Another long letter :)

OK, here's another letter I received after Joel had graduated from basic. He sent it from where he is now, but he mostly writes about his last week at basic training.

May 10th
"Last time I wrote about Tuesday and being at the US weapons range with nothing to do. On Wednesday morning we had our final Physical Fitness test. I did OK, enough to get by with the necessary 50% rate on my push ups, 65% on my sit ups, and like 85% on my 2 mile run (14:08). So I was glad to get that over with. So then we went back to the barracks and started cleaning our weapons. Oh yeah, because apparently the females did better than the males on the PF test, I was fired as platoon guide and a 41 year old female was put in as platoon guide. Their standards are lower than ours and so that is why the males didn't fare as well. The rest of Wednesday we just sat and cleaned weapons and our gear.

"On Thursday we cleaned our gear, our weapons and the barracks, getting ready for our IN4 inspection (IN4 stands for Inspection 4). That is where we all stand by our bunks and lockers in our Class A uniforms (I must say I look pretty darn spiffy) and our selves, our lockers, and our rooms get inspected by the Battalion Commander, Company Commander and the Battalion Sergeant Major. So we had to study a 25 question quiz in order to be ready for the inspection because they (the top brass) ask questions as they inspect us. I already knew everything because we have learned it over our nine weeks here at BCT so I wasn't worried about it. But most (95%) of my platoon didn't know very much and so they were worried about the inspection. Also, everyone likes to sleep in the barracks during the times we should e studying and so they don't know anything by their own fault.

"Friday I had to retake the PT test because my push ups score was less than 55% (it was 52%). I did good on my sit ups and 2 mile run, but they made me retake the test because of my push ups. So I did 1 more push up from Wednesday's test and I was kinda bummed that I only did 1 more. I thought I could do more than that. Oh well. I have done all I need to do to graduate and so I am just passing the time till graduation day. Later on Friday, we had our inspection. It went better than I thought it was going to go. I passed with flying colors and apparently I either impressed the drill sergeants or the Sergeant Major cause I was invited to represent the 4th platoon before the IN4 board. It was the exact same thing as the CG and AUSA board I participated in a few weeks ago. Except instead of the drill sergeant being the board members it was my Company Commander, the CSM, and the BN executive officer. I wasn't sure who it was gonna be, but I wasn't expecting the Major to be in there. I was a little nervous going in, but I think I did OK. Unfortunately I wasn't taught a marching drill they asked me to do (rear march) but one guy who did ROTC in HS knew it, and so he won the IN4 award. Oh well, I was pleased with my performance and thought I did well enough to win except for that one part. It was all great preparation for when I have to go before boards for promotions. I was excited.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about a cool thing we did on Thursday night. It is called "Rights of Passage". It is when the company gathers around a bonfire and we heard motivational talks by our BN commander, BNCSM, and Company Commander. Then I got to lead the company in reciting the Soldier's Creed. I will get to do it again on graduation day. I was a little nervous, but it went well. There was quite a bit of rehearsal for a 30 minute program. But it was neat. That was something we were supposed to do a week before (last Friday night following NIC training as sort of an unofficial graduation). Following the ceremony, we got little medallions to put on our dog tags that have the seven Army values of Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity and Personal Courage (LDRSHIP). Each of the Army values was shouted out by a soldier from the company. Pvt Floyd shouted the personal courage one. They (the 7 soldiers representing the 7 Army values) carried tiki torches to a spot forming a half circle around the bonfire. It was kinda cool.

"Saturday we turned our weapons in and got ready for our march to the town of Waynesville. It was a really neat march once we got past St. Robert and got into the country. The scenery was real beautiful. Then we walked down a hill and came into the town where there were people on the side of the road cheering for us. It was cool. As we were walking we were in what is called "route step" where we don't march in step with each other. We just walk normally. But as we got into Waynesville we went back to a "quick time" march step where we can sound off with a cadence (like during graduation). So we started singing cadences with a bunch of people in the streets watching and cheering and supporting us. It was awesome! I love being a soldier, not for the recognition and the thanks I always get from people, but to see the smiles on people's faces and knowing that they genuinely support their armed forces and love their country. Only in America. I thank Heavenly Father everyday for the wonderful blessing of being able to serve this great country and Him. I thank Him to know you and be so blessed to have such a wonderful and inspirational influence in my life. Back to the walk, once we got to Waynesville, I had to pee, bad, but the lines were so long and we were rushed into the chow line to eat lunch so we could hurry and get back to the barracks and do nothing. They eventually let me go as we were waiting for the bus to take us back. The rest of Saturday we just cleaned our gear to get it ready for the turn in on Monday.

"Sunday we got our weapons back and had to clean them some more. Then I went to church. After church we all sat in the training bay and cleaned our weapons. We all had to have our weapons cleaned and inspected before anyone was allowed to go to the shoppette or use the phones. So we all sat in there and when people would finish, they would help other soldiers with their weapons and it didn't take us that long to get 'em all cleaned. After that people got to use the phones and go to the shoppette.

"On Monday, we turned in our now cleaned weapons for the last time. Then we went to preview that video they showed during graduation. That was awesome to see the progression of everybody throughout the cycle. Following the video we marched back to the barracks and started cleaning the barracks. I (along with 39 other soldiers, 10 from each platoon) got to go meet with the Bde commander, Colonel Combs and discuss how our BCT cycle went. It was good to be able to let out some of our frustrations. We were also able to let them know about what went well and our successes. So we talked with her about that for a good hour or so. The rest of the company went to chow while we were in the meeting and we didn't have time to go as they called us all to get ready to turn in our gear. That meant we got MREs one last time in BCT. I ended up getting a veggie burger one that was drenched in BBQ sauce that made it taste a little better than it otherwise would have. I didn't get any good candy in it, but oh well. It took about two hours to get every one's stuff turned in and then they kicked back a few people's stuff because it wasn't cleaned properly. The sad part is that almost half of the 4th Platoon had something wrong with their stuff. Our drill sergeant told us to get our gear cleaned, but most of the guys in my platoon just slept or goofed off when they should have been cleaning. Our drill sergeants told the whole company that we would only be able to turn in our gear on Thursday during family day. It wasn't true because they let us clean our gear and turn it in the next day. So after we got our gear turned in, we went back to the barracks and cleaned there.

"On Tuesday, we cleaned the barracks in the morning and then went to graduation rehearsal in the afternoon. Oh, in the morning I waited outside to DX my ACUs (I got to trade my old ACUs in for new ones) it was cool since I didn't have to be inside cleaning.

"Wednesday we did some rehearsals in the morning and in the afternoon we did more cleaning. I got some of my stuff packed and ready to go, but not all of it.

"Then it was finally Thursday (graduation day)! Woo hoo I got to see you in the morning at graduation, what a wonderful and beautiful sight you are! It was nice to be able to just be near you.

"Soon I'll get to see you everyday. We got here late Friday night and took a cab onto post. We got processed till about 1am and then got to go to bed. It is completely different than basic, we don't have any formations (for the most part). We get up on our own in the morning and they just come by our rooms at night to tell us what uniform and time to wake up the next morning."

He is doing well but has hurt his shoulder doing combatives. Hopefully it will heal soon. This is the last letter from Joel that I will be posting since we now get to talk on the phone everyday - it's soooo nice!