Hooah!

Wow, it’s been a long time since I’ve been able to post. As you know, I’ve been away at Fort Jackson for the past 10 weeks, 1 week in reception doing in-processing, and the other 9 weeks doing Basic Training.  I’ve kept a journal of all my adventures throughout the process, I’ll try to share bits and pieces as I go, but I only get a limited time on the computer, and we all wait for access, so you’ll have to bear with me to be fair to my fellow soldiers.

 April 12th: Ship day! I’ve taken the Arms test today and barely made it! The step felt a lot higher than what I’m used to.  I didn’t know there was a maximum body fat % to take the test, I almost didn’t make it! 37% fat is a No-go, they turn you around and ship you home.  They calculated my fat at 36.4%! I just kept singing “The Touch” from the Transformers movie, and I recited the Soldier’s Creed to get me through. 

 April 19th Day 1 BCT: Welcome to Alpha! The barracks are a lot nicer over here, and I don’t have to deal with Coakley’s bitchy attitude in my platoon! Woooo, thank you Jesus! She’s still in the barracks though, but it’s all right.  I’ve been assigned to a top bunk, which I’m not sure if I like or not yet. At least people keep their shit off my bunk! I cried today because a fellow soldier cried during his introduction. It really made me think of Tim, and I just wanted to hold him right then. We did the obstacle course today which was fun, but I was disappointed with myself because I couldn’t do the monkey bars. I tore a pad on my hand which hurts like hell when sanitizer is put on it. We’re learning D+C (Drill and Ceremony) today which is awesome, and PT (Physical Training) tomorrow which is gonna suck. I’m tired and need my rest, good night!

April 26th Week 2 Day 1 BCT: VICTORY TOWER!  Oh my God it was so awesome to do victory tower today! It was a lot of fun, and I did something I never though i’d be able to do, and I had a hard time with repelling which I thought I knew.  The tower had a lot of different obstacles. The only one I was worried about was the single rope spanning a gap to a smaller tower, but you don’t really need a lot of upper body strength like I previously thought, your weight pulls you along as you move your hands and keep your balance.  We tied a swiss sweat (rope harness) and repelled down the 60ft. tower to the ground.  My repelling left a lot to be desired, but I still got down ok.

 Friday April 27th Week 2 BCT: PT this morning was fun, we did some fun suicide runs with events like running backwards, and skipping.  It was funny to see the “big dog” males skip as fast as they could!  We were all laughing and having a great time, I’m glad they’re making the PT fun here.

 Saturday April 28th Week 2, Day 3 BCT:  DS (Drill Sergeant) Epperson was at toe the line (late night soldier accountability) tonight, he made the fireguards step into the kill zone (taped off area of the floor only for DSs) and sing Billy Jean at the top of their lungs! They didn’t do it, but a few other ladies helped them out, it was pretty amusing!

Friday May 4th Week 3 Day 2 BCT: Today was definitely interesting. This morning the platoon marched out to the NBC (nuclear biological chemical) chamber.  They broke us up into groups of 25 and marched us into a small dimly lit room. We were all crammed around the outside edge of the walls. The DSs came around and we had to take a deep breath, close our eyes, and say our full name, rank, and SSN. Then we cleared it, sealed it, and opened our eyes again.  Then they broke us off into groups of 5. We all had to recite the Soldier’s Creed. I got to “I will always place the mission first” until I started gagging and choking. They told us to leave, and we did, snot out our noses, arms flapping like a bird. I had a hard time breathing, but I finally got it. ^_^

Wednesday May 9th Week 3 Day 7 BCT: Today was my first time ever firing a live weapon. They said there’s very light recoil, but I felt it like crazy!  At first I yhad nice tight shot groups, but the groups ended up all over the paper. I was very frustrated, and very disappointed in myself, but I suppose BRM (Basic Rifle Marksmanship) is one of those things that you can be an expert in on paper, but hands-on is another story entirely! I was told to stop shooting for the day which to me sounded like “You’re a god-damn waste of ammo. Go sit down and shut up.”

Friday May 25th Week 6 Day 2 BCT: Wow, what an awesome day today! We woke up + had early breakfast chow @ 5:30 today, and then we headed over to 120th (reception battalion) to exchange uniforms and get our class A uniforms issued to us! We got so many things! We got the short sleeve and long sleeve shirt, slacks, a skirt, the green class A jacket, a black raincoat, PT pants, a belt and a buckle, rank pins, insignia, berets(!!!) and my personal favourite: THE AIT FITNESS JACKET!!! I’ve been waiting for-freaking-ever to get the PT jacket, I’m so glad I’ve finally got mine! It’s just really too bad that we’re not allowed to wear them until AIT   At 120th we watched all the newbies at reception as we marched into the CIIP area (Uniform Issue) We went to each station and tried things on. They made piles of things to be altered which upset me at first, I thought they wouldn’t be back for a while, but everything was back within the hour, I couldn’t believe it! If only she did bridal gowns! I was really surprised to see how good a lot of the males looked in their class As. We got to see them when we modeled for the DSs during our inspection. It’s amazing what sharp clothes can do to a person’s image!

Saturday May 26th Week 6 Day 3 BCT: What a fantastic day! It’s Memorial Day weekend, so we got yesterday, today, tomorrow, and Monday as free personal time/movie days! We had early dinner chow at 16:30 and then we marched over to the Solomon Center where we watched the Soldier’s show. We bought pop and candy as authorized by 1SG (First Sergeant) Rinehart. Everyone was happy about that.  I got a Snickers and a Pepsi. The concert was really good, it was put on by soldiers from all over the nation, and they did an excellent show. Lodge was shaking her booty all night, and the guys behind her seemed to really enjoy that! I was sitting with the guys from our platoon, we were all hootin’ and hollerin’, swaying back and forth, rocking out to songs like foxy lady, neverland, and other songs they did.  All the roadguards took their flashlights and waved them around, it was a cool idea. All in all it was a cool concert, and i’m glad we had the opportunity to go.  I never thought in a million years that I’d attend something so incredibly awesome as the Soldier’s Show at BOOT CAMP!  I guess they don’t call this place relaxin’ Jackson for nothing!

 Wednesday June 6th Week 7 Day 7 BCT: Today at the range I had a good time shooting the shit with everyone.  One of the privates came by and asked Paluch if he needed any weapon oil.  Good ol’ Paluch, he replied: “No, bite the pillow son, I’m going in dry!” I cracked up, we all nearly died from laughing!   Later he grunted, almost like a mooing cow, so I said “should I milk you or something? You sound like a damn cow!” He said “Well I only have one udder!”  XD Then he added: “Man, I haven’t been milked since I got here!”  HAHA Good ol’ Paluch, I’ll miss the hell outta him.

 Tuesday June 19th Week 9 Day 6 BCT: Oh my God, it’s almost over, I can’t believe it! I feel like i’ve lived here for so much longer than I actually have, and that I know these people much better than I actually do. Like any place, I’ll be sad to leave most of them, but glad to leave a few. Today was another long day of preparation, messing with that damn supply room and whatnot.  We got ready for our IN4, our inspection for the cycle. We set up all the bunks with out cleaned gear which took forever. At 13:00 we put on our class Bs while we awaited our inspection. The person inspecting us turned out to be none other than LTC (Lieutenant Colonel) Remigio (Ruh-MEE-gee-o), the Battalion commander. He came around and asked us all questions and whatnot, and took a look at our gear. He came around to me, and asked me my second general order. I was so extremely embarassed, I KNOW my general orders by heart, but I froze! All I could remember was “to perform my duties in a military manner”. He was nice and helped me out with “I will obey…” I finished with “I will obey my special orders and perform all my duties in a military manner”. He said “good job” and moved on. I know he’s nice, but i can’t believe I was so nervous over an inspection. I’m just glad he asked me something I knew!

Wednesday June 20th Week 9 Day 7 BCT: I can’t believe it, the last day of BCT come and gone.  Today DS Kirk said that he had things stolen from him and was threatening his whole bay (sleeping quarters) with article 15s. (A military court action you don’t want!) One of the privates showed him were access was to the office, supply room, and personal bag closet- through the ceiling!! Someone has been using our cell phones without permission, and the theif apparently stole TONS of stuff and squirreled it away in unused wall lockers. Kevlar, LBV (load bearing vests), rucksacks, GPS, oakleys, sleeping bags, E6 and E7 ranks, war ribbons, medals, army coins, all stuffed in that wall locker. To top it off, they found MY ACU backpack in there with all my stuff gone except for a ball of yarn, my knitting tools, and my Nikes. That aws all in there for some ungodly reason. I was furious to have been violated and raped so personally like that, we’re supposed to set a higher standard as soldiers. I think the worst part of it is that there are people who fought, people to earn the ribbons and medals that he took. It’s a slap in the face to the soldiers and their families that he just took them so he could he appear decorated. Apparently, he has had a hard childhood and needs some kind of recognition. Well he got it today, the MPs  cuffed him and took him away to Ft. Leavenworth. As mad as I was, I still feel badly that he’s going to prison over this. If he had truly needed anything from me, I would have done my best to help, but I just wanted him to ask permission. Never before have I ever felt so personally violated and raw inside. I hope I never feel that again.

 Thursday June 21st FAMILY DAY!!: I can’t believe family day came and went! We marched out this morning to Hilton field and walked through the woodline. Some smoke grenades exploded and we ran out to the field, formed up, and marched to the stands. On the command of “fall out” I fell out to the ramp in the stands. I stood there for a bit, searching and scanning for Tim, and I found him and waved. Tears streamed down my face as I waited for him to exit the stands so I could take him in my arms. he lifted me up, we hugged and kissed for a while, then we went to a booth and bought a Basic Training DVD that I’ve been wanting. We walked back to the barracks, I showed him the bay, we chatted until 15:15 and we walked to the Solomon Center. We were early for our 16:00 dinner, so we walked around, browsed the shop, etc. I got an A company 3-60th shirt! ^_^ We had chicken and BBQ pork for dinner, then we went outside and played mini golf. My ball was hydrophillic, and his was hydrophobic. Together the balls were named “Phil”, and “Phoebe”. After that, his parents came and started taking pictures. It was good to see them, they had a few questions about me in the military, like customs, uniform, etc. which I had fun answering. We went back to the barracks, I did my laundry, we talked to other privates, all in all a great day! I can’t wait until tomorrow so I can finally GRADUATE!! Tomorrow’s going to be a long day. I’m 95% packed up and ready to go, All I have to do is walk straight through that Parade field, and I’m golden.

 Friday June 22nd GRADUATION DAY!!!: Today is the day we’ve all been waiting for! We woke up and went to chow like usual, but we got into class Bs when we got back. We were all looking sharp if I don’t say so myself! We saw a group of “turds” (soldiers still in training) on the bus and tried yelling advice to them, but the DSs told us to shut up. We got to Hilton field, lined up and marched out to our position on the field out of step because nobody could hear anybody calling cadence. We waited while awards were handed out and whatnot, maybe 30 minutes of sweat rolling down my back and unscratchable itches.