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!