Basic Training week 3

September 4, 2011

Hi All,

Another week in basic training down!  The days are starting to go by faster but they are still crazy long.  So this is what happened this week.  On Sunday 10 guys from our platoon were selected for “DUTY SQUAD”.  They choose the 10 best in the platoon and basically make US the Drill Sergeants Bitches.  We have to set up all the trainings all the morning PT courses and if the company is eating in the CTA we have to serve the sergeants their food. Even though we are the Drill Sergeants Bitches it has its perks like they get to know us and we get to see a different side to them, not just yelling at people all of the time. 

So Monday we left for FTX1 (field training exercise 1) Duty Squad had to get there early and set everything up which really sucked. After that we had to pair up and dig a fox hole to sleep in for the night this took about an hour.  We then had two field classes after that we had to low crawl, high crawl and do the 3-5 second rush… these all suck it tears the crap out of your knees and elbows we did these for a few hours.  We then worked on squad movement’s line and wedge and after this (which took all day) duty squad had to do dinner service. Last we got ready to sleep under the stars. 

At night there are 6 guys on watch and at one point in the middle of the night the Drill Sergeants sneak over where we are sleeping and try to steal your gear and rifle.  They came to steal mine but I had the sling wrapped around me so they had no chance.  The next morning the entire company got “smoked” we had to do push-ups, squats, low crawl and high crawl because not everyone completely secured their gear that night, then duty squad served breakfast.  After breakfast we had two more classes;  buddy movement, this is when you see hostiles ahead and you and your buddy take cover, lay cover fire for one another and work your way out.  The next class was detainee, we learned how to search people properly and learned the rules of prisoners of war and enemies of war and how to treat and act under these situations.  Then when everyone else got to head back to the bay and shower and start laundry the duty squad got to clean up the FTX1.  By the end of that day I was so exhausted I fell asleep with my shoes on.

Wednesday was a bit more relaxed we had class in the morning on our M16A4 rifles and then in the afternoon we went to the simulation.  This is a big video game that has altered M16A4’s with pressure hoses connected to them so you can get comfortable with the weapon.  I am not going to lie I have some work to do on my shooting, I need to control my breathing a bit better but other than that I was doing alright. We then had to ruck march back to the bay which sucked cause it was in the heat of the day but oddly enough I am just getting use to it all.

Thursday was the same as Wednesday except we went over shooting range procedures then went to the simulation again my shooting is still just alright.  From 50-200 meters I am pretty dead on but 300 meters is still kind of hard.  After we marched back we were supposed to have a relaxing night serve dinner go over range adequate and have a little personal time.  But someone asked a question and did not add in two words drill and sergeant so we got smoked for about an hour and a half, there went our personal time. 

Friday started out pretty nice duty squad got breakfast together and then we got the company squared away and we went to our IED Class (Improvised Exploding Devices).  The day seemed to be going well our Staff Sgt. That taught the class was really relaxed and it was actually a lot of fun learning and not getting screamed at.  We learned the different types of EID’s and their trigger systems.  This was probably one of my favorite days so far.  Then we got back to the bay ate our MRE’s and the shit hit the fan.  People in the company (all 4 platoons) were stealing contraband (we have items in the MRE’s such as M&M’s and other candy that we are not allowed to have).   So we all got a full shake down; it looked like we were all being booked and processed to go to jail.  About 20 people were caught with shit they were not supposed to have; only 2 were from my (4^th platoon).  Then they searched our lockers, our platoon for some reason does not know how to use laundry bags and were not keeping their locker up to the SOP (standard operating procedures).  All but 10 of 54 people got into trouble for how their lockers were.  I actually got complemented on how squared away I am.  The thing that sucks is basic is all about team and since our platoon is  “dirty fucks” we no longer get to use the wall lockers so we are living out of our duffle bag and ruck sack.  This really sucks because keeping everything organized and wrinkle free is very difficult.  I feel like we were finally starting to get more privileges and now we have nothing.  It is truly depressing; it was a very somber night.

Saturday was a very long day for duty squad we got to the firing range at 0600 and had to set everything up. After we were all set we had to prepare all of the magazines with 30 rounds so the 3^rd and 4^th platoon can zero their rifles, the part that truly sucked was duty squad were the last to go so transport was getting there at 1630 and did not get our weapons on the range until 16:15 so not all of us got our rifles completely zeroed.  My first grouping was tight but I needed a slight 5 click adjustment to the left.  After that I was shooting pretty much center mass but I still need to control my breathing a little better.  We were firing at a target that was 25 meters away with a center mass the size of a target 250 meters away. I felt like I handled the rifle well, we are shooting in the prone supported, on our bellies with the use of sand bags.  I feel like I am getting better every day but I am really sick of getting slammed for other peoples stupid mistakes.  I know it is all set up and they are going to do it for a reason no matter how squared away our platoon is so I will come to grips with it and just push forward.,  I am still doing well we have our first true PT (Physical Test) which is max pushups in 2 minutes, max sit ups in 2 minutes and our 2 mile run.  I think I will be in the top 5 of our platoon and top 10 in the company but we will find all of that out next week.  Miss you all.  Patrick