We are marching to the FOB this morning. I am still surprised that this type of field exercise has been tacked onto the beginning of AIT, even before we have started our MOS classes.
I was able to call my husband the last few nights on my cell phone. What a change from basic training! We're still not sure if we are able to keep the cell phones (refer to aforementioned comment about the DSs not telling us anything), so my phone calls have been very brief.
I have been tentatively assigned to 1st platoon. We are going out to the FOB with two Drill Sergeants from our company. I'm not sure if either of them are actually going to be my platoon's DSs. One of them (DS Mitchell) seems pretty nice, but the other guy seems mean. Yesterday he was playing some major head games and trying to mess with people. I guess that I'm just tired with dealing with that kind of crap. 10 1/2 weeks of it already was enough. I guess I had hoped that AIT would be a little different. We'll see how it goes, I guess...
It is now 9:15am and we're back at our company, still waiting for the rifles to be issued. We've been up since 4:45am just to wait around... sigh. I am still pretty tired. I had about 1/2 a cup of coffee this morning at breakfast. I didn't want to drink any more, as I knew we were supposed to have some sort of road march. Of course we have no idea how long it will be, or when it is supposed to start. If I knew this, I would have had more coffee! The lack of information we receive is continually a source of frustration. At least the classes in AIT will hopefully be better. I would guess that we will be following a structured syllabus and adhering to a schedule. What I don't know yet is when the classes are due to begin...?
It is 2:39pm, and I am now out at the FOB site. Apparently our battalion has its own FOB. The march out here wasn't long, but it was a bitch. They mostly had us running (in boots). I learned that the foot I injured in BCT during the last road march has not healed, and was further aggravated by what we were doing today. The Drill Sergeants are making me go to sick call for it since they saw me limping. That is a big different from basic. I was told that I had to go! It is hurting me quite a bit.
The FOB site is actually pretty cool. It appears to be more realistic than anything we saw at basic training. It looks like all the photos I've seen of compounds in Iraq. There is a covered hangar-type area with bleachers where we have been eating MREs, loading ammo, and having classes. There are many big Army tents, large and small, new and old, as well as several small modular buildings.The complex is surrounding by fencing and ringed with guard towers. We will be taking classes, performing lots of guard duty, and completing various missions.
It is now 5:13pm. I just found out that this FOB is only going to last for one week - until next Wednesday - instead of the 10 days we had thought it would be. Great! I didn't bring my cell phone along, and know I will miss talking to my husband, so the shorter, the better. They are also going to be bringing us in at some point for showers. That is a difference from Blue STX, where we went unshowered for 7 days in a row.
We are set up in a tent with cots and a small heater. I don't think it will quite get cold enough to crank up. The females and males are segregated, about 2-3 tents of each gender. For the first time in my Army experience, I have received some sort of benefit (other than pay) for my rank of Specialist. There is a Sgt. in my tent (a MOS-T, or someone who is reclassing from one MOS to another), and she made sure that we received placement in the tent by rank. So I am close to the door and the heater, and not cramped up like the other girls who are nearly on top of one another.
We are supposed to be having some sort of classes in tents with computers. I already have learned a little about the other 25-series MOSs and what they do. I won't be able to write a lot about my specific MOS training on this blog lest I inadvertantly give out some information that I'm not supposed to... not that I think terrorists are perusing my blog for intel or anything.
We just finished chow... A-rats, not too bad. I saved two packs of instant coffee from the MREs, for whatever guard duty I may be tasked with tonight. Hopefully I can get some other folks here to save me any instant coffee they're not drinking.
The platoon that I was assigned to at my company has been split up here at the FOB. We are all mixed together with people from the other companies in my battalion, including the MOS-Ts, who are part of Alpha Company. Most of the MOS-Ts rank from SPC to SGT, though there are a few PFCs and SSGs. The MOS-Ts are generally assigned to squad and platoon leader positions. The cadre said that we should be able to learn a lot from these folks who have already spent years in the Army. Many of them have also been deployed and have seen combat.
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