Day 29

Day 24 of BCT

     Today was another rough day. We got up at 0430 and thought we were on track to show our DS we were all ready for the field march. Unfortunately, when we lined up to march out, he found someone who hadn't topped off his canteen, so he said we are all still going to get an Article 15. So our march started off rather depressing. It wasn't too bad of a march, but by the end, I was getting shin splints. It worries me that I won't be able to handle the future marches when we have more gear on. We marched past our range for the day, and then turned around and went back to get the 8K. We then ended up standing for awhile waiting on breakfast. It was really cold and we were just in our ACU's with gloves. After chow, we were given our brief on the range. Then those of us waiting to shoot were stuck doing concurrent training. More practice with transversing. I know the practice is good, but it's always so boring and I'd rather be sitting and writing, or even hearing a lecture on proper technique.
     Our first time to shoot, we just shot our single targets. I shot 22/40 targets. Not as well as I'd like, but I was allowed to wear my BCG's and that helped me see the targets a lot better. I actually hit the 300m once. We then did more concurrent training before shooting the 2nd time. The 2nd time, we were shooting multiples, so it was supposed to give us an idea of what qualifying will be like. I managed to get 26/90, so I'm feeling more confident about being able to qualify tomorrow. After shooting was chow and then we did more concurrent training as a platoon. Finally after everyone had shot, we policed brass off the range and prepared for motor movement back to the company area. I was glad we weren't marching back! My legs were sore from the march that morning. When we got back, we cleaned our weapons then marched to the DFAC for show. All of the DS's seem to be rushing us even more now that we're in White Phase, even just giving us time to use the latrine has been shortened. After chow, we cleaned our weapons again in our male bay while our DS gave us a lecture. I could tell all day he was upset with us, but I wasn't sure why. Turns out two of our guys were caught horsing around by the 1SG, so our DS got chewed out. Basically, we got the same speech we'd been getting for 3 weeks, that we're undisciplined and unmotivated and why should our DS give us 110% if we are only giving 75%. When we left to go get mail, our PG did a good job of leading a discussion to encourage everyone to step it up. I don't really have anything against anyone in my platoon, but I am getting sick and tired of people not being quiet when told to, or being respectful enough of others to at least try to do the right thing.
     We then had mail call, and I received a letter from my sister and some pictures from while I've been gone. We than ran and changed quickly for HF before heading to bed at 2100. I have last Fireguard shift, so it will be a short night for me.