DS. Mine was as I expected, for the most part good. Areas of improvement communication, sounding off, and confidence. All but one said they would go to war with me – the one said he was afraid I wouldn’t be able to kill the enemy. LOL. If someone is shooting at me don’t worry, I’ll have no problem shooting back.

We were given the opportunity to get milkshakes again! I had a large Oreo shake. Wow that was good. I was going to go to the PX as well, but the place was so packed, they ran out of shopping baskets and wouldn’t allow anyone in until someone left with a basket. I hear we may be able to go tomorrow, so I’ll wait. Now that we’re in blue phase we were allowed to walk back to the bay when we were done as long as we were in a buddy group.

Not a whole lot going on today. Lots of hanging out in the bay. It can get a little boring at times. Lots of letter writing and people trying to take catnaps without getting caught by the PG or APG. Some can even get in their lockers and sleep.

The platoon has decided to spice up our chow formation. (During chow each platoon sounds off and enters the DFAC, it’s somewhat of a competition…for pride only. Somehow I have been made the star attraction. They have me walking up to the PG looking all pissed, then I flex and scream. We’ll see how that goes. 

Overheard quote: “It sounded like you have a live duck in your ass.” (PVT Lurch describing our APG’s farts.

Oreo = heaven in my mouth (Basic Training) Day 39

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.

This morning we had another PT test. Everything went normal for the push-ups, and sit-ups, but the 2-mile run brought some drama. Our 2-mile run test is set-up so one platoon at a time starts and after about 3 minutes the next platoon starts and so on until all four platoons are running. We run down a road that is marked every quarter mile and after one mile we turn around and come back. We were first, so most of us finished before the rest of the platoons came in. All of a sudden I hear “man down, man down”. All the DSs ran over to 3^rd platoon (terminators) and sure enough here was a guy totally unconscious. He ran a little too hard and most likely didn’t hydrate enough. They ended up taking him to the hospital, so I’m not sure of his status right now. Pretty scary stuff! I’m not sure of my official scores yet, but I think I improved in every area. The official scores should be posted later in the day.

After breakfast we learned modern army combatives (aka UFC or MMA) moves. It was cool because we got to practice on each other, but it got hot as hell. I was sweating like a pig. It quickly became very uncomfortable for everyone. Finally, we broke for lunch and after lunch DS A-Hole said everyone has to do 30 push-ups, 30 sit-ups and 10 pull-ups. All this on a full stomach. Grrrr. Then we were allowed to take a shower and change into our PT uniforms. We found out later that the extra exercises after lunch was to burn extra calories. (even though no other platoon had to do it). 

Our company was being rewarded for everyone qualifying on the range yesterday. We all had the opportunity to go to the ice cream store next to the PX and get either an Oreo, Reeses Pieces or Butterfinger milkshake. I stopped and said “you had me at oreo”. We pre-ordered and then walked over and picked up our shakes. I wasn’t actually expecting much, but I was happily surprised by how good it was. It was heaven in my mouth. I savored every mouthful. That was awesome!!! The only down fall is that it was gone too fast. 

One of the nice benefits of white phase is that the DSs go home earlier, especially on the weekends. Today after around 4:30 (16:30) all the DSs were gone except for one for the entire company. Gotta love that. Just chillin’ in the bay with 34 other guys…bored guys who are trying to find interesting ways to entertain themselves. 

Random DS Quote: “Head and eyes forward privates, use your peripherals.” (At the PX a number of hot chicks came in and caused a distraction...lol)