July 25, 2009

Today has been one of the most frustrating, boring days I've had in a while. The only good thing that happened to me today was taking my PT test. It was supposed to be the other day but was canceled due to the funeral that I had to attend. It was then supposed to be the next day (yesterday) but there werent enough drill sergeants to conduct the test. We started to think were were never going to take it, but we were in for a surprise when we woke up and found out we had to take it this morning. You could imagine how pissed off I was because there is honestly nothing inside of me that wants to run as fast as I can at 4:30 am. So I just did it, not that I really had a choice but you know.

For those of you who don't know, an Army PT test is made up of 3 events: pushups, situps, and a two mile run. We have to make a 50 in each category, and we have a two minute time limit. We have to do 35 push ups, 47 sit ups, and run the two mile run in 16:36. That is the bare minimum to pass an Army PT test in Basic training. What were my scores? I did 54 push ups, 59 sit ups, and my two mile run tim was: Get ready Dad... 13:00 minutes flat. My total PT score out of 300 was 247, and I'm damn satisfied with that for now. I know my Dad is shocked as hell too with my run time. That test score is something I am really proud of because I've worked hard to get where I am now physically. My goal is to get a 300 total score by the time I leave here. I am already to the point to where I can graduate right now with the score that i have and that feels good.

Other than that, all we did today was sit up in the bay in dead silence and pointed and aimed our weapons at absolutely nothing. Its all for a good reason though, we start shooting and zeroing our rifles this week. Iv'e learned how to properly fire my weapon from the prone position, kneeling position and standing position. We have also been taught how to properly kill a man to where it will ensure death. It reminded me of the movie Gangs of New York where Bill the Butcher was teaching Amsterdam how to proplerly kill someone with a knife, "This is a kill, this is a kill!" We learn some crazy shit here, and it is still surprising to hear about killing people and having classes on how to kill.

Infantry basic training is 100% different than regular BCT- hands down. It is so much more intense, mentally as well as physically. I don't mind it too much anymore though. Hearing about having to do an 8 mile ruck march isn't really a big deal to me anymore. 8 miles is beginning to be something we "warm-up" with. LOL.

Some of you including my father have asked some questions about things here, and I"ll try to answer them now. The kid from California who wanted to quit never did. I talked him out of it, and he is actually one of my closest friends here at BCT. He is overweight and he knows it but he is determined. We push each other, and we do almost everything as a pair. I'm very thankful to have someone here who shares my sense of humor around.

My dad asked about chow. Yes it is really called chose, not breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Just chow. Before chose, we will get in formation which is 4 lines of 13 people. We sling our weapons over our backs and merge into two lines. Nothign is done without a specific command either. We have "chow sling weapons", then we have "chow formation" in which we take one step back and two to the side which merges us from 4 lines into 2 lines. We will say, "One shot! One kill! Kill we will!" We then march to chow, and when we get to the enterance we stop. We say, "last two secure the door!" The two people at the end of the line will say, "Cover me while i move." and the platoon will call out, "We got you covered: 5,4,3,2,1, Lock it up 4th platoon. Lock it up, Freeze!" By that time the people from the end of the line hav run up to the front to secure the doors. We all will then say, "Drill Sergeant, permission to enter the D-Fac (dining facility) drill Sergeant!". He will then tell us to enter. We do not speak period other than to tell them what we want. We eat on plastic trays and get a good portion of food. We however cannot get seconds simply becuase there is not enough time. We sit with our feet together and we are dead quiet.

It takes roughly 25 minutes to feed an entire company consisting of 4 platoons. Thats pretty amazing actually. We get roughly 5 minutes to eat and then we have to get out. I always have enough time to eat, so I cant complain. LOL. When the last person in our platoon gets his food he has to say , "Last man from 4th platoon entering DFac!" We are required to all say in unison, "Shut the Fuck up and eat!" That is basically chow. It is a long process but well worth it when you are starving. I eat so much sometimes, I throw up when we get smoked. We all hate getting smoked after meal times, and that seems to be a favorite time by drill sergeants because they know its a good time to see someone puke, LOL.

Being in the army is like being on a more diciplined, more structured football team. The fundamentals are all basically the same. The exercises are practically similar, and even the persistance of formation is the same. Our quarterback who makes and puts people in "motion" is our platoon guide. If the platoon is heading in a wrong direction He can audible and change almost anything similar to how a quarterback would. The only thing the army stresses more is dicipline. If you shut up, listen, and do exactly what youre told, when you are told, you will be sucessful. This all feels just like high school football all over again, and I'm away at football camp. My ankles are still bad though just like in football. Its an ongoing joke around here with how mouch I fall during road marches. You see, we dont march on the road but on the sides of the roads where thousands of soldiers have walked previously. It is all pot holes and uneven surfaces. I'm used to keeping my head down when I'm walking but when we march, we usually start off marching in the darkand we have to look straight ahead. Im always stepping in pot holes and busting my ass LOL and protocall is when someone falls, the entire platoon has to shout, "man Down!" Ha Ha that seems t happen at least twice every road march. My drill sergeants are always like, "Are you kidding me Zaleuke!" Ha ha. I finally started telling the guys to stop because I didn't want the drill sergeants to think I was fainting because of the heat or some shit. "Put me next to a window cause this flower is whilting"- Bobby Hill

My life here gets repetitive and very stressful but you get used to it after awhile and it just becomes natural. I'm going to start getting weekly phone calls on Sundays, so Dad please keep your pone on you and ready all day. Tomorrow I'm going to church and we will be cleaning the bay all day and with my free time I'll work out on my own by probably running the stairs in my 40lb IBA Armored Vest. I want to improve and strengthen my legs so that road marches and running gets easier for me. That is about it for now. I'm looking forward to hearing from all of you ASAP from your letters. I love you all, keep writing!!! LOL

"Don't worry about me, I'm gonna make it alright
got my enemies crossed out in my sight
Take a bad situation, gonna make it right
In the shadows of darkness, I stand in the light"
-Tim Armstrong

Good night everyone. Sleep well.

-PFC Zaleuke

PS: We just had a speech about being deployed and they gave us some numbers. A few months from now, 2 of us will be dead. Six months from now, 10% will be dead (total of 230 of us). Its scary shit to think about, especially with trouble brewing in Korea. I'm nervous and a bit scared, but a part of me thinks they are just trying to scare us, but Idk.... Night.