I got back to quarters a little after midnight. The last few days were spent in a tent with 40 other guys. The temperature was in the high nineties with very high humidity. You cannot begin to imagine the smell after three days. I've spent a lot of time camping and backpacking. I grew up on a farm. I've spent countless hours in all forms of locker rooms, but nothing smells worse than the past three days. I took a thirty minute shower when I got back. For those who have no way of knowing, my average shower is 4-5 minutes. We did land navigation (using a compass) in both the day and night. We practiced moving through a combat area using cover and the protection of a soldier actually carrying a weapon. WE also practiced crawling through the live fire range. This is not nearly as exciting or traumatic as people tell you. We also did a copule of other obstacle courses.
Overall, we've slept very little. We've sat and walked in the heat a great deal, normally wearing body armor. We've had short periods of excitement. That's been my week. I've taken some pictures and will be getting some others over the next couple of days, but I'm too tired to do that this afternoon.
I did want to answer a few questions one of my nephews asked on a previous entry.
1. My "battle buddy" is the odd looking guy with glasses you see in one of the previous posts. Another guy from our platoon is pretending to kiss him or something. I'm not sure. His name is Chaplain Shirky (last name).
2. The US Army has 1.4-1.5 million people on active duty. I had to look this one up Nathan. I didn't actually know how many people are in the army. There are about the same number in the National Guard and Inactive Army Reserves.
3. There are about 120 people currently training with me. Some of them will leave in a couple of weeks when we finish the first couple of phases of training. They'll have to complete it another time. Some more will be coming in to finish the training at that time.
Overall, we've slept very little. We've sat and walked in the heat a great deal, normally wearing body armor. We've had short periods of excitement. That's been my week. I've taken some pictures and will be getting some others over the next couple of days, but I'm too tired to do that this afternoon.
I did want to answer a few questions one of my nephews asked on a previous entry.
1. My "battle buddy" is the odd looking guy with glasses you see in one of the previous posts. Another guy from our platoon is pretending to kiss him or something. I'm not sure. His name is Chaplain Shirky (last name).
2. The US Army has 1.4-1.5 million people on active duty. I had to look this one up Nathan. I didn't actually know how many people are in the army. There are about the same number in the National Guard and Inactive Army Reserves.
3. There are about 120 people currently training with me. Some of them will leave in a couple of weeks when we finish the first couple of phases of training. They'll have to complete it another time. Some more will be coming in to finish the training at that time.
4 comments:
Glad to see you made out of the feild alive. That is an accomplishment all in itself. Try doing that for 14 days. Only good thing is after 4-5 days, you lose your sense of smell. You are in our prayers.
Jason
Oh my goodness, you mean you actually took time to get clean??? A 30-minute shower IS a record for you! Just teasing. Thanks for posting the picture. I'm glad to see you all made it o.k. I hope you get a chance to rest up a little. I love you. -- Em
Sounds like you are having a blast w/ the filed exercises. Next time take some hand wipes w/ you to help w/ the smell.
an old friend from upton
Hey Justin,
I hope all is well at boot camp. I really like the look of the new house. It looks great! I see you are also sporting robert's favorite hair style-as little as possible! He would like to sport that style too, but I will not allow it. I hope you have a great week. Pray for us as we endure this moving process.
See ya, Julie Pickering
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