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Thursday, January 28, 2010

January 22

Well god damn! Today was a hell of a day. We marched with most of our gear across Fort Jackson to the confidence course... Well, let me back up. Wake up was at 0445, so that we could march at 0600. We marched for about 2 hours with most of our gear to the confidence course.

What the Confidence (I swear the Army hurts spelling) course is, is basically an obstacle course. It's probably a quarter mile long, with walls you jump over, nets you climb, pipes you go through, logs you walk over, ditches you crawl through, etc. My platoon, the Great Danes, got the best time of our company. The exercise I liked most of all that... that's a tough one. Probably the easy ones where we had to jump through windows, haha.

After the obstacle course (I forgot to mention they fed us breakfast there), they marched us about a mile down some crappy trail to the NBC, most commonly known as the gas chamber! Once we got there, we had to change our shirts and socks, like always, and then they made us eat our MRE's. Personally, I was kinda butthurt that they made us eat right before getting gassed, but figured that if I was going to blow chunks, I was going to do it spectacularly with a full stomach since I was starving.

Once we finished eating, they sat us down for a class on how to clear our masks, etc. It was taught by this black lady that had the most massive boobs I've ever seen, and said as much to the guy sitting next to me. He replied with, "Yeah... I'd like to see her pass her PT test!" Hahaha!

Not long after the class had ended, they lined us up by platoon. Once lined up, we marched up the hill to the NBC chamber. They then arranged us so we were facing each other. When it was our turn to go in, the big breasted sergeant said, "Gas Gas Gas!" and we put on our masks. While waiting to go into the chamber (we were the second in line), three people popped out the back door (a big no-no), and threw their masks and collapsed retching, coughing, and screaming.

Naturally, this didn't make me feel better about doing thing... Not long after they ran out, they called us in. Now, the room is just that. All that it is is an empty space with a table in the middle where they drop the CS things in. There are two doors on either side of the building; one for each wall, where the people line up.

So anyway, the first thing we had to do was pull our mask up about halfway off out face and recite our rank, last name, first name, and the last four digits of our socials. After we did that (which I did fine, btw) we had to turn to our left to face the front doors. They then told us to remove our masks and say the soldiers' creed. I got a fair distance into the creed, then I decided to open my eyes. Worst. Mistake, Ever. As soon as I did that I took a breath involuntarily.

My eyes started watering, my nose started running, I was coughing and then, oh god, I was going to throw up! I leaned to the side so that I wouldn't puke on the guy in front of me's back, and at the same time grabbed his shoulder because my eyes were squeezed shut. I did a good gag, with nothing coming up. Then I felt the guy I was holding onto shift forward, so I opened my eyes just a little and saw light towards where the door was.

As soon as I was outside, I shoved the person in front of me out of the way as I took off at a run. Little did I realize at the time, however, that the outside air actually makes it worse! As soon as the fresh air entered my lungs and hit my eyes it got about x50 worse. I kept hearing one of the female drill sergeants yell, "keep your eyes open!" but it was impossible. With all the tears and burning your eyes automatically close, and you don't want to touch them with your hands!

After running around coughing, flapping my arms like a bird, and weaving all over the place since I was blind, I felt like I had to puke again. So, I bent over, put my hands on my knees and braced for it. I let out the worst gag and burp simultaneously ever. I remember actually thinking, "Ohh, that's so fucking gross, that's going to make someone puke from the sound alone." After about 5 minutes though, I was back to normal... with clear sinuses.

Monday, January 25, 2010

January 21

This is the 3rd time I've written this letter. Every time I've started writing it, something comes up and I lose it. So, in order to avoid that, I'm writing it on this huge clipboard thing I bought at the PX.

I was really down yesterday. We did the pugil sticks on the 19th, and I sprained my wrist really, really badly. I mean it's so bad that I couldn't use the fucker. So, I decided that I should go get some X-rays to make sure that it wasn't broken.

When I got to sick call, I had to wait 4 freaking hours only for them to tell me that if I wanted X-rays, I would have to be put on a medical profile which would prevent me from graduating on time. So, I said screw that and am dealing with the pain. They did give me some Ibuprofen for the pain, but it doesn't help. Today it seems to be better, though.

On to happier subjects, tomorrow we go to th gas chamber. I'm starting to get a little more nervous, of course, it doesn't help that they have been playing videos of it all day. I think I'll be fine though. If thousands of people do it a year, then it's survivable.

We were supposed to go on our first field training exercise (FTX) today, but it's raining so they canceled it. Now we had basic rifle marksmanship (BRM) today, all day. It was interesting, but it was just what the name implies: basic. So tomorrow, before we go to the gas chamber, we are going to go on a 3-mile or so march. It'll suck, especially since we have to do another one so that we spend the night in the field. It'll only help us in the long run, though, so fuck it.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

January 18th

It's Monday, Martin Luther King day. We had combatives again today, where they taught us some new moves. Towards the end, though we all fought each other. This is going to sound really, really bad, but I choked the shit out of a few of the girls I had to fight, hahaha. They choked me a few times too, though. Over all it was really fun. Once dude who doesn't try on anything (he really is a IRL Gomer Pyle) fought me, and wouldn't do anything. Since that defeats the purpose, I just started twisting his nipples until he fought back.

For the rest of the day... we didn't do much. We did "area beautification," and tightened up all the straps on my... or our, rather, assault vests and helmets.

Oh! We got smoked pretty good today! They fucking dudes in another platoon changed the tape that has your name on it on your bed... wait, sorry. Let me start over: On our lockers & beds, we have scotch tape with our names on it. Some one, or some people, went into someone's room and did something to someone's tapes to make it say "ass". We also got smoked first thing this morning because our failure of a platoon guide messed up the count. She really fucking sucks.

January 14th

Sorry I haven't written! Since getting here to basic I haven't had any time. They keep us busy from 0500 (5am) to 2100 (9pm). That's lights out and we can't do anything until the next day.

Oh jeez, so how to begin... When we left reception we couldn't carry anything on our backs. We had to frontload it, which is where you basically strap it to your chest. Then they put us on buses, and drove us to a different part of the base where we got our units.

What surprised me was that we didn't get smoked! In fact we didn't get smoked until today, the 14th, the 4th day of basic! Our DS's (Drill Sergeants) don't yell at us, either... well, my platoon's don't. Other platoons, which are part of our company, have your typical DS's and we deal with them often.

Lights out came, so it is now the 15th. Where did I leave off...

Oh, well that first day all we really did was meet our DS's and eat dinner. Then we did some paperwork and went to bed.

On Tuesday, we had our PT assessment after breakfast. We had a bunch of classes for the rest of the day on sexual harassment, etc. We were also issued a 2 quart canteen and later, our rifle. All day was classes though. A lot of people in my company got in trouble for falling asleep.

On Wednesday, when we first woke up we went over to the PT field and they taught us what we would be doing for PT here. We then had classes for the rest of the day on all kinds of boring shit, like nutrition and cold weather survival. We got smoked a few times as a company during them due to people falling asleep... dicks. Later, however we were issued our helmets, packs, and assault vests... oh, and two 1 qt canteens to go into the holders on the assault vest belt. Then it was off to bed.

Thursday was by far the most fun day yet! We did out first road march, which wasn't far at only 1.6 miles or so. We had to carry our rifles, wear our helmets (ACH) and wear our packs and assault vests. We didn't have much in our packs, only a few shirts, poncho, socks, etc. only a little bit of shit.

If I had to keep it short, since I really should since it's lights out but won't, is that Victory Tower is awesome. I'm not sure if I mentioned it, but that was the destination of our road march. What it basically is, is that it's a tower about 40-50 feet high with the rappel wall on one side, a big cargo net on the other, a few different rope bridges on another side, and finally a ladder where the bottom half is feet only, with you having to use a rope for your arms, the rest of the ladder is normal.

We spent the whole day doing that! It was amazing, and you'll be able to see the video. Today was more classes... all day. What makes it even worse was that I had fireguard duty, so I've been up since 0300. Looong day.

Tomorrow, the 16th, we're doing combatives! Yay for more throat pain like before!

I'm actually having fun now. They don't limit the stuff we can drink in the mess hall, and they give us a good 10 minutes or so to eat. It's also good food. It's mostly southern food, but so far I've been surprised a few times: We had roast beef... like an actual roast, veal, all kinds of stuff like that.

Sunday

[Note from Emma: I am not completely sure what Paul did and didn't want me to post from this letter! He switched between personal and not pretty frequently so I opted to err on the side of posting more! Here is Paul's letter:]

Ohhh, the day before we ship@ You can really tell people are getting nervous Our bay just about had a huge fight! From there is somehow turned into a racist thing. I don't know the details and don't care. I'm just glad it didn't happen since we would all get in deep shit.

So baby, what do you think of my awesome stationary? [US Army stationary with cheesy stock photos] all my other shit is packed and outside, and since we can't go outside...

Speaking of which, today we packed up all our crap and cleaned the bays. Oh, and went to church too. Don't worry baby, I'm not going to get all into religion. I can see how it will be an awesome escape though!

We have to wake up at 0300 tomorrow, and I'm going to help someone clean so it will be done sooner. Such a good battle buddy, haha.

I'm really not very nervous at all. I've gotten pretty used to drill sergeants. I know they're about to get a whole lot worse, but it will be OK. the minister (I know, Emma) told us about his time at basic. When he didn't bring religion into the equation, it really calmed me down and put me at ease!

Regardless though, tomorrow is going to SUCK!

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Sat. This is Day 4!

Today we got issued out ACU's, boots, dog tags, socks, patches, underwear, etc. The lines, like everything in basic... err... reception, were long and took forever.

It took until lunch, then the Sgt took us back to the barracks where we dumped our clothes and stenciled out duffel and laundry bags. After that, he released us until dinner, then after dinner we were released and he gave us permission to use our cellphones! Sweet!

Naturally, I took a photo of me in uniform and sent it to Emma and my parents. Hopefully she knows how to post it on the blog! [Working on getting it from my phone - Emma]

My squad mates... what to say about them... most are absolute retards. Others are assholes, we have one who admitted to smoking meth right before shipping here, and man, does he look it... and smell the part. No one can look at him while he's talking, that's how bad it is!

Out platoon guide is a pretty cool guy... he just doesn't know what the hell he's doing (like bringing the platoon to attention for a drill sergeant), and won't take anyone's advice. I hope we get a new one soon.

Overall, my platoon reminds me of a sort of real life "Bad Company" where everyone is either retarded, to proud to learn, or just plain lazy. We really do look like the worst platoon here.

For all the fuckups, though, there are a few shining starts. It's funny because you can tell they won't be getting us smoked nearly as much just by observing the way they are for a few minutes.

I'm really wanting to get started with basic. It will suck since I will be in pain, but also good because time will go fast and we'll be doing cool things.

Day 4 or 3... the day after the last letter

Today wasn't exciting at all. When I finally got to sleep last night, I wasn't able to... I don't know, maintain the sleep. I kept waking up.

Anyway, we got up at 0400 and fell in at 0430. It was a huge rush because we had to get our tuberculosis shots. We were done with that by 0500 or so, so we went to breakfast.

From breakfast to 1200, we sat and read out manual. Then from 1200 to around 1430 we got processed. Oh, that reminds me: I had to see the Guard Liaison because I was supposedly missing paperwork (I wasn't).

Anyway, from 1430 to dinner, and then from dinner until 1900 we just sat and read our manuals. Too. Boring. I can't wait until I get to basic on Monday/Sunday night.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Day 1

[I got my first letter from Paul!! He says he wrote it from the airport. Here is what he has to say:]

Woke up at 0400 today. I was picked up a little after 0500 and we went down to MEPs to get me processed.

While there, I learned that I wouldn't be going to Ft. Knox, but Ft. Jackson instead.

My time was spent mainly checking to make sure everything was in order, and that nothing had changed since I enlisted.

When it came time to ship, they gave us our paperwork (that we had to hold the whole time: no putting it in bags, no doing anything with it:... I'm tired...)

The only other person shipping with me is a girl named Jenna. Luckily, she's not horrible to be around and is actually really cool. I'm going to be sad when we part company.

We flew to Dallas Ft Worth, then from there to Columbia SC. I'm still at the airport, in fact, waiting for the bus.

Jenna, since I'm running out of things to talk about, is sitting next ti me writing a letter to her husband.

I'm tired.

From what I understand, which isn't much, we will be up until tomorrow night. UGH.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Paul's off!

This morning Paul's recruiter picked him up at five to go to MEPS. He was able to text message me all day and call me from his layover at an airport. Apparently the powers that be decided to change his basic training to Fort Jackson instead of Fort Knox. I think this is good news since Jackson has a reputation as having an easier basic training than Fort Knox. Just last weekend Paul was making fun of other National Guard people for training at Relaxin' Jackson! I guess we'll see how true that is!

Hopefully I will start getting letters from Paul to post here, he is a much better writer than me!

Monday, January 4, 2010

Ugh

So today I called my recruiter to ask her how we were going to get me shipped. I figured it was important, since I was shipping tomorrow!

Well, what should have been a relatively simple matter mushroomed into a huge ordeal. It turns out that the Sergeant I was dealing with hasn't ever shipped anyone, and she didn't know how, so she handed me off to a recruiter that had been around for awhile. When I called him however, he didn't answer his phone...for hours.

After calling him a bunch and not hearing any response I called the head of the RSP (Recruit Sustainment Program). He told me that the Sergeant was in a meeting all day, and was just getting free now. He also told me what I had to do.

I talked to the Sergeant, and we worked everything out. However, he called me back about an hour later and told me that I wasn't shipping tomorrow (Jan.5). It seems someone forgot to put me on the roster at MEPs, so I will be going on Wednesday, Jan.6.

My stress level is through the roof!

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Hello!

Hello, and welcome to my blog! The words will be mine, but my girlfriend, Emma, will be updating it while I'm in basic. As an added bonus, Emma may every now and then post her thoughts, troubles, and anything else she wishes on here that is related to me being away for training.

What we are going to do is I will write her a letter, and then she will retype it on here for everyone to see. We both think that it will be a blast.

Once I'm in AIT, we will probably both update it, as I will have access to a computer.

I hope that you will enjoy this blog as much as we are going to enjoy making it!

Welcome to Paul's Army Blog

Paul is leaving for basic on January 5th, and is planning on writing to me with things he wants me to post here. Watch this space for updates on Paul in Basic Training at Fort Knox and AIT at Fort Rucker.