September 19th, 2009

I’m tired. Yesterday wasn’t fun either. It was probably the hardest day I’ve had here physically too. We had to go to the firing range for a company competition, and what they did was had each platoon ruck march 3 miles (mile ½ each way) and upon their return we would have to run and get ammunition and get down and start shooting. We were all timed as well, and the platoon with the fastest ruck march time and shooting record won. Well not all of the platoons have an equal amount of soldiers, so one of the Special Forces Drill Sergeants decided to make it equal, so he went through each platoon and hand selected what appeared to be the best of the best, and made a 5th platoon. When he chose me to be a part of his group, my heart sank because I want no part of anything that involves him. We had all of the Special Forces guys in our group too…sweet. They are cool dudes, but I know if they are together they are going to work their asses off.

So when our turn came up to set off on our little 3 mile ruck, I found out some glorious news! Instead of walking like usual, we were going to run it! We were in full gear! So we did the airbourne shuffle the entire way, only stopping to walk to turn around and yell at everyone to catch up. I finally came across something physical that I almost thought I couldn’t do. I thought I was going to fall out at any time, but somehow I managed to keep going and I made it. FML. That sucked. Lol.

Today, we went to the Infantry Museum again, and we got to watch some documentary on the Lewis and Clark expedition on the I-MAX which was pretty cool. Afterwards we were told to form up outside where the Drill Sergeants marched us around the corner and out of sight and began to smoke us because some of the guys left trash in the movie theater. After about ten minutes a man approached us and our drill sergeants and began to chew out or drills. That man happened to be the Post Command Sergeant Major, and he was not happy with how we were being treated. From what I hear, it is wrong to smoke us in public and inappropriate to do it at a memorial such as the one we were at. We were told to drink water and sit in the shade while our Drill Sergeants got yelled at while standing at parade rest. It was entertaining to see something like that, but now we are worried about if we will get smoked even harder now? Oh well.

Tomorrow is the FTX prep and then we are off to the big show. I’m nervous and anxious, but more importantly I cant wait for this to be over with. 18 days and a wake-up until I get to see my family and get my blue chord. Thank God! I’ll write again tomorrow if there is anything else to actually write about. If not, then this will be my last letter until I return on September 27th, after FTX. I’ll have my cross rifles in hand as well, so wish me luck!! I love you guys.
-PFC Zaleuke

September 17th, 2009

Today I accomplished a great deal of physical work. I believe I mentioned in my last letter that I had a PT test coming up this week, well that was today. We were told that if we passed this PT test, we would be completely finished and not have to take the last one. Since this was our first AIT PT test, this meant we had to pass it at a 60% or better. I’ve passed all of my Pt tests at 60% from the start, so I was good to go. I took it easy on this test. I got 50 push ups, 61 sit ups, and 14:13 two mile. Wasn’t perfect, but then again I wasn’t trying to dominate, just pass and get this all over with. So I don’t have anymore PT tests here! Sweet.

We also had our Phase 3 test immediately after, which was really hard but fun at the same time. We had to run a timed mile in full battle rattle as a platoon (sucked but I came in 2nd out of my platoon), had to take our weapons apart and put them back together again, climb the 30 ft ropes, carry 25 lb jugs of water, a 500 lb log and a tractor tire around the PT track and finally take apart the 240 and the saw. We were timed as a platoon during the events and we had all of our times added together. We ended up coming in second and missed first place by only seconds. Afterwards we had Class A uniform inspection to get them ready for graduation. I’m starting to get really excited too.

I got some really cool and exciting news tonight. I got a quick glimpse of my orders and I had to sign off on a few things. I got awarded 18 days of leave which will begin after I graduate. I am so damn excited about that too! I couldn’t ask for anything more, and now I’ll get the chance to spend some much needed time with m y friends and family. I will be departing for Germany on October 24th, 2009 and will be heading to Vilsek. This will most likely be just a processing station which I will spend a day or two in before they ship me out to my actual unit. My orders also show that I am in a “battle buddy” program where they will be putting me and another guy together in the same unit and same company for the next six months. Thankfully I am paired up with my buddy Nick Wisdom, so it appears he and I will be heading to Germany together.

Tomorrow is another busy day. We have a few more competitions, one of them includes a 2 mile ruck march as a platoon walking/running as fast as we can with Ammo cans. So it will be fun, I suppose. Tonight we get our cell phones again, as well as pizza, powerade, and candy. Life is good right now (For now, LOL).
-PFC Zaleuke

September 15,2009

Since my return to AIT training, life here has been Hellish. Much like I suspected it would be. The Drill Sergeants have been smoking the piss out of us, and trashing our bay. Today they claimed they found a can of dip, and tried to get someone to confess. In reality it was just a can of Drill Sergeants dip, which I knew and suspected all along. I'm not stupid, and i learn how people operate fairly easily. So I knew it was all a bull-shit game from the start. When things like this happen the best thing you can do is to keep your head down, don't speak, do what they say and don't give them any reason to believe you are getting an attitude with them. Oh well, 24 days left right?

So these last few days, besides getting the shit smoked out of us, we have been doing convoys, and react to tire with Hummers. I got the chance to be the 240 gunner in the turret above the driver which is bad-ass. We had to react to getting hit by an IED in a convoy, and how to react to that situation. Tomorrow we will be getting briefed most of the day for people like me going over seas.. I'll be glad to get more info on my situation and get a chance to ask some questions. We only have five more days until our FTX. I'm getting more and more anxious as each day advances. I just want to get it over with and leave this place, which can only really be best described as "Satan's Asshole".

I'll be in the field for six to seven days. So be mindful that I will only receive your mail after I return, and I will also not be able to write anymore during that week. You should be hearing from me upon my return, cross rifles in hand, and I'll most likely be excited as Hell. I'm going to cut this letter short tonight because I am exhausted and I need to get some sleep. I love you all, keep me in your thoughts please!

-PFC Zaleuke

Family Day

Words simply cannot express the happiness that I feel at this very moment. I am sitting here in an air conditioned room in a soft bed, I just took a hot bubble bath, and I am more relaxed than I have been in ages it seems. I am sitting next to my sister, and my dad watching television and my little 4 year old niece is laying down in the little bed next to us sound asleep. 

Today we were woken up at 4am by a fire alarm. That started out the day amazingly lol, so by the time we got back in, it was 4:30am which justtt happened to be the time we had to wake up, so I got cheated out of 30 minutes of sleep. We spent the majority of the early morning cleaning and getting safety briefings on what to do, what not to do etc. We were still standing in formation in our PT's when parents started to arrive, so they hurried us upstairs and rushed us into our Class B uniforms. We were told to stand at attention and wait for our parents to come up to the bay area. We heard Drill Sergeant say, " 4th Platoon, I have your loved ones out here, are you ready to see them?" in a highly sarcastic tone that made us all smirk a little. We sounded off with " YES DRILL SERGEANT!!!" He said, "No..no..Your families aren't satisfied with that," and he repeated his question and we would repeat our answer, and it went back and fourth a few times until finally he allowed our families to enter our bay. Almost immediately upon them stepping foot into our bay we heard, "Front leaning rest position...move." We had to get down and we heard, "In cadence, exercise!" (this means do push ups) So as our families entered we were all down doing push ups in our class B uniforms. I saw out of the corner of my eye my father, sister and niece standing in front of me watching, not really knowing what to do.  I could tell my Dad was on the verge of tears because he hadn't seen me in forever and for the simple fact that he was proud. Drill Sergeant called us to attention, and we had to stand there until our families came to "relieve" us. One of the guys went to hug his mom and dad and our drill sergeant said, "Ohhhh no...get down and start pushing (meaning push ups) Private!" lol, so my Dad and sister kind of stood there looking at me not really knowing what to do, and not wanting to do anything to get me in trouble, so as the Drill sergeant looked away I motioned for them to come over and touch me and I mumbled, "If you want me to leave, come touch me!!!" lol, so finally my dad and sister came and gave me a big hug and there was nothing more satisfying to me than when I finally got to hug my father after not seeing him for over twelve weeks. Even I almost lost it, but I stayed strong and powered through the extreme emotions. I introduced my family to some of my buddies, and I said, "Now, lets get the Hell out of here." I showed them around our company where we did morning PT, where we ate chow every day, and showed them the inside of my locker and all of that good stuff. We finally left our Battalion and I took them on a drive to show them where we train, the long roads we ruck on, and some of the firing ranges. We went to the main post, stopped at a gas station where I bought a Red Bull and some candy, which tasted absolutely amazing by the way, and a Drill Sergeant who was wearing civilian clothes gladly went out of his way to point out the fact that I had forgotten to take off my buret inside. I immediately snatched it off my head and cursed myself for being stupid, and apologized to him. If he really really wanted to be a dick, he could have taken down my name and what not and reported me to my company and gotten me into some "little" trouble for being careless, but thankfully he was nice about it considering I am a private and this was my first time off base technically. We went to the main PX which is almost like a small shopping mall where I purchased a Gerber ( look it up ) and a few small items that I was authorized to bring back with me upon arrival tomorrow night, as well as a Barbie doll for my niece which I had promised in a letter to her. After that, all I wanted to do was get off base and away from anything remotely military. Before we did that, we went to the Infantry museum which I absolutely loved. I was greeted by a few volunteer veterans who thanked me for my service and talked to my family for a few minutes before entering. I cant tell you how weird it is to be thanked for serving my country. It is weird because I personally don't see any need for any thanks. I technically haven't done anything to be thanked for yet in my eyes, but apparently others see it differently because of the simple fact that I (and every other soldier in basic training) enlisted to serve my country in time of war. It is a weird feeling and one that really makes you feel proud. It was the first time that anyone has been nice to me in the military. All other times I (and everyone else) am constantly being cut down and told what a worthless piece of shit I am. This will all stop, for the most part, once I graduate and become a full fledged Infantry soldier. It's all part of the game and is part of paying your dues, and it is also what makes being a soldier prestigious. 26 more days left, and I'll stop being called, "shit head" and start being referred to as "Soldier." As cruel as it sounds, It's not really that bad, and makes you smile deep down inside knowing that you have to keep working hard to earn people's respect. Respect isn't given, it is earned, and most of us still have a long way to go. For now, being referred to as Soldier will do just fine. I cant describe the feeling I had upon walking through the museum gates. It was very overwhelming for me at first because I realized that I will soon belong to a brotherhood that is unlike any other. I got to walk through an amazing display of photographs and statues mounted on fake battlefields of soldiers past who were at one time just like me. These guys all went through the same things I went through, and it only makes it that much easier knowing that these guys have done it, and so can I. I've always been a big dork who loves anything to do with history, so I cant tell you how much I enjoyed that experience. There was a section completely dedicated to Basic Training, so I got to take my family through and explain everything and give them some visual aides to go along with all of the stories and descriptions i've given them in the past few weeks. I think it helped paint a good mental picture of what exactly it is that we do here on a daily basis. These blogs that I write sometimes don't seem like enough to me to where at times I almost want to say, " No...you don't understand!" So after today, I feel somewhat accomplished to where I can finally rest knowing that they are aware of the hardships we have to go through with a full understanding of what it is I'm trying to convey through my letters.

After we left, we went and ate lunch at Applebees, and sadly we didn't get kicked out like I envisioned after seeing Talladega nights lol, but I ate a crap load of food and drank a lot of soda and got to catch up with my family which was really really nice. We spent the rest of the evening inside where I got a chance to write a few blogs, play around on the internet, talk to friends, relax and watch some tv, and most importantly just feel like a normal person again. I say this time and time again, but It's amazing how much we take for granted until everything is taken away from us. You really learn to appreciate the little things, and I don't think I could be any more appreciative of something as simple as air conditioning lol. Tomorrow I am going to be awarded the luxury of sleeping in...wow...and then who knows. I don't really care to be quite honest with you, as long as I get to spend some more time with my family i'll be happy. I honestly don't want to go back tomorrow night, but I know that I only have 26 more days to put up with this Hell and I'll be a free man. That is motivation enough to go back and finish what I started.  I still hang on to a quote my Dad sent me, " When you've reached the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on." 

Tomorrow will be an emotional day for me having to say goodbye once again, but hopefully it wont be too bad. They will be up here again in about three weeks to see me graduate along with hopefully many of my friends. I cant tell you how damn excited I am...and also excited to end this blog. Some days I have to fight to pick up a pencil and write because I am just too tired to write anything. I made a promise to myself and everyone else though that I would finish this and let them know what is going on, so if you keep writing me, I'll keep writing you.  

 I want to end this blog with some words that I quoted in one of my first posts. This is one that I hold close to and keeps me going strong. 

" My Jungle is made of concrete,

  Through the silence I could feel

  My aim is true, and I will walk on through

  These mountains made of steel."

It's bed time now, and I'm going to enjoy this comfortable bed and the last few hours I have with my family. I love you all, and thank you again for all of your continuous support. I don't think I could have made it this far without you. Goodnight and sweet dreams. 

-PFC Zaleuke

September 11th, 2009

Today is Friday September 11th, and I am currently laying in my bed drinking a cappuccino (French Vanilla). I still had it left over from an old MRE lol. My feet probably hurt more than they ever have in my entire life, however I feel very accomplished. Let me start from the beginning: 

Wednesday we went to the training site that was completely dedicated to making foxholes. We had to spend the majority of the day setting up a patrol base deep in the woods and then we had to dig. An average sized foxhole for two people is about 4 feet wide, 7 feet long and 4 feet deep, and it is a bitch having to dig up this Georgia clay, so it took us a while. And then the greatest thing happened!! It began to rain extremely hard over the next three hours, soaking everything we had. Then, the next greatest thing happened! We put on our wet weather gear to keep ourselves dry, but the Drill Sergeants decided that we didn't need to wear it, so they made us take it off. We then had to march 4 miles, soaking wet, through mud carrying our heavy ass ruck sacks. Once we arrived to our destination, we got to relax and clean ourselves up some. Thankfully they issue us these sweet wet weather bags that are made of gortex and are lined with a thin layer of rubber, so all of your spare clothing stays bone dry. We headed out deep into the woods once again to form a patrol base. I'm not sure if I ever explained what that was or not, so let me go ahead and do that so you understand. Bare with me a moment please.  We will form up into our formation. The PG will take me and my squad (we are the re-con team) and we will all go scout out a safe and secure location that isn't easy to locate and begin to set up. A patrol base is a giant triangle, each point is called an apex. I have nine guys with me and I will drop three guys at each point: 6 o'clock, 10 o'clock, and 2 o'clock. I'll leave one of my team leaders in charge and the PG and I will head back and retrieve the rest of the platoon. We will lead them into the patrol base in a single file line and have them fill in the lines between the apex's which will result in a giant triangle. Each guy has a battle buddy he is paired up with, so they sleep next to each other. They are spread out 10 to 15 meters apart from the next pair of guys and we will pull 50% security, meaning that one guy is down in the prone position facing outward protecting the area while the other is conducting personal hygiene and/or setting up their makeshift beds for the night. Eventually they will switch, and the resulting action is that we have at least half of the platoon conducting security at all times. The platoon guide, Assistant Platoon guide, and all four squad leaders are stationed in the center of the patrol base (triangle) that way we can easily access any part of the squad at any given time. 

Once we got everything set up, I got the opportunity to change into some dry ACU's and dry socks. Our boots were soaking wet, so I spent a good amount of time taking care of my feet so that I wouldn't get trench foot. A few guys here got it pretty bad, and it is a pain in the ass, not to mention painful. For those of you who've seen Forrest Gump, Lt. Dan wasn't kidding when he said, " Take care of your feet!" My buddy Williams and I layed down a poncho, I climbed inside of my bivy cover ( gortex waterproof sleeping bag) and went right to sleep. It's amazing how used to the sound of grenades and 240 Bravos you get after a while, I fell right asleep. I woke up the next morning and drank a cup of cold black coffee and started my day. We spent the day learning how to patrol an area as a squad (about 15 guys) and how to react if we made contact with an opposing force. We walk in two wedge formations, one behind another. You could compare a wedge formation to a flying "V" for you Mighty Ducks fans out there, or the formation in which birds fly. Alpha squad first, Bravo squad behind, The squad leader (me) in between both.  When contact is made, we will all get down and take cover behind the nearest available tree, and my Alpha team leader will say something along the lines of, "Enemy contact, 12 o'clock, 200 meters!" I will respond asking him how many people there are. Army rule states that there must be a 3:1 ratio meaning that there must be three of us for every one of them. I will then tell Bravo team to flank right or flank left. I will take my 7 guys out and around, forming a giant "L" shape between the two squads. Alpha is spread out at the bottom, and Bravo will end up sweeping across engaging the enemy from the side, suspiring them. Alpha has one SAW (Squad Assault Weapon) gunner and one 240 Bravo weapon and a few M4's covering us. Bravo Team has six M4's and one SAW gunner. We throw a smoke grenade, and sweep across and kill the targets, the smoke lets Alpha know we are walking across and to cease fire. It all sounds very difficult, but in the end, when you grasp the concept it is very simple and somewhat fun. I must have burned 9 full 30 round magazines in a period of 5 minutes lol, it is definitely over kill, but I put my weapon on burst or "Do work" as I like to call it and I went at it. Normally it would be stupid to waste that much ammo in one setting against only five targets, but Drill Sergeant wanted us to get rid of the ammo so they didn't have to turn in the excess later that day. We were using blanks too sine we were shooting at people, but it was still fun nonetheless.

After we finished training for the day, we had about five hours to sit in the woods in some old foxholes and take naps and chill. We had to rest up for our 10 mile ruck march that night. We stepped off around six thirty and walked all night long. It was extremely humid last night, so after mile three my ACU's were completely soaked in sweat. I drank three Camel-baks (100 oz each) of water during the duration of the march. We stopped every three miles to rest for five minutes or so. At one of the rests I sat down in a big pile of sand, and the sand stuck to my wet pants and lower back, so during the march the sand rubbed up against my hips and ass and ended up rubbing skin off and giving me a gnarly rash. Awesome. One of my friends had it a bit worse though lol, he layed down in a huge pile of red ants. He had to strip down completely naked in front of the entire company with the truck lights shining on him. The people in the truck: Our company commander and our first sergeant...haha!! It definitely made a bad night really funny. After it all happened our Drill Sergeant walked back to us and stopped and said, "Go ahead and laugh...it's funny lol" 

Remember how I said we rucked 10 miles? Yeah, well thats what we were told as well. We ended up rucking 12 miles instead last night, the same amount as our final ruck march during FTX in two weeks. Lots of people fell out, and at one point I thought I'd be one of them as well, but I kept putting one foot in front of the other and marched on. The 8 mile one we did last week was 10 times easier, none of us understand why the 12 miles was so damn bad, besides the obvious extra 4 miles...but good lord! Our feet were honestly spent. I couldn't walk last night, or at all today. It was brutal as Hell. Lol, if you can imagine walking in the pitch black, soaking wet from head to toe, tripping all over rocks and shit (yes I turned my ankle and fell twice lol,) and having Drill Sergeants screaming at us to "Move our asses!" That is basically how it went. The entire time I was like, "FML!" But in the end, we did it, and for the very first time ever, our Drill Sergeant told us good job, and to keep our heads up because we should be proud. It felt Damn good!

Now, today I started this letter early this morning and it is now about 4pm, and we just finished our Drill and Ceremony competition. We were scored by the Command Sergeant Major and we competed against the other three platoons. We ended up winning the competition which is good because it makes our Drill Sergeant happy, and that is always a good thing.  That is all for now, tomorrow is family day and we have a lot to get done before we get to see our families and friends. I'll write a blog to tell you all about it. Thanks for all of the support.

-PFC Zaleuke

September 8th 2009

I am so excited about family day. This week is full of training and also stress, but most of us are just letting it roll off our backs because we are keeping in mind that we will see our loved ones very soon. Yesterday and today we have been at the range working our butts off in the blistering heat. We got a crazy smoke session last night for no apparent reason, but it turned into "extra pt" due to our high motivation. We ran a mile and a half in full ACU's and combat boots followed by heavy sprints and calisthenics. Our Drill Sergeant turned the last event into a competition. We had four squads of 15 people and we split up, 7 carrying a 400lb log and 8 carrying a 500lb tractor tire. We had to carry it around the PT track and race the other three squads, and the first squad finished got to use the phones for 15 minutes tonight. My squad really worked together and we ended up winning the event, so I get to call my Dad tonight which is pretty cool. After that, we took showers and had to go downstairs for final formation.. which we were late to. Our grand prize: A 20 minute smoke session that resulted in completely canceling out the fact that I took a shower 30 mins previous to this happening. Awesome.

Today was much easier however, and I got to shoot a crap load of ammunition which is always fun. Currently the guys are circled up in the center of the bay, two men armed with a wet towel, wearing only shorts. The objective: Who can take the most lashings without giving up. Lol, maturity at it's finest! I already packed up my ruck sack and it's ready to head out into the field tomorrow. We will stay out in the field tomorrow, tomorrow night, and all day Thursday. We will have to ruck back 10 miles Thursday night, and Friday morning we will have a Drill and Ceremony competition against the other platoons. All of the above will be rough and certainly challenging but hey, when its all said and done, we will get to see our families. I talked to my Dad on Sunday night, and he seemed to be very excited as well which in return is only making me even more anxious to see him. He will be bringing my computer with him, so instead of sending this letter in the mail as usual, I'll keep it on me and just blog it myself. I'll also be making a blog to let you all know about family day and what not, as well as be on facebook most of the night. I'm sure I'll have to catch up with a lot of people who have written me since i've been away at BCT. I got the chance to check my facebook the other night on someone's phone and I was surprised at how many messages I got from people who happened to stumble across my blog and read it on a daily basis. I'm looking forward to responding to them and their messages as well. We had our class B uniforms sent to the dry cleaners today to get ready for Saturday morning, so we are all very excited. We were all informed officially today that we are all finished with BCT and we all passed (for the most part) and are now onto AIT. Not too much longer now. Okay, that is all for tonight. The next time you hear from me will be on Saturday night from me personally unless I get a chance to write more before then. Take care everyone.

-PFC Zaleuke

September 4th, 2009

I am very surprised at how much stronger I am now than I was when I first got here. We had our 8 mile ruck march this morning, not the ten mile like I thought, but it was probably easier than the two mile ruck we did at the beginning of the cycle. We start out slow for a reason and progressively work our way up, but I could have easily gone on to do more. This does nothing but build my confidence for our final 12 mile march. Walking continuously for miles in combat boots is hell on your feet, so my feet are sore, but my legs felt fresh even afterwards. I am beginning to enjoy these marches more and more because it gives me ample time to think about..well anything really. There isn’t too much to a ruck march rather than concentrating on putting one foot in front of another rand pushing through the pain. I walk, think, sing, quietly talk to my buddies to my front and rear and enjoy the fresh morning air.

I have noticed lately that I have unconsciously been making an effort to take my training more seriously simply because we are not two weeks away from our final FTX where we will be tested on everything we have learned so far. I am a squad leader and I have a lot of responsibility to ensure that my squad performs at its best. I have been moving people around to make my Alpha and Bravo fire teams balanced to where one team is not overloaded with all of the talent. I am satisfied with the team leaders I appointed and I feel they will not disappoint when we are put to the test. I am the only squad leader who had not been replaced in the past few days which means my Platoon Guide thinks I am capable of getting the job done. I am also the only squad leader who is not an 18 x-ray (Special Forces) so I definitely feel the pressure to perform at my best. My PG is my friend Salazar who is an E-4 promotable who will become a staff sergeant when he arrives to his unit next month. He is a good PG who I trust is more than qualified to help us succeed. As much as FTX is going to suck, we are all really excited for it because it is a means to an end here. My final 12 mile ruck march will be a hard one, but one which will be fueled by my desire to reach the end where we will march up to honor hill and receive our cross rifles. I can tell already that it will be one of the most rewarding experiences of my life and also one of my proudest moments. Time is ticking and the clock is winding down, and my spirits are extremely high. I am almost done. Where has the time gone?

Tomorrow we will be clearing houses with paintball rounds against Drill Sergeants. They aren’t normal paintballs, but rather actual bullets that mark with paint, and yes- they hurt. We will be shot, but pain has become my new friend lately. As I said earlier, work through the pain right? Today marks the beginning of our AIT training and also Black Phase. Basic Combat Training is officially over and I welcome AIT with open arms. Two more weeks of actual training and an FTX and that’s it!

It is bed time though, so I’ve got to run. I love you guys, keep writing!
-PFC Zaleuke

September 2nd, 2009

My days lately have seemed to be all blurred into one giant day to where I can no longer tell when I did exactly what. It feels like I haven’t written in a long time, but it cant have been more than a few days, right? In any case, I am sorry for those of you who count on this blog as a means of communication with me.

Like I said, these past few days have been really busy for us. I believe in my last letter I mentioned that I had a PT test coming up. Well that was either yesterday or the day before, I kind of forgot, lol, but I did very well (again). My dad always taught me to consistently strive to better myself in every aspect. So of course when I get letters from home or the rare opportunity to talk with him on the phone, he always tells me to push myself to get, “ one better” on my PT tests. This means at least one more pushup that last time, or one more sit up, and the same time for my run time. Even if it isn’t a dramatic difference, it is still better, right? That being said, I am constantly keeping that in my head while I do my PT tests. I did 55 pushups as compared to lat times 53, I got 63 sit ups compared to last times 62, and I finally ran my two mile in 13:42 as compared to the previous 14:00. My combined score was 246 out of 300, well above passing and definitely enough to allow me to participate in our family day here. All in all I am pleased with my results, especially my run time since I really wanted to get under 14 minutes.

After our PT test, we had to go out to a firing range and take two very brief classes on the M249 SAW machine gun and the 240 Bravo Machine gun. We were then thrown on the range and expected to perform flawlessly lol. Long story short, I got my ass chewed out because I forgot to ride the bolt forward on the saw, lol, it sucked and felt like I was back in high school football. However,the second time I got to fire I didn’t mess it up, so I suppose I learn by blunt trauma lol. Both of those weapons are so….so bad ass. I’d love to be a saw gunner. We also go tto do a night fire with tracer rounds, and the best way to describe them are like…the guns from star wars and the red lazers they shoot out. I of course being the dork I am was like, “Oh! Sweet! Star Wars!!” My drill sergeant goes, “Every cycle…there’s always one every cycle” Lol.. I can’t help it, I like star Wars. I remember my dad asking me if the weapons we fire have a lot of kick, and honestly I have to say no. The 50 cal. Does but it is on a huge tripod, but almost anybody could fire these weapons with the proper training. We left the range around 11pm and went to bed by midnight, and we got to wake up at 5:00am. Awesome…

I cant wait to leave here. Lol. We have 36 days total left, and 10 days until I see my Dad and sister, and you all know I am excited as hell about that. I intentionally don’t wear a watch because it makes my days speed by faster. When we get smoked my mind focuses on the fact that they are only making me stronger, and the stronger I am, the faster I will be able to leave. My mind is constantly wandering except for when I’m being taught something valuable which isn’t a lot.

It seems all we do is get messed with by certain drill sergeants, so if you don’t let it show that it gets to you, they will leave you alone individually. You would think that going into week 10 (starts Friday), we would be done with the “fuck fuck” games and move onto mature subjects and actual teaching. Lol, not at all and there are just some days when you wake up and don’t feel like getting messed with and that seems to be the day you get it the worst. The moral of my rambling is this: 36 days. What is 36 days? I’ve put up with the “shenanigans” (great word) for this long, I can certainly keep truckin’ and walk out of here come graduation day. The only real physically challenging thing I have left to do is a 10 mil ruck march on Friday, my week long FTX, which is concluded by a 12 mile ruck to Honor Hill (where I will receive my cross rifles), and a five mile “eagle run” towards the last few days. I’m physically ready to accomplish these things, and the training will pay off in the end.

Aug. 31st, 2009

Last night, not too long after I wrote my last post, a drill sergeant made us take every item out of our locker and move it downstairs in 15 minutes and have it layed out Every person’s things have to be in the exact same place. After we accomplished our task, we had to gather our things and take it 100 yards away and do the same thing. While doing this, we had weapons guards to watch our weapons, but unfortunately they both decided it would be okay to take a shit at the same time. The drill sergeant who was “punishing” us walked into our bay and saw that nobody was guarding our weapons. Awesome.

We see 50 soldiers running to the PT field with E-tools (tiny shovels) and numerous 5 gallon jugs of water, and of course all 54 of our weapons. They were instructed to dig a giant hole, throw our weapons in, and cover them and pour water all over. Long story short, we had 30 minutes to take our shit back up to our bay, put it back perfectly in our locker, and dig up our weapons. We made the two guys who screwed us over clean all of our weapons, lol they got maybe two hours of sleep. We love to play fun games like that in our free time…FML. Drill sergeants aren’t fun to be around when they are bored.

So..we are doing MMA combatives right now. I have little interest in this but whatever, we have to learn it. I just found out that we are going to have to go up against our Drill Sergeants in a few days! The one our platoon is fighting is freaking huge! We have to fight him standing, and there are a few rules. Rule one, we can not swing and hit him. Rule two, we have to get him in four holds before we pass. We can only block his Haymaker blows to our face. Anyone else beside me think this does not sound like fun? Honestly! My idea of a good time is not getting my shit rocked over and over again by my drill sergeant. Lol. Awesome.

Friday we have a ten mile ruck march and tomorrow I have my fifth PT test. In order to go on family day, we have to pass this test. I was thinking how funny it would be to twist my ankle and m iss family day.. lol. God, I would be so mad, Ha Ha! I’ll pass my test reguardless though, it’s too easy.

Alright its bed time. I wasn’t paying attention to the time. Night people.

Aug. 30th, 2009

Today is another lazy Sunday, my favorite day of the week. I’m laying on my bed right now, comfortable as Hell, and I thought I’d write you all again. Last night I had the opportunity to use my cell phone for an hour, and it was fabulous! (That word isn’t gay when I say it, I’m bringing it back!) I got a chance to talk to my Dad, Mom, Sister, and a few close friends, and it was really nice hearing them. Most of my friends are back at school right now, and it feels really weird not being there with them. I mss all of them and I wish I were there with them right now to complain about how much school sucks lol. I like being in the Army, don’t get me wrong but having to leave friends and a certain way of life behind isn’t easy. Days like today make being away from everyone hard because we have so much down time to sit and deal with our thoughts. I got to hear my three year old niece Kelsey ask me last night on the phone, “Do you like my drawings Uncle Mike?” I don’t know exactly what it was but it made me tear up a bit. She is getting so big, and I hate that I am not there to see most of it. Regardless though, it was really nice to hear her little voice and I can’t wait to spoil her when I see her on family day. I am happy with all of my decisions that I’ve made so far with joining the army, but the sad part is that most good things always seem to come with sacrifices. I don’t like how I have to sacrifice my family and friends for my job, but I suppose that it will become more bearable as time goes on, as do most things.

I think my problem is that I just want to be out of this hell hole and onward with my career. They have us so closed off from the world, its ridiculous. I would be content with my cell phone and computer, but then again this is basic training… So…

I think I’m over being sick again. Thank God I’ve been horribly sick twice now during basic training and still have not gone to sick call. I believe it will take a broken leg to send me there, anything short and I’m not going. I’ll tell you where I will be going though, Germany. I don’t think too many people are as excited as I am though. I am still trying to find out if I will have some time off between Basic Training and when I leave for German y. I can’t seem to get a straight answer out of anybody and it is pissing me off. I’d at least like the chance to get my affairs in order and gather my things before I am swept off across seas.

I can’t seem to concentrate on this letter to keep writing. I am boring myself almost, does that ever happen to you? I’m going to go lay down between my locker now and try to get some sleep. I’m filling in for the Assistant Platoon guide today so hopefully nothing will go wrong and I won’t get woken up. I love you guys.
-PFC Zaleuke

August 28th, 2009

This Georgia weather is a killer. It varys so much, it is so unpredictable. So, as fate would have it, I'm sick again. Everybody around me is sick, and with them all coughing all over me at night, ic an see how it would only be a matter or time I suppose.

Thursday, we got to the field and spent the day bounding with partners. It is where one person will advance on a target, get set, and cover his partner while he advances as ell. You have to stay parallel to each other to ensure we dont shoot and kill one another (in training only). It was a hot day but thankfully I got chosen for Ammo detail, so before and after I shot, me and a few of the other guys spent most of the day out in the sun and in the ammo shack loading magazines. I love days like that. I wasn't around too many drill sergeants and I got to spend the day shooting the shit with my friends.

After the day was over, me and 8 other guys had to stay at the range for clean up duty while the rest of hte company moved out to the camp site a mile away. Usually detail squads will get to hitch a ride on the deuce (short for Deuce and a half, which is a flat bed truck with cover used to transport equipment and soldiers from time to time) and we get to skip out on the walking. Now, of course, a mile ruck is pure cake but if I dont have to do it, I'm not going to complain lol. My buddy Salazar (who is now PG) said, "We can walk drill sergeant, its no big deal". I of course gave him an evil look but accepted it. So, drill sergeant got into his jeep and drove off while one of the more "adventurous" drill sergeants told us to get on our rucks and prepare to head out. He also said, "Make sure your shit is tight and secure beause we will be running there". For those of you that know me probably can recognize my facial expression as I thought, "What!?" So...we didn't just run to the camp site, we spritned there...in full kit. Lol, Salazar and I were the only two that did not fall out and kept pace with the Drill Sergeant. The others eventually made it there. As we were running, I glanced over at Salazar and mocked him by saying, "We can walk Drill Sergeant, its no big deal", in a severely sarcastic tone. Lol, it sucked but it was nice to once again be one of the few who did not quit and made it.

We settled for the night, and did some cool trianing with our Drill Sergeant until about 9:30 pm. He told us to go to bed, and as we began to head into the woods to our Apex, we all felt that single drop of rain. That single drop turned into a complete monsoon. It had been clear all day, and literally the minute we were allowed to go to bed it starts to pour. It rained form 9:30 pm until 10:00am so all throughou the night, all we could do was sit on the ground with our ponchos and wait for the 4:00am wake up call. I forgot to mention that my friend Thomas also got chosen to be the 3rd squad leader, so he and I, along with the other two squad leaders and PG at in the middle of the Apex in a huddle and laughed at how much life sucked. We were all soaking wet and our Patrol base was flooded in six inches of water so our ruck sacks and weapons were submerged. Embrace the suck, right?

We finally were woken up early, not that we were sleeping anyways to head back to the range where we waited until 9:30 for the busses to bring us home. That hot shower and warm bed felt so damn good, not that I got to lay in bed or anything, but I imagine it would have felt nice if I would have been allowed to lay down lol.

That's it for tonight, I'm going on 48 hours of no sleep, so I'm going to bed now. They are letting us sleep in until 6:30 tomorrow. I love how that is considered sleeping in now to me lol. FML.

-PFC Zaleuke