Grenades

Week of 10/23

This week has been crazy. I can't seem to separate the days any longer, so I'll try to hit the highlights. Sunday was the same as always - church and work detail, cleaning up our parts of the base. Monday we all got different jobs around post. I spent the day getting a range cleaned up and replacing targets. Our DS's left us along for the most part, so it was a pretty low-key day. The real fun started Tuesday: grenade qualification. We ran a course where we had 6 different types of objectives to assault (bunkers, vehicles, trenches, individuals) with grenades.  We used practice grenades that are identical to the real deal minus the high explosive. They do "explode" with an entertaining bang so you know when to pick your head up and start moving again. I did pretty well and as the saying goes - close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.

The big change of the week was Tuesday morning when I was appointed platoon guide! Finally I get a chance to lead from up front. The platoon was relieved the DS's picked me too - the last few haven't been anything to write home about. It's a lot more responsibility with no extra benefits. But it's what I signed up to do, so I'm glad to have the position. I'll probably have it for a week before its changed again - the DS's haven't let anyone stay much longer than that so more people will get to have some experience leading.

Wednesday was Part 2 of grenade qualification: live grenades. Somehow the Army figured out how to take up an entire day for 160 some soldiers to throw 2 grenades each. We had to throw 2 dummies again to prove we wouldn't kill ourselves or anyone else. Then we got 2 frag grenades to qualify with. It was crazy to think there was so much destructive power in the 2 baseball-sized frags I had to carry on my chest (pause for a Tim Allen grunt). I'm pretty sure you earn an irrevocable man card once you've thrown explosives of this caliber. It was extremely satisfying to hear and feel the concussive explosion from behind the protective bunker. Few things have brought a smile of that magnitude to my face in my entire life. Here's to hoping those aren't the last grenades I'll ever throw.

Frags in hand ready to move to the throwing pits

Random update: I'm now in Run Group A (or "A Train")- the fastest group. (I did it for you, Mark and David.)

Thursday was a prequalification for team firing. That's where two people assault an objective by laying down, covering fire while the other soldier bounds forward. The lanes are about 200m long and they simulate a city street with cars, barriers, buildings, etc. to get cover behind. By the time you throw a dummy grenade at the end of the course, you're pretty winded from all the quick movements and diving around. It's all good and fun - it sure beats a day of sitting behind a desk. Friday we did it all again with live ammunition instead of blank rounds. That freaked some people out because you could potentially shoot and kill yourself and your battle buddy on accident. But when you do everything the way you're trained, there's nothing to worry about. It was a fun week, and I'm glad another one is crossed off the calendar.

Note from the wife: he said in his personal letter to me that he is sick. He could use your prayers.

Live Rounds and Pizza

Monday 10/17

Another beautiful day at Fort Jackson. We're at the range all day in our full gear. We'll spend the rest of basic in full battle rattle, save for Sundays, PT, and chow. My shoulders will get use to it eventually. We're still doing ARM so we're getting more trigger time on the M4 with all the high speed attachments at the range today. We're still shooting from behind barriers in different positions (standing, kneeling, prone). I shot really well today and it doesn't count for anything, but it feels good knowing I'm getting better. We're doing another night shoot, too, with NVG's, so that'll be fun. The only down side to night shoot is that you get back around midnight and still have to wake up at the same time. I'm on range detail today, so I'm one of the first soldiers to get to the range, help set up targets, load rounds into magazines (We were allotted 16,000 rounds for our company of 163 soldiers - all to be spent at the range.), and tear down/clean up. It's usually a good gig to be put on range detail, but today we're out at the range over 12 hours and we have a lot of work to do, so it's not as plush of a job as usual. With that - gotta get back to work.

Tuesday 10/18-Friday 10/21

It's been a busy week, so in order to catch up I'm just going to condense a few things. Tuesday was an admin day, the weather was lousy, and fall temps have set in, which would be great if we could pick our own warm clothes to wear, but ACU's don't keep you the slightest bit warm. I think they were designed to keep you comfortable in an air conditioned office. We cleaned our bays and spent 3 or 4 hours cleaning and re-cleaning M4's before they went back to the armory. I'm pretty sure they were cleaner then when they came out of the factory. The highlight of the day was getting all the backed up mail. I got 10 letters and found out my little sister got her driver's license, my college roommate is dating the girl I told him he needs to go out with, and that Steve Jobs died. It was good to hear from everyone, so thanks again! (Side note: with as long as it takes to get mail here, don't send me anything after the 1st of November. I probably wouldn't get it here.) Wednesday we went back up to the 120th Reception Battalion where we did our initial processing, so we could get our dress blue uniforms. We saw a bunch of troops that got in the night before - it was hard to believe we looked that pathetic 7 weeks ago, too. :)

Thursday was our first overnight FTX. We marched about 8 miles to the site in full battle rattle. My legs were ready to go another 8, but my back and shoulders were done. We've got a 10 mile in 2 weeks, but it's the very last graduation requirement so I'm sure I'll be motivated to keep pushing. During the day, we learned about IED's, more MOUT, and how to conduct vehicle checkpoints. It was really good, hands-on training. For some reason, the DS's were not in a good mood, so we got smoked every time we had time. When the sun went down, we did a night obstacle course in full gear and no lights. We jumped over barriers, crawled through pitch black storm drains, low-crawled under barbed wire. At the end, we lined up in a WWI style trench and at the command of "Go!" we got out and started low-crawling (head in dirt, using your arms to drag your body forward) while live 50 cal rounds were shot over our heads. They shot up flares and dropped simulated mortars all around us as we crawled 200m+ to safety. Talk about a work out. We had fun though. It felt like we were in a scene from a movie. We got back to our tents around midnight and after getting up at 03:00, a march, and a long crawl, I was ready to crawl in my sleeping bag, but I got put on fire guard. So I had to patrol our site until 02:00. I finally got to bed only to be woken up to "YOU"RE LATE!" Apparently, the last fire guard shift didn't wake us up on time, so we had to scramble in the dark to pack everything up and get in formation. Well, we didn't make it on time, so we started getting smoked early. Outstanding. The rest of the day we practiced assaulting objectives - and we kept getting smoked. We got to ride a bus back to our company area where we got smoked some more then finally got some sleep.

Saturday 10/22

We got to do some high-realism First Aid training. There was an area set up like an Arab market just after a suicide bomber detonated a vest, so we had to go in, secure the area, and treat the wounded while still under fire. I got to be a victim and got dressed up in mutilated prosthetics, fake blood, and it all looked real and guts hanging out, blood all over. It was gross. We also had mannequins that were remote controlled and had 2 severed legs that sprayed blood until the tourniquet was on right. It was high-stress, but the experience was invaluable.

In the evening, somehow we were allowed to go to a concert on base. A lot of other BCT and AIT soldiers were there. We also got to buy pizza, candy, and Gatorade, so I ate a whole medium Dominoes pizza, a Snickers bar, and some Gatorade. Big and Rich were the headliners and the guy who sings "Barefoot Blue Jean Night" was the opener. Civilian food, country music, and a little relaxation was the perfect recipe for a morale boost. When we got back, we were expecting to "pay" for the fun we had, but we were actually complimented on being the most disciplined soldiers out there. Normally, all we hear is something along the lines of "You are the worst company we've ever had." No candy turned up in our shakedown, so they let us go to bed. A good day.

The Fun Stuff

Wednesday 10/12

Sorry about the entires this week - I'd like to go into more detail, but apparently the DS's figured we got enough personal time Monday, so we don't get any the rest of the week. Thus I'm writing when we have 5 or so minutes of down time.

Today was probably the most fun we've had at Basic so far. We had our first all day FTX (Field Training Exercise). We spend the whole day in our armor learning the basics of what will build into a full 4 day - 3 night FTX at the end of our training that incorporates all we've learned at BCT.

We covered setting up a camp, and each got to set up our one-man tents. They also extensively covered personal hygiene in the field. Apparently, it has been a problem in past cycles.

Setting up our 1-man tents

Next we learned how to turn the tide of an ambush to gain superiority over enemy forces. That is the type of training I've been wanting to cover - high speed soldier skills.

After that we laid a foundation for MOUT training (Kicking in doors and taking down bad guys). We practiced checking for booby traps and entering rooms quickly and effectively. It was just like what we did in White Phase at RSP again - more fun.

Stacking on the house

Lastly, we covered radio communications: radio etiquette, how to call in a MedEvac, and how to report spotting enemy troops. Definitely important information to know, but most people botched it up. Hopefully, we'll get more practice.

Calling in the MedEvac

We didn't spend the night - that will be next week. It was a good day and we learned a lot. I'm glad the pace has picked up a bit.

Thursday 10/13

We had our 2nd APFT this morning. The DS grading me was super strict, so I lost a few points from my first test on push-ups and sit-ups. I did drop over 2 minutes of my 2-mile time adn ran a 13:38. 13:00 is a perfect score and I hope to drop another 60 seconds off my time by the last test of the cycle. I'm happy with my time. It's the fastest I've ever run a 2 mile. A drastic change since May when I started running again.

The rest of the day was pretty light. We had a class on night vision goggles, M-4 carbines, and the optics and lasers used with them.

I got 2 great letters from friends that caught me up on current events and some articles from artofmanliness.com - I can't thank you all enough for those. Anything to make life here seem more "normal" is worth its weight in gold. I've gotten a few letters with pictures and those are great too! About 3 weeks of training and 4 til I get home, so I'm zoned in on getting Basic Training behind me.

Friday 10/14

Highlights of the day:

2.5 mile AGR this morning for PT
Familiarization on M-4 with red-dot optics. We show 30 rounds moving in our gear at pop up targets. Fun. Fun. Fun.
Night fire. FUN. FUN. FUN. Shooting pop up targets using night vision goggles (NVG), IR lasers (that you can only see with the goggles), and the M-4. I've never shot at night before or used night vision. I'm a fan of both. Let's put it this way: If Francis Scott Key had NVG's, the National Anthem would've sounded more like the theme song from Top Gun.
My shoulders are about to fall off from spending the whole day in my gear.

Saturday and Sunday 10/15-16

Saturday was pretty chill. We started a course on hand to hand combat and practiced for a few hours. Then we got word another soldier from another company contracted a deadly strain of meningitis, so we all went up to our sleep bays to bleach everything. (We got news at church that the soldier will make a full recovery, so we were thankful for answered prayers.) I got a rocking MRE for dinner that had cookies and a Poptart. It's the small things here you have to look for... It has become blatantly obvious that we're going to be one of the companies that never gets to call home. Some people I've talked to are getting the full "relaxin' Jackson" experience, but not us. We'll be better off, I guess.

The weather here has been great the last few days - it'd be perfect for camping.

Sunday morning I went to church with my buddies and we did laundry before lunch. We went to the PX and did yard work the rest of the day. Another week down and closer to Family Day.

Columbus Day/BRM Qualification

Monday 10/10

Since today is a government holiday (Columbus Day), all but 2 of our DS's have the day off. So we're not training at all today. We still had a 05:00 wake up and a short PT. The rest of the day we've been confined to the bays - save for the eating chow. It was pretty relaxed/prison-like, but I got a bunch of letters written and my wall locker is immaculate. A few guys got in a fight so we had to be silent for 2 hours, but other than that, nothing too interesting happened. We were all thankful for the day of rest.

Tuesday 10/11

We woke up to a steady light rain, but the show must go on, so we did BRM qualification Day 2 anyway. By the time we got to the range, the rain picked up and our DS's couldn't find the wet weather gear we turned into them for safe keeping. By the time they found it we were already soaked. I fired in the prone position, laying down in a cold puddle and the rain kept getting into my iron sights making it difficult to see any target beyond 150m. All that to say I didn't shoot any better than the other day. Pretty disappointing, but I'll have other chances in my career to do better. We didn't do much the rest of the day besides taking hot showers and cleaning weapons. Even a cold wet day at the range beats sitting behind a desk.

Locker Inspection/BRM

October 5 Wednesday

Well none of my uniforms fit like when I got them. We haven't done height and weight since we got here so I don't know how much weight I've lost, but I'd guess about 10-15 lbs. so far. All that married weight from my wife's good cooking (which I could really go for right now). :)

The wheels are falling off the platoon right now. Peer leaders were chosen by the DS and no one is following their lead or coming together as a team. Correction: There are about 15 of the 55 of us that are mature enough to move forward and want to be here (in the Army, that is). Everyone is at each other's throats constantly and the DS's recognize this and are turning up the heat. They're playing mind games with us and making us march around with our White Phase guidon* all furled up - which is the equivalent of riding a tricycle when all your friends are riding 2-wheelers - it's humiliating. I'm doing a good job so far of not letting it get to me. It's really the slackers that are upsetting me. All just part of the game.

BRM this week has been going well. Tomorrow is pre-qualification where we shoot at pop-up targets our ranges from 50-300m. If we hit 40/40 targets we get a meal from anywhere we want. I'd order a feast from BWW's if given opportunity. (Wifey note: Buffalo Wild Wings).

On the 300m pop-up range

After we got back from the range today we had locker inspections. The DS's went through bay by bay ripping people's lockers apart looking for contraband. Some people's lockers got totally dumped and had their stuff strewn out across the bay. The DS's were definitely profiling because my locker was squared away when they opened it and I fixed all the damage they did to it in less than 5 minutes. Others were not so lucky. The DS's came out with a handful of contraband with the most notable being love letters between two soldiers in another platoon - the DS's made him call his fiancee and tell her everything. Yeah. The other was a bag of sunflower seeds hidden in the ceiling tiles in my bay. No one fessed up to it, so we all go dragged out to the "beach" as we affectionately call it and the smoke session started. About 5 minutes in, a guy from my platoon took the fall for it even though everyone knew it wasn't his. That was enough to satisfy the DS so the smoke session ended early.

On the way back everyone from our platoon "admitted" to eating some of the seeds even though non of us had ever seen the bag before. The bag was found on the 3rd platoon side of the bay so our DS knew we were all lying but surprisingly he was thrilled we were all lying as a team. We were sentenced to cleaning the bay and to figure out who actually had the seeds. The rest of the company got smoked for the other stuff that showed up in the search. The night ended up much better than it looked like it would and we made it to bed by 22:00. 

One of the tactics I've been using to keep my sanity throughout all this stress is to escape to a place far from here. A few months ago, my wife and I celebrated our anniversary at Disney World. It's the least stressed I've been in a along time, so normally I just picture myself there. Silly, but it works.

*The furled guidon symbolizes a failure to progress to the next phase with the rest of your company.

October 6 Thursday

Today marks one month since leaving home. One month and 9 days til Family Day.

We skipped PT this morning in lieu of an 8K road march - another graduation requirement. We wore all of our gear and about 1.5 gallons of water. The pace was pretty slow, so nobody fell out (that's a first). I was tired and the end and my shoulders were pretty sore, but nothing worth complaining about. We've got another 10K before the big 15K at the end of our cycle. The weather was cool this morning and most of the march was over before the sun was up. Plenty of time to think and pray on the move.

On the move with our Captain

Random note, I found out one of the guys from the 3rd platoon just moved about 3 miles from where I live, so we'll probably end up in the same NG unit, so that's pretty cool.

We shot at pop-up targets at 75, 175, and 300m today. I shot 30/40 and 31/40 the two times I shot which is better than I've been doing so I'm pleased with it. After range time, we hopped on a bus back to our company area. My feet were glad we didn't walk. Nothing too interesting happened after range time. We got about an hour of free time before bed though so I got to shower and read my Bible for a while. Not a bad day.

White Phase

Sunday 10/2

Regular church services were canceled this week for a concert. Two Christian groups played (Flame and December Radio). The volume was way too loud and I left my ear protection in the bay, so my ears were ringing for an hour. Billy Graham's grandson gave a short sermon and it was over. Several hundred soldiers stood to accept Christ for the first time, so that was really cool to see.

We made our bi-weekly trip to get sheared and to stock up on the necessities at the PX. They weren't gentle with my sun burned scalp. I'm looking forward to not having velcro for hair after I get out of here.

The rest of the day we cleaned our company area and they gave us 2.5 hours of free time before bed! I spent most of it catching up on getting my locker back in order. I had a mini-disaster area in there after the lack of personal time last week. At any rate, it was nice to have some personal time finally.

Monday 10/3

Fall is here in SC. It was in the 40's here this morning at PT. It reminded me of how miserable gym class was this time of year in high school standing there in shorts and a t-shirt.

After PT, we got on a bus (we usually march) and headed to the range for the day. My TX blood isn't ready for this sudden drop in temperature and I thought the DS's were going to let us freeze to death while we were waiting for chow to show up. (le note de wifey: Oh gosh! Somebody is being dramatic!)

The range today was cool. It was a 300m range and it used pop-up targets and microphones to give real time feedback to the exact point of impact on the target were were shooting at. The data displayed on a monitor next to each shooter. Friday is our big qualification day for BRM. I'm hoping to shoot 36/40 targets or better so I can score as an expert with the M16.

This evening our company commander met with just the privates and let us complain and state our grievances about anything. It was a total waste of time, but it made some people feel better. We finally were bumped up to White Phase tonight, so it feels good to have met that hurdle in our training.

4th PLT during the phase change ceremony

I've realized how impatient I've become thanks to modern methods of communication. It can take upwards of 2 weeks for the originator of a letter to get a response back, so trying to have a "conversation" via mail doesn't work here at Basic Training. Most of the letters I get here are post marked 8-10 days prior to when I get them. Occasionally, it is 3-5. The DS's also hold mail if they don't feel like delivering it or come up with an "excuse" not to. Such is life for the soldier at BCT.

Thank y'all for your letters though. They bring a great deal of encouragement and moral support. Another day down and another closer to Family Day.