BCT Day 12

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 12
September 24,2010

I had a long day today. Not a bad day, just too long. I had staff duty from 3:00 til 5:00, so I was up at 2:30 to get ready. Staff duty is where we go to our battalion offices and clean up, answer the phone, ect. It's not bad they even have a TV in there. It felt strange to have a TV on. I haven't seen a TV in a couple of weeks. I really don't think about it much at this point. I used to watch it everyday, and now it's like it's normal not to have a TV. I may just drop cable when I get back. I'm pretty sure Em (my wife) won't go for that though.
I had a pretty cool experience during staff duty. The shift before mine said they got a call that said the Post Commander (a 2 star general that is in charge of the entire base) and the post Command Sergent Major (highest enlisted soldier on base) were going around the base checking in on people. I kind of hoped that he wouldn't come by while we were on duty though. I was nervous about what to say and do when he came by. Well they did come by and the only ones there when he came in were me and my battle buddy. Our DS had to go check on another soldier. So I called "attention" when they came in, since that's what your supposed to do when an officer walks in. Apparently it was the right thing. He talked to us for a few minutes and was pretty laid back. Our DS came in while he was talking to us and he told her what I did. He said that I was the only person that had done that all night. He even gave us his coin. Senior officers and NCO's have special coins that they give out when someone does something really good. It's an honor to get one especially from the Post Commander. I'd guess most soldiers go through BCT never even getting to see him, much less talk to and get his coin. I was pretty excited about how it all went down. Our DS told us good job when the General left, which is something that NEVER comes out of DS's mouth. When we got to formation our Battalion Commander (Leutinent Colonel) and Battalion Sergent Major came by and wanted to know what happened and also told us good job. They told our DS that it reflected on the job that they were doing too. So maybe I got some brownie points with the DS.
The rest of the day was boring. We had about 8 more hours of (first aid) classes. We've got a test on it tomorrow morning. It should be pretty easy though. Most of what you learn is common sense. I'm off the bed now I've been up since 2:30 and haven't had a full nights sleep in a few days. I've had some sort of duty at night for the past few nights. And in non-BCT related news, I started dating my wife EM (Emily) 10 years ago today. Happy Anniversary Em!!! (and no I did not add that it really said that in the letter, Emily)

BCT Day 11

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 11
Sept. 23,2010

Today was kind of opposite of yesterday. Not much fun was had today. We woke up at 04:30, and packed up our gear and tents. They brought us breakfast then we headed back out to march back to the barracks. It was harder marching on a full stomach and less sleep than the march yesterday.
Once we got back to the barracks, we were supposed to have about and hour to shower, change clothes, and unpack. Halfway through the hour though one of our "jerk" DS's came in and started smoking us for not being ready. So after we just got clean, we were sweaty again. I guess that's just how it is sometimes.
We had some first aid classes today, about 8 hours worth. It was boring and we were all tired. Needless to say people's heads were bobbing. Everyone was getting smoked, including me. I got caught nodding off once. I only had to do a few push-ups and v-ups (kind of like a sit-up). Some people got much worse.
The day ended great though. I finally got some mail!!! I got a letter from Em and one from my parents. They only cost me 20 push-ups each, but it was so worth it. It's nice to hear from my family. It's hard not to know how they are doing everyday. The downside is that Em's letter said she sent one before the one I got, but I haven't received it (we number our letters so we know the order to read them in). She left off part of my address. My mom actually left off the same part but I got her letter. I'll have to investigate.

BCT Day 10

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 10
September 22,2010

This was a long day. We woke up and marched to our land nav. course (4k). They brought breakfast out to us. They call it "hot a's" when they bring food from the DFAC out to the field. All our meals today were hot a's. I'm kinda glad though, I was afraid we'd have MRE's. My group did really well with land nav. We had 3 hours to find 3 out of 5 points. My group found all 5 in 1 hour and 9 minutes. We were only a couple of minutes behind the 1st group to finish. It was a pretty easy course.
During that afternoon, we set up our camp. It was cool to see all the tents set up together. One of our DS's also showed our platoon some combat formations and movements during some down time. He 's an infantryman and has been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan several times. So, he has plenty of experience to share with us and has some cool stories. He's probably my favorite DS. He's laid back as long as your doing what your supposed to be, just don't get on his bad side.
Once the sun went down, we started our night land nav. course. It was the same course, we just had to find 3 different points. It was fun wondering through the forest in the dark. We found our points easily, but didn't rush back to finish this time. We just hung out in the woods since we knew the DS's would find something else to keep us busy if we finished quickly.
The actual "camping" part wasn't as fun as I had hoped. It wasn't bad, I just didn't sleep good. Plus we only had about 5 hours of sleep. Overall though this has been the most fun I've had so far.

BCt Day9

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 Day9
September 21,2010

We had our first "real" PT session today. It was actually a pretty tough workout. Part of the workout was called climbing drills. Climbing drills are a variety of exercises using a pull-up bar. Most of my workouts before I shipped to BCT centered on Push-ups and sit-ups, which are two of the three components of the APFT (PT Test). So, the pull-up exercises were tough. If you are reading this and preparing for BCT, work on pull-ups!!!
After PT and breakfast, we marched out to the team development course(TDC). We had the same load in our ruck packs as the march last week, but this one was shorter. The TDC was cool. We were split up into teams of 8-10 and had to complete obstacles using limited supplies and teamwork. For example, we had to get our team and a 55 gallon drum of "fuel" across a "destroyed bridge" using only a couple of 6-8ft boards. It was really more of a mental puzzle than a physical. The hardest part was trying to come up with a plan to complete the obstacle using only the supplies we had. Our team completed 2 out of 4 obstacles, which was in line with all the other teams. We had problems with everyone wanting to be the boss at first, but eventually worked better together. This was actually the goal of the TDC, to get us to use teamwork.
Once we marched back from TDC, we got a refresher on land navigation and got packed and got packed for tomorrow's march and course. I think the DS told us the march would be about 4k which is only about 2.5 miles. Our rack sack will be little heavier to since we are staying in the field over night. I'm not looking forward to the march, but I think the course will be fun.

BCT Day 8

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 8
September 20,2010

WE had our first AGR this morning. AGR's are group runs where everyone is put into groups based on our 1 mile run times from last week. I was in b group which is the 2nd fastest group. I missed A group by 9 seconds on my 1 mile time. I think I may move up to A group next time though. This run wasn't very hard, and I'd rather be challenged which will help me a better time on our pt test. We only ran about 1.75 miles, but it felt good to run again. I hadn't ran in almost 3 weeks and I kind of missed it. I enjoyed running in a group though. It's motivating to know that you have your battle buddies right there beside you.
Most of the day was slow. More classroom. We got a briefing from our company commander on BCT (mostly things that we have already heard several times), a briefing on proper nutrition, and one from our athletic trainer on common injuries at BCT.
Things should pick up soon, or so our DS's say. We're about to start doing more "soldier" stuff instead of sitting in classrooms. We've got a team obstacle course tomorrow and land navigation Wed. We're supposed to start learning how to shoot our weapons in the next week or so too. We got an answer to our mail mystery tonight too. A couple of people in our platoon got letters. It was a little depressing to see someone else get mail and not get any. It's okay though, I should get something in the next couple of days, hopefully.

BCT Day 7

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 7
September 19,2010

Week 1 is officially in the books. This week has actually gone by pretty fast. I hope the rest of my time here does the same.
Sunday's are our "off" days here. We have free time until 12:00 and first formation isn't until 6:00 so we get to sleep a little later too. You can do whatever you need to during free time. I spent some of mine in church services. The services are non-denominational and contemporary. Our Chaplin is younger ( I think he said he's 31) and is very personable. One of the best things about going to church is there are no DS's there. It's also much quieter and relaxed than just hanging out in the bay. I really enjoyed the service, but it did make me a little homesick. I guess it just reminded me of going to church back home.- sitting next to Em, seeing all my friends from Sunday school, and stuff like that. Other than that it really allowed me to clear my mind for the coming week.
Even though free time ended at 12:00, we didn't do too much the rest of the day. We learned how to disassemble and clean our weapon, learned to set up our tent for Wednesday night, and organized our lockers. We did squeeze a smoke session in there too. We had a few people that wouldn't stop goofing off while we were supposed to be cleaning our weapons. We've heard that they are about t start punishing individuals instead of everyone. Hopefully it's not just a rumor.
Everyone's starting to get anxious about getting letters too. Some people think we should have already started getting mail, and that the DS's are just holding it. Personally, I just think it's too soon. We just mailed our families our addresses last Wednesday. It would take a few days for them to get our address write and then return to us. Wither way, I hope we get mail soon. I'd really like yo have some contact from the outside world. It'd really be great to know how Em and Izzy are doing.

BCT Day 6

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 6
September 18,2010

Today we had 8 more hours of land navigation class. They showed us how to plot points on the map, figure out the distance between points, and how to use a compass. We'll have to put what we learned to the test next Wednesday. We'll be broken in groups of 2 and will have to complete 2 land navigation courses, one during the day and one at night. They give us a map, a compass, and a few points to find. We'll plot the points on the map and use the compass to fins and walk to all points in a set amount of time. It should be pretty fun. We'll be camping in the field that night too.
I mentioned in yesterdays letter that I had fireguard shift. Fireguard shift is basically a way to make sure someone is awake and watching the bay all night long. They are 1 hour shifts from lights out(21:00) to wake up (5:00). Two people are on each shift and each shift has specific cleaning duties. Last night ours was taking out the trash and cleaning the sinks in the latrine(bathroom). Since we had the last shift we also had to wake everyone up. We have to start getting up about (04:30 or we won't be ready on time. DS's aren't happy when your late.
I also had fireguard on the second night here at BCT. It was at 1:00, so it wasn't fun. We slept a couple of hours , wake up for an hour shift, and then slept a couple more hours. Needless to say it wasn't a restful night's sleep.
Something pretty crazy happened during our shift that night. We were mopping (yes we were mopping in the dark at 1:00) and I shined my light across the bay only to see a guy standing at attention, with weapon in hand, by his bunk. I looked at the next bunk and he was out of the bed doing the same thing. I walked over to investigate, but the first guy wouldn't say anything, he was asleep on his feet. The second guy said someone came in and told them to get up because DS was coming. There ended up being 6 guys standing by their bunks. They all had the same explanation, someone woke them up b/c DS was in the room. This imaginary DS was never found.