Today we did the Teamwork Development Course. It was a lot like other challenge courses that I've done at summer camps. Our platoon did well and worked as a team at the course, but it was back to bickering and individualism when we got back. The people that are just here for the money are really pulling us down. They talk all the time, they don't push themselves, and the complain about everything - they're most of the reason we get smoked and the rest of us are tired of it.
Sunday, 9/18
I went to church and Sunday School this morning. I miss being at church at home, plus it's a little odd that we have rifles in one hand and a Bible in the other. Most people go to chapel on Sunday morning but its more of a sleep time for the majority of the people there.
Right after church I got my head butchered again and we got to take a trip to the PX to pick up a few odds and ends. Instead of a Sunday nap, we had a work detail all afternoon cleaning up after the last session. Apparently, the Army doesn't believe in a day of rest. The lack of freedom (mainly personal time) is getting to me. But that's part of the game. It's only 10 weeks.
Monday, 9/19
It's been a long day. Wake up was at 00:30 and we marched out to the LandNav course. They gave us coordinates and we had to find 5 markers in the woods. We ran the course once in the dark (hence the early wake up time) and again with a 2nd set of points after the sun came up. It was about a 2.5 mile hike to the course wearing our assault gear. With the pace our DS set, we worked up a good sweat. The DS's have been smoking us all day and its been exhausting. They've woken us up in the middle of the night to smoke us several times in the last few nights. It gets old really fast. We got our gas masks for our trip to the gas chamber tomorrow. Looking forward to having that behind me. I'm off to dinner and then we'll do more studying for our Combat Lifesaver (First Aid) test.
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| Plotting a Course- Land Nav |
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| Day Course- Land Nav |
Miscellaneous
The DS's are constantly playing Words with Friends against each other on their phones. It's kind of amusing to watch, especially when the boneheaded one complains about losing. Our company of 160 (3 Platoons of about 55) has already lost 9 soldiers. 2 went off the deep end and had mental health discharges and the others were insubordination. One of the crazy kids kept trying to tell the DS how he was wrong and would always say "It's not time yet." whenever he was given an order. That's a sure way to make a DS flip out on you.
The guys here are really cool for the most part and I like working with them. It's cool to see the groundwork being set for the military camaraderie you always hear about. There's a lot to be said for trusting your buddies when the bullets are whizzing past.
We got our first round of mail over the weekend and it did a lot for overall morale. It was just like that country song "Letters From Home."* Quite a few guys cried and got emotional about it but no one made fun of them for it. We all just understand. It's hard to be away from your family. Thanks to everyone who has written me! We're slowly getting more personal time, so I should be able to write you back soon.
*This, obviously, is not the official music video, but I posted it - just in case you weren't familiar with the song. It's a great one, even if you don't like country.
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