11/3/2014 "March and Bald Again"

I want to start off by giving thanks. I’m not sure if anyone is really reading these, but they help me decompress. We got mail for only the second time since we started and I was really happy receiving some of my own.

Because it is hard to get free time to write everyone individually I just want everyone to know that I really do appreciate the letters. They keep me grounded and help me focus on why I am here.

• Thank you Jessica for the inspirational notes.
• Thank you Amanda for the inspirational notes and drawings from the kids.
• Mrs. Demboske for a flash from the past
• Faith and other family friends…family is everything and notes from family really hit home.
• I also received 3 books; I believe my mom said they were from my Aunt Kathy. I love spending a small part of my free time reading just to get away from everything.

Thank y’all

Now on to today’s events. We started this morning out with a five minute formation. Today was the first of three Ruck Marches. 8ish km or around 5.5 miles by the time we stopped. Today’s ruck was lighter and only about 35-40 lbs maybe. What is funny is that we marched all that way to end up at our training facility for that day that is really only one mile away. The march was not that bad. Saw the sunrise while marching uphill. BUT… we would not get breakfast until after the march and initial training. I was starving. Mostly everyone survived the march. One of our soldiers fell out but he is also one of the ones that may be pressed soon. We got a small taste this morning because our final Ruck March in full gear will be closer to 20 km. breakfast didn’t come until after 0900; but had a bonus. There were leftovers so I was chosen to get in line for this….WINNING. Extra cereal and an egg and bacon sandwich. Thank you.

After chow we had a simulator shooting training. Today starts the first day of Basic Rifle Marksmanship of about a 3.5 week process. Live fire starts tomorrow. Today we had to qualify on grouping. A huge simulated video gun range with real M-16’s that had lasers attached. It was neat. We had to group 8 of 10 shots twice to qualify. I got it in the first try but surprisingly quite a few struggled. For being the video game generation, I thought they would excel.

We get to go to the PX today. The PX is our Wal-Mart but a huge tease for trainee soldiers. We can’t have any candy, food, drinks, milkshakes…etc. pretty sure I cried when I left. We did load back up on laundry soap, envelopes, some extra PT clothes and other items. During this time was another forced haircut day. Once again…forced but we have to pay for it. What a dumb idea that we didn’t support. J

Everyone is back to bald again. That goes perfect with helping to fight the cold weather. Just when everyone was starting to get physical characteristics again to define them, we are knocked back to equals looking dumb and bald.

We arrive back late so went straight to chow. After that we were allotted time to clean our weapons. Everyone bought cleaning kits but the majority did not know how to use them. Being a Texas boy…of course I know about guns and cleaning. I ended up giving a “how to” lesson in a circle of about 7 guys. Next teaching class is tomorrow.

I have started getting a reputation as the morning guy and it is motivating others. I opted to start doing 300 pushups on my own outside of PT and getting smoked so I wake up early. During that time I do 100 pushups and sit-ups, shave, brush my teeth and clean the bay some while waking everyone else up. Nothing new…always have been a morning person back home as well.

Time is limited tonight so it is off to bed time.

Happy Monday!!!!