Postmarked 05/11/09

THEY TOLD ME TO BECOME CONTROLLED CHAOS - THE TAZMANIAN DEVIL

I'll kick this off with the good stuff. We had our first pugil stick matches today. Pugil sticks are basically 6 foot poles with pads on each end. They are meant to stimulate bayonet combat. I was actually pretty anxious about this day. I really didn't want to get my ass kicked....but I can boastfully say I absolutely dominated some poor kid from platoon 2161. He was my height and 195 lbs (they match us up according to weight). I waded in and landed two thrusts and a cross to his head before he even landed a hit, which was to my shoulder. Then I got another thrust and cross to his head before the referee blew the whistle. The recruit landed a cheap shot to my head after I turned around to head back to the platoon (out of poor sportsmanship apparently) and got IT'd on the spot. Overall, it's been my best experience here so far.

On another positive note, I performed well on the "confidence course" which is a relay where recruits climb over poles, hoist themselves over high wooden logs, and climb up a 30 foot rope. The rope is very intimidating and 1/4 of the recruits fail to get to the top the first time. I didn't have a problem with any of it. After everyone went through it once, the platoons competed to see which could get through it the fastest. Our competing platoons are 2161, 2163, 2166, & 2167. We won and are currently honor platoon.

Now for the stuff that's been pissing me off. First, I had to drop $150 of my own money on equipment yesterday. I really hope that doesn't become standard. I've also had poor luck in terms of health. I started out training with pneumonia, then moved on to a torn groin, then got a horribly itchy and burning skin rash extending from my shoulders to my hands, and now have acquired dime-sized callouses on my hands. The callouses wouldn't be a big deal except they've now formed into blisters and two have torn open on both sides of the skin (blister skin and tender skin underneath) which causes my hands to bleed a decent amount every time I do physical training. I don't intend to go to medical for anything non life-threatening or permanently disabling. I've seen 5 recruits recycled from my platoon so far, and that is the worst thing I can think of happening right now. So I'm just sucking it up, praying for God to heal me. Which brings me to my next point: If you're not a believer in God before boot camp, you sure will be when you get here. The church services are amazing and faith helps so much with motivation. I even pop open the bible from time to time to find some inspiration. I hear the swine flu is getting crazy. We had a kid in our platoon infected with it. He was discharged immediately. Poor guy. Oh...back on the topic of things that are irking me....We get 30 second showers. I honestly can say I've never been so frustrated trying to take a shower than here with 12 stalls and 50 recruits all trying to get clean at the same time. At least I don't have hair so shampoo isn't an issue.

That's about it for today. I miss all of you and would LOVE to get more letters. They help so much! Take Care and God Bless.