Letters From Basic Training

Tuesday, 26th March 2002

2006-04-25T20:33:00.000-07:00

Sorry it took so long. I sorta got put into limbo for a week. Monday night I came down with a nasty virus. The doctors never could figure what exactly was wrong. Wednesday I was admitted to the infirmiry and didn't get out till Sunday afternoon. All is well now tho and I'm back to normal. I can finally say I finally have had an IV. I felt all cool. ha ha

They ran a bunch of tests from mono to hepatitis, but nothing came back positive. I felt like hell, but it cleared up just as suddenly as it came. I've missed a lot of important stuff, so you might not hear from me for a few days or so while I play catch up.

I found out I do have a stress fracture, however I'm on new profile that allows me to do some exercise and I no longer need crutches. The doctor said that the stress fracture was healing good and I should be back to full speed in a week. Not much else to tell. On the 8th of April we have our 12 week PT test, however I may be waivered out of that one. After that we go into the field for a week, then it's basically over. We're on the last stretch now, it's all downhill now.

(This is the last written correspondence I received from Shoegazer. After graduation from basic training he left for Budingen, Germany to serve with the 1/1 CAV 1st Armored Division. Upon arriving in Germany it was determined that his stress fractures had not healed properly and he spent 6 weeks in a full cast. He continued in combat training and left for Baghdad on April 28, 2003. He returned home in July 2004. He is now stop lossed until March 2007 and is in Taji, Iraq with the 4th Infantry Division. His letters from Baghdad can be read at: http://letterfrombaghdad.blogspot.com/)

Thank you for reading.)

01 March 2002

2006-04-14T16:07:00.000-07:00

Omg! I've got entirely too much time on my hands. I'm sooo bored it's almost numbing. I actually miss rolling around in the mud, going to the pit to sweat. We have done most of our basic combat training now. I haven't done much of nothing the last few days.

Today I went back to the doctor about my ankle. I think everything is all fixed up now. They gave me insoles the last time and a brace today. It's still a tad sore, but I survived the 10k march last Saturday.

I was a pin cushion today. I got my last series of shots for going overseas. Hepatitis A & B, Typhoid, and Tetnus. Jeez my arm hurts like hell. It's been in the 20s with wind chill as low as 2 degrees so we haven't been doing much at all, not that we had anything to do. Our schedule over the next few weeks is almost nill. A few classes here and there, but mostly just time spent in the barracks studying shit a person with a 10 IQ could understand.

We have some simulator classes coming up. Those are fun. We go Saturday to the Patton Museum to see Armor History and learn about our heritage as "Tankers". Mostly stuff like learning how to disassemble a .50 caliber machine gun or do maintenance on the tanks 120mm breech block. The classes are short and sweet and mostly all hands on. This hands on training is especially helpful for the young un's that rode the short yellow bus to school. I swear, I could learn what they're going to teach me over the next 6 weeks in 2 days. ha ha

Guess the government has to make exceptions for all the idiots. You know equal opportunity and all.

My boring day. Wake up, do PT, go eat breakfast, go to a class (or back to barracks), eat lunch, go to a class (or back to barracks), eat dinner and do nothing but clean, shine boots, write letters, do PT or stare at the walls. As I'm writing this a few in our bay are having a push up contest. Now that's boredom at its finest. It's weird going from full blast non-stop action to hours of nothing. I guess they got us into shape so now it's time to bore us to death with "tank education".

Well not much else to tell. Oh yeah! I forgot Saturday night is "Operation Appreciation". Thank God for religion. ha ha The military preachers (chaplain) are taking people on a trip into Louisville to a church. There will be a nite service in honor of us "soldiers". Afterwards they feed us hot dogs and sodas. Oh hell, yeah! And not a damn thing our drill sergeants can do about it. hah!!

27 February 02

2006-02-28T18:08:00.000-08:00

Hey, all us guys are starting to get bored. ha ha

Everyone wanted to thank you for the news you send. People get excited now when a package comes for me. ha ha

We've been having pictures sent in so we can all laugh at each other. Look thru my boxes. One of the boxes has pictures in it. There's a few pictures I'm looking for. There's one with me in front of my airplane I flew in flight school and another one of me at work. They are both polaroids.

Also send a few pics of T and K. I should have a few of T and a few of me and K. Whatever other interesting pics I might have in there grab them too.

Being stuck in a room with a bunch of guys, you end up with nothing to talk about but our previous lives as civilians. The pictures just add a sense of reality. Send some pics of my old cars too. :)

Sunday, February 17th 2002

2006-02-17T19:09:00.000-08:00

Bah! I was one shot away from expert with the pistol. I guess sharpshooter will have to do. The only thing left to qualify on is the hand grenade. The basic training portion of our 16 weeks is coming to a close.

Have you managed to secure a motel for family day? Are there any sights worth seeing in Kentucky? Everyone is looking forward to family day. Anything to get away from Fort Knox Prison for a few days. I am really looking forward to seeing everyone, and a movie, and junk food.....Oh and a nice pint of dark Ale.

Get info on some bar and grills like Friday's. I'm gonna want a good beer and steak. I really wanted to see the movie "Blackhawk Down", but it may not be playing by then.

I feel better than ever, well some of the time. 12 lbs I've gained, whoot! I'm gonna be a tough guy soon. hehe!

Please keep sending news info!!!!

Sunday 10th February 2002

2006-02-10T20:38:00.000-08:00

Ah! Nothing better than a Sunday. The one day we get some free time. I'm not doing a damn thng this Sunday. Most of the time I helped buff the floors and do some cleaning on Sunday. Today I decided to shine my boots and write a few letters and just chill out. All the lazy asses can do something today, I'm taking the day off. The halls are filled with the sound of angst ridden teens arguing over who and how things should be cleaned. Our room is quite nice and peaceful. A few of our bunk mates are at church, it's just me, Read, and Peterson in the room. There's eleven people in our room. I'm the lucky one for I have no bunk mate. I get to use the top bunk of my bed as a table and don't have to worry about a bunk mate tossing around at night keeping me awake.

It's a nasty day today, raining but not too cold out. After lunch we go to the bayonett course. Not sure if running up 5o meters of slippy muddy hillside with a rifle and knife is going to be too much fun. I have no clue why on earth we're doing this on a Sunday, but hell I don't make the schedule.

They stuck us out in the woods all day yesterday. Land navigation training. They should rename it to walking around for hours with 50 pounds of gear on. No one got lost, so I suppose we can "navigate" now.

They're telling us we might be able to use the phone today. Maybe I'll get lucky and catch someone at home. This coming week we will be learning more stuff about the tank. We also will be starting our shooting on the 9mm Berrata hand gun. Us tankers won't carry a rifle around so we have to learn to use the hand gun.

Remember to send pictures of whatever. Cats, family, it doesn't matter. News, especially stuff related to the "terrorists". It sucks not really knowing what's going on in the world. If anyone asks I'm doing fine, bored and a little sore. If anything I've learned in the Army that's how to be patient. We probably spend 50% of our time waiting in a line, or standing in formation.

Well I'm going to try a sneak a cat nap in now. Maybe I can get someone to keep guard for a drill seargent and actually take a good nap. haha!!

Friday, February 8th 2002

2006-02-08T20:24:00.000-08:00

Ugh my legs are sore! We started doing morning PT now. We ran about 3 miles stopping several times to do sprints. The physical training isn't exactly what I would call fun, but I'm not the worst. Average. I'm doing okay so far. Pain is just weakness leaving the body.

We have been to the motor pool twice so far. We have started doing training on the tanks. There's only about 3 1/2 weeks left in "Basic Training". It's starting to get interesting. However, the restrictions are still pretty tight on us. We learned the other day how to prep the tank to start it. We also had some classes on using the night vision equipment. Today we learned how to refuel the tank and use the fire extinguisher equipment. Once we get out of "Basic Training" we will be doing more classroom stuff and less physically strenuous stuff.

Back to "basic training" tomorrow is our field day for land navigation. We've had a few classes on map reading and using a compass. Tomorrow we find out if we learned anything. They're going to stick us out in the middle of the woods with a map and compass and some grid coordinates. It's up to us to find our way out, or get lost trying. haha!!!

Overall it's been tolerable. It's not near as hard as I had imagined. In fact, it's not really hard at all. I was just out of shape.

You should have gotten some stuff in the mail about "family day". I don't know what was in it, but I can tell you one thing, I will WANT OFF THIS BASE ASAP. So if there's some "family dinner" or whatever, DO NOT make plans for it. I want to be signed out as quickly as I can. Then I'm gonna want nothing but fast food and a few movies would be nice. Also sleeping in late will be a very important thing. I know you guys maybe be wanting to spend as much time as possible with me, but sleep and junk food is what I'm going to be craving. :)

A box of twinkies and donuts will be a must. Get Granny to make a loaf of banana bread :) COKE! DR. PEPPER! CARBINATION!!!

Anyways I'm off to bed now, getting up at 4:45 a.m. isn't exactly a fun thing. haha

Let me know what was in the "family day" letter. Remember to send me news articles about what's going on in the world concerning terrorism.

31 January 2002

2006-01-31T19:35:00.000-08:00

Today was a good day. We had our rifle qualification. I was awarded the sharpshooter cross. I was just 3 shots from qualifying expert, but no one is perfect I guess. We've got our nuclear, biological, and chemical test done. We had our BRM qualifications done today. Our platoon did the best overall in the company. Tomorrow is our phase one test over military customs and courtesies and a bunch of other junk. Once the phase one test is done we will be entering "white" phase. It's the next step in our training. Finally we will be leaving "red" phase. Whoot!!!

Next week around Wednesday we will finally be going to the motor pool to start classes on the tanks. About damn time. I'm looking forward to playing with the big army toys. Rumors are floating around that we are going to be able to watch the super bowl. Honestly, I could care less.

The guys in our platoon (34 of us) are finally starting to come together as a team. People are starting to get close and make good buddies. I'm still sorta on the side lines. The guys in my bunk call me "old man" and "germ" cause I've been sick most the time I've been here. Never fear tho, I'm finally over the crud and breathing easy.

I've made a few buddies, but nothing notable. Most are young and just annoy me with their childlike behavior. Most the guys my speed spend their free time writing loved ones and squaring away their bunks and lockers the same as me so there's not much social time. Once we get into "white" phase we will lose some of the restrictions on us and maybe I can get a few phone calls in.

Something that would be nice..could you go to www.cnn.com and print out all the news related to what's going on around the world. We are so closed out from the world it's crazy. My bunk mates would love the news just as much as me. Well it's lights out so I need to finish this up. I'll keep ya posted.

Wednesday 29th January 2002

2006-01-29T11:15:00.000-08:00

...As for your friend's son, L, joining the Army. Fort Knox is the second hardest BCT (Basic Combat Training) the Army has to offer. I would recommend him trying to go to Fort Jackson for basic. You have to keep in mind that Fort Knox, next to Fort Benning, are the two bases that train the army combat jobs. If he has a lot of growing up to do his life will be very rough here. You also have to remember that Fort Knox is in Kentucky. The base is located in the foothills of the Smokey Mountains (I think). Everything you do is uphill. When I say uphill, I mean you walk sometimes on all fours just to get up the steep roads. My ankles have been bothering me so I'm going to see a foot doctor soon and have ankle braces and foot inserts for me........

...As for family day, I'm going to want to be taken to a huge dinner. I also am going to want a dozen donuts and some sodas and a bag of chips. Funyons would be good. God I miss junk food. We are in the middle of hell period also known as "hell week". It's been more like 2 weeks. We eat mostly MRE's, something like sea rations that Grandpa had to eat. We get some how chow, but they slop it on our plate in tiny portions. I've been starving for about a week now. This Monday we go back to our regular chow mess hall. Hell week is suppose to show us what its like to eat during wartime. I hope to God I don't go to war. They don't feed us enough. ha ha

(He did go to war and he didn't have enough to eat. We sent food to him, enough to share, every week for three months or longer until they were able to eat at a mess hall.)

25 January 02

2006-01-25T20:06:00.000-08:00

(Sidenote: I'm running out of stamps and don't know when I'll get to buy more. Send me a book of stamps, PLEASE!!)

Oh my I hurt!! I think every bone and muscle hurts in my body. This has to be the first time that I've actually been to the point that it hurts to move an inch. We went on a 7 mile road march this morning in full battle gear. That doesn't sound too hard, but we must have went uphill almost the entire time. At some time we even had people falling over. I made it, feet hurting and legs like noodles, but I made it. Full battle gear is about 60 pounds of gear, so it's not exactly a light load. We had a rest stop along the way. While we took a break we had to simulate a hostile environment. So we got to lay down in the cold Kentucky mud. Did I mention that it had been raining on us? So, I'm laying down looking for a pretend enemy in the mud, in the rain, in the cold, and I was in heaven!! My legs needed the break so bad that the cold and mud was just a minor inconvenience. After a short break we proceeded to march up a hill nicknamed "Agony" and after that came one named "Misery". The names were justly named.

We arrive at the NBC building (Nuclear, biological, and chemical). This is where we have been training for chemical attacks. After getting a quick bite to eat we learned how to give ourselves emergency nerve agent antidote. We then were briefed on entering the gas chamber. A few moments later, clothes still wet, we go outside and put back all our gear on. We assemble and march the 1.5 miles to the dreaded gas chamber. The one thing no one is looking forward to.

We arrive at the gas chamber. A few people start to get nervous. We are about to enter a building full of CS gas, better known as tear gas, but this stuff is military grade. We are required to go in and show our instructor that we have learned how to properly use our gas masks. Gas masks on, we enter into the abyss. We go thru a few procedures. So far so good. Now the moment of truth. We just remove our masks and open our eyes and state our name and rank. One wiff of this stuff will make you gag like crazy, not to mention it burns your skin and eyes. The trick is to do it without taking a breath and being able to reseal our mask and do a blow out procedure to clear the mask of any gas. So far so good. I did everything perfectly and with only slight burning in my eyes. We must not forget tho this is the Army and we are in boot camp. Nothing is easy. We were then told to take off our masks and exit the building. The exit was just far enough away that by the time you hit the door you already got a lung full of CS gas. Snot, drool, burning eyes. It was nasty!! Some guys even puked after coming out. It was horrific!! ha ha ha. I love it!!!

Anyways I have inspection now so I must quit.

18 January 2002

2006-01-18T18:04:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm not sick any more. I guess the Army doctors aren't too bad after all. We finally started doing some combat training. We had a 3 mile march this morning. It doesn't sound too hard, but wearing a 5 pound Kevlar helment, 30 pound ruck sack, 2 canteens of water, 11 pound rifle, and 5 pound harness it can get tiresome quick. I'm pretty sore all around, but it's becomming something I've gotten used to. After time you don't even notice it anymore. 4-5 hours sleep and having to do physical training and classroom training for 12+ hours a day makes it tough to stay awake. We learned how to do maintenance on the M-16 rifle and how to operate it. Tomorrow we go to the bayonet pit and learn how to kill people with knives attached to our guns. Funny, but that's what they're training me to do, kill people. Basic training is for the most part easy. It's mostly mental, the younger guys are having problems with the forced discipline, but it doesn't bother me too much.

It's funny the things I miss. I would kill for a candy bar and a coke. Or to just sit on a couch watching TV. We spend every waking moment training in some form or fashion. We get about an hour a nite for "personal time" and most of that is spent keeping our bunks clean for inspection. No TV, no junk food, no soda's, no nothing that's fun or enjoyable ha ha!! We have a strict diet and can pretty much only drink water and milk and OJ if we're lucky. No sweets.

Well, I need to jump into the shower now and get ready for my shift of fire guard. Tell G and G hi, tell 'em I am definetly going to want another steak and a LARGE coke when I see them. Family day is in like 8 weeks, so be sure if you're coming to start saving money. I'll get more info on it when I can.

13 January 02

2006-01-13T18:17:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm sick and stuck in the infirmary. I was admitted last nite with 102.4 fever. Doctors told me I have sinusitis. I'm taking Ibuprofen, Acetaminophen, Entex and Augmentin. The infirmary isn't so bad, it sure beats boot camp. I basically get to sleep all day or go to the day room and watch TV. I hope I won't be here too long. If I'm here too long they will recycle me into another unit to catch up on training. That will suck because that will just prolong my stay here at Fort Knox.

The infirmary is a srange place. There are people like me that are just sick, but a few are whacked in the head. There's this guy nicknamed "Shakes". The guy will start to shake and studder from time to time. Supposedly he had an anxiety attack from the stress of boot camp. There's another guy that has "adjustment disorder". If ya ask me, I think their just pussies that couldn't handle boot camp and are faking it so they will get a medical discharge. It seems a few people joined the army thinking it would be easy and now they can't handle it and are pussing out. One guy in another group tried to kill himself. Don't think that the army is bad. These few people only make up a small percentage of people, however, they do stand out like a sore thumb.

I've enjoyed my basic training so far. It's tough I'll admit that, but it feels good to be getting in shape and healthy. The drill Sgt's are tough as nails and scream, cuss, and generally pound you into the ground. People with low stress you can pick out easy. The younger guys 18-20 seem to have the hardest time. You see a few even start crying when the drill sergeants yell at them. Honestly, it doesn't phase me one bit. I'm smart enough to know that it's all just a game. It's the drill sergeant's job to try and raise everyones stress level. They are in a sense trying to peapare you for combat.

It's not going to be easy. I knew picking a combat MOS was going to be rough. So far I've enjoyed it, but I do miss the simple things like a coke or a hamburger from McDonalds. It's almost like prison in a way. We have to have permission to do anything. This will change tho as time goes by. The longer we are here the less restrictions they place on us. In about 5 weeks I'll have more freedom to do things on my own. They put restrictions on you at first so that they can create soldiers out of you. As you progress they let you have more freedoms. I'm looking forward to the next 2 weeks. We will start our BCT "basic combat training" in which we get to learn how to use the weapons. Hopefully, my experience shooting guns will help out. I'm hoping for a "marksman" badge. Well my hand is starting to cramp up. I'm not use to using a pen. ha ha......Talk to you again soon.

08 January 02

2006-01-08T09:56:00.000-08:00

Well, I finally had a chance to write. As of yet no one has even had a chance to call. I doubt you will get a call from me considering I don't want to waste what little personal time I have waiting in line out in the cold for a phone.

This is probably my second to last day here at the reception battalion. Reception battalion is where the new recruits go to get everything they need to start in the Army. It's been boring as hell. We spend most of our time waiting in a line to get something. There are 206 people in my company so it takes a lot of time to do anything. So we basically have to "hurry up and wait". Most of them are young, naive, and immature. Hell, just imagine a bunch of 18-21 year olds away from home. There are a few interesting people tho and more my age than one would have thought. My bunk mate, who is 24, from Houston, is going to be a tank mechanic. Anyways, I made it thru the physical fitness trials, barely...ha ha!!

This cold Kentucky air is hard on my lungs. I made my one mile run in 8:20. 8:30 was the cut off. The ones that didn't make it have to go to bravo company (physical fitness training group). The coldness of Kentucky is a "bitch". The Army doesn't quite give us enough stuff for us thin blooded Texans. I'm usually freezing my butt off in the mornings. Anyways, I need to finish up this letter.

2006-01-02T20:41:00.000-08:00

Posting will begin January 8, 2006.