Sorry for the Delay!

Sorry everyone!! I was on vacation in Disney World for Thanksgiving so I haven't been here to update! There really wasn't much to update until the day before I left anyway when I got letters, and then I talked to her on Thanksgiving- maybe some of you did too?! Anyway, from her first letter, I could tell that she was down- She said that she had started off with a good outing at the range, and breakfast was good, but then the day got worse. The drill sergeants got all of the trainees together and informed them that the Battalion Commander had gone through the bays (the living/sleeping area- picture below) and that they were dirty and some people had left their wall lockers unlocked. This is a huge no-no, and the drill sergeants got into trouble, which was promptly passed down to the soldiers in training of course!! They had to clean from about 5-9 then had fireguard- which is really just a way of saying they had to stay awake. They finally got to go to bed but then were up at 3 to clean again for an inspection!! Morale is apparently low throughout the company, they are all being yelled at for the sins of a few- I reminded Katie about that saying! She will be fine- she wasn't expecting to have sunshine and roses for the whole 10 weeks!!




I talked to her on Thanksgiving and she was definitely feeling better! They had a nice meal, and were able to use their phones for awhile, so that was nice for her!! She had passed her pt test, and improved her run time, so she was very happy about that! She has been put in charge of her platoon- she says it is a lot like her old job!! The one thing she does not like about it is that she has to call cadences. Cadences are the little sing-songy things that the soldiers sing while they run- you have seen or heard them on tv- she says she know some because the drill sergeants use them, but not many- I may send her a book of them so she can change it up!!


These are the bays- pretty much Katie spends any free time she has here- seems dull and boring huh?! She says that the way they teach things in basic training is basically by word of mouth! They will tell one or two people something and then just expect the entire group to know what they are talking about! She is living in fear that she will be in a certain position when they are practicing marching drills and a certain command will be called because she has no idea how to "Counter Column MArch (Turn a formation around) !

I am going to include an observation that I have made here- she is definitely starting to talk like a soldier! On one of her letters she wrote " Chicken Fajita MRE's are a NO-GO ( an Army term for unacceptable!) and she also wrote "get back at you later!" I am going to end this update with some "Basic Training Haiku" that she wrote- only Katie!!

Haiku #1
Wake up 4 AM
Front leaning rest position
Toes on line then bed

Haiku #2
MRE's are good
The DFAC is really good
Hot A's are not good note- DFAC is Dining Facility or chow hall. Hot A's are meals that are brought to them and they add hot water.

Haiku #3
Ready Exercise
Prone row 8 count pushups and
climbing drills too!

I am not including the next one because it is mostly made up of soldier-like words instead of Katie-like words!! Anyway, hope you enjoyed this update- When I talked to her on Thursday she said she had another long letter ready to be sent- she was just waiting for them to mail it, so look for another update soon! Take care everyone and Merry Christmas!!

Now we have some time with our phones! So great to talk to everyone I love!

Thanksgiving Basic Training style: great feast served by drill sergeants in dress blues! Had pumpkin pie and everything! Delicious!

No Pictures, but an update!

Unfortunately there are no new pictures of KT, but last weekend I did get two more letters form her- on one day!! Guess the drill sergeants decided to send it all off! Anyway, in this update I will talk about BRM (Basic Rifle Marksmanship), KT had some trials there! Also I will talk about the obstacle course, the first APFT, a possible maiming waiting to happen, a little bit about MRE's, Combatives, and a life long dream being fulfilled for KT!! Sounds exciting right? Let's get started then!!

BRM

SO the first day of BRM was a little rough for KT. They started out at a mock range where they were practicing positioning for a few hours. They then moved into what KT called "Disney Quest Army Style!" (Disney Quest is at Disney World and is a huge building filled with video games, Virtual Reality games etc.) Anyway she said there was only one game here, target shooting with laser M16s. They had to group 0's, I am not entirely sure what that means as I have never really cared to ask my husband about that stuff, and he is out of town right now, but if you all want more information I can update when he gets home at the end of the week and let you know! Anyway she says " When I tell you that I was an EPIC fail, I mean it, my shots were not even on the sheet!" She said she was discouraged and almost actually started crying!! I am sure it was very frustrating for her, But she said her DS was encouraging, and tried a couple of things to help her, and finally she was able to qualify!! Exciting!! SO once she qualified, she felt like she knew what was going on, an it was a little easier. 300 meters she still has problems with, but feeling more confident that practice will improve that! A few days later they went to the actual range, and after some difficulties int he morning she was able to "zero her weapon" She says " which I am pretty sure means I could kill someone from 300 meters away as long as they weren't moving and I had a VERY long time!!"

Obstacle Course

The following day they they did there first run through of the Obstacle Course "Fit To WIN!" The DS said "she's actually in pretty good shape" when he was looking over al of the females to choose who to compete. She was proud of that comment, but didn't get chosen to compete that day, and her platoon lost, she thinks she could have won it!! She did run the course though, and says that her strength is cargo nets!! Here she once again mentions that the Drill Sergeants are bi-polar, yelling and screaming one minute, and encouraging the next! She discusses that in every letter so far!! Also, if you send her a letter, include the phrases "Scouts Out" and "HOOAH" I told you before about HOOAH, and Scout's out is the battalion motto. She says she is VERY sick of those phrases and if she never hears them again it will be too soon!! Scouts out she probably won't hear after basic, but HOOAH will follow her for her whole ARMY career!!

APFT

So for her first APFT (Army Physical Fitness Test) they had to be up T 03:30 and be in formation by 04:15. She says "Why? Why does the PT test have to be SO early?" My husband has been asking the same thing for 14 years!! this PT test was just a diagnostic, to see where they are at and what they need to work on- KT was able to do 5 qualifying pushups in 2 minutes, so she has to be able to do 10 I think by the end of basic. I think she will do it with all the practice they will get!! Her run time was good and qualified and I think that her sit-ups also qualified, so the only issue is the push-ups!
She said her and another girl were talking and they said that they live for chow!! She does talk about food a lot in her letters! I have a bag of goodies to take when I pick her up for Christmas! I told you about the Drill Sergeants taking the sweets from the MRE's, KT said she actually likes the MRE's they taste pretty good she says, even without the candy. She said some of the guys are "stashing" the candy and so the girls are preparing for a big "corrective training" session, which is teh term they use for what used to be known in my husbands time as "smoking" This is basically a lot of PT! She says the hotly contested items from the MRE's are peanut butter, pound cake (any variety) and the fudge brownie or Ranger bar because it is covered in chocolate!

A Maiming?

So I guess I misread that first letter when I wrote that Frankenburg, KT's bunk mate is her battle buddy. SHe didn't give me a name in this letter, but she says her battle buddy is "one of the slowest most lackadaisical people in the platoon and I swear she is deaf or partially deaf!" There may or may not have been some harsh words or threats in this section of the letter, but I cannot be put in a position to implicate my sister should anything happen!! ;)

Combatives

Combatives began in a wrestling gym where they were shown some positions and put into groups to "grapple" with each other KT said she was never chosen to actually do that for the group. Then KT's favorite part- the pugil sticks!! I can just see her fighting with those thing! (did I spell it right?) Anyway, KT was selected to represent her platoon in the competition!! She was chosen as the heavyweight female!! She said "Uh Thanks, LOL!!" she said the welter weight was only 5 pounds lighter, so the weight classes may have been a bit off!! Her competitor from first platoon was " at least 20lbs heavier than me and beastly! She beat me, but I represented well. After that competition, it was time for KT to live a life long dream- What was it??

Living a Dream

So after the competition it was chow time. This is where KT was able to do something she has wanted to for a long time- She was a cafeteria lady!! If you know KT, you know that I am not being funny or sarcastic- she really has wanted to do it, we used to play cafeteria as children ( a secret shame!) Anyway, she was in charge of chicken and gravy! I wonder if she used her power to give smaller portions to those she doesn't like (Battle buddy?!)

So I hope you all enjoyed the update, Kt called again on Monday for a few minutes, we talked mostly about Christmas time! She said more letters were waiting to be mailed, so I will update when I get more info!! Take care until then!!

Bonanza of a week on the KT front!!

Hey everyone!! It has been a long time since I have had anything to report- but the good news is that this weekend I had a long letter from Katie, and a Phone call!! So I have a little update for all of you who love her!!

A little background about basic- it is broken up into three phases- Red, White, and Blue appropriately enough! Her first few weeks were Red phase, they do a lot of classroom training, military rules and regulations, etiquette all that stuff. Drill and ceremony, etc. They also went through the gas chamber where they all got a taste of a noxious gas- she said she DID vomit!! If you have been to the facebook pages you saw some of the pictures of them coming out-snot dripping from their noses etc- YUCK!! There were no such unflattering pictures of KT!! I think the only one there was of her was taken right before they entered- shew is second in line- looks pretty calm huh?!This is how she described the gas chamber- " Today was the gas chamber which was horrifying beforehand, but kind of awesome during, and totally hysterical after! They build it up so much for everyone and tell you that you only have 9 seconds to get the mask on....Then it was SO bizarre to be behind the gas mask then take it off and breathe in noxious fumes!"


The letter I received on Friday was a long one, she wrote it over the course of a couple of days, and she is in high spirits and is actually even enjoying it in a strange way!!
She describes it as "having a personal trainer bust your ass for 15 hours a day!" And she is proud that she is not the one in the worst shape!! (I was never really worried about that, she did a lot of work to prepare herself for this!!) A big Army word is HOOAH- soldiers use this to express agreement, enthusiasm, and many other emotions. Katie noted that she HATES that word!! I think this 9 weeks will seem very long for her in that case!!

Katie has the third best mile time among all the girls in her platoon, so she is proud of that accomplishment as well!Katie went into Basic pretty much knowing what to expect, she is taking it all in stride- she said that if you can ignore the people screaming at you, not let it get to you it is fine. We all know that she is used to listening to whiny teenagers, so I am sure she is schooled in the art of "tuning out!"She also said she is sweaty and gross all of the time, they are going everyday all day- up at 4, not stopping til about 9 I guess.

In her letter she said the girls in her platoon are all "mad chill" in the words of one of her bunk mates! She isthe oldest, but there is also a 29 year old who will also be going to Monterey with Katie so that's cool!The First Sergeant in the Company likes to make fun of her because of her age, but that is not getting to her at all!!

Katie's bunk mate is Frankenberg (name change) Katie asked if it was weird that she didn't really know anyone's first name!! I said no get used to it!! But if she starts calling me Saccone we might have a problem!!!:) Anyway, Frankenberg is also Katie's "battle buddy" and she is nice, and more mature than most there because she has raised her younger brother and sister for a couple of years. Seems like a good fit for KT I think! A "battle buddy" is the person you do everything with- you can't go anywhere alone, and they stick together most pf the time, so it is good if you get along!!

IN the letter she also mentions that at lights out there is a lot of whining, grumbling, complaining etc. a lot of the girls are young, pampered spoiled, and my not have been prepared for what they are now getting!! I think being older and wiser is helping Katie!!

They received their weapons a couple of days after arriving in Basic, but had not fired them yet as of the letter I got. I believe last week was BRM which is when they go to the ranges and qualify with those.

Meal times are interesting, they are allowed 10 minutes to eat, but Katie said she never feels rushed, and she always eats a lot!! I am sure it is because she is using so much energy and calories throughout the day!! She says the food isn't BAD, but it may just be that she is so hungry, or eating so fast she doesn't notice!! There is no coffee, sweets, anything like that so she said when I come pick her up for Christmas to bring potato chips and chocolate!! She also mentioned that she hasn't had any side effects from the no smoking or coffee-maybe her body is so pre-occupied with the other stuff she is putting it through it doesn't care!! When she called she said that the MRE's (meals ready to eat) that they eat when they are int he field all have little desserts like a snack size candy bar or something, but they have to put all of those in a bucket and the drill sergeants walk around eating that stuff!!!

AT the end of the letter she just restates that she is still having a good time, and then she speculates in whether one of her Drill Sergeants has a Napoleon complex!!;) She says if you have to keep saying out loud how smart you are she has to wonder who you're trying to convince!! Then she says that she loves the letters, so anyone who has been writing- Please keep it up!!

On Saturday she was allowed her phone for about 20 minutes!! She called me and she sounds happy. I could tell that she is happy with her decision and is not having regrets, she is excited about where she is going!! We talked for a little bit about what was going on, but she mostly wanted to make sure I was coming to get her for Christmas (she is EXCITED!!) and ask me to bring some candy when I come!! It was really great to hear from her, and to know that she is doing well. She also said that the Drill Sergeants are not sending their mail out right now, so there may be a letter on it's way to you soon but it will just depend on when they actually get it to the mail. She is receiving her mail however, so keep sending them- she looks forward to mail call everyday! I remember my husband saying the same thing- he got through the days to get to mail call at night!!

I hope this update satisfies some curiosities, and when I know more I will definitely post another update! Any questions email me or get in touch on facebook!! Hopefully I'll have more soon!!