I did not get to write anything yesterday, as my schedule was quite hectic. It was partially a good day for me, and partially a bad one. The bad part first... I was unable to qualify throwing grenades, despite my best effort. Unfortunately I cannot lob the grenade far enough. We are not going to be throwing the live grenades until Thursday, so at least I have some time to practice my technique.
Onto the good... We had a diagnostic PT test yesterday (the test for record is in another week or so). I exceeded my expectations on how well I would do on the pushups, situps and the run. Not only did I get the number I needed to do to pass, but I met the higher standard that will be required of us in AIT. For the two mile run, I had 23:06 to complete it, and finished in 19:05 with 4 minutes to spare. Running two miles did suck, but I really pushed myself, and only walked for a few seconds at the end. There were many times when I wanted to stop, but I continued to think of my husband, and the fact that I needed to pass this test if I wanted to see him at graduation in a few weeks.
We are in the midst of preparing for White STX. I think my battle buddy White is mad at me. For the upcoming bivouac, the DS has allowed us to choose our own battle buddies for who we want to share a tent with. Everyone is choosing someone other than their assigned battle buddy. Three girls asked to be my battle buddy, and I decided to go with Jackman, since she is one of the few that I get along with here. Jackman's battle buddy wasn't happy about being stuck with someone like my own battle buddy, so we ended up deciding upon having a three-person hooch (we have an odd number of women in the platoon since Gallagos left). It looks like Bucking and White will end up sharing a hooch... hopefully they will get along ok.
On Sundays, in between bouts of "barracks maintenance", I usually try to spend some time visiting with my friends from the other platoons. Since I am stuck with my platoon 24/7, it usually makes sense to strike out and seek the company of others during our down time. I think everyone needs a break from the people they spend all their time with. It is possible to spend too much time with your platoon! It believe it is part of the reason there have been so many fights lately... people are just getting sick of having to deal with each other for weeks on end. There is also a theory that folks are so grumpy because they have gone without sex for so long... and cigarettes... and alcohol... and whatever they are really missing.
I'm still hoping for a chance to use the payphone before we strike out for White STX. The Senior Drill Sergeant decided against rolling up our phase banner (and taking away out privileges). I really think that the DSs are beginning to ease up on us a little bit, as it gets closer to graduation. One of our Drill Sergeants is coming back today, however, and things may change for the worse. He has been gone for two weeks to a Sergeant's school. We suspect that he may be something of a hardass when he returns, especially when he sees that the platoon is less disciplined than before he left. People here cannot seem to get their act together, even after all this time... it's amazing.
Ah, the barracks are getting noisy again as the church-goers return. Imagine ninety-nine females on one floor, most of them under the age of 22. The noise can be deafening. Many depart for Catholic mass around 7am, then the vast majority go to Protestant services at 9, and it is wonderfully quiet for a few hours. I look forward to that near silence every Sunday morning, though the pleasure is fleeting.
I was actually able to get in a little meditation and nap time in this morning. There are a few vacant bedrooms at the end of the hallway which serve this purpose very well. If the opportunity permits, I may also try to sneak in a short nap again later. I'm still not caught up on sleep. I will certainly need it, as we are beginning with a 7 mile road march on Monday morning, and it doesn't sound like we're going to get much sleep during White STX. One of the things we may have to do is pull "full perimeter security", which entails lying on the ground in the prone position with your M-16 propped up on your rucksack, in battle buddy teams, all night, fighting sleep and waiting for an "attack". I'm sure the company commander will be in the woods with his night vision goggles on, looking for anyone who is sleeping at their hasty fighting position. There is also "50% security", where one member of the battle buddy team sleeps for an hour, while the other person guards, and then they keep switching.
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