The Green Zone & The Shopping Cart (Pre-Basic Training) 22 Days until Basic

Went and watched The Green Zone with my wife this weekend. I know…another war/military movie…I also just added The Pacific to my Netflix queue! The Green Zone was a pretty good movie showing some of what the front lines were like in Iraq. There was some good action and drama, so much action that it gave my wife a little motion sickness. (a lot of the camera shots were running down streets and the camera seemed to be running as well…I guess to give you more of the feel like you were right there in the action) I had to wonder though why a sergeant on the team had what looked like a few days of facial hair. Maybe he had a waiver? It turned out to be a nice night out and a pretty relaxing evening. Much needed as the time before I leave gets shorter and shorter. The reality hasn’t quite hit me yet that I’ll be leaving soon. 

I did go shopping this weekend for supplies. I still need to pick up a few items, but all in all I think I have pretty much everything I need. I used the packing list from the future soldiers website as well as some items I have read I should bring from other’s journals. Hopefully I will be able to bring it all, if not then some of this will have turned out to be a waste of time and money. Also I want to carry everything on the plane, but I’m not sure if they will allow everything on these days. I’ll just have to wait and see. I guess I can purchase anything I will need after I arrive.

The shopping list:

Cough drops (menthol non flavored only…the currency of BCT)

24 hour watch

Nail clippers and tweezers

Mouth Guard - (I grind my teeth at night and mine was getting pretty worn)

Soap (1 bar soap or 1oz liquid soap)

Moleskin

Disposable shaving razor (non-electric)

Lip balm

Toothbrush and toothpaste

Antiperspirant / deodorant (non-aerosol only)

Shampoo and conditioner (1 oz) – (Passed on the conditioner)

Shaving cream (non-aerosol)

Hand sanitizer

Writing paper (one pad and one small notebook)

Envelopes (one box)

Small address book with addresses and phone numbers of family, friends, your bank and other important contacts - (still need to add everyone to the address book)

Black Sharpie

Two locks (combination or padlock with 2 keys) – I chose the key lock, from everything I’ve read time is very limited in the morning, so not having to do a combination under duress will surely help

Athletic supporter - (bought one, not too keen on having to use it as I like to have a little freedom when possible)

Black shower shoes – (A.K.A. Flip flops or slippas as my wife and her family call them)

Three sets of underwear (white) hmmmmm….not to keen on these either, I prefer boxers, but I have three briefs that have been purchased if needed

Pencil and ball point pens

I am still planning on going to Costco to purchase large quantities of stamps. These will be for me as well as my wife and kids. This way there will be no hurdles for them to write me a lot of letters. There are also a number of document type items that I will need to make sure to pack as well. I am currently in the process of making sure I have all of these in order and ready to go.