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!!
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