who reads this tthing?

i dont know who reads it, if you do, make mention of it to me somehow.

anyways, im feeling utterly and completely miserable.  i really hope it goes away.

We were all sitting on a large white bus heading towards our basic training battalion.  The bus stopped and a Drill Sergeant immediately jumped on and started yelling at us to evacuate the bus.  We got off our seats and jumped onto the pavement with the screams of a Drill Sgt. in our ears.  We had to drop our luggage, and run into a classroom for a quick orientation on military curtesy.  Basically, how we should stand and talk when we address people who are of higher rank than we are (basically everybody).  Also, they demonstrated how to do a proper pushup, yippie for us ....  Then we had to evacuate that building, this is the time when the Drill Sergeant would counted and those people who are still in the room when he gets to zero would be "punished" for not being motivated enough.  When we got out, we were told to grab our luggage and stand in our platoon formation.  We had to make sure our own luggage was not touching the ground as we were standing there carrying it.  Then they gave us some unclear instructions about how we need to have our luggage to the left of where each person was standing and they gave us a minute to do it.  I remember not being able to hear what he was saying and I'm sure I wasn't the only one who couldn't hear.  So a minute pasts and now the entire company is on the floor on doing pushups because we couldn't do a "simple task."  I'm sure this was just an excuse to get us used to the mass punishments we could all look forward too.  After the grueling half an hour, we were taken up to our barracks where we would be spending the next nine weeks.

We went upstairs and got assigned our beds and our bunkmate.  Your bunkmate or rather the term the Army loves to use, battle buddy.  The battle buddy system is to keep accountability of you at all times.  It is especially crucial to have accountability of your battle buddy because many basic trainees have tried to desert the Army.  So if someone were to ask where your battle buddy is, you should know exactly where he is at all times.   

After we were assigned our beds and our battle buddy, we were given military equipment to train with.  Among the items that we received are: helmet w/cover, body armor, rucksack, wet weather gear, poncho, canteens, ammo cases, tents, we got our M-16s in three days and we were later issued our sleeping bag systems.  We also had to have a canteen with water with us everywhere we went because hot/cold weather injuries happen so often in this type of training environment. 

We were told that when we ate, we had to have two glasses of powerade with every meal, a piece of fruit, and we must consume everything on our plates.  We were also rushed when we ate, usually like 10 minutes or so to finish our meal.  To be continued at an unspecified date ....

We just completed  week 12 out of our 14 weeks of  Officer Candidate School (OCS).  This last week felt like it took forever to end.  We had a dining-in on Monday.  Basically we dress in our formal military clothes and have a very long toast about the program and to our class.  We also had skits at the end which made fun of our trainers and commander.  I'm in 1st platoon and we had a great skit.  I believe there is a video of it somewhere but you really had to know the people we were making fun of, else you couldn't really appreciate it.  Otherwise, it would just be like six guys acting incredibly foolish out of context.  After Monday, we had our Military Intelligence class because there was a test later on that week.  We also had a Physical Training test on Thursday which is used to measure our physical fitness.  You had to pass that with a minminum of 60% in each of the three events or you don't pass the course.  In case you're wondering, I passed, or else I would not have written about it at all.  Well, you might've just got an entry full of .  We also had a military leadership, we had 28 hours of instruction spread over a ten week period or so.  The last two days of this week our company had to get ready for the OCS fall of fame induction.  It's a huge event to some very promenent people who've done amazing things while being in the military.  All of these individuals have graduated from the OCS program.  I got to meet a couple of cool guys, one was a retired Lieutenant Colonel and the other was Brigadier General.  I got some great information out of that event. 

So basically, 8 more working days left and I'm going to be commissioned as an officer in the United States Army.  It may not seem like a big thing to you, but I'm super excited and so amped to know that I'm soon going to be 2Lt.  I've never picture myself ever doing this for most of my life, and now that I'm here, I wouldn't trade this experience for anything.  It's been harsh, and during basic training, completely miserable.  And his is the reward, having the opportunity to lead soldiers, it is all coming to fruition.  I graduate on April 12th and my best friend is going to pin on those butterbars on my shoulders.  Until then.....

coming to fruition

coming to fruition, well, in a sense

okay, so i'll try my best to pick up where i left off.  let's see, i believe at this i joined the army or was very close to that date.  so that summer, the months between june-september, i had an amazing time.  my new job would begin on the second of october and i wanted to make sure i left california with some unforgettable moments. 

we took a trip to catalina island, that's about 26 miles off the coast of los angeles.  i know what you're thinking, that's a complete marathon.  quite right, i was even tempted to swim that distance but i was quickly reminded that marathons involve running not swimming.  it was an incredible trip, no other way to describe it, i have pictures and if you like to see 'em, just ask.  okay, then i spent the rest of my free summer with my friends and family, we did a lot of hanging out that time.  i could not have had a greater time, it was a good last hurrah before i left california, and rest assured, ill be done with this job in three years and i have every intention of returning to where my heart resides. 

alright, so i left for georgia the morning of october 2nd, 2006.  i arrived at the atlanta international airport at about 2:30 pm, eastern time.  we waited until about 7:00 pm, that's when we all got onto the bus to head towards fort benning.  we arrived at 30th AG, which was a reception station for basic trainees.  they tried to scare you there but they couldn't really do too much to you.  we got into our rooms at 1:50 am and we had to be awake at 3:30am.  we were all grounchy and pissed, as you can imagine.  let me take this opportunity to describe that type of guys that were there with me.  there were a lot of young guys, 17-23 years old made up the majority of the group.  a lot of immature kids who just got out of high school who probably had a hard time finding a job.  there were some who really did want to join the army, but many of those guys just wanted a weapon in their hands and see some action.  the barracks were always loud and people constantly wanted to fight each other.  during this time, we got our heads shaved, omg i hated that feeling.  for the first four hours or so, i purposely avoided looking at myself in the mirror.  and then i forgot about it and i was in the restroom and someone crossed my path in the mirror, someone i have never seen before.  someone i never intend to see again, for the rest of my days.  i'll do my best to keep it that way.  we also got our blood tested, got our vaccinations, teeth xrayed, eye exam, and the best part (it was for us anyways) our military issue clothing.  this place sucked by the way, you wake up early every morning and you just sit around for hours waiting in a line.  you can't do this and you can't do that was the mood of this place.  you're heavily supervised and it's soo cold inside of the buildings and sooo hot outside.  that place was a ridiculous.  we left the reception center on october 11, 2006 and entered basic training later that day.  and i thought 30th AG sucked, i couldn't have been more wrong. 

the wink and the gun

hello all,

this is going to be a pretty lame update.  in fact, it's rather meek and pedantic.  i would do a better update but we have a big test tomorrow, america's military past.  and i need to study for that.  also, we have our last big event and after this, we're basically done with ocs.  so i have to concentrate on that as well, it's mostly battle drills and command leadership type stuff.  oh, and i'm the platoon leader during the first week we're in the field, we're there for two weeks.  so i have to managed what's going on as far as how things should be ran, basically setting the rhythm of the logistical stuff we have to handle.  so there you have it, i'll try to give a full update from where i left off last time.  but no gurantees, that's just the way it's gonna be.

have a good one.