BCT Day 38

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 38
10-20-10

We finished up ARM today. We had to shoot at the timed targets, similar to BRM qualifications, except we were in full battle rattle and had to hit the targets more than once to get a "kill". It was actually fun. Now, we have to turn in our "new weapons and red dot sight and go back to our old ones. This is the last range we will go for a week or more. We need a break from the range. It's getting a little old.
Since there's not much to write about, I'll give you an update on our platoon. For the most part we get alone much better and don't get in trouble as much as we were. We only have a couple of people that can't keep their mouth shut when they should. Even Pvt Hardcore has changed. Actually I'm going to rename him Pvt Marti, since that's that we call him. We get along fine now. He still occasionally talks trash to others but tries to do the right thing most of the time. He even told me that I'll make a good officer. I guess you can say we are doing much better, which I'm sure is expected now that we are in week 6 an about to go to blue phase.

BCT Day 37

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 37
10-19-10

Today did not start off well. First we were supposed to have our morning formation at 5:50, which means we need to be down and ready for formation at 5:40. At 5:25 a DS comes into the bay and starts yelling at us for not being downstairs yet. This led to push-ups. We didn't do many but it was too early to be beating our face.
Next, we were scheduled for breakfast from 6:40 to 7:00 with a bus to the range at 7:15. So, we didn't have a lot of time for chow to begin with. When we got to the DFAC there's another company in front of us for chow. They decided to go to chow early instead of their schedule time. This means we literally had 2 minutes to eat before we had to rush back to catch the bus. Everyone was pissed, even the DS's. There was also a last minute change to the rage schedule. We had to share the range with another company, the same one that cheated us out of breakfast. We have sort of a rivalry with this company already. Even our DS's don;t like their DS's. Their DS's treat their soldiers like crap, always yelling and cussing at them and such. Anyway that company won the D&C competition earlier in the cycle. So they thought they were the stuff. Well, until they came in second place in BRM, which we smoked them in. They tried to brag about winning D&C at the range today but Pvt Subtitle, my bunkmate, shut them up quickly though. He pointed out that D&C wouldn't help them much when they ended up in Afghanistan. That pretty much ended their bragging.
The icing on this day happened at dinner. I had just marched my platoon over for chow and we were waiting behind 2 platoon to go in. All of a sudden a female DS from another company bust out of nowhere and starts yelling at us not talking(we really weren't) She asked where the PG's were. I say "Here Drill Sergeant!!!" She starts yelling about getting my platoon under control(they were). Now apparently, I thought this was funny. She stops yelling and says "Are you smiling at me? I'll punch you in the face!!" I don't think I was smiling but I probably did have some smart ass grin on my face though. I guess the point of this story is that we've become immune to all the yelling and even getting smoked sometimes. There are time we all fight back laughter when getting smoked. Ahhh, the fun we have at BCT.

BCT Day 36

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.

B-CT Day 36
10-18-10

We started the day off strong, with diagnostic PT test. I improved my score in all 3 events. I increased my overall score by 24 points to a 254. It's still short of my final goal of 270, but it was higher than I set for today, 250. I have about 2.5 weeks until the final PT test, I think I can set up to 270 by then. The biggest problem I had today was with the run. I was not prepared to run in the cool weather. It will only be cooler for the final, so I better get more prepared.
We had to head back to the EST, too. We are starting advanced rifle marksmanship (ARM) this week, so we used EST as an introduction. It allows us to practice shooting without wasting ammo. One component that makes ARM different then BRMs is the gear we wear. We wear full battle rattle when we shoot. We all found out today that this extra gear make it much more difficult to do everything, not just shoot. It's heavy , hot, and uncomfortable. It's hard to imagine what it's like to have to basically live in this stuff like some soldiers have to. We also did simulated night fire. We were in pitch black room and wearing night vision goggles. This was actually neat. I've always wondered what it was like using night vision goggles, now I know.
In non- training news you'll never guess what we had in the DFAL tonight...OREO's!!!! They had little packages with 4 cookies inside. It was awesome. I came so close to getting a glass of milk to go with the,. Then I realized being seen eating milk and cookies by DS probably wouldn't be the type of attention I want. I'd never hear the end of it.

BCT Day 35

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 35
10-17-10

Another Sunday and another week is in the books. We only have 4 more Sundays left.
The Bible teaches us that Sunday should be a day of rest. At BCT, even non-Christians become believers on Sunday. Almost everyone take a nap between breakfast and lunch. Some take short naps and some sleep the entire 4 or so hours. I go to church services so I usually don't nap. I still enjoy going to service on Sundays. Not only does it give me the opportunity to worship the Lord and fellowship with other Christians, it also give me a chance to clear my mind before the next week.
We got another treat tonight. The entire battalion got to go tot the Army's Soldier Show. It was basically a concert where all the singers and musicians are soldiers. They covered all types of music- rock, rap, country, even Broadway. It was really good. The best part was the Michael Jackson tribute and they did some Journey too. Journey always make me smile. I guess it make me think of my younger days.
Before I finish up for the night, I want to give a shot out to all of my readers and followers of this blog. In the past several days I've had several of my battle buddies tell me how much of their families and friends enjoy reading this. I'm happy to know that I'm not just wasting my time with this. Thanks for all of your support.

BCT Day 34

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 34
10-16-10

I'm officially halfway through BCT, 34 days down and 33 to go. I stead of thinking about how many days I've been here I can now think about how many days I have left.
We had our first and only, organized PT of the week this morning. It was a little cool out but it was nice to do PT. We haven't had any time to do PT since we've been going to the ranges every morning. We've got another diagnostic pt test Monday morning too.
After PT and chow, we had to go to a ceremony for the entire battalion. They announced the the best shooting company and platoon. It just made what we already knew official. We have the best shooting company and my platoon was the best in the company. We got a streamer that goes on our phase banner. Our Co. Commander even reward the entire company with ice cream sandwiches. That was a nice treat. Everyone ate slow and savored the taste.
We also went to the barber shop and troop store today. We are all bald again. We didn't do much for the rest of the day. Pretty much clean and zero in our red dot scopes.

BCT Day 33

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 33
10-15-10

Today was kinda of fun since we had completed BRM. We marched out to the confidence course. It was a short march only about 2 miles. The confidence course is just a big obstacle course. It probably had about 25 obstacles. Most of them were too easy, but a few took some effort. It was fun though a nice change from going to the range everyday.
A weird thing happened while we were there. One of out DS's that isn't around to often, kept calling me and my bunk-mate, Private Subtitle, the wrong name. She did it several times. She said that we look alike. Probably b/c were both bald. Anyway, it's just weird to be called someone else name.
Once we marched back, we got some new weapons. We were issued M-4's and M-16A4's. They are similar to our m16A2's that we've been using, but they are newer and nicer. We also for some red dot scopes for them. These are Advanced Rifle Marksmanship (ARM). That's what were doing this coming week. We are the only company in the battalion to get updated weapons, probably b/c we are the best shooters.
The best part of the day came at the end. We got to make phone calls!! They were only 5 minutes, but it was still so awesome to talk to mu wife. My little girl, Izzy, even talked to me for a minute. I miss them so much, but I will see them soon.

BCT Day 32

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 32
10-14-10

Well, I didn't get expert. It's not all that bad though, I shot much better today. I shot a 34 only 2 shy of expert. That's an improvement of 8 from yesterday, but still a little depressing that I came so close and still came up short. That's just how it goes sometimes. Our company is still ahead in qualifying. Our DS also told us that we scored better than 2nd platoon. So not only did my company score the best, my platoon is the best. We are supposed to be rewarded for our shooting too, with phone calls and other treats like pizza. I could care less about pizza, but the call has me excited. Just a side note, at this time, 5 weeks from now, I should be back at home in my own bed. Thank God!!

BCT Day 31

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 31
10-13-10

Today was pre-qualification day. It was a very good day for our company. Everyone in our company qualified. We had 25 to get expert (36 or better) 2 of those were Hawkeye (perfect 40) The next closest company had 7 experts. The company did so well that the battalion Commander and Sergeant Major came and talked to us. They were very impressed. Our company has a history of having the best shooters every cycle.
In an individual level, it wasn't a good day. I did much worse than I expected. I only got a 26 out of 40. I was expecting to get a better score based on the way that I had been shooting at the other ranges. I do have one more chance though. We are qualifying tomorrow. So I have 40 more shots to hit at least 36 targets.

BCT Day 30

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 30
10-12-10

Today was a good day. We started the day off with a ruck march to another range. The march was about 5 miles. I made it through perfectly no blisters or anything. I felt like I could have gone another 5 miles, which is a good thing. The marches should be getting harder soon. We will be carrying more stuff in our ruck sacks and wearing our body armor and helmets.
The range was similar to what we did at EST last week. We shot at single and multiple target of distances of 75m to 300m. I did ok. I shot a 30,29,27 out of 40 in 3 rounds. We need to shoot a 24 minimum. Tomorrow it gets more serious though. We have pre-qualification tomorrow and qualification on Thursday. We have to hit 23 out of 40 targets to qualify. We have 3 chances 2 tomorrow and 1 Thursday. They will take our highest score from the 3 tries.
The day was topped of with a couple of letters from my wife. The first one had a surprise inside for me, a picture of my beautiful little girl and a scarecrow she colored for me. It was awesome. The second had a different kind of surprise. My wife has had some issues at home since our A/C flooded our house one weekend. I can;t stand not being around to help work things out like that. Fortunately, I have some great DS's. They let me make a short phone call to make sure everything was okay. Of course everything was under control other than she will have to replace almost all the flooring in our home. I wish we could have talked about other things, but it was some peace of mind to know everything was okay.

BCT Days 27, 28, 29

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 Days 27-29
10/9-10-11

I'm combining this 3 days b/c there isn't to write about in a single day.
We got a 3 day weekend due to Columbus day on Monday. All we did Saturday was have about a 2 hour question and answer session with the company First Sergeant. He answered questions about his service, things coming up in BCT, and what Army life is like after BCT. He also asked what we like and dislike about BCT so far. After that we went to chow and then it was basically free time until lights out.
Sunday was all free time. I went to church services this morning and ran a couple of miles. Other than that I just hung out in the bay and rested a little. I hoped that we would get a phone call, but I wasn't expecting one. Good thing I didn't have high expectations, b/c we didn't get one.
Monday was Columbus day, so it was another day off. The day started off a little rocky. Saturday night, one of our DS found a big tape ball someone in the bay made. We aren't supposed to have games or anything, even if they are homemade. He told us that if we had anything else that we made, that we could turn it in right then and there would be no consequences. He left the bay with a deck of cards, 2 chess boards, battleship, a basketball goal, and a beanbag toss. All of these made out of mostly duct tape. He laughed at the stuff and we didn't get into trouble, until this morning that is.
Our head DS came in and asked who made all the different games. Everyone involved came forward, but she still wasn't happy that we all wasted so much tape and supplies. So she took out the deck of cards and said we were about to play. The game we played we like this. She would draw a card and call an exercise . We would have to do as many reps as the number on the card. She did about half the deck and it lasted about an hour. In a way, I enjoyed it. We haven't had any real PT in a few days so it was good for us.
The rest of the day was free time. We even got to watch a movie. Since our platoon's name is Spartans, We watched 300. I never expected to be watching movies at BCT.

BCT Day26

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 26
10-08-10

It's hard to believe that it's been a month since I began this journey. Time has flown by. Hopefully, it will continue to go by quickly.
Nothing too exciting happened today. We went back to EST(virtual shooting range) to pratice shooting. I'm not really sure why we do this. To me it doesn't really feel like shooting a real weapon. Some people do great at EST, but can't shoot for crap the real range and vice versa. I guess it just saves the army money. The electricity is less expensive than real ammo. After EST guess what we did. Clean weapons,again, even though we didn't fire a shot today.
I guess I could give an update on being PG. It kind of sucks. I have so much responsibility but no extra benefits. The only benefit that I can think of is that I get to be first in the chow line. It's really not worth it though. Don't get me wrong I'm not going to quit or anything. I'm going to be PG until I get fired (which I get threatened with regularly) It's just that it adds extra stress to being here. I have to make sure my platoon is on time,has the right uniform and equipment, gets alone with each other, stays out of trouble, ect. I also have to march us just about everywhere. This is one of the hardest parts for me. I'm trying to learn the proper commands and rules for marching. I'm starting to lose my voice some too from all the yelling I have to do when we march.

BCT Day 25

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 25
10-7-10

Another day, another range. White phase is all about Basic Rifle Mark-making (BRM) so we shoot everyday. We actually have qualification next week, so the DS's are getting us ready for that. BRM is the most important part of BCT in the eyes of the DS's. Our company has had all of it's soldiers qualify for the past 4 BCT cycles, so we are in good hands.
Today's range was a step up like the qualification range will be. It has timed targets from 50 meters to 300 meters. I did okay, but not as good as I hoped. I've done well enough to qualify though so it's okay.
This was literally all we did today. After we get back to the barracks, we cleaned our weapons until the end of the day.

BCT Day 24

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 24
10-6-10

Today we went to the same range as yesterday to give everyone a chance to zero again. I didn't get to shoot since I zeroed yesterday. So, I was bored most of the morning.
It was very cool this morning though. Definitely, the coolest morning so far. I could see my breathe. We have been told to bring gloves and wear thermal undershirts, and wear winter boots in the morning for tomorrows range. If it is cool at the beginning of October then sleeping in the field for 5 nights in mid November won't be fun. I guess that's what sleeping bags are for though.
There's also a chance that yesterday's talk helped everyone realize that this is not high school. The platoon showed improvement, but there's still a lot of work to do. O do have more hope now that we can straighten up though.

BCT Day 23

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 23
October 5, 2010


I had staff duty again. This time it was from 5:00 to 7:00, so I didn't really miss any sleep. I'm not sure how I ended up with it again so soon though. I'm not complaining though. I got to watch ESPN for almost the whole 2 hours. Our head DS was on duty with us, and she's cool. It was very laid back.
We didn't do to much this morning, just cleaned our weapons again. It was kinda boring until lunch. We hadn't been eating long when our DS told us we needed to be in formation, ready to go to the range with our gear by 12:30. It was about 12:05 when he said this. In order to make this happen we would all have to eat fast and get back to the bay to get our gear. The only problem is that some of the platoon has one speed, sloooowww. Some of the platoon, including myself, was downstairs ready to go on time. I was the last one to get back to the bay (PG duties) and still mad it. It was after 12:45 before everyone was ready to go, not good. The DS was not happy, but we had a bus to catch.
I had a good day at the range today. This range was to allow us to zero (make sure the bullets hit the area we aim at) our weapons at 175 meters and 300 meters. The range used a computer system and radar to give us real time feedback on where we hit or missed the target. I zeroed in at both 175m and 300m pretty easily.
The real fun happened when we got back to the bay. The DS met with me and 4 other squad leaders and asked us what we thought about he platoon. We all thought that we had a handful of trouble makers ruining the whole platoon, DS agreed. He isn't very happy with the platoon as a whole. After our meeting, he let the rest of the platoon know exactly how he felt and what myself and squad leaders had been instructed to do. he even threatened to take us back to red phase. Second platoon must be having the same problems, b/c we all got some extra PT in before lights out. We did at least 300 sit-ups. Some people considered it getting smoked. I call it studying for the final pt test.

BCT Day 22

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 22
Oct. 4,2010

Today was basically a repeat of Friday. We marched to the range, finished zeroing our weapons, and marched back. All we did after we got back was clean our weapons. The DS's are obsessed with us cleaning our weapons. I fully understand the importance of a properly maintained weapon, but they can only get so clean.
I did get a surprise tonight though. I'm now PG for our platoon.o now, not only do I have to worry about myself, I'm responsible for 37 other soldiers. My DS said it's b/c I'm an O95, or Officer Candidate. He told me he wants to see what I've got. He also told me that he's getting tired of some of the crap in our platoon and that it needs to stop. I'm assuming he means things like being late for formations, talking or not paying attention when we should, ect. I'm not sure how I'm going to get it straightened out just yet but I'll think of something.

BCT Day 21

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 21
Oct. 3,2010

This Sunday has really been a day off. The only thing worth writing about is the fact that we finally got a phone call. It was only 10 minutes, but it was great. It'd been almost 3 weeks since I last talked to Em. It was amazing to hear her voice, Izzy told me "hey" too. Surprisingly I managed to fight back the tears. Not everyone did though. Some people we're crying like babies. I'm not putting them down though. It can be emotional to finally get to talk to your family. One guy from 2nd Platoon even found out he was going to be a dad. How's that for an exciting 10 minute call?
Since I have some space to fill today, I'm going to cover one of if not the most important topics at BCT-FOOD or Chow as we call it. For the most part the food in DFAC is just cafeteria food. It's not great, but it's not bad either. Breakfast is easily the best meal of the day. Here's a typical breakfast for me.- scrambles eggs, bacon, hash browns, french toast (or waffles), cereal, and fruit. I usually get Cocoa Crispies or Fruit Loops for my cereal. That's about as close as I get to "junk" food.
Lunch and dinner are usually smaller meals for me. We get a choice of entrees- typically a couple different meats, maybe a pasta, and grilled cheese, bread, sides(rice and veggies) There's also a salad bar too. I fined my self eating baked fish or chicken normally. I try to mix up my sides some. If you know me then you know that I am a very pick eater. However, I've branched out a little and tried a few new things. Nothing special, mostly just peas and beans.I always finish my meal off with dessert, fruit or yogurt.
Most of the food is pretty healthy. Sundays they usually serve less healthy food though. Today for example, the lunch choices were hamburgers, hot dog's (w/ or w/o chili), corn dogs, or pizza. We were even able to get a cookie today. I know to most of you that's not a big deal but when you haven't seen a cookie in nearly a month you better believe I ate a cookie. I would have ate a whole plate full of them if I could.
The weirdest thing concerning food to me is that I haven't had cravings for civilian food like Mexican or McDonald's. Others talk about wanting stuff like that all the time, but I haven't really had cravings. I guess it's like the TV thing I talked about previously. I've just gotten to the point that I'm used to being here. Still though, the first place I'm going when I get home is San Marcos(the BEST Mexican joint in my town).

BCT Day 20

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 20
October 2,2010

Even though today was Saturday, it almost felt like Sunday. It was a very laid back day. We started off the day with a short PT session. We had to wear our long sleeved shirts, and most people were still pretty chilly. I don't think that I've mentioned it, but in the last week the season has changed. Fall is here at Fort Jackson. It was like someone flipped a switch. All of a sudden, the mornings are cool(as low as the upper 40s) and the days are comfortable(70s). I like it though. Everything is easier when it's not blistering hot outside.
Our D and C competition was this morning. My platoon did better than I though we would. We didn't win or anything but we did okay. After they announced the winner, every platoon in the battalion changed their banners to white. This signified our transition from red phase to white phase.
I can already tell a difference in phases. The DS's seem a little more relaxed. We can march on our own to some places, like the DFAC. We also get to call cadence when we march. It gives us rhythm to help keep us in step. There are all kinds of cadences. We'll get more personal time in white phase too. We'll get 1.5 hours instead of 1 hour.
Since we changed phases, we had to do evaluations. We did a self evaluation and a peer evaluation on 3 different soldiers. Luckily, I got to evaluate 3 soldiers that I interact with regularly. That made it easier to do. I'm not sure how the evals are used, but our DS said that she used them.
After evals, two of our DS sat us down and told us about themselves. They talked about how long they've been in, where they've been stationed, deployments their families, ect. Then every soldier in our platoon had to stand up and tell their story. This has been one of my favorite things we've done so far. It was interesting learning more about my battle buddies. And it really help to understand their personalities more when I know their background.
There are only 37 in our platoon, but there is so much diversity. We've got soldiers from all over the world- Turkey, Africa, Brazil, Mexico to name a few countries represented. Ages range from 18-38. Everyone has a unique reason for joining the Army too. Some just want to serve their country, others supporting families, and some just carrying on family history by serving in the military service. All this diversity means everyone brings something different to the team.

BCT Day 19

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 Dat 19
Oct. 1,2010

We are finally into October. The last time I saw my family was September 7th. It's getting close to a month since then. The time has flown by. Hopefully the next 7 weeks will do the same.
We went back to the ranges to continue grouping and zeroing our weapons. Since I got my grouping down yesterday, all I had to focus on was zero. Everyone got to shoot the first round (we get to fire 15 shots each). I zeroed in with my 15 shots, so I was done for the day. The only ones that shot more was the ones that still needed help grouping. We spent about 6 hours at the range and I fired 15 times. We are going back to do the same thing Monday. I hope that I get to shoot more.
After we got back from the range, we practiced our drill and ceremony (marching). There's a D and C competition tomorrow morning. I hate to say it but my platoon is not very good at it. We have several that just can't get it, myself included. My problem is that I have no rhythm and I'm not very coordinated either. I can handle the basics, but some of the fancy stuff kills me.
Were also supposed to be going to white phase tomorrow. BCT has 3 phases(red, white and blue) Red is the first phase(total control) meaning that the DS control everything we do. Red also focuses on team building, a concept that we haven't quiet mastered yet. I'll let you know how white is if we make it.

BCT Day 18

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 18
September 30,2010


We finally started shooting our weapons today. We marched out to the range, which was about 3 miles, had breakfast, and started our day. Today we worked on grouping. We had to get 8 out of 10 shots in a 4cm circle. I got mine on the first try, but still got to shoot a few more times through out the day. We will be going to the ranges and shooting almost everyday for the next 4 weeks. It should be cool. I like to shoot and it makes us feel like soldiers. I've also heard that if you do well, you can get extra phone privileges. You better believe I'll be perfecting my skills if it means I can talk to my wife.
The situation with Pvt Hardcore picked back up this morning as well. The whole company got a short speech about racism and being a team from our company commander. He also questioned Pvt Hardcore, the ex-PG (he got fired last night), myself and the other witnesses. I'm not sure if Pvt Hardcore is actually going to get punished or not. I haven't seen him be punished yet. Maybe whatever they said will straighten him out, if not he may not be in the Army long.
Our new PG was also our bay leader. The bay leader is responsible for our bay (making sure it gets cleaned, supplies for the bay, ect.) and working with 60+ guys in the bay. They didn't think he needed to be PG and bay leader so we got a new bay leader. That would be me. I can't say that I'm very excited about it though. It's a lot of responsibility with no extra benefits. I do get to make out the fireguard roster though. I could leave myself off and get some extra sleep I guess. I'll keep you updated on how that goes and how long it takes to get fired. Everyone gets fired, some sooner than others.

BCT Day 17

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.

*Sorry guys I'm a little behind with our house flooding and a 2 year old life has been CRAZY!!! Hopefully I can get caught up in a few days.

BCT Day 17
September 29,2010


It was raining this morning so we held our morning PT downstairs in our company area. It's still outdoors, but it's covered. Since we didn't have to march out to the PT field, they had more time to work us out. And they took full advantage if it. It was the most intense workout that we've had so far. It was really focused on push-ups and sit-ups for the most part. I guess it's because we had a lot of people that failed or struggled on yesterdays PT test. My arms felt like jello before we were finished.
This afternoon we had a 4 hour MOPP exercise. This is where we put on all our CBRN gear (gas mask, chem jacket, pants, rubber boots and gloves)and sit in a classroom and learn about what to do in a chemical, biological, or nuclear attack. We had all the gear on over our uniforms, so it was very hot and uncomfortable. The first hour was the worst. After that, I guess my body had gotten used to it.
We did have something interesting happen in our platoon this evening. We were getting ready for formation after dinner and our Platoon Guide (PG) told everyone to stop talking in formation. Before I go any further let me explain what the PG does. The PG (and outside PG) are soldiers that are in our platoon that are in"in charge" of the platoon. They are in charge when the DS's aren't around. So anyways, the PG asked everyone to be quiet. One guy, we'll call him Private Hardcore b/c he always acts like he's so hard but can't pass the PT test, said he didn't have to stop talking. This wasn't the first time he's mouthed off, so the PG told him that he could just take it up with the DS when they got back to the bay.
When we got back to the bay, PVT Hardcore came up the the PG and told him if he get's in trouble that he would kill him (and he was serious). The PG's bunk is next to mine so I heard him and so did many others. So the PG told the DS and the DS talked with several people who witnessed what had happen. When the DS talked to Pvt. Hardcore and his battle buddy they lied and said nothing happened. Apparently, they told the DS something else too.
When the DS called me and the others back into her office, she asked us about racism in the bay. Pvt Hardcore(Hispanic) and his battle buddy (African American) told the DS that we all were racist. We were shocked by this b/c there were many people of different races in the room that witnessed what had happen. Of course we all denied it. I just couldn't believe that these other 2 guys were playing the race card to get out of trouble. Anyways, the DS ended up taking Pvt Hardcore's weapon as a precaution and that was the end of it for the night.

BCT Day 16

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 16
September 28,2010

We had our first full PT test this morning. I did ok, but not as well as I wanted to. I scored 230 points out of 300. My lowest scoring event was the 2 mile run. My best event was the push-ups. 230 is a decent score, and more than a lot of people in my platoon. My goal is to get at least 275 on my final test. I'm case you were wondering you only need 150 to graduate.
We also shot our weapons for the first time today, sort of. We went to an electronic firing range, called EST. We used a replica of our M-16's hooked up to a computer to shoot at a large screen. It was almost like a video game, but realistic. The weapons even "kicked" like the real thing. I've shot plenty of guns, but not they way the Army wants us to shoot. It took me a few tries to do it their way, I eventually caught on and did well. W are supposed to be going to the real ranges on Thursday.
I've been so busy telling you about what I do everyday that I haven't been able to tell you much about the people in my platoon. As you can imagine there are about 60 guys living together in one room things get interesting sometimes. I'm going to try to incorporate some of these stories in my writing. I may have to edit them a little to get it rated PG though.