Day 72

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!!