Day 67 of BCT
I was so anxious to start the day that I was up at 0330! I showered and was ready to go before 0500. Everyone else was up early too. Lol. At 0600 we formed up and they had a promotions ceremony for those getting promoted from PVT to PV2 and from PF2 to PFC. They got to have their families there too, which was cool.
We then went to the DFAC for breakfast but I think everyone was too excited to eat much. When we got back to the company they made us all put our cell phones in our lockers. They didn't want any chance of one going off during the ceremony. We were then bused to the field. It was extremely foggy so you couldn't even see across the field. They drove around behind the wooded area we were going to be coming out of and we marched into place from behind. With the fog, I don't think anyone even saw us get there.
We had to wait for a long long time! Finally we could hear the ceremony start. They welcomed our families, explained what we could and couldn't do for the day, and demonstrated some of what we learned. Then our DS's threw smoke grenades at the wood line and we all ran through the smoke and across the field screaming our company names. "Alpha Gators!" I imagine it looked pretty cool to see 1000 soldiers running our of the woods!
The ceremony was short, with us saying the Soldier's Creed and singing the Army song (which sounded horrible, lol!). We were then dismissed and our families were allowed to come down to the field to meet us. Our DS had us form a quick huddle and just reminded us not to do anything stupid.
It took me awhile to find my parents, but when I did we hugged and cried! It was sooooo good to be with them again! We took a few pictures with the LMTV parked by the bleachers and then made our way to Mom's pickup.
She had brought me Gatorade, Advil for my knees, and homemade brownies. :-)
We went back to my company and they helped me pack up the rest of my stuff. I gave them all of my luggage so I wouldn't have to worry about it tomorrow after graduation. I just kept what I needed for the night.
One of my battle buddies then went with us to the PX while she waited on her husband to get back from getting her mom at the airport. I got luggage locks while I was there. The PX was busy with everyone there!
We then found the Pizza Hut and ordered pizza for lunch. It was quite yummy! We weren't really sure what to do after that, so we ended up going to the movie theater. We watched a chick-flick that had come out back in January. It was the first time in 3 months that I forgot for a few minutes where I was. We then went to the Basic Training museum. It was a neat way for me to show them all I had been doing at Basic as well as see what Basic was like in the past.
We then went and got ice cream before finding the clothing store so I could get a new Patrol Cap. My dad found himself a coffee mug that said "My Daughter Survived Basic Combat Training." :-)
We went to Burger King for supper and then used the rest of our time just driving around and checking out the parks on post. We sat for awhile at one of them. We listened to some country music and just relaxed for a few minutes. It was nice!
Of course, before I wanted it to, it was time to head back to the company. I said good night to my parents and headed back to the company. We had a little bit of time to share our days with each other before formation.
We then went to bed at 2130. I had FG from 2300-0000.
My last night in the barracks!!
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Day 71
Day 66 of BCT
This morning was the battalion run. My DS kept his word and didn't make me run it. Instead I got to help get the weapons ready for turn in. Everyone put their weapons in the classroom. Me and another female not running helped to get breakfast from the DFAC and had the fun of down stacking 2 pallets of bagged ice into the coolers. We then helped spot-check weapons and carried them over to the CQ. A lot of the weapons we checked weren't very clean, so everyone was pretty nervous about whether or not they would be accepted. We were finishing up as the rest of the company came running back. Everyone said the run was pretty easy, just long. We then had a Hot-A breakfast and gathered up the items we wanted to DX (exchange). I was going to exchange 2 sets of ACUs that had stains and try to get smaller pants. I also needed smaller PT pants. We put everything in our duffel bags and formed up to head to Hilton Field for graduation practice. We marched the two miles to the field. I was a road guard and I had troubles keeping up. Seems like our DS was in a hurry!
Practice wasn't too bad, it just seemed to take forever. We went through the whole ceremony 3 times. We then went back into the woods to practice for the Family Day Ceremony. We will all come running out of the woods. It's a much shorter ceremony (yay!) and we only had to run through it twice. It definitely had us all ready for tomorrow to get here!
After practice we ate our Jimmy Dean lunches they had given us that morning while we waited on the buses. We had to scarf it down as the buses pulled up shorty after we started eating. The buses took us back over to the 120th Reception (where our time at Ft. Jackson all began) and we were able to exchange out uniforms and boots. It took several hours to get everyone through.
Once we returned to the company they gave us time to start packing as well as work more on bay maintenance. We had chow at the DFAC and once we got back we got mail (3 more letters for me!) and our phones! Hooray!! We also got our personal bags so we could finish packing.
Our female DS had a few of us females help her finish putting together our packets. It didn't take very long. Our male DS came in the CQ while we were in there and he stopped to tell us he was proud of us. He looked at me and said he was especially proud of me and that I had better make it through OCS or he would come after me! It felt pretty good to hear my DS say he was proud of me. :-)
We got some personal time before Hydration Formation and of course everyone was on their phones! It was cool. We got photos and music.
Then bedtime! Tomorrow we see our families!!
This morning was the battalion run. My DS kept his word and didn't make me run it. Instead I got to help get the weapons ready for turn in. Everyone put their weapons in the classroom. Me and another female not running helped to get breakfast from the DFAC and had the fun of down stacking 2 pallets of bagged ice into the coolers. We then helped spot-check weapons and carried them over to the CQ. A lot of the weapons we checked weren't very clean, so everyone was pretty nervous about whether or not they would be accepted. We were finishing up as the rest of the company came running back. Everyone said the run was pretty easy, just long. We then had a Hot-A breakfast and gathered up the items we wanted to DX (exchange). I was going to exchange 2 sets of ACUs that had stains and try to get smaller pants. I also needed smaller PT pants. We put everything in our duffel bags and formed up to head to Hilton Field for graduation practice. We marched the two miles to the field. I was a road guard and I had troubles keeping up. Seems like our DS was in a hurry!
Practice wasn't too bad, it just seemed to take forever. We went through the whole ceremony 3 times. We then went back into the woods to practice for the Family Day Ceremony. We will all come running out of the woods. It's a much shorter ceremony (yay!) and we only had to run through it twice. It definitely had us all ready for tomorrow to get here!
After practice we ate our Jimmy Dean lunches they had given us that morning while we waited on the buses. We had to scarf it down as the buses pulled up shorty after we started eating. The buses took us back over to the 120th Reception (where our time at Ft. Jackson all began) and we were able to exchange out uniforms and boots. It took several hours to get everyone through.
Once we returned to the company they gave us time to start packing as well as work more on bay maintenance. We had chow at the DFAC and once we got back we got mail (3 more letters for me!) and our phones! Hooray!! We also got our personal bags so we could finish packing.
Our female DS had a few of us females help her finish putting together our packets. It didn't take very long. Our male DS came in the CQ while we were in there and he stopped to tell us he was proud of us. He looked at me and said he was especially proud of me and that I had better make it through OCS or he would come after me! It felt pretty good to hear my DS say he was proud of me. :-)
We got some personal time before Hydration Formation and of course everyone was on their phones! It was cool. We got photos and music.
Then bedtime! Tomorrow we see our families!!
Monday, March 19, 2012
Day 70
Day 65 of BCT
The end is so close yet so far away! This morning we had our last official PT session. 0500 wake up with muscle strengthening. I'm not going to lie. For the first time in 10 weeks, I didn't really give my best in PT. I'm exhausted and ready for a break!
After a Hot-A breakfast (blah!) we changed and marched the 2 miles to Hilton Field for graduation practice with the rest of the battalion. Our company did really well with the little bit of practice we did last night, so our 1SG was pleased. After going through the ceremony once, those of us who were split-ops (split training option meaning we go home after BCT) were taken by van to a building on post where they started our out-processing. We got our packets, filled out some forms, went over our financials and how much leave time we would be reimbursed for, and were then taken to the travel office to get our tickets home! We spent a lot of time waiting, but it gave me a chance to visit with some of my fellow Oklahomans who are also doing OCS. We even got to watch one of our DS's struggle to stay awake in while waiting. He wasn't too successful. :-) The best news we got was that we get to fly home Thursday after graduation instead of waiting until Friday. Yay!! My flight leaves around 1600 and I get back to OKC about 2200.
We finally finished and got back to the company about 1500 only to find out we missed lunch and they only left us rice and beans from the Hot-A. Yuck. :-(
After we ate the picture man showed up to deliver our photos. They were expensive and rather disappointing in quality. They photo-shopped us into our dress blues and no one was too pleased with how it turned out. Oh, well. Something to laugh about when I'm old and gray. :-)
We then spent the next several hours working on our weapons and putting away the last of the gear. We went to chow at the DFAC and then spent the rest of the evening right up until Hydration Formation finishing our weapons. I thought mine was spotless, but on my way to formation my PG double checked my barrel and said it wasn't perfect yet. Yikes! After formation I had just enough time to quickly clean the barrel before lights out. Just 3 more days until I'm home!
The end is so close yet so far away! This morning we had our last official PT session. 0500 wake up with muscle strengthening. I'm not going to lie. For the first time in 10 weeks, I didn't really give my best in PT. I'm exhausted and ready for a break!
After a Hot-A breakfast (blah!) we changed and marched the 2 miles to Hilton Field for graduation practice with the rest of the battalion. Our company did really well with the little bit of practice we did last night, so our 1SG was pleased. After going through the ceremony once, those of us who were split-ops (split training option meaning we go home after BCT) were taken by van to a building on post where they started our out-processing. We got our packets, filled out some forms, went over our financials and how much leave time we would be reimbursed for, and were then taken to the travel office to get our tickets home! We spent a lot of time waiting, but it gave me a chance to visit with some of my fellow Oklahomans who are also doing OCS. We even got to watch one of our DS's struggle to stay awake in while waiting. He wasn't too successful. :-) The best news we got was that we get to fly home Thursday after graduation instead of waiting until Friday. Yay!! My flight leaves around 1600 and I get back to OKC about 2200.
We finally finished and got back to the company about 1500 only to find out we missed lunch and they only left us rice and beans from the Hot-A. Yuck. :-(
After we ate the picture man showed up to deliver our photos. They were expensive and rather disappointing in quality. They photo-shopped us into our dress blues and no one was too pleased with how it turned out. Oh, well. Something to laugh about when I'm old and gray. :-)
We then spent the next several hours working on our weapons and putting away the last of the gear. We went to chow at the DFAC and then spent the rest of the evening right up until Hydration Formation finishing our weapons. I thought mine was spotless, but on my way to formation my PG double checked my barrel and said it wasn't perfect yet. Yikes! After formation I had just enough time to quickly clean the barrel before lights out. Just 3 more days until I'm home!
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Day 69
Day 64 of BCT
Today is our last Sunday here! Hooray! Wake up was at 0600 with our usual chow at the DFAc. We then began the fun of weapons cleaning yet again. As I had not yet spent much time on mine, I took several hours to really start detail cleaning it. Simple Green cleaner, pipe cleaners, and Q-tips work wonders on an M16! Around 1100 our platoon was sent outside to clean the company vehicles. I didn't think this was really fair since our duty week was over, but it's the Army. You do what you're told. We then went back to work on weapons in our male bay, only to have our DS get quite upset when he discovered a lot of people had not been cleaning their weapons. There might have been some weapons tossed across the room.
We went to lunch and spent the afternoon quietly cleaning weapons and trying to keep from making our DS upset again. We also got to spend more time yet again on the gear. We had to recount the sleeping bags and repack the ruck sacks. Everyone was getting so tired of cleaning that it didn't take much for us to all be short with one another. Thursday needs to hurry up and get here!
After dinner, we of course spent the rest of the evening cleaning our weapons. We did get 20 minutes to use our phones, but not the hour we were originally going to get since our DS wasn't happy about the lack of weapons being cleaned. We then were sent to change clothes before getting a quick lesson on the bugle calls that would be used during graduation. Graduation practice starts tomorrow and our 1SG wanted us to look sharp. So we got smoked (for a whole 2 minutes) when some people couldn't figure out how to stand perfectly still. We then had Hydration Formation and off to bed. I get last fireguard from 0400-0500. Yay. :-\
Just 4 more days until I'm home!
Today is our last Sunday here! Hooray! Wake up was at 0600 with our usual chow at the DFAc. We then began the fun of weapons cleaning yet again. As I had not yet spent much time on mine, I took several hours to really start detail cleaning it. Simple Green cleaner, pipe cleaners, and Q-tips work wonders on an M16! Around 1100 our platoon was sent outside to clean the company vehicles. I didn't think this was really fair since our duty week was over, but it's the Army. You do what you're told. We then went back to work on weapons in our male bay, only to have our DS get quite upset when he discovered a lot of people had not been cleaning their weapons. There might have been some weapons tossed across the room.
We went to lunch and spent the afternoon quietly cleaning weapons and trying to keep from making our DS upset again. We also got to spend more time yet again on the gear. We had to recount the sleeping bags and repack the ruck sacks. Everyone was getting so tired of cleaning that it didn't take much for us to all be short with one another. Thursday needs to hurry up and get here!
After dinner, we of course spent the rest of the evening cleaning our weapons. We did get 20 minutes to use our phones, but not the hour we were originally going to get since our DS wasn't happy about the lack of weapons being cleaned. We then were sent to change clothes before getting a quick lesson on the bugle calls that would be used during graduation. Graduation practice starts tomorrow and our 1SG wanted us to look sharp. So we got smoked (for a whole 2 minutes) when some people couldn't figure out how to stand perfectly still. We then had Hydration Formation and off to bed. I get last fireguard from 0400-0500. Yay. :-\
Just 4 more days until I'm home!
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Day 68
Day 63 of Basic
Today is the company run! Yes. Our whole company is going to run together in one big formation. I was definitely nervous with my knees still sore from the week in the field and with the big blister on my right heel. The said the run would be really slow, but would be probably 3-4 miles. Yikes!
Wake up was at 0500, formation at 0520, then we headed over to the PT field for our usual pre-run drills. Then we formed up and headed out. Our 1SG said he wanted to take us to go and wake up some others. I had a feeling we were going to be running over to battalion, which is probably 1.5 mile away. And I was right. We ran around towards our DFAC, then down a gravel road to Battalion, and then back around on the main road to our company PT area. The pace was slow enough that it wasn't too hard to keep up, but I still found it mentally tough. My knees didn't really bother me until we stopped. Then they started hurting! I do have to say it was pretty cool to be running as an entire company, each platoon yelling out cadence the whole time. Since our company is known as the Gators, our 1SG had us clapping our hands yelling chop chop as we ran through battalion. He also had the speakers set up playing music as we arrived back to our own PT field. Our platoon made it back with no one falling out. My DS asked me if I thought it was hard. I said yes! He then asked if I wanted to do the battalion run. I said no. I did not want to take my chances of my knees hurting too bad to keep up if I had the option! Our run ended up being 3.3 miles in about 30-35 minutes. The longest I've ever run!
After the run they gave us time to shower and change before my DS took those of us giving blood by bus up to battalion. They sent us with breakfast, Jimmy Dean MRE's. It's chicken salad in a can with Pringles, canned fruit, granola bar, sucker, and raisins. It was actually pretty good. Once the blood drive was open they marched us over and we then had the joy of waiting. :-)
It was actually a nice break. They didn't mind us visiting quietly so I ended up getting to know one of the guys in my platoon a lot better as we were the last two in our group. I do have to say the whole process took much longer than when I've donated through Oklahoma Blood Institute, but it beat spending the whole morning cleaning my rifle.
As soon as our group was done donating, my DS picked us up in the bus and drove us across post to the theater. I guess we were already late because they gave us exactly 4 minutes to eat an MRE. I scarfed down the spiced apples, ate 2 bites of the energy bar, and a handful of M&Ms. We then sat in the back of the theater for our Sex Symbols presentation.
It was basically education on how to avoid and prevent sexual harassment and assault. They had a male and female actor that presented it in the format of improvisation. They were pretty funny and engaged the crowd while still making their point. The sad part is that there is even a need for the education, as date rape is all too common in the military.
Our DS's then bused us back to battalion (I guess they got the joy of driving bus because it was a Saturday?) where we found out they were doing a concert for us. It was quite warm, so our company took our soda's and candy bars and just chilled off to the side visiting amongst ourselves. I did get to catch up with the SSG that I traveled with from OK. He had been put in Company C. Our company was definitely not interested in the concert, so we left early. It was warm enough outside, there were no complaints. They threatened us that they were going to do a shakedown on us as soon as we got back to ensure we weren't hoarding candy so everyone was quick to hand over anything while they had the chance. Of course, they never did shake us down. :-)
The rest of the afternoon was spent working on our weapons and re-cleaning some of the gear. I guess they're hoping to get issued new rifleman kit's so they had to be clean enough to turn in.
We then had our pizza we pre-purchased the week before. I didn't want to eat a Hot-A, so I had bought one, but knowing it would probably make me sick, I only ate some of the pizza and shared the rest.
We then went back to weapons cleaning until Hydration Formation with just enough time to change beforehand. Then off to bed. No fireguard for me! Yay!
Today is the company run! Yes. Our whole company is going to run together in one big formation. I was definitely nervous with my knees still sore from the week in the field and with the big blister on my right heel. The said the run would be really slow, but would be probably 3-4 miles. Yikes!
Wake up was at 0500, formation at 0520, then we headed over to the PT field for our usual pre-run drills. Then we formed up and headed out. Our 1SG said he wanted to take us to go and wake up some others. I had a feeling we were going to be running over to battalion, which is probably 1.5 mile away. And I was right. We ran around towards our DFAC, then down a gravel road to Battalion, and then back around on the main road to our company PT area. The pace was slow enough that it wasn't too hard to keep up, but I still found it mentally tough. My knees didn't really bother me until we stopped. Then they started hurting! I do have to say it was pretty cool to be running as an entire company, each platoon yelling out cadence the whole time. Since our company is known as the Gators, our 1SG had us clapping our hands yelling chop chop as we ran through battalion. He also had the speakers set up playing music as we arrived back to our own PT field. Our platoon made it back with no one falling out. My DS asked me if I thought it was hard. I said yes! He then asked if I wanted to do the battalion run. I said no. I did not want to take my chances of my knees hurting too bad to keep up if I had the option! Our run ended up being 3.3 miles in about 30-35 minutes. The longest I've ever run!
After the run they gave us time to shower and change before my DS took those of us giving blood by bus up to battalion. They sent us with breakfast, Jimmy Dean MRE's. It's chicken salad in a can with Pringles, canned fruit, granola bar, sucker, and raisins. It was actually pretty good. Once the blood drive was open they marched us over and we then had the joy of waiting. :-)
It was actually a nice break. They didn't mind us visiting quietly so I ended up getting to know one of the guys in my platoon a lot better as we were the last two in our group. I do have to say the whole process took much longer than when I've donated through Oklahoma Blood Institute, but it beat spending the whole morning cleaning my rifle.
As soon as our group was done donating, my DS picked us up in the bus and drove us across post to the theater. I guess we were already late because they gave us exactly 4 minutes to eat an MRE. I scarfed down the spiced apples, ate 2 bites of the energy bar, and a handful of M&Ms. We then sat in the back of the theater for our Sex Symbols presentation.
It was basically education on how to avoid and prevent sexual harassment and assault. They had a male and female actor that presented it in the format of improvisation. They were pretty funny and engaged the crowd while still making their point. The sad part is that there is even a need for the education, as date rape is all too common in the military.
Our DS's then bused us back to battalion (I guess they got the joy of driving bus because it was a Saturday?) where we found out they were doing a concert for us. It was quite warm, so our company took our soda's and candy bars and just chilled off to the side visiting amongst ourselves. I did get to catch up with the SSG that I traveled with from OK. He had been put in Company C. Our company was definitely not interested in the concert, so we left early. It was warm enough outside, there were no complaints. They threatened us that they were going to do a shakedown on us as soon as we got back to ensure we weren't hoarding candy so everyone was quick to hand over anything while they had the chance. Of course, they never did shake us down. :-)
The rest of the afternoon was spent working on our weapons and re-cleaning some of the gear. I guess they're hoping to get issued new rifleman kit's so they had to be clean enough to turn in.
We then had our pizza we pre-purchased the week before. I didn't want to eat a Hot-A, so I had bought one, but knowing it would probably make me sick, I only ate some of the pizza and shared the rest.
We then went back to weapons cleaning until Hydration Formation with just enough time to change beforehand. Then off to bed. No fireguard for me! Yay!
Friday, March 16, 2012
Day 67
Day 62 of BCT
While we all had hope to sleep in longer, wake up was at 0615. We did get a little extra time before first formation, which was at 0700, and there was no PT. We marched to the DFAC for breakfast. I was soooo happy to not have a Hot-A!
After breakfast we then started the daunting task of getting our gear accounted for, cleaned, and turned back in. Of course, there was lots of "hurry up and wait" while they tried to decide exactly how they wanted us to do it all. We finally ended up laying out all of our gear and then checking it in item by item. Once all 54 of each item was gathered we made teams to start cleaning them. Seems like it should have been fairly easy, right? Yeah. Not so much. It was mostly a disorganized disaster and I spent most of the time with ants in my pants ready to get it over with!
Lunch was back at the DFAC and this time we got our "Super Supper". Basically they had extra options on the serving line, including steak and shrimp, and we were allowed to have 2 meats. Then they also had desserts and ice creams for us. I ended up being a server (gotta love duty week!) so it was a bit stressful for me. No one could decide what they wanted and they kept yelling at us that we weren't serving fast enough! When we finally got our food I enjoyed a steak, a sloppy joe, and a piece of cheese cake. Yum! They did give us extra time to eat as well. I think we had more than 30 minutes! Even the drill sergeants sat and ate and spent time just conversing. It was probably the most relaxed meal we had ever had!
After chow they then asked for anyone one interested in donating blood to move to a new formation. I saw this as my chance to get out of the mess of cleaning gear (and because it's been awhile since I donated blood) so I quickly volunteered. The 4th PLT DS marched us over to our battalion headquarters where the blood donating team screened us. The donating won't actually be until tomorrow. They of course utilized us to set up the rooms for tomorrow as well. We somehow managed to make the whole thing take up several hours so by the time they ferried us all back in duty vans our platoon was finally done with the bulk of the gear cleaning.
We had chow again at the DFAC and then put the gear away in the T-50 room. The rifleman's kits and knee/elbow pads were still too wet, so they ended up spread out on the floor of the male's bay. Then started our next joyous task....cleaning our weapons! Turn in is Tuesday so we have a few days, but they all have to be absolutely spotless.
The evening then went as usual with personal time, Hydration Formation, and lights out at 2100. I had fireguard from 0100-0200.
While we all had hope to sleep in longer, wake up was at 0615. We did get a little extra time before first formation, which was at 0700, and there was no PT. We marched to the DFAC for breakfast. I was soooo happy to not have a Hot-A!
After breakfast we then started the daunting task of getting our gear accounted for, cleaned, and turned back in. Of course, there was lots of "hurry up and wait" while they tried to decide exactly how they wanted us to do it all. We finally ended up laying out all of our gear and then checking it in item by item. Once all 54 of each item was gathered we made teams to start cleaning them. Seems like it should have been fairly easy, right? Yeah. Not so much. It was mostly a disorganized disaster and I spent most of the time with ants in my pants ready to get it over with!
Lunch was back at the DFAC and this time we got our "Super Supper". Basically they had extra options on the serving line, including steak and shrimp, and we were allowed to have 2 meats. Then they also had desserts and ice creams for us. I ended up being a server (gotta love duty week!) so it was a bit stressful for me. No one could decide what they wanted and they kept yelling at us that we weren't serving fast enough! When we finally got our food I enjoyed a steak, a sloppy joe, and a piece of cheese cake. Yum! They did give us extra time to eat as well. I think we had more than 30 minutes! Even the drill sergeants sat and ate and spent time just conversing. It was probably the most relaxed meal we had ever had!
After chow they then asked for anyone one interested in donating blood to move to a new formation. I saw this as my chance to get out of the mess of cleaning gear (and because it's been awhile since I donated blood) so I quickly volunteered. The 4th PLT DS marched us over to our battalion headquarters where the blood donating team screened us. The donating won't actually be until tomorrow. They of course utilized us to set up the rooms for tomorrow as well. We somehow managed to make the whole thing take up several hours so by the time they ferried us all back in duty vans our platoon was finally done with the bulk of the gear cleaning.
We had chow again at the DFAC and then put the gear away in the T-50 room. The rifleman's kits and knee/elbow pads were still too wet, so they ended up spread out on the floor of the male's bay. Then started our next joyous task....cleaning our weapons! Turn in is Tuesday so we have a few days, but they all have to be absolutely spotless.
The evening then went as usual with personal time, Hydration Formation, and lights out at 2100. I had fireguard from 0100-0200.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Day 66
Day 61 of BCT
Wake up was at 0400. We pulled security, did personal hygiene, and packed our rucks. One squad carried all of the rucks to the truck to be loaded up, which was a huge relief knowing we wouldn't have to march with them again. We had a Hot-A breakfast (I cheated and ate leftovers from my MRE I had saved.) and then moved our AO back up the hill to where it was originally located the day before.
Today was supposed to continue the Capture the Flag games. I pulled security at the AO for around an hour before being sent to find our DS for a detail. The detail ended up being sent back to the company to unload all of the rucksacks and put them inside the bays. I was the only female, and it was kind of nice to get away from all of the females for awhile! We got to ride to the company in the Humvee which was cool. We unloaded the first load and put them inside and then had to wait while they went and picked up the second load. Our company suppley SGT was in charge of us, so she had us go ahead and eat an MRE and turn in our MILES equipment (the laser tag gear we spent days attaching to our gear and then never used!).
We then unloaded the second load of rucksacks and then rode in the back of the large truck back out to the field. We got back as everyone else was turning in their MILES equipement. Somehow one laser was unaccounted for and we spent the next hour being yelled at and getting lightly smoked until they figured it out. It's expensive equipment. They never told us where they found it, but we soon moved on to having us move everything from out AO down the hill.
We got everything loaded up, including our assult bags, kevlars, and IBAs. We sat an ate an early MRE dinner, then our 1SG spent time with us, practicing our company motto for the Rites of Passage Ceremony. They also made sure all of the males had shaved. Most hadn't that day. LOL
We then marched about 1.5 miles to a gravel parking lot where we then had practice with the entire battalion and our battalion Command Sergeant Major (CSM). We got to hear each company's motto (ours is easily the best one, even though we all hate it, LOL). We spent quite a while standing and waiting before they finally started to march us out and head to where the ceremony would take place. We had no idea how far away it would be. It was pretty cool doing cadence as a platoon while hearing the whole battalion also doing cadence by platoons. It was very loud! There was an air of excitement, but also nervousness because we didn't know what all to expect. We marched up a paved road to one of the FOB security checkpoints and then we all stopped and waited for about 15-20 minutes. As we waited, our 1SG went around calling out those who had been on his radar. My name made the list because I fell out of that AGR last week. :-( But he just asked what my run time was now and I was able to tell him I had it under 18:00, which isn't too bad.
The CSM came to the front and they informed us they were going to pick up the pace a little, and don't fall out. That scared me a bit. So we took off up a sandy road that was quite steep. I had to run to keep up, even though they kept yelling at us to not run. At the top the road smoothed a bit and then we really were running. No, sprinting would be the better word. Our DSs started screaming cadence as we sprinted straight ahead. The sun was almost set by this point and we could see 2 huge fires burning ahead and hear music blaring from speakers. They had set up a stage outside one of the ranges, and they had a screen with pictures from our training projected onto it. The atmosphere was euphoric. We formed up and everyone was simply estatic know we had made it. We had completed Victory Forge and BCT requirements.
The ceremony was just as we had practiced. The whole time I just kept thinking how proud my little brother was going to be that I had made it. I couldn't believe I had actually accomplished this. Hearing our Battalion Commander congratulate us and tell us we could begin wearing our berets was the best. And to top it off, the buses were lined up and ready to take us back to the company as soon as the ceremony was over. They played a famous country song at the end...American Soldier by Toby Keith, I believe...as our company moved to the buses. Everyone was elated on the bus ride back.
When we arrived back at the company we had to line up and have our serial numbers on our weapons checked, just to verify that we all had our own weapon after 4 days in the field. Then we had to unload all the vehicles, put away our gear, and then wait for our DS in formation. Our female DS took the time while we waited to shake hands with each of us. It was very awesome to know that she now considered us worthy of her handshake. Our DS's both set us down then and thanked us for our hard work throughout the week. Our Battalion Commander actually came in during his speech to personally thank our DS for doing such a great job with organizing Victory Forge for our company. Our company apprently impressed him out there. One male in our platoon even received a coin from the Commander (a symbol of respect) for doing so well at searching and questioning hime we he approached our perimeter pretending to be an enemy.
We had Hydration Formation at 2245, so we barely had time to change, let alone shower from the time we left our platoon bay. We were all so desperate for a shower after 4 days! The line after HF was about 30 females long. LOL
I was exhausted and relieved I didn't have FG. I had no trouble crashing as soon as my head hit the pillow!
Wake up was at 0400. We pulled security, did personal hygiene, and packed our rucks. One squad carried all of the rucks to the truck to be loaded up, which was a huge relief knowing we wouldn't have to march with them again. We had a Hot-A breakfast (I cheated and ate leftovers from my MRE I had saved.) and then moved our AO back up the hill to where it was originally located the day before.
Today was supposed to continue the Capture the Flag games. I pulled security at the AO for around an hour before being sent to find our DS for a detail. The detail ended up being sent back to the company to unload all of the rucksacks and put them inside the bays. I was the only female, and it was kind of nice to get away from all of the females for awhile! We got to ride to the company in the Humvee which was cool. We unloaded the first load and put them inside and then had to wait while they went and picked up the second load. Our company suppley SGT was in charge of us, so she had us go ahead and eat an MRE and turn in our MILES equipment (the laser tag gear we spent days attaching to our gear and then never used!).
We then unloaded the second load of rucksacks and then rode in the back of the large truck back out to the field. We got back as everyone else was turning in their MILES equipement. Somehow one laser was unaccounted for and we spent the next hour being yelled at and getting lightly smoked until they figured it out. It's expensive equipment. They never told us where they found it, but we soon moved on to having us move everything from out AO down the hill.
We got everything loaded up, including our assult bags, kevlars, and IBAs. We sat an ate an early MRE dinner, then our 1SG spent time with us, practicing our company motto for the Rites of Passage Ceremony. They also made sure all of the males had shaved. Most hadn't that day. LOL
We then marched about 1.5 miles to a gravel parking lot where we then had practice with the entire battalion and our battalion Command Sergeant Major (CSM). We got to hear each company's motto (ours is easily the best one, even though we all hate it, LOL). We spent quite a while standing and waiting before they finally started to march us out and head to where the ceremony would take place. We had no idea how far away it would be. It was pretty cool doing cadence as a platoon while hearing the whole battalion also doing cadence by platoons. It was very loud! There was an air of excitement, but also nervousness because we didn't know what all to expect. We marched up a paved road to one of the FOB security checkpoints and then we all stopped and waited for about 15-20 minutes. As we waited, our 1SG went around calling out those who had been on his radar. My name made the list because I fell out of that AGR last week. :-( But he just asked what my run time was now and I was able to tell him I had it under 18:00, which isn't too bad.
The CSM came to the front and they informed us they were going to pick up the pace a little, and don't fall out. That scared me a bit. So we took off up a sandy road that was quite steep. I had to run to keep up, even though they kept yelling at us to not run. At the top the road smoothed a bit and then we really were running. No, sprinting would be the better word. Our DSs started screaming cadence as we sprinted straight ahead. The sun was almost set by this point and we could see 2 huge fires burning ahead and hear music blaring from speakers. They had set up a stage outside one of the ranges, and they had a screen with pictures from our training projected onto it. The atmosphere was euphoric. We formed up and everyone was simply estatic know we had made it. We had completed Victory Forge and BCT requirements.
The ceremony was just as we had practiced. The whole time I just kept thinking how proud my little brother was going to be that I had made it. I couldn't believe I had actually accomplished this. Hearing our Battalion Commander congratulate us and tell us we could begin wearing our berets was the best. And to top it off, the buses were lined up and ready to take us back to the company as soon as the ceremony was over. They played a famous country song at the end...American Soldier by Toby Keith, I believe...as our company moved to the buses. Everyone was elated on the bus ride back.
When we arrived back at the company we had to line up and have our serial numbers on our weapons checked, just to verify that we all had our own weapon after 4 days in the field. Then we had to unload all the vehicles, put away our gear, and then wait for our DS in formation. Our female DS took the time while we waited to shake hands with each of us. It was very awesome to know that she now considered us worthy of her handshake. Our DS's both set us down then and thanked us for our hard work throughout the week. Our Battalion Commander actually came in during his speech to personally thank our DS for doing such a great job with organizing Victory Forge for our company. Our company apprently impressed him out there. One male in our platoon even received a coin from the Commander (a symbol of respect) for doing so well at searching and questioning hime we he approached our perimeter pretending to be an enemy.
We had Hydration Formation at 2245, so we barely had time to change, let alone shower from the time we left our platoon bay. We were all so desperate for a shower after 4 days! The line after HF was about 30 females long. LOL
I was exhausted and relieved I didn't have FG. I had no trouble crashing as soon as my head hit the pillow!
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Day 65
Day 60 of BCT
We got about 4 hours of sleep before waking up at 0700, pulling full security, conducting personal hygiene, and packing up our gear. We had another "delicious" Hot-A breakfast (which I again couldn't stomach much of) before learning that we would be marching about 1.5miles with our rucksacks AND full battle rattle. All together I'm guessing that is between 75-90lbs. Yikes!
We spent quite awhile sitting around and waiting while the commander briefed our Platoon Guide (PG) on the mission for the day. We tried to adjust our assult bags on our ruck sacks as best we could while we waited. Our PG then briefed our squad leaders who then briefed us on the mission. Today would start our 24 hour ops, or basically a big game of Capture the Flag. Once we all knew the plan we loaded up our rucks and stepped off. I had to have someone lift my ruck for me to get it on my back. The march was of course through sand and mostly uphill. That was the hardest 1.5 miles I have ever done! Several people in our platoon fell out along the way, the weight being too much for them in the warm muggy air of late morning. Knowing I had accomplished this huge challenge was quite rewarding though. I was very proud of myself for pushing through. The verse going through my head as we marched was Phillippians 4:14, "I can do ALL things through Christ which strengthens me." So true!
The rest of the morning was spent setting up our AO (with a perimeter of security, of course), setting our flags in their designated locations (we didn't get to choose where they were hid) and getting our team ready for action. The goal was to capture the flags of the other platoons, while keeping our flags from being captured. Each platoon had 3 flags, each in a different location.
After an MRE lunch, my squad set the flags, and then escorted teams to guard them. I ended up spending a couple of hours guarding the first flag until the secruity team arrived. Me and my battle buddy then had a 30min break before our squad moved out again. I ended up then being placed with a different squad to pull security at another flag. Somehow I ended up on one side off by myself and I didn't know what to do when another platoon approached our flag. I assumed the rest of the squad would see them approaching as well and would attack, allowing me to help pick them off from my hidden location, but apparently they were asleep. Our flag was captured, but the DS with them returned it right away, since apparently we were in a "practice" mode yet. I was far enough away from the flag that I couldn't really see what happened, so I didn't feel too much responsiblity for it being captured.
I was so tired I kept falling asleep, but would start awake at each noise. I ate some candy that I had saved from my MRE and that helped. I layed in my spot for over 3 hours. I heard our PG come and talk to the rest of the squad right around dark, but I couldn't hear what was going on. I still was under the impression that we would be continuing operations throughout the night, so I assumed they were switching out security teams and they would come and get me when it was my turn to leave. After awhile I decided they had all left without me and I was actually laying there alone. I knew where I was from my platoon AO, and I could hear 4th platoon in the distance, so I wasn't scared. I knew my squad leader would eventually notice my absence and would come and get me so I just waited rather than venture across the woods alone. About 20 minutes later my PG and squad leader came and got me. I actually found the whole thing rather funny. My squad leader said he would never leave me with another squad again. LOL
Everyone had already eaten their MRE, so I sat and ate mine, got some mail, and then listened as they prepared for a couple of nighttime attack missions. As usual, plans changed though, and instead we were told we had to relocate our AO about 50 meters for the night. And of course another platoon took advantage of us moving and "attacked" us. Our DS wasn't hapy we had to bother moving so he was rather grumpy. We couldn't get situated in a new perimeter fast enough, so he stepped in and got us where he wanted us for the night, which of course was another 10 meters from where we were half way set up already. We had removed our IBA's and knee and elbow pads earlier in the day becuase of the heat, so we had to carry all of those down the hill and with moving twice they were scattered. No one ended up with the same gear after that. The night missions were scrapped and we settled in for the night. I was glad we were actually going to get some sleep rather than staying up all night.
We only had to pull 25% security, and I was lucky enough to have the last shift. It was a beautiful night, with warmer temperatures. I actually didn't mind sleeping under the stars, it was so nice and peaceful. My FG shift was from 0300-0400, so I had about 5 hours of sleep. Which was a lot considering we were in the field!
We got about 4 hours of sleep before waking up at 0700, pulling full security, conducting personal hygiene, and packing up our gear. We had another "delicious" Hot-A breakfast (which I again couldn't stomach much of) before learning that we would be marching about 1.5miles with our rucksacks AND full battle rattle. All together I'm guessing that is between 75-90lbs. Yikes!
We spent quite awhile sitting around and waiting while the commander briefed our Platoon Guide (PG) on the mission for the day. We tried to adjust our assult bags on our ruck sacks as best we could while we waited. Our PG then briefed our squad leaders who then briefed us on the mission. Today would start our 24 hour ops, or basically a big game of Capture the Flag. Once we all knew the plan we loaded up our rucks and stepped off. I had to have someone lift my ruck for me to get it on my back. The march was of course through sand and mostly uphill. That was the hardest 1.5 miles I have ever done! Several people in our platoon fell out along the way, the weight being too much for them in the warm muggy air of late morning. Knowing I had accomplished this huge challenge was quite rewarding though. I was very proud of myself for pushing through. The verse going through my head as we marched was Phillippians 4:14, "I can do ALL things through Christ which strengthens me." So true!
The rest of the morning was spent setting up our AO (with a perimeter of security, of course), setting our flags in their designated locations (we didn't get to choose where they were hid) and getting our team ready for action. The goal was to capture the flags of the other platoons, while keeping our flags from being captured. Each platoon had 3 flags, each in a different location.
After an MRE lunch, my squad set the flags, and then escorted teams to guard them. I ended up spending a couple of hours guarding the first flag until the secruity team arrived. Me and my battle buddy then had a 30min break before our squad moved out again. I ended up then being placed with a different squad to pull security at another flag. Somehow I ended up on one side off by myself and I didn't know what to do when another platoon approached our flag. I assumed the rest of the squad would see them approaching as well and would attack, allowing me to help pick them off from my hidden location, but apparently they were asleep. Our flag was captured, but the DS with them returned it right away, since apparently we were in a "practice" mode yet. I was far enough away from the flag that I couldn't really see what happened, so I didn't feel too much responsiblity for it being captured.
I was so tired I kept falling asleep, but would start awake at each noise. I ate some candy that I had saved from my MRE and that helped. I layed in my spot for over 3 hours. I heard our PG come and talk to the rest of the squad right around dark, but I couldn't hear what was going on. I still was under the impression that we would be continuing operations throughout the night, so I assumed they were switching out security teams and they would come and get me when it was my turn to leave. After awhile I decided they had all left without me and I was actually laying there alone. I knew where I was from my platoon AO, and I could hear 4th platoon in the distance, so I wasn't scared. I knew my squad leader would eventually notice my absence and would come and get me so I just waited rather than venture across the woods alone. About 20 minutes later my PG and squad leader came and got me. I actually found the whole thing rather funny. My squad leader said he would never leave me with another squad again. LOL
Everyone had already eaten their MRE, so I sat and ate mine, got some mail, and then listened as they prepared for a couple of nighttime attack missions. As usual, plans changed though, and instead we were told we had to relocate our AO about 50 meters for the night. And of course another platoon took advantage of us moving and "attacked" us. Our DS wasn't hapy we had to bother moving so he was rather grumpy. We couldn't get situated in a new perimeter fast enough, so he stepped in and got us where he wanted us for the night, which of course was another 10 meters from where we were half way set up already. We had removed our IBA's and knee and elbow pads earlier in the day becuase of the heat, so we had to carry all of those down the hill and with moving twice they were scattered. No one ended up with the same gear after that. The night missions were scrapped and we settled in for the night. I was glad we were actually going to get some sleep rather than staying up all night.
We only had to pull 25% security, and I was lucky enough to have the last shift. It was a beautiful night, with warmer temperatures. I actually didn't mind sleeping under the stars, it was so nice and peaceful. My FG shift was from 0300-0400, so I had about 5 hours of sleep. Which was a lot considering we were in the field!
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Day 64
Day 59 of BCT
They woke us up at 0445 to guard the perimeter and then conduct personal hygiene. They really only give you time to quickly brush your teeth. I'm glad I'm not a male who has to shave everyday out in the field!
We marched back up to the FOB and spent time waiting again. It gave me a chance to read my letters from home that I got the night before. We then had a detail to move some stuff around, loaded all of the rucksacks on trucks, and had a Hot-A breakfast. I couldn't eat much , my stomach was so nauseous. We packed up chow and then marched a mile or 2? to a paved road where the buses picked us up.
We went to MOUT city, a pretend city made out of storage trailers with doors and windows cut out. Our mission was to clear the city and search for a suspect who was accused of killing an American soldier. We were also to run security checkpoints and not allow anyone in or out of the area.
We had another "yummy" Hot-A for breakfast (with a light shower of rain in the middle of eating) before they split us up into our training areas. I lucked out and got to be OP4 all morning, pretending to be a villager approaching a checkpoint ran by another platoon. It was a lot of fun and I used my Spanish to avoid speaking English. We ran multiple scenarios, but the main goal was to train when a threat requires firing and how to avoid an escalation of force and controlling a hostile situation.
After an MRE, our platoon then ran a security checkpoint. We missed out on helping to clear the city and it was a rather boring afternoon doing the same thing we had done the day before. I jumped at the chance to go on a detail when our DS requested volunteers. Our job was loading the ruck sacks. We had to bring all of the rucks out to the field since there was no one to stay at the FOB with them and it takes 2 loads to move them all. So a lot of loading and unloading. We also were changing FOB locations so they had to be moved.
We then had to load everyone's IBAs (plated vests) in preparation for our 10 mile march. (So glad we didn't have to wear the vest for the march!) We ate another MRE and started our march around 8pm. And much to my dismay, the march was on sandy, sandy roads. They said we would have drills along the way, where we might be attacked, etc., but it never happened. We stopped quite a bit the first few miles and it felt like we had gone a long ways, only to find out we had only gone about 3 miles. I had my assult bag situated well, with the waist belt putting the bulk of the weight on my hips instead of my shoulders, so it didn't bother me like it had on previous marches. Around 3 miles in they gave us a granola bar to eat. I was between two of the nicer guys in my platoon, and they were very encouraging during the march. It was dark the whole time and I found myslef zoneing out a lot, methodically pushing on. As long as I kept the same pace and zoned out I was keeping up just fine. I was terrified of falling out, so somehow I kept going. The first 4 miles weren't bad, and I actually kind of enjoyed it, being such nice weather, but then my knees and feet started to hurt and each mile was progressively worse. They tormented us by marching us by our original FOB and we all thought we were done, only to march right on by. Then we readed a point and turned around and we all thought we would then be going back to the FOB, but instead we took a different turn and wandered deeper into the woods on yet another sandy trail. Just when I thought I had reached the end of my rope, they said we had arrived. What relief. I was in tears by this point, the pain was so bad.
We then had to move our rucksacks and set up a perimeter by platoon for sleeping (always a stressful task, especially in the pitch black dark) before we got to sleep a little. We only had to pull 10% security, so I just had a 45 minute shift in the wee hours of the morning. My knees were so stiff and swollen, painfull with each step I took, that all I wanted to do was sit and cry. But of course, that was not an option and I had to push through it. We slept from about 0200-0700.
They woke us up at 0445 to guard the perimeter and then conduct personal hygiene. They really only give you time to quickly brush your teeth. I'm glad I'm not a male who has to shave everyday out in the field!
We marched back up to the FOB and spent time waiting again. It gave me a chance to read my letters from home that I got the night before. We then had a detail to move some stuff around, loaded all of the rucksacks on trucks, and had a Hot-A breakfast. I couldn't eat much , my stomach was so nauseous. We packed up chow and then marched a mile or 2? to a paved road where the buses picked us up.
We went to MOUT city, a pretend city made out of storage trailers with doors and windows cut out. Our mission was to clear the city and search for a suspect who was accused of killing an American soldier. We were also to run security checkpoints and not allow anyone in or out of the area.
We had another "yummy" Hot-A for breakfast (with a light shower of rain in the middle of eating) before they split us up into our training areas. I lucked out and got to be OP4 all morning, pretending to be a villager approaching a checkpoint ran by another platoon. It was a lot of fun and I used my Spanish to avoid speaking English. We ran multiple scenarios, but the main goal was to train when a threat requires firing and how to avoid an escalation of force and controlling a hostile situation.
After an MRE, our platoon then ran a security checkpoint. We missed out on helping to clear the city and it was a rather boring afternoon doing the same thing we had done the day before. I jumped at the chance to go on a detail when our DS requested volunteers. Our job was loading the ruck sacks. We had to bring all of the rucks out to the field since there was no one to stay at the FOB with them and it takes 2 loads to move them all. So a lot of loading and unloading. We also were changing FOB locations so they had to be moved.
We then had to load everyone's IBAs (plated vests) in preparation for our 10 mile march. (So glad we didn't have to wear the vest for the march!) We ate another MRE and started our march around 8pm. And much to my dismay, the march was on sandy, sandy roads. They said we would have drills along the way, where we might be attacked, etc., but it never happened. We stopped quite a bit the first few miles and it felt like we had gone a long ways, only to find out we had only gone about 3 miles. I had my assult bag situated well, with the waist belt putting the bulk of the weight on my hips instead of my shoulders, so it didn't bother me like it had on previous marches. Around 3 miles in they gave us a granola bar to eat. I was between two of the nicer guys in my platoon, and they were very encouraging during the march. It was dark the whole time and I found myslef zoneing out a lot, methodically pushing on. As long as I kept the same pace and zoned out I was keeping up just fine. I was terrified of falling out, so somehow I kept going. The first 4 miles weren't bad, and I actually kind of enjoyed it, being such nice weather, but then my knees and feet started to hurt and each mile was progressively worse. They tormented us by marching us by our original FOB and we all thought we were done, only to march right on by. Then we readed a point and turned around and we all thought we would then be going back to the FOB, but instead we took a different turn and wandered deeper into the woods on yet another sandy trail. Just when I thought I had reached the end of my rope, they said we had arrived. What relief. I was in tears by this point, the pain was so bad.
We then had to move our rucksacks and set up a perimeter by platoon for sleeping (always a stressful task, especially in the pitch black dark) before we got to sleep a little. We only had to pull 10% security, so I just had a 45 minute shift in the wee hours of the morning. My knees were so stiff and swollen, painfull with each step I took, that all I wanted to do was sit and cry. But of course, that was not an option and I had to push through it. We slept from about 0200-0700.
Monday, March 12, 2012
Day 63
Day 58 of BCT
I was up soon after 4am. I think everyone is pretty anxious to get this over with. I'm trying to be as positive as possible, and I hope that it is fun too. I know it will be tough, but knowing this is the last of our training will make it easier to hang in there.
We had motor movement at 0530. Since they didn't have enough buses to take the whole company in one trip, we had to march about 1 mile (maybe more?) to or FOB (Forward Operating Base). The march was dark and it was really sandy. Our DS was walking fast too. Everyone seemed antsy, not know where we were going or how far we had to walk.
Once we got there we did the usual "hurry up and wait" and stood in formation for a long time. Finally they had us download our rucksacks into tents. The FOB was set up with permanent tents that I guess they usually stayed in during Vic Forge, but they quickly let us know that we would be sleeping under the stars. We then had a Hot-A breakfast before they marched us to our training sites for the day.
The area we will be doing training in is large and all of our battalion is here. There are multiple FOBs, and with 5 companies training, lots of traffic in and out of the area. There are 3 entry/exit points and our company was assigned to spend the day guarding these checkpoints, learning how to properly search vehicles and personnel. Our platoon had the closest checkpoint, so our march there was fairly short.
We spent the whole day taking turns at the different points. When we weren't on the checkpoint, they had us in the woods doing "concurrent training" or today it was mostly "try not to fall asleep while you lay in the prone position pulling security."
We had some people acting as OP4, or enemy, throughout the day. They were villagers who didn't speak English and gave us a chance to practice searching and reacting to threats.
We had MREs for lunch and dinner, so I was full. Everyone was hoarding the gum and coffee to use later when we pull 24 hour ops.
Around 1800 we headed back to the FOB and formed up. Our commander wasn't excited to see us not remaining in a tactical mindset so he quickly had us all pulling security in a 360 degree perimeter. They handed out mail, which was a nice surprise. We then went and dug our sleeping bags out of our ruck sacks, got 2 MREs for tomorrow and put them in our assault bags, and were marched through a thick underbrush area in the dark to a clearing (there was a narrow path). There we pulled security again for several hours before they started sending us by squad to get some sleep. I got about 4 hours before being woken up for another hour before wake up. They didn't bother to "attack" us, so it was really boring and difficult to stay awake. My battle buddy has a bad reputation for not staying awake so I was nervous to snooze when she suggested taking turns sleeping, but fatigue won over on that one. It was pretty cold to be sleeping outside, so even with our fancy sleep systems, I didn't sleep well in the cold. The biggest frustration was not really knowing what was going on, but that is the whole point anyway. :-)
I was up soon after 4am. I think everyone is pretty anxious to get this over with. I'm trying to be as positive as possible, and I hope that it is fun too. I know it will be tough, but knowing this is the last of our training will make it easier to hang in there.
We had motor movement at 0530. Since they didn't have enough buses to take the whole company in one trip, we had to march about 1 mile (maybe more?) to or FOB (Forward Operating Base). The march was dark and it was really sandy. Our DS was walking fast too. Everyone seemed antsy, not know where we were going or how far we had to walk.
Once we got there we did the usual "hurry up and wait" and stood in formation for a long time. Finally they had us download our rucksacks into tents. The FOB was set up with permanent tents that I guess they usually stayed in during Vic Forge, but they quickly let us know that we would be sleeping under the stars. We then had a Hot-A breakfast before they marched us to our training sites for the day.
The area we will be doing training in is large and all of our battalion is here. There are multiple FOBs, and with 5 companies training, lots of traffic in and out of the area. There are 3 entry/exit points and our company was assigned to spend the day guarding these checkpoints, learning how to properly search vehicles and personnel. Our platoon had the closest checkpoint, so our march there was fairly short.
We spent the whole day taking turns at the different points. When we weren't on the checkpoint, they had us in the woods doing "concurrent training" or today it was mostly "try not to fall asleep while you lay in the prone position pulling security."
We had some people acting as OP4, or enemy, throughout the day. They were villagers who didn't speak English and gave us a chance to practice searching and reacting to threats.
We had MREs for lunch and dinner, so I was full. Everyone was hoarding the gum and coffee to use later when we pull 24 hour ops.
Around 1800 we headed back to the FOB and formed up. Our commander wasn't excited to see us not remaining in a tactical mindset so he quickly had us all pulling security in a 360 degree perimeter. They handed out mail, which was a nice surprise. We then went and dug our sleeping bags out of our ruck sacks, got 2 MREs for tomorrow and put them in our assault bags, and were marched through a thick underbrush area in the dark to a clearing (there was a narrow path). There we pulled security again for several hours before they started sending us by squad to get some sleep. I got about 4 hours before being woken up for another hour before wake up. They didn't bother to "attack" us, so it was really boring and difficult to stay awake. My battle buddy has a bad reputation for not staying awake so I was nervous to snooze when she suggested taking turns sleeping, but fatigue won over on that one. It was pretty cold to be sleeping outside, so even with our fancy sleep systems, I didn't sleep well in the cold. The biggest frustration was not really knowing what was going on, but that is the whole point anyway. :-)
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Day 62
Day 57 of BCT
Daylight savings during the nights so we didn't get our usual hour of sleep. Kind of a bummer with Victory Forge coming up. Wake up was at 0545 and we headed to chow. Today starts duty week for out platoon. We will be busting our butts for sure. After a good breakfast, we had personal time. I caught up on writing letters and my blog and then finished packing for Victory Forge. I'm relieved to have my PT test behind me, but nervous about the next week in the field. We have a 10 mile march that I'm sure will be tough.
Lunch time chow was not so great. The salad bar was empty so I got very little to eat. My DS saw my tray and called me out (I think he used my first name too...weird). When I explained the empty salad bar the DS's were all over the staff to get it filled. Good thing dinner was only a few hours away.
The afternoon was spent cleaning the company vehicles and around outside. We were all hoping for a phone call home, but our DS was so busy getting ready for Victory Forge that it never happened. I was bummed since my family doesn't know I finally passed the PT test and will be graduating.
After dinner we did more cleaning outside and then more prep for Vic Forge. We made sure our squads were all on the same page and that our assault bags were all packed with the required items.
We then had personal time and took our last showers for the next week. Hydration formation and lights up were bumped up 30 minutes so we're up and ready early tomorrow. Of course I had fireguard on the eve of Vic Forge from 2130-2230.
Today was my parent's anniversary. Wish I'd been able to call and wish them a Happy Anniversary. :-(
Daylight savings during the nights so we didn't get our usual hour of sleep. Kind of a bummer with Victory Forge coming up. Wake up was at 0545 and we headed to chow. Today starts duty week for out platoon. We will be busting our butts for sure. After a good breakfast, we had personal time. I caught up on writing letters and my blog and then finished packing for Victory Forge. I'm relieved to have my PT test behind me, but nervous about the next week in the field. We have a 10 mile march that I'm sure will be tough.
Lunch time chow was not so great. The salad bar was empty so I got very little to eat. My DS saw my tray and called me out (I think he used my first name too...weird). When I explained the empty salad bar the DS's were all over the staff to get it filled. Good thing dinner was only a few hours away.
The afternoon was spent cleaning the company vehicles and around outside. We were all hoping for a phone call home, but our DS was so busy getting ready for Victory Forge that it never happened. I was bummed since my family doesn't know I finally passed the PT test and will be graduating.
After dinner we did more cleaning outside and then more prep for Vic Forge. We made sure our squads were all on the same page and that our assault bags were all packed with the required items.
We then had personal time and took our last showers for the next week. Hydration formation and lights up were bumped up 30 minutes so we're up and ready early tomorrow. Of course I had fireguard on the eve of Vic Forge from 2130-2230.
Today was my parent's anniversary. Wish I'd been able to call and wish them a Happy Anniversary. :-(
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Day 61
Day 56 of BCT
Today was another chill day. Except our platoon kept messing up. For me the day started early for the PT test. We had to be outside at 0430. We waited about 20 minutes before hooking up with F Compny to retest with their failures as we'll. My DS was there to count and I ended up in his line. I was less nervous than last time, but I also knew this was my last chance. I hoped that if st least attempted 11 half decent pushups, he would count them. He didm't count out loud, but I gave him 11 attempts, so I prayed he counted all of them. I asked him how many I did when I did situps, and he just said not to worry about it. I pushed hard in situps and I think I got over 70. The run was the hardest. My legs were so tired from all the extra running this week. I just kept thinking about my little brother and how much he wanted me to accomplish this. I came in at 18:46, so not too bad. The DS still didn't say how I did, but I was hopeful. We went back to the company and stretched, then went and changed for chow when the rest of the company got done with PT. My male DS was still trying to not tell me if I passed, so I took it as good news. And then my female DS said I passed! I was so relieved! I'm going to graduate!
After chow, we went to the PX. I got baby wipes for Victory Forge. Four days without a shower! We then spent the rest of the morning trying to finish fixing our gear. Our DS was not happy it was taking so long and said we wouldn't get our personal time tonight.
Lunch was a Hot-A, and then we ended up in the classroom for s quick brief on donating to a soldier's fund and those who had ordered t-shirts from one company got their stuff. We also ordered pizza for the pizza party scheduled for after Victory Forge. Instead of personal time we scrubbed floors. It ended up working out because HF was short and the females were counted into the bay first, so I had time to shower and throw my ACU's in the laundry. All my other ACU's are packed, so I needed to wash these. And to top it off, I didn't have FG! Too bad we lose an hour of sleep tonight though.
Today was another chill day. Except our platoon kept messing up. For me the day started early for the PT test. We had to be outside at 0430. We waited about 20 minutes before hooking up with F Compny to retest with their failures as we'll. My DS was there to count and I ended up in his line. I was less nervous than last time, but I also knew this was my last chance. I hoped that if st least attempted 11 half decent pushups, he would count them. He didm't count out loud, but I gave him 11 attempts, so I prayed he counted all of them. I asked him how many I did when I did situps, and he just said not to worry about it. I pushed hard in situps and I think I got over 70. The run was the hardest. My legs were so tired from all the extra running this week. I just kept thinking about my little brother and how much he wanted me to accomplish this. I came in at 18:46, so not too bad. The DS still didn't say how I did, but I was hopeful. We went back to the company and stretched, then went and changed for chow when the rest of the company got done with PT. My male DS was still trying to not tell me if I passed, so I took it as good news. And then my female DS said I passed! I was so relieved! I'm going to graduate!
After chow, we went to the PX. I got baby wipes for Victory Forge. Four days without a shower! We then spent the rest of the morning trying to finish fixing our gear. Our DS was not happy it was taking so long and said we wouldn't get our personal time tonight.
Lunch was a Hot-A, and then we ended up in the classroom for s quick brief on donating to a soldier's fund and those who had ordered t-shirts from one company got their stuff. We also ordered pizza for the pizza party scheduled for after Victory Forge. Instead of personal time we scrubbed floors. It ended up working out because HF was short and the females were counted into the bay first, so I had time to shower and throw my ACU's in the laundry. All my other ACU's are packed, so I needed to wash these. And to top it off, I didn't have FG! Too bad we lose an hour of sleep tonight though.
Friday, March 9, 2012
Day 60
Day 55 of BCT
PT was stretching again for the 9 of us that still hadn't passed the PT test. We got shuffled around a bit from classroom to the PT field, but I'm glad I didn't have to run an AGR like everyone else. My knees are going to take a while to heal when I get home.
Today is a really low key day. Basically getting ready for Victory Forge. We spent time working to attach our laser gears to our helmets and vests (not an easy task), and then also had some training on running traffic stops/checkpoints and searching vehicles. Chow was at the DFAC all day. It's been nice to get a break from Hot-A's this week.
We spent time in the afternoon practicing squad movement drills. It was a pretty boring day. After dinner, we ended up spending all of our personal time working on the gear. We still didn't finish either.
Mail call was awesome though. Our platoon had all chipped in and ordered really nice buck knives for our DS's witht their names engraved on them. They were really excited about them. And then one guy got a package with Oreo's and candy. So the DS shared it witht the whole platoon. Except me, since I have my PT test in the morning. But I was OK with that. The best part was getting 3 letters. One from my Mom, one from my Grandma, and one from my best friend.
I lucked out and had no FG!
PT was stretching again for the 9 of us that still hadn't passed the PT test. We got shuffled around a bit from classroom to the PT field, but I'm glad I didn't have to run an AGR like everyone else. My knees are going to take a while to heal when I get home.
Today is a really low key day. Basically getting ready for Victory Forge. We spent time working to attach our laser gears to our helmets and vests (not an easy task), and then also had some training on running traffic stops/checkpoints and searching vehicles. Chow was at the DFAC all day. It's been nice to get a break from Hot-A's this week.
We spent time in the afternoon practicing squad movement drills. It was a pretty boring day. After dinner, we ended up spending all of our personal time working on the gear. We still didn't finish either.
Mail call was awesome though. Our platoon had all chipped in and ordered really nice buck knives for our DS's witht their names engraved on them. They were really excited about them. And then one guy got a package with Oreo's and candy. So the DS shared it witht the whole platoon. Except me, since I have my PT test in the morning. But I was OK with that. The best part was getting 3 letters. One from my Mom, one from my Grandma, and one from my best friend.
I lucked out and had no FG!
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Day 59
Day 54 of BCT
Today I got the news that I do get to retest again on Saturday. This will be my last chance to pass the PT test. For PT, we had muscle strengthening. I was scared to push too much thogh, because I don't want to be too sore on Saturday. I know I can do 11 pushups if I can just get my muscles to recover. It's almost like my body isn't getting enough calories at this point to function right. I'm trying to eat more, but I'm a really slow eater and I don't like to eat after I already feel full.
After breakfast, we again got ready for the real inspection. We we supposed to be inspected by the Bsttslion Command Sergeant Major and Lt. Colonel. The CSM came through our bay really quick, but our actual inspection was done by the new DS. Rumor is that she is being trained to be the 1SG. She was pretty easy on us and mostly just inspected our uniforms and made sure we know how to wear them correct toy. We changed for chow and headed to the DFAC.
After chow we went to our male bay. Our DS asked everyone to be quiet and of course no one wanted to be quiet and of course no one wanted to keep their mouth shut so we got smoked. She had me out the most part of it because of the PT test, so I was lucky. We then had 20 minutes to pack our rucksacks for Victory Forge. They are taking them out to the field tomorrow. We then spent the whole afternoon cleaning our weapons.
For dinner I asked my DS if I could have an MRE so I could get more calories. She agreed, so after we all got back from the DFAC! Me and my battle buddy sat at the back door and ate MRE's. The whole platoon was issued laser gear for Victory Forge. We'll be wearing it over our gear and it will allow us to "kill" each other during our last training exercise. The end is in sight if I can pass my PT test! I'd I don't pass I will either be chaptered out of the Army and sent home, or I will be restarted at week 1 with a new company. I really hope I can pass.
There was no mail today, but we lucked out and got personal time early. We had HF and bed. I had hoped to miss out of FG, but one girl was on med quarters so I had to take her shift in the middle of the night.
Today I got the news that I do get to retest again on Saturday. This will be my last chance to pass the PT test. For PT, we had muscle strengthening. I was scared to push too much thogh, because I don't want to be too sore on Saturday. I know I can do 11 pushups if I can just get my muscles to recover. It's almost like my body isn't getting enough calories at this point to function right. I'm trying to eat more, but I'm a really slow eater and I don't like to eat after I already feel full.
After breakfast, we again got ready for the real inspection. We we supposed to be inspected by the Bsttslion Command Sergeant Major and Lt. Colonel. The CSM came through our bay really quick, but our actual inspection was done by the new DS. Rumor is that she is being trained to be the 1SG. She was pretty easy on us and mostly just inspected our uniforms and made sure we know how to wear them correct toy. We changed for chow and headed to the DFAC.
After chow we went to our male bay. Our DS asked everyone to be quiet and of course no one wanted to be quiet and of course no one wanted to keep their mouth shut so we got smoked. She had me out the most part of it because of the PT test, so I was lucky. We then had 20 minutes to pack our rucksacks for Victory Forge. They are taking them out to the field tomorrow. We then spent the whole afternoon cleaning our weapons.
For dinner I asked my DS if I could have an MRE so I could get more calories. She agreed, so after we all got back from the DFAC! Me and my battle buddy sat at the back door and ate MRE's. The whole platoon was issued laser gear for Victory Forge. We'll be wearing it over our gear and it will allow us to "kill" each other during our last training exercise. The end is in sight if I can pass my PT test! I'd I don't pass I will either be chaptered out of the Army and sent home, or I will be restarted at week 1 with a new company. I really hope I can pass.
There was no mail today, but we lucked out and got personal time early. We had HF and bed. I had hoped to miss out of FG, but one girl was on med quarters so I had to take her shift in the middle of the night.
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Day 58
Day 53 of BCT
I had FG 0200-0300 and since one of my battles was amazing and did my shift's cleaning for me, I was able to spend the time finishing my locker for inspection. I then slept another 1-1/2 hours before getting up for my PT test. There were 14 of us that had failed. They had us do our pushups and situps in the classroom.
I was mentally trying to stay as positive as possible but when my turn came, I was only able to do 2 pushups. My arms were still so sore from Monday that I could not push back up. I was completely lost, thinking I was done. They would most likely be sending me home. Just in case there was any last glimmer of hope, I still pushed myself on the situps, getting 64, and then when we went out to do the run, I gave it my best. A girl from my platoon volunteered to run with me. She's an awesome runner and is actually not someone I've gotten along with very well, so I was surprised she volunteered. With her help, I cut a minute off my run time and came in at 17:45. 1SG came around about that time and said those of us that still failed would go be going home. It was all I could do not to give up right there. They made us then do PT with everyone else. It was a sprint day. Those were the toughest sprints ever!
My DS's didn't say anything to me during or after PT and I was too scared to ask what was going to happen. I could barely keep back the tears. After chow at the DFAC, we got ready for the inspection. It was mentally tough to put on that uniform not knowing if I could even be staying in the military much longer.
The 1SG did our inspection. He checked our uniforms, asked us chain of command questions, and checked our weapons. I did okay except my points on the uniform were a little too big (I guess I've lost more weight) and I had forgotten to put my towels away in my locker. After the inspections, we had chow and then spent the afternoon scrubbing the floor again. We were still trying to get the scratches up from changing lockers.
The rest of the day went as usual. Chow, mail call (no mail again), personal time, HF, and bedtime. I finally had the night off from FG!
Highlight of the day: we got our razors back! Yay for smooth legs again! Lol.
I had FG 0200-0300 and since one of my battles was amazing and did my shift's cleaning for me, I was able to spend the time finishing my locker for inspection. I then slept another 1-1/2 hours before getting up for my PT test. There were 14 of us that had failed. They had us do our pushups and situps in the classroom.
I was mentally trying to stay as positive as possible but when my turn came, I was only able to do 2 pushups. My arms were still so sore from Monday that I could not push back up. I was completely lost, thinking I was done. They would most likely be sending me home. Just in case there was any last glimmer of hope, I still pushed myself on the situps, getting 64, and then when we went out to do the run, I gave it my best. A girl from my platoon volunteered to run with me. She's an awesome runner and is actually not someone I've gotten along with very well, so I was surprised she volunteered. With her help, I cut a minute off my run time and came in at 17:45. 1SG came around about that time and said those of us that still failed would go be going home. It was all I could do not to give up right there. They made us then do PT with everyone else. It was a sprint day. Those were the toughest sprints ever!
My DS's didn't say anything to me during or after PT and I was too scared to ask what was going to happen. I could barely keep back the tears. After chow at the DFAC, we got ready for the inspection. It was mentally tough to put on that uniform not knowing if I could even be staying in the military much longer.
The 1SG did our inspection. He checked our uniforms, asked us chain of command questions, and checked our weapons. I did okay except my points on the uniform were a little too big (I guess I've lost more weight) and I had forgotten to put my towels away in my locker. After the inspections, we had chow and then spent the afternoon scrubbing the floor again. We were still trying to get the scratches up from changing lockers.
The rest of the day went as usual. Chow, mail call (no mail again), personal time, HF, and bedtime. I finally had the night off from FG!
Highlight of the day: we got our razors back! Yay for smooth legs again! Lol.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Day 57
Day 52 of BCT
Since I failed the PT, I got to spend PT witht the other failures stretching. I'm worried sick about tomorrow. After chow, everyone got ready for MAC. Today was the last day and we were doing Pugil Bats. Since I failed the PT test, they didn't want us to do it and waste our energy. My battle buddy had failed as well, so her and I got picked to organize the supply room. I was bummed because we didn't get to even watch the pugils.
Even after lunch, we had to go back to organizing. Even thogh it was done, we had to stay. It was very boring. We then spent the afternoon doing more bay maintenance and weapons cleaning. Tomorrow is the company level inspection. Our ACU's came back from being fitted, so the female DS gave us a quick class on how to put on the pins and badges.
We had chow and mail call. No mail for me today. We then had the usual personal time and hydration formation. They said our PT retest was at 0445. And of course I had a Fireguard shift. Boo.😔
Since I failed the PT, I got to spend PT witht the other failures stretching. I'm worried sick about tomorrow. After chow, everyone got ready for MAC. Today was the last day and we were doing Pugil Bats. Since I failed the PT test, they didn't want us to do it and waste our energy. My battle buddy had failed as well, so her and I got picked to organize the supply room. I was bummed because we didn't get to even watch the pugils.
Even after lunch, we had to go back to organizing. Even thogh it was done, we had to stay. It was very boring. We then spent the afternoon doing more bay maintenance and weapons cleaning. Tomorrow is the company level inspection. Our ACU's came back from being fitted, so the female DS gave us a quick class on how to put on the pins and badges.
We had chow and mail call. No mail for me today. We then had the usual personal time and hydration formation. They said our PT retest was at 0445. And of course I had a Fireguard shift. Boo.😔
Monday, March 5, 2012
Day 56
Day 51 of BCT
Today started with an AGR. And the news that out retest would be on Wednesday! Yikes! I told my DS that I wasn't sure I could run the AGR and still do well on Wednesday, but she wanted me to run it anyway and try to keep up. I'm not sure how much of it was lack of motivation and how much was because my knees hurt, but I fell out after 1/4 mile. I didn't walk and I still went the 3 miles that the group did. The 1SG was yelling at those of us that fell out the whole time. After I explained that I had s "run at your own pace" profile, he left me alone. I barely could walk afterwards, my knees were so stiff. Hopefully, I can still run on Wednesdsy.
We changed, ate breskfsst, and got our gear and had motor movement to our last range. We were originally supposed to march out there (10 miles) but they changed it, thank goodness. The range is Bastonge. It is US weapons. Basically, we all get to shoot machine guns and grenade launchers. After the briefing, the top marksman in each platoon got to shoot live rounds to demonstrate, then all of us shot dummy rounds. We shot the M240, M2498(SAW), the M203, and the M184. It was actually pretty fun. The best part was that we had no concurrent training.😄
We had chow and then s little bit of time to start practicing marching for graduation. I really hope I can pass my PT test so I that I'm on that field! It was an early day and we were back to the company by 1400. We spent time cleaning our weapons and then our DS let us use our phones for an hour. I cried when I told my Mom I failed my PT test and might not be graduating.
We had chow and then mail call. We got info from the DS about inspections and then a short personal time before Hydration Formation and bed. My DS had been having me do pushups and dips all day. I then gave my mail(I had pictures!) to a battle buddy to keep until I did 100 pushups. I had to do them on my knees, my arms were so tired, but I did them. I'll rest my arms tomorrow, and hopefully be ready to do 11 pushups on Wednesday.
I had Fireguard from 0000-0100. I'm so ready for a night of sleep without FG.
Today started with an AGR. And the news that out retest would be on Wednesday! Yikes! I told my DS that I wasn't sure I could run the AGR and still do well on Wednesday, but she wanted me to run it anyway and try to keep up. I'm not sure how much of it was lack of motivation and how much was because my knees hurt, but I fell out after 1/4 mile. I didn't walk and I still went the 3 miles that the group did. The 1SG was yelling at those of us that fell out the whole time. After I explained that I had s "run at your own pace" profile, he left me alone. I barely could walk afterwards, my knees were so stiff. Hopefully, I can still run on Wednesdsy.
We changed, ate breskfsst, and got our gear and had motor movement to our last range. We were originally supposed to march out there (10 miles) but they changed it, thank goodness. The range is Bastonge. It is US weapons. Basically, we all get to shoot machine guns and grenade launchers. After the briefing, the top marksman in each platoon got to shoot live rounds to demonstrate, then all of us shot dummy rounds. We shot the M240, M2498(SAW), the M203, and the M184. It was actually pretty fun. The best part was that we had no concurrent training.😄
We had chow and then s little bit of time to start practicing marching for graduation. I really hope I can pass my PT test so I that I'm on that field! It was an early day and we were back to the company by 1400. We spent time cleaning our weapons and then our DS let us use our phones for an hour. I cried when I told my Mom I failed my PT test and might not be graduating.
We had chow and then mail call. We got info from the DS about inspections and then a short personal time before Hydration Formation and bed. My DS had been having me do pushups and dips all day. I then gave my mail(I had pictures!) to a battle buddy to keep until I did 100 pushups. I had to do them on my knees, my arms were so tired, but I did them. I'll rest my arms tomorrow, and hopefully be ready to do 11 pushups on Wednesday.
I had Fireguard from 0000-0100. I'm so ready for a night of sleep without FG.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Day 55
Day 50 of BCT
Only 3 Sunday's left! Today was another usual Sunday, chow at the DFAC, then personal time until lunch. I got caught up on writing letters and journalist. After lunch, we spent the afternoon scrubbing the floor, getting ready for the inspection we have this week. We'll be wearing our ASU's (Army Service Uniform or address Blues). Out lockers, gear, and bays will all be inspected and we'll also be asked questions to see if we have learned everything we are supposed to.
After dinner, we then spent the evening cleaning our weapons, since those will be inspected. We had personal time, Hydraton Formation, and then off to bed. I had Fireguard from 2200-2300.
The whole day I spent wondering what was going to happen since I failed my PT test. We're pretty sure we'll get to retest, we just don't know when.
Only 3 Sunday's left! Today was another usual Sunday, chow at the DFAC, then personal time until lunch. I got caught up on writing letters and journalist. After lunch, we spent the afternoon scrubbing the floor, getting ready for the inspection we have this week. We'll be wearing our ASU's (Army Service Uniform or address Blues). Out lockers, gear, and bays will all be inspected and we'll also be asked questions to see if we have learned everything we are supposed to.
After dinner, we then spent the evening cleaning our weapons, since those will be inspected. We had personal time, Hydraton Formation, and then off to bed. I had Fireguard from 2200-2300.
The whole day I spent wondering what was going to happen since I failed my PT test. We're pretty sure we'll get to retest, we just don't know when.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Day 54
Day 49 of BCT
Three weeks from today and I'll be waking up in my own bed! I can hardly stand it! Today was an early wake up for the PT test. I am so nervous. I really want to pass and get this behind me.
We marched to the PT field and warmed up. I ended up in the line with the new female DS. Pushups are always first. I did good for the first 5, but then I started to hit muscle failure. I only managed 8 pushups, 3 short of what I had to have. I was so disappointed. To match my mood, right as I finished my pushups, the sky opened and we were all pelted by a freezing cold rain with strong winds. It was extremely difficult not to just give up right then and there. But I told myself that I had to do my best on the situps and run if I wanted any hope of getting chaptered out. I managed to get 66 situps and a runtime of 18:46. Both were an improvement. Mentally, the run was very tough. My DS did seem like I would get a retest. There were 4 in our platoon that failed and about 10 in the company.
The rest of the day went okay, but it was really hard to stay motivated, feeling like a complete failure. We went to Wanat today. It's a range named after a battle in Afghanastan. It was actually kind of fun. We did convoy operations. I got to ride in a Hummer for the first time! They are not very comfortable! Lol. Our group lucked out and we managed to avoid concurrent training for the most part.
Before leaving the range, our Battalion Commander gave us a bit of pep talk and basically just told us to keep up the good work. He says we're by far the best company at Fort Jackson right now!
When we got back, we had a quick briefing on some other weapons that we will get to fire on Monday-the grenade launcher and M240 and M249 machine guns. We then had chow at the DFAC, some platoon time, and then mass chaos in the female bay. They decided to change out all of our old lockers for less old lockers. It was crazy! And now the floor of our bay looks horrible! Sunday will be spent scrubbing, I'm sure.
After HF, I crashed, then did my Fireguard shift from 2200-2300. I always want more sleep than we get. I can't wait to sleep in again!
Three weeks from today and I'll be waking up in my own bed! I can hardly stand it! Today was an early wake up for the PT test. I am so nervous. I really want to pass and get this behind me.
We marched to the PT field and warmed up. I ended up in the line with the new female DS. Pushups are always first. I did good for the first 5, but then I started to hit muscle failure. I only managed 8 pushups, 3 short of what I had to have. I was so disappointed. To match my mood, right as I finished my pushups, the sky opened and we were all pelted by a freezing cold rain with strong winds. It was extremely difficult not to just give up right then and there. But I told myself that I had to do my best on the situps and run if I wanted any hope of getting chaptered out. I managed to get 66 situps and a runtime of 18:46. Both were an improvement. Mentally, the run was very tough. My DS did seem like I would get a retest. There were 4 in our platoon that failed and about 10 in the company.
The rest of the day went okay, but it was really hard to stay motivated, feeling like a complete failure. We went to Wanat today. It's a range named after a battle in Afghanastan. It was actually kind of fun. We did convoy operations. I got to ride in a Hummer for the first time! They are not very comfortable! Lol. Our group lucked out and we managed to avoid concurrent training for the most part.
Before leaving the range, our Battalion Commander gave us a bit of pep talk and basically just told us to keep up the good work. He says we're by far the best company at Fort Jackson right now!
When we got back, we had a quick briefing on some other weapons that we will get to fire on Monday-the grenade launcher and M240 and M249 machine guns. We then had chow at the DFAC, some platoon time, and then mass chaos in the female bay. They decided to change out all of our old lockers for less old lockers. It was crazy! And now the floor of our bay looks horrible! Sunday will be spent scrubbing, I'm sure.
After HF, I crashed, then did my Fireguard shift from 2200-2300. I always want more sleep than we get. I can't wait to sleep in again!
Friday, March 2, 2012
Day 53
Day 48 of BCT
PT was interesting today. As soon as we formed up, a heightening storm shaved up. So we did PT in the male bay. It was an easy day since tomorrow is our PT test.
We then changed into ACU's, ate chow, and headed out to the Omaha range. The range is named after the famous beach of D-day in WWll. After our briefing at the range, our squad ended up stuck at the same concurrent training session all day. When we finally had our first turn to go through with blanks, my battle buddy and I didn't do as well as yesterday. We made small mistakes and they yelled at me for being too slow. I've never felt so slow in life until coming to BCT! I'm definitely not a sprinter! Of course, the more they yelled at me to move faster, the more frustrated I got until I was at the point of tears. Sometimes I hate being a female. Lol.
We had chow, policed the range, then they started doing the live fire portion. Being the last squad, we ended up waiting all day in concurrent training for our turn. By then, we were almost out of time, so when we finally went, they only had us move forward 25 meters and come back instead of the full 150 meters. I was kinda glad! Good news is no one was hurt at the range today.
When we got back, we had a Hot-A, then mail call. No mail again for me.😞 We the had personal time, HF, and bedtime! No fireguard or buddy watch for me. I should be well rested for PT test!
PT was interesting today. As soon as we formed up, a heightening storm shaved up. So we did PT in the male bay. It was an easy day since tomorrow is our PT test.
We then changed into ACU's, ate chow, and headed out to the Omaha range. The range is named after the famous beach of D-day in WWll. After our briefing at the range, our squad ended up stuck at the same concurrent training session all day. When we finally had our first turn to go through with blanks, my battle buddy and I didn't do as well as yesterday. We made small mistakes and they yelled at me for being too slow. I've never felt so slow in life until coming to BCT! I'm definitely not a sprinter! Of course, the more they yelled at me to move faster, the more frustrated I got until I was at the point of tears. Sometimes I hate being a female. Lol.
We had chow, policed the range, then they started doing the live fire portion. Being the last squad, we ended up waiting all day in concurrent training for our turn. By then, we were almost out of time, so when we finally went, they only had us move forward 25 meters and come back instead of the full 150 meters. I was kinda glad! Good news is no one was hurt at the range today.
When we got back, we had a Hot-A, then mail call. No mail again for me.😞 We the had personal time, HF, and bedtime! No fireguard or buddy watch for me. I should be well rested for PT test!
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Day 52
Day 47 of BCT
This week is getting long and tiring, but each day brings vs. closer to the end. PT was muscle strengthening again. I really pushed myself. I'm worried about the PT test on Saturday. My female DS did give me a "good job" after watching my pushups, so I really hope I'm on track to pass the test.
Motor movement was early today, so they fed us breakfast on the range. Today we went to Chip-yang-ni. It's named after a battle during Vietnam. Today we practice for buddy team movements with live fire, which will be tomorrow. Again, most of our time was spent at concurrent training. When my battle buddy and I went through, the DS said we did really well. The goal is to move forward from cover to cover, making sure that you don't shoot your battle buddy and providing cover fire for each other as you move forward to the target. It takes good communication as well as a lot of thought with each movement. We've been practicing this for weeks in concurrent training.
We had a DS from another company helping us. She was Romanian, but had lived in Germany and knew German. She knew how to say my last name and wanted to know where I was from. I told her "Oklahoma" and that I was 4th generation American.
We had chow, more concurrent training, then policed the range. The day was pretty warm, so we were ready to head out and get off our gear. Our DS threatened to make us do 5 pushups for every piece of brass he found. Luckily, he only found 4.
Chow was at the DFAC, followed by mail call and some joking around with our DS's. We then cleaned on our weapons until personal time.
We had HF, were counted into the bay, and then I was out. Last Fireguard shift for me.
This week is getting long and tiring, but each day brings vs. closer to the end. PT was muscle strengthening again. I really pushed myself. I'm worried about the PT test on Saturday. My female DS did give me a "good job" after watching my pushups, so I really hope I'm on track to pass the test.
Motor movement was early today, so they fed us breakfast on the range. Today we went to Chip-yang-ni. It's named after a battle during Vietnam. Today we practice for buddy team movements with live fire, which will be tomorrow. Again, most of our time was spent at concurrent training. When my battle buddy and I went through, the DS said we did really well. The goal is to move forward from cover to cover, making sure that you don't shoot your battle buddy and providing cover fire for each other as you move forward to the target. It takes good communication as well as a lot of thought with each movement. We've been practicing this for weeks in concurrent training.
We had a DS from another company helping us. She was Romanian, but had lived in Germany and knew German. She knew how to say my last name and wanted to know where I was from. I told her "Oklahoma" and that I was 4th generation American.
We had chow, more concurrent training, then policed the range. The day was pretty warm, so we were ready to head out and get off our gear. Our DS threatened to make us do 5 pushups for every piece of brass he found. Luckily, he only found 4.
Chow was at the DFAC, followed by mail call and some joking around with our DS's. We then cleaned on our weapons until personal time.
We had HF, were counted into the bay, and then I was out. Last Fireguard shift for me.
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