#84 - Day 24 of BCT

I am once again on fireguard duty, and have a little time to write. I am surprised to note that we've been at basic training now for over 3 weeks, and at Fort Jackson for 32 days now.

For a fire guard shift, you must change into the full ACU uniform from your PTs, only to sit in the hallway for an hour. Then you have to change back into your PTs to sleep. In my opinion, it's a real pain in the ass. We usually have a few cleaning duties assigned to each shift. I am pretty tired this morning. We had more 4:00am wakeups this week than ever before to accomodate our schedule at the range. We usually are rushed out into the field in the dark, only to lay in the prone position for an hour or two "pulling guard duty" and waiting for the sun to come up so we could begin to shoot. ;p

This morning we are scheduled to have PT and then to go back out to the range. I am (relatively) happy because I know the weekend is just around the corner. Saturdays are still a full day of training, but on Sunday we get to sleep in until the relativately late time of 6:30am. Other than a few details, we have some free time to ourselves. The first few days of next week will also be spent out at the range. At some point soon we will also be having "White STX", a 3-day bivouac. I have heard that we will likely be gassed during "Blue STX", aka Victory Forge, the final 7-day bivouac, though I'm not sure if it will happen during the upcoming one.

Some of the training here has changed to reflect the war on terrorism. One of the things we've been taught is how to set up a checkpoint for vehicle traffic. A lot of the other items being taught always come with "You'll need to know how to do this once you go to Iraq". Speaking of the sandbox, I haven't heard anything else about my Reserve unit and whether or not there are plans to deploy.

The days are thankfully beginning to pass more quickly now. This routine is becoming "normal". Everyone I've talked to has found that their dreams at night only revolve around other people in BCT and no longer have to do with anything else. It has been the same for me, though I remember fewer dreams than I did before joining the Army. Usually waking up in the morning is a rushed, stressful time, a moment of hopping right up and grabbing my flashlight, and quickly grabbing my clothes to get dressed. I miss the lazy mornings at home waking up in bed with my husband. I can't dwell on thoughts of home too much, as it makes me sad. I can only focus on being here for the time being.

...

It is late morning, and I've finished shooting at the range. I'm still having a difficult time hitting targets that are farther away. We wil still have a few more days on the range before we have to qualify with the M-16, but I am beginning to worry about my ability to do so. We had to fire from the prone supported position (lying down with the rifle propped up on sandbags), the prone unsupported position (not having the sandbags, and being propped up solely on your elbows), and the kneeling position. Targets were at 75m, 150-200m and 300m. I hit almost all of the close targets, a few in between, and none of the 300m ones. I'm beginning to get frustrated. Of course there is always the fear that if I fail to qualify I might get "recycled" (in other words, put back with another company to repeat the process - everyone's worst nightmare in basic training). I'm hoping my technique will improve over the next few days.

Right now my platoon is sitting in the bleachers waiting for others to finish firing. The platoon members are at one another's throats. People are bitching and cursing at one another. I think they are on the verge of drawing negative attention to themselves. The last thing you want is for the Drill Sergeants to see everyone fighting. There is so much drama and infighting here that someone remarked it is like a bad version of a reality TV show like "The Real World".

It's almost lunchtime, so I have something to look forward to. Not sure if we are eating A-rats or MREs in the field. It is amazing how you come to appreciate the little things, like a (relatively) unhurried meal.

The people next to me are practicing "The Army Song". We were smoked last night for not knowing it. At least their voices are drowning out some of the folks who are arguing. I took out my earplugs when I came off the range, but I might just put them back in again!