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!!