BCT Day 43

These post are from letters that Jason has mailed to me. Sometimes his writing is hard for me to read so bare with me if some of the terms aren't right. I hope that you enjoy as much as I do.

BCT Day 43
10/25/10

This was day 1 of the 3 day FTX. It started out with a bang we did a 7 mile march to the site. Our ruck sacks were a little heavier too, since we had our tent in such in there. Even though it was our longest march so far, only a couple of people fell back. It was also warmer than it had been lately. I think it took us 2.5 hours from start to finish.
Once we reached the site we set up our tents and ate breakfast. Breakfast was a welcome sight. It was about 9:00 before we are which is about 2 hours later than normally. We also burnt up so much energy so we needed to refuel. Just as we finished breakfast the rain started. It rained on and off most of the day. It wasn't too bad tough, our rain suits kept us pretty dry, except for our heads. we weren't allowed to wear hoods only caps.
Lunch was kind of an event too. We had our first MRE's. It's a complete meal in a small bag. It has a main course, sides, deserts, coffee, gum, and some other small things. I'll admit I was dreading MRE's, but the one I had today was actually good. It was chicken pesto pasta, bread with cheese spread, pears, vanilla pudding. I wanted some candy. Some have candy but not mine today. They contain about 1500 calories total, almost enough for an entire day.
After lunch we had classes on radio communication and reacting to enemy contact.
The real fun came at night though. Our platoon was sent on a simulated mission. We setup a defensive position and we watched out for a small group of terrorist call in the area. So, the DS's had set it up so the 2nd platoon would come across our position while we were on patrol. When they did, all hell broke loose. Both platoons were firing blanks at each other and the DS were throwing mortar simulators. It got all of out adrenalin pumping. It was one of the most fun things we've done at BCT.