#124 - Back at the barracks

I am on a fire guard shift with Newman. I just finished cleaning toilets... such fun! The DS came upstairs during the previous shift and tossed the contents of a locker that wasn't secure. I don't mean to be accused of schadenfreude (taking pleasure in the misfortune of others), but I'm glad it wasn't mine!

Yesterday we spent much of the day cleaning and turning in various pieces of equipment, including wet weather gear, the rucksack, pistol belt, suspenders, ammo pouches, first aid pouch, canteens and covers, PT mat, and kevlar. We then sat in a classroom cleaning our weapons while watching the movie "Jarhead". Sadly, there was a lot in the movie that I could identify with.

They had promised us a "good breakfast" after Victory Forge but the only thing different was that omelets were offered at the DFAC.

Lunch was our "pizza party" outside the company. I gave away 2/3 of my pizza and soda, but ate the two candy bars offered. Some people pigged out so much that they had to pass on supper later on.

After dinner, we sat in another classroom and watched "We Were Soldiers". Well, at least I saw about 1/2 of the movie. It was pretty good, but I was zonking out, since I'm still sleep-deprived from our week in the field, so I went upstairs. I tried to catch a nap before "toe the line" (our nightly accountability) but as usual, the females upstairs were too loud.

My fire guard shift is nearly over - thank God I can go to bed for a few hours. I really need the sleep.

...

It is 1:24pm, after lunch, and I am on weapons guard duty. One of the girls from my platoon, Manacles, was mad at me for not giving up my shift to her on demand. Tough bananas. This is my letter-writing time.

In these last few days before graduation, people are really going at one another's throats... in some cases, literally. The gloves are coming off! There is a 17-year old kid named Bouchard in my platoon that was choked by a big guy in the platoon. Poor guy. The Walmart rangers have also been up to no good, so we have lost our phone privileges today. Damn! I had wanted to call my husband to solidify our plans for family day and graduation.

It has been an uneventful Sunday here. I did laundry this morning, and spent some quality time cleaning my locker, and throwing out a lot of stuff I don't want to bring to AIT. I cleaned my boots and prepared my ACUs for family day (apparently we are wearing ACUs for family day, and Class As for graduation).