The objective of this course was a fostering of teamwork and cooperation, and in this, I think it was a success. After some initial squabbling, most people seemed to eventually figure out the problems and help each other as a team. We were given several obstacles to overcome, and limited materials to work with. Several involved spanning platforms or piers with boards of varying sizes, or having to move materials or personnel from one end to another. Most of them could only been completed in one way like a puzzle which had to be figured out. One of the obstacles involved roping up someone in a seat, and transporting them across a rope to help "evacuate a casualty". Below are a few photos from the course:
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My platoon was late showing up for formation this morning, so we got a major ass-chewing. As punishment, the DSs are threatening to make us all stay awake tonight for guard duty at the bivouac site. As everyone is completely exhausted already, no one is in a good mood right now thinking about it. Here again we have mass punishment at work. It didn't matter that I woke up a half hour earlier than most people this morning, and was one of the first people downstairs. It doesn't matter - I still get the same crap. The mistakes of one are always the mistakes of everyone in BCT. In theory this is supposed to foster an environment of teamwork and camraderie, but until it "clicks", it mostly causes animosity amongst the platoon.
What bothers me is that there are still a lot of people who can't get their shit together. The Drill Sergeants will explicitly tell us what is expected of us - where we need to be, what time we need to be there, what uniform we need to be wearing, and what gear we need to have with us. Nevertheless, there are always several people who forget something, and it's usually the same folks all the time. The Drill Sergeants have inferred that today's military is suffering because of the lower standards for recruits. I don't know if this is where the problem stems, but I have noticed a big difference in the level of discipline between my first and second experiences in basic training.
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I have a few minutes to write. It is almost dinner time, and MREs again since we are in the field. The road march to the bivouac site at RED STX kicked my ass. The distance wasn't very long - 2 or 3 miles, but we were carrying what was probably 60 lbs. of gear, and the pace was very fast. I almost fell out at the end, but I held up in spite of the difficulty. We are going to be doing a lot more marching, so hopefully I will be ready for the back-to-back ~6.8 and 9+ mile road marches we'll have later on.
We have our hooches set up in the field, and ready for bed later on. Each battle buddy contributes their poncho, which is snapped to the other person's poncho. Four stakes, some 550 cord, and six tent poles later, a primitive shelter is erected. The hooches have no floors nor mosquito netting and are far from weather-proof, but it's all we have. It is supposed to rain tonight, of course. We're just hoping for light rain at this point - otherwise this could be a very miserable experience. The cadre here are sleeping in modern tents with modern equipment such as battery-powered lanterns, radios, etc. I know after this kind of bivouac we will all appreciate such modern luxuries some day.
I had a dispute earlier with White over how to properly erect a tent. I've been camping for almost twice as long as this girl has been alive, and she was trying to order me around. She actually said that the tent should be loose at the bottom with the ponchos lying on the ground "to keep the ants out". Oh boy. I finally had to walk away from her before I snapped. I told White that she was in charge of the tent erection. I have been trying to work on improving our relationship, but sometimes it is really difficult.
Well, almost time to go. Dinner is almost over, and the sun is beginning to set. The temps are dropping quickly.
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