OH Yeah
Any one that wants can mail me at the address there below, i get mail and would love to hear from anyone:)
thanks
jusitn

Hey all whats going on.
Got allot to tell, but not allot of time on the pc. got alot of photos, but no way to post them yet.
Im here in khandahar, have been here since the fourth of july
was also in khazakastan, romania and ireland for short periods of time, not long enough to see anything unfortunatly
will be leaving here shortly to get on with what we are doing.
this place is hotter than you can imagine, about 120 in the day, and it stinks to high heaven, it is pretty funny., its supper dusty, like walking on the moon.
It really sort of looks allot like the mojavie desert.
so far weve just been doing allot of training, maintinece, pt and getting aclimated to the climat..
lots of stuff id like to tell you all, but really cant at this point, only that it is defantly and adventure, and a crazy place to be for sure.
i will be takeing my leave in april, so will be home in ketchum at that time for any one interested.
well i cant talk long but will try to keep you all posted.
till next time take care, hope everyone is well.
scouts out
justin

Well, Im back to update.

Well hey everyone how are things.
Sorry I havent been back in such along time.
Allot of things have been going on since i was here last.

I finally Got Out of Kentucky, boy that was a very good day.

I ended up going to stryker training that was pretty cool. their pretty awsom vehicles.

The day I got out of school, I went to Ft. lewis washington. Where I am currently stationd.

I ended up being with the 2nd infantry, 5th stryker brigade with the 8th squadron, 1at cavalry regimant. or 8-1 cav.

The crazy thing is that were now getting ready to deploy, so i got to go home for two days and will be going back to washington tonight to finish geting ready to go to afganastan.

I really cant tell you all what well be doing there, but what i can say is the next year is going to be very interesting if nothing else.

I will try to keep everyon updated as much as i can, and hopfully get some pictures of the country and things i see. I dont know how much internet i will have but i plan to keep a journal and up date when i can here.

We leave here next week, and i should be gone about a year. it seams like a long time, but who know maybe it will go by fast.

I got to see the girls here befor i left, and most all my friends back home. so im happy for that, it would have been nice to spend more time than just two days, but oh well two is better than none.

well i hope I have some interesting stories to post here in a while.
ill be in afganastan by next week. man that will be something else lol..:)

well i gotta run, hope you all take care.
glad i got to see most you all. until next time take care.

justin

Well here I am all graduated! Cavalry Scout with 2nd Infantry

I guess I got allot of crap to catch you all up on, but i got to figure out how to work this dam page out heheheheh :)

well shit, i got allot of catching up to do, im here in louiville once again sitting in the brown hotel of all places with 8 other guys, all strykers headed for ft lewis, these are the guys im gona be with for at least the nest 2 weeks and probably longer.
there is actually 11 privats and 3 sargents going only 8 staying in this room heheheh.
processed into stryker skool friday, yesterday, should be pretty good. im looking forward to it now.
we are treated so much diffrent, like real people now what a amazing journy that last 16 weeks was, and to end up still here feels sort of like i died of heart failure on a run and im in purgatory heheheheh. walking, cleaning and liveing in the halls where just a short time ago there were so many of us, now only 14. its really radicle experince.
and here its pretty funny hanging in this smal room with these guys 8 dudes 8 laptops eveyone typeing away, what a bunch of tech junkies hwahahahhahahah :)
weve all been cutting loos a bit, its pretty cool, not something i would have ever forseen 16 weeks ago, or 2 weeks ago for that matter :)
well, i want to keep writeing, but i gotta get some food, be back to update on shit in a while.

Well the last few weeks have been something else, Im really happy to be done with OSUT, Im also a bit nervious about whats to come. everything so far has been pretty mellow, eat what we want, we have to pt, i do, a few guys dont, guys smoke chew pound energy drinks what ever, we moved baraks so looks the same i even got the same spot in the room, back right by the widow, i swear im in purgatory.
so I think i sent morgan a mail with the missing last few weeks, she may post it or not im not sure, i sent it out after she had left on her way to visit me.

i want to say thanks to her, none of this would be here without a whole lot of effort on her part, so THANKS MORGAN :)

so im still here at Ft. Knox til june five, then i am going to Ft lewis washigton as a straight ship, which means ill get there june five. that should be a fun day :) im the only fucker out of the whole company who opted to NOT take leave, what the fucks wrong with me?

wont have any word on what will happen in the future, rumors rumors rumors thats all you get, eating mushrooms in the dark!

as soon as i know ill let everyone know what im doing, im not speculating shit anymore, for one its pointles and 2ndly i dont want to jinx myself :)

I think i wrote in my letter to morgan that we did our final ruck, it was frigin 28k afterwords 98% of the troop was walkin around like a bunch of old broke dicks hahshahaha pussies all of em :) not every last one of em but dam near :)

that photo was taken by austen there outside olive theater where I graduated
nice photo dude, my barret is all wrinkled to fuck thanks hahahahhaha :)
the other photo is a pic i took of my unit patch, everyone has diffrent patches they wear to identify them, so everyone know who knows who eveyone else is, thats mine 2nd ID (infantry division) Ill get a 5\15 cav flash for my barett later this week, but then that changes when i get to ft lewis to what ever brigade ill be with. which I STILL DONT KNOW FOR FUKCIN SURE WHAT THAT WILL BE. My orders say 2nd brigade which doesnt exist! what ever...
anyhow you were your unit patch on your left shoulder, and on your right you wear the unit patch that you served with in combat last, i dont wear a patch on my right shoulder yet.

the flash on your barett is is sort the same sort of thing, well be weraing 5-15 Cav here for a 2 weeks then well get new ones in washington, not important just sort of trying to inform yyou all how some of this shit works :)

dam what else, i need to keep writeing, i forget, i stil have a jounal jull of reall fun crazy shit from basic that ill share some time but not yet, im not off ft knox just yet heheheeh :)



Scouts Out

Picture from BCT Graduation

Lots of new posts

Sorry I (Morgan) got so far behind this time. Soon you won't have to rely on me, Justin will take over for himself.

Mom, Austen and I are all going out for his graduation. He's very, very excited to be done with this portion of training and being treated like a human again.

In this last batch of updates, there were posts that were from BEFORE he graduated BCT in March, so you have to scroll past those to find the new (old) posts. I think March 23rd is the oldest one.

April 28th, 2009

Guess what? Nothing. :) Nothing new. Just sitting on free time. Just finished Marcus Luttrels book "Lone Survivor." Was at the range all day shooting the 25mm chain gun. Man that's a big gun. :) Tomorrow is all day at the range firing the MaDuce (.50 cal). Then Thursday we clean the range. Then 4 days of FOB and then March. It's getting there.

I passed my APFT the other day. I did good. I ran a 12:50 2 mile. That was good. Back home I was going it right at 16:00 and I have 18:30. So for me I'm flying. :) 90% of the people don't do it under 14:00. Even the young guys. I was super sore. I hurt all over. I think I'm ready for soccer now! :) My endurance is crazy. I can work at overload for several hours. Although it hurts later. :) I got 15 days and a wake up :)

I've already made (met)a few friends going to Lewis. They're insert. They've been in combat ect. Cool guys :) it will be nice to know people there. I guess Stryker school get you (me) promotion points. I guess it is a real school people request and want to go to. I have to go. Looking forward to it now, knowing that will be my job. To some extent, can't wait for phone/PC access. Civilian clothes at night and weekends and my own meal and work out options.

Haven't heard from anyone really in a while. Got a letter from Mom a while back. Hope everything is going well.

Been thinking about the dogs a lot lately. Been missing Little Bear a lot. I still have a hard without them. I miss them lots.

They've been feeding us MREs now. MMMM:) Yeah right, whatever. I just want food! :)MREs are better than field chow. That's for sure. :-|

Anyhow, gotta go. miss yall

~Justin

April 25th, 2009

Well, here I am still. :) I think they are letting up for a few days. We've been getting wrecked for the last week and the APFT is Monday @ 0330 (that's morning time for all you am/pm time guys. I don't know why the hell they do that?). Then most of next week will be setting up for the FOB (FOrward Operations Base). That's 4 days long and our final exercise. Then the 20/25k most likely 23k. We took the SGST (Scouts Gunnery Skill Test) yesterday. That went well. My best test score yet. 100%. It covered the TOW missile system, the 240 Charlie, the 25 mm chain gun - aka 25 mike- Bradly night driving, .50 cal belt fed, MK-19 (Automatic Grenade Launcher) and some other shit.

Today we did spring cleaning out side. We picked up leaves with our bare hands for about 4 hours. Apparently there was nothing else important to do today. :) There are 2 other people from Idaho in my platoon, and 3 in my troop. We talked about Idaho. Boise, Meridian, Pocatello, Sun Valley, it was fun for a while. Then we all started missing home and realizing how nice Idaho is.

I'm trying to stay focused on this shit here and get it done. I'm also trying to get straight in my head how things might play out for me over the next year. Life for me is about ready to start getting crazy, I think. I hope everything works out well. Mostly I want to get home for a few weeks. I want to see the girls and Little Bear. I would to over sleep in my own bed a few times, watch a movie or two, take a nice long road bike ride or 3. I want to see a few people, spend time with family and friends, go shooting a few times, make sure my house is square, finances are square, eat some good, healthy food. Maybe go get a taco and pick up on a Mexican cutie, take the dogs to the river and a few other things, but generally do most the things I am missing now. Beacuse soon after I won't get a chance again for a while. It's still looking like I'm staying here for sure, but now it's looking like a 4 day hold over. That is an off base pass then two weeks of class and off to Ft Lewis on June 5th. That won't be too bad. If that's how it goes down. If anyone comes to Kentucky to visit those 4 days, we're going to the Texas Road House. I think I fell in love with that dessert* when Aaron was out. That is some good shit. :) If no one comes to visit, I'm still going! :)barracks maintenance, dinner chow, lights out early for early Monday PT test.

I hope when I graduate OSUT here in a few weeks, I can find a way to get my laptop, phone, etc. So I can start communicating with phone and net and organizing shit with the laptop. I need to catch up on some news too.

Well anyhow, like I said, not much going on now. Just acclimated to all the BS so it's pretty boring.

I hope you're all well and good.

Hope to see you all soon, until next time, take care

~Justin :)

There shouldn't be much to do tomorrow, but we'll see. Breakfast chow, church, lunch chow,


Guessing on that one - cannot read the word.

mid to late April (not dated)

Hey what's up? Not much here. just sitting around, still training. Yesterday we drove Bradlys in the day then Hummvee with night vision (well FLIR- you know the white and black shit). Then I drove a brand new C-MET Bradly at night. It was sick. You don't even see outside. You look at a TV screen inside that shows the whole outside with FLIR. Doing like 30 mph in a 30+ ton tank. It was the shit. Then I rode for a while in the turret with the commander and as we were driving he would spin the turret like those damn t-cups at the fair. It was cool. We get to drive them in the mud next week. Then I'll probably never drive one again. Strykers are the same but you get a 360 degree exterior view with video screen. You drive 100% like you're playing XBox.

- Well I don't know for 100% sure, but it looks like I stay here as a hold-over. Which means I graduate May 14 then sit for 1 week here doing nothing. Then I go to 2 weeks of Stryker school and then go to Ft. Lewis June 5th. Then deploy to Iraq end of July if I'm 4th Stryker Brigade or Afghanistan end of July if I'm 5th Stryker Brigade. But that could change. I'm sure but that's what it is looking like. I hope I get a few weeks at home at some point. Which I will. It's kind of lame I have to stay here, but it won't be associated with what I am doing now. I'll be able to come and go as I please, etc. I just want to get back close to home. Kentucky sucks. :( hehe I should be able to have cell phone and laptop at that point, too. - Well I will - I just need to get my laptop and phone service going. That does net service, too. Everything is deja vu over and over.

To other stuff -

Was wondering about Little Bear. Hope he is well and not causing too much chaos. It's still hard without him almost 4 months later. Same with the girls. Sometimes I find it hard to think about them. I miss them too much. I miss their energy and the comfort and peace they bring. The dog piles on Saturday morning and walking in the hills. They are truly missed. I hope to see them soon.

~Justin

April 19th, 2009

Sunday night. Cleaned most the day. Rained all day. We should be in the last phase of training as of Friday - gold phase - but we still fly black flags - we have full barracks inspection tomorrow. If we do good, I think we'll go to gold. If not, maybe stay in black. Then there is that possibility we do to red, seeing as how one asswipe just got caught with chewing tobacco. God these fuckers never stop. It's always one son of a bitch that's gotta fuck everyone. :)

Oh well. We're on the count down any how. This week is mostly driving Bradlys. Tomorrow and at night too. Humvees I think are on Tuesday. Still not sure about leave and all that shit yet. Will let people know as soon as I know. Realistically, I just want to get out of here and go home for a bit. Or even go to WA, check in and go home for a bit. I'm looking forward to getting the real part of this job going. Being able to be in a bit more control of my life and have a little time off.

Let's see what we've done since last time: Not much. We finally did the rappel tower :) the ropes getting up were funner than the rappel down. You go up a rop bridge first, down a rope bridge, then up a two rope bridge. This fucker is hard.

Let's see, I'm down to about 170 pounds. That's good news. Still always tired. Still always hungry and praying to God I don't get hurt for 3 more weeks. My left knee is getting a bit sore, but it doesn't seem to be bad when I run on it, which is good. My left shoulder is a bit fucked also, but I should be able to do my push ups for the APFT. Anyhow, fireguard time. I'll be writing soon. Until then, take care all

~Justin
scouts out

April 13th, 2009

Not much going on right now. 2020 hours on free time. I get tonight off so I'm mellow. Training is a lot different now. It's pretty chill the last few days. Well then again, we've had some tough PT. Maybe I'm just used to it. I'm still disappointed in the phone shit, 12 weeks later. :)

Got a letter from Jason today. That was cool. Learned some shit going on in the valley - interesting stuff - :) Good thing that Angel fucker got put away, he was a fuck bag. 14 years ain't long enough.

Want to say hello to Al Pointe. Hope Mexico treated you good. It was good to hear you said hello. Haven't seen you in a while. Maybe some day I'll come visit in Mexico and we can have a cold one. :)

And I guess Billy was a Cav Scout. huh. I wonder when that was. If so, he had to have been here at Ft. Knox. All cav has to come through here all the way back to the 1st cav of Patton. It would be interesting to talk to him. Well, anyhow, wanted to say hello to him anyway. Hope all is well. As Billy if he knows of the Disney Barracks. That's where I live.

We learned how to assemble and siassemble the 25 mm chain gun today. That is one BFG. It's the main weapon system on the BFV (Bradly Fighting Vehicle). That's a cavalry vehicle. I'll never drive one of those, cause I am supposed to be Stryker, which is ok with me. BFV are friggin old and out dated, but it will be fun lighting off some 25mm rounds with that things at the FOB (forward operations base).

We live there for four days out in the sticks. That's the last four days of training. Then we Ruck back 20+k and training is over. Then we spend 1 week getting ready to get out of here. We have land navigation all day tomorrow. That will be a long day. Unless it gets cut short, there are a lot of tornado warnings around here that cut training short sometimes.

A lot of new troops are showing up as our cycle gets close to an end. Fox troop is about to graduate but Echo, Delta, Alfa, and Bravo are all just starting or quite a ways behind us. We are second in seniority to fox. I think they graduate a week before us.

I look at all of the guys and I feel a mix of emotions for them. I'm mostly happy I'm not still way back in that phase with 4 or 3 or 2 months to go. Dang. I can definitely tell I wasn't meant to be caged. I would DIE in a prison. Well probably not, but I would feel like it.

I'm glad we will be out of here before the summer and the heat and bugs and shit that comes with it. Seattle should be nice for the summer. Hey and who knows, Afghanistan might be great in the fall. :) I believe it's cold as fuck in the winter. I'd rather be in a cold environment than a hot one for a war and combat situation. Well that's my thinking. That might change soon.

It's strange - I have absolutely no fear of going to Afghanistan. None whatsoever. I think a few people here have some reservations and the reality of what is happening is sinking in. I am completely unaffected. In a way, I look forward to going.

I worry more about home than about Afghanistan. Supposedly we're supposed to make some good money for going. I hope that is true, even if not, I want to go.

I hope I get some awards when I leave too. I want to be a Corporal, not a specialist. I want a PT excellence badge and I want an excellence in Cavalry Badge, but I doubt any of that will happen, but those are my three goals right now.

I guess Corporal mostly are more desk and specialist are more combat. So I guess I better shoot for Sergeant. :) Which should happen some day :) Specialist till then.

Right now, there is a hell rainstorm going on with lots of lightening and thunder. I've got my fingers crossed for a tornado. I want to see one of those bad boys in person.

I bet there are all sorts of movies and TV shows I've never seen that will be fun. I think I'm getting delerious now :) I really love sleep :) and food :) Damn it's really raining :) I miss having PC access :) I miss my TV and my XBox :) I miss going out to the hills with the dogs :) I miss seeing hot chicks :) at this point I miss half ugly chicks as well :) I miss coffee, cookies, and monsters. I can't wait to change my diet and exercise routine. :) I always seem to be thinking about shit I want to do or am looking forward to doing some day soon :) well lights out

austa luego

scouts out
~Justin

April 12th, 2009

Easter Sunday

Well we got some free time, but I don't know how long it will last. There is TV room, sleep on PT mats, letters, and phone. Anyone screws up and it's all over. So, it's only a matter of time before it's over.

I want to use the phone but that doesn't look like a good bet. So I'm just gonna write for a bit. Well I think the phone might not happen. This place is so fucked and 80% of the privates here are absolute fucking retarded assholes. Most are very egocentric. It's all me me me. Pretty much any time we get anything good or any freedoms someone or a handful of people decide to do the wrong things and fuck everyone back home. They are the people who get their asses beat.

So far I don't know about my leave and how it will work. Or graduation, my next duty station, or deployment. Nothing seems to be of any concern in regards to anything like this. It's pretty damn stupid if you ask me. How can 10s of thousands of people do this a year yet no one will put forth straight info on how it all works.

I'm so ready to come home. Just for a week. Well, I'm gonna nap for minute now. Well, try to for as long as I can. Well I got on the phone - wasted all my minutes trying to get through. Didn't get anyone. Finally got Mom and the receiver broke and she called back and the receiver doesn't work. Sunday so there won't be any mail, it always seems to be something around here.

This really sucks.

Maybe sometime this next week I'll get my orders and find out my unit and all the details. One guy got Ft Irwin. They're not deploying. A few got Germany, Ft Benning Georgia, Ft Carson Colorado, Ft Hood, Texas, of course a few at Ft Lewis Washington. I'm sure there will be more. A few people that got Ft Campbell are slugs. I don't know how they will be Air Assault - douche bags :)

3 guys going to Lewis are Sgts who released (changed their MOS or jobs - they were mechanics or telecommunications ect.). I don't really know if we'll all be together or not, I guess we'll see. Well time to go to dinner, hope to talk to someone soon.

~Justin

April 11th, 2009

Well cut it short last night. Did the 15k today. Was worried I would be too sore, but not the case. I was totally good and finished strong up front. We go up some big ass hills with 12/14/21% grades. They're steep and long. It's fucked :) Then we got back and everything was cool till some asshole got caught doing the wrong things and we all got wrecked for it in the pit (big sand pit). Low crawl/high crawl and all sorts of shit. It sucked bad. I loved it. :)

I love watch. Other people in misery over shit like that, it's funny. Now just sitting waiting for lights out and my fireguard. Oh got a 5 minute talk with Mom. It was nice, but not long enough. Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to call. Well we have 33 days left of scout school (AIT). It will be nice to get away from this part of the Army. This shit is getting old and the people are killing me little by little.

Well soon I suppose. I would like to go home for a week or two. Rest and eat and see some friends and family. I hope I get to soon. Until next time - take care, all!

Justin

Did I mention I passed my SSII test? Probably.

April 10th, 2009

0915 I'm exhausted! Physically and mentally over the past few days we have done so much PT and it's ridiculous. This morning we ran 6 miles, had inadequate breakfast, tested all day. I did good. Then again, the tests are geared for idiots (really). Then we got smoked hard for this one asshole who never shuts up. Then to church which was pretty lame. I went to protestant service to get out of cleaning. No one stayed, I didn't want to be the only one here. Now fire guard, 4 hours of sleep and a 15k march that inevitably will turn into a 20-25k. I'm sore as fuck, after the run today, my knees are starting to feel it big time. I hope I don't break. I'm a little worried. Mentally, I'm fried, too. Especially at some people here. I'm ready to kill a couple, but I have to just hold it in and ride it out. To do anything else is a potentially stupid idea. The potential outcome is nothing but trouble, but man some of these people are shit bags. They need a good fucking up. Oh well, 99% I'll never see again.

April 9th, 2009

Not much to report here. Tired as fuck still. Hungry as hell also. We've been doing shit loads of PT and getting wrecked (crazy ass PT till you puke type shit). Studying for scout skill test two. we have troop PT run at 0530 and then SSII test and at night we have some sort of night ops shit at 9:00. I'll let you knowhow that goes, till then, I'm sacking out. I'm burned.

Scouts out
~Justin

April 7th, 2009

Today we learned how to download into our radios and synchronize the set frequencies and work in secure and non-secure modes. It was pretty informative. Then we did some crazy ass PT/smoking on the march home, we had to run over these two hills and two valleys and back probably 200 yards about ten times. It was a rough go at the end. Then we dropped on rifles and relayed it one time by platoon. First platoon won, then we did this shit where one man gets on hands and knees then the next dives over and rolls and makes an arch. The next dives, roles, goes under and gets on knees until all 30 guys in each platoon are doing it in a giant chain up and over 300 yards. I think we (1st platoon) lost that one. Then we ate and then did a troop run of about 4 miles, then studied, ate, then ran 2 miles, did sit-up/push-ups/pull-up drills. I'm fricking sore and tired!

Well, I'm out of here

~Justin

April 5th, 2009

Not much to report

Looks like it's going to be a long, full week. Damn. At least when it's over there will only be 5 weeks left. Well then 2 after that, but no biggie. The end is coming soon. Soon I'll be wishing I was back here, while I'm sitting in some f-d up hilltop in no where Afghanistan thinking. Uh not. I'll take Afghanistan thank you. Well gotta go

Scouts Out
~Justin

April 3rd, 2009

This blog entry was wrapped around an old Reese's wrapper. The paper had chocolate spots on it. I don't know why he put it in there.


Just sitting here again. :) Things don't seem to be as bad for now. This week has been mostly classes. Bradlys (fighting vehicles), HMMVE,LRASS (Long range scout surveillance systems) and call for fire (calling for artillery on targets). Mostly same old shit, dragging on and on. Dinner was pretty good tonight, but, as always, looking forward to breakfast chow. Group run at 0500 tomorrow. Then breakfast chow at 0700. Not much new really to talk about. 42 days left here. Well 41 tomorrow. It's not so bad. It just still sucks having such limited freedom. Especially that we have inserts with us who have cell phones and drink energy drinks, eat whatever, chew and smoke. That's gay. They all suck at PT though.

Still waiting for my orders. I'm pretty sure it's Lewis, but I want to see a hard copy and to know my unit. So I'll know what I'm going to be doing. I'm hoping for some mail some time too. Oh well. Well I'm going to my job hahah :)

You ain't cav, you ain't shit. Good night!

April 1st, 2009

Supposed to be studying now, but I'm not. :) We worked mostly with radio shit today. Humvees and thermal vision crap that goes on the Humvee and tonight we have more financial classes. Yeah tomorrow is the class that covers TSP (thrift savings plan - DoD version of a 401k). That should be ok and some other shit. Things are still pretty mellow so far. Waiting for that to change. We're still in black phase. hmmmm? That's good. Still waiting on duty station confirmations. Oh well. Shit, I forgot what I was thinking.


I hope I still get Ft. Lewis. I've heard that can change sometimes, but who knows. Still clueless on how time off will work during that time. I got permanent fireguard now, which is cool 'cause I got lucky and got the 9:30-10:30 shift. So, I don't have to wake up in the middle of the night anymore. That's cool for me.

Well I gotta go to formation for class, yeah. :) Talk to you all later.

Well, I just wanted to say HI a bit more. It's bed time. Man shits slow. We're not getting worked so much. Hopefully that lasts. People here really still have their heads up their asses though. It's sort of weird in my mind, I've put people in groups. So many people are such fucks, I know all the Nat Guard some of them are pretty nice, but no Nat Guard will be in my unit. That leaves the regular army guys. One is going to Lewis and one is going to Campbell - that's Byrns - he is neither here nor there. Out of the other say 10 - 2 I can't stand or do I trust. We'll see about those when we all find our duty stations. I want to know who all is going to Lewis. Those are the guys I'll be with and the ones I plan to give a shit about here. The other, for the most part, can go fuck each other for all I care. I'm actually not pissed, I will be happy to know which ones of the remaining asses I can write off. Oh well, I'm going to go to sleep. Chow 0600 wake up 0430 - 10:45 now.

See ya

Scouts out
~Justin

Lost Entry

Just wanted to let you all know that I stuck in an entry for March 20th. Since they file by date, it is instantly buried.

Justin seemed to have a good family day weekend and really enjoyed everything we did for him. He knows where he is going, but I will let him tell that when he is ready.

Morgan

March 31st, 2009

Back to the same shit. Still fucked with Bradlys all day. That was kinda cool. I talked to an insert, that is someone who is here for AIT only, 3 of about 20 are going to Ft. Lewis. They say it's 3rd brigade Strykers, but I won't know for sure till I get the orders. 4th & 5th out of Lewis are in Afghanistan now. 2nd & 3rd are supposed to go this fall to replace them.

These are so great! Thanks Aaron!!

March 30th, 2009

Sure is rough being back. Some ole shit again. Just got hungry finally then dinner sucked. We're still in Black Phase. That's good, and 1st platoon hasn't been smoked yet. That's good.

Today there was some F-up in scheduling or something so we didn't train all day. Went to a few classes that sucked. I think tomorrow we start Bradly training. Not sure though.

I finally received the letter from Nana. That was cool! Very interesting! And I received pictures of Camas and Cotton today that was really cool, too.

I'm all ready back to wanting coffee and a cookie. All ready. How sad.

Well I'll write later.

6 weeks seems long - damn

scouts out

March 29th, 2009

OK, back from the weekend, which was a really good time. Man was it hard coming back to this place. We had black flags on when I got back, who know for how long, and I'm sure it doesn't mean shit.

Well we didn't get smoked tonight. That was surprising. We did get piss tested the minute we walked in the door, which was not surprising. Black and gold those are the two phases left. We'll probably be back in red tomorrow? :) One other guy found his duty station on his AKO (Army Knowledge Online) account. A guy from Lancaster, CA named Eggers. He is a pretty nice kid. He is also going to Ft. Lewis. I forgot to say that before I wrote the last line. hehe. That's cool, He is a good trustworthy, guy one of the bunch that I'm glad are going to the same place.

Out of all thse other fuckers, me and him were the only ones able to find our duty station. What does that tell you? 2 out of 30. I was wondering about Stryker School and the extra two weeks at Ft. Knox. Someone told me they thought that two weeks was for drivers. That's a thought for sure. The rumor now is Nat Guard is not going to the Mex Border, but the reg Army is. That is several brigades of Strykers. Boy, how crazy would that be to end up in a Stryker doing border patrol down in Texas or Arizona. Not likely, but an entertaining idea for sure. I sure hope the next 6 weeks go off without a hitch. Everyone here is miserable, everyone misses their family and everyone is worried about where they are going. I feel ok, so that's good.

Just wanted to say thanks.

Just wanted to say hello.
Im in louisville now hanging out with cousin arron :)
weve just been sort of cruising around and drinking lots of coffie, and eating lots of good food. went to chuch hill downs and got to go in free to walk down by the empty track, went to a glass blowing factory, louisville slugger factroy, hard rock cafe ect. just wasteing time enjoying looking around. Had a massage this morning that was nice and relaxing.
I found out last night my duty station.
So Iv now graduated from basic, but must go back to ft knox for 6 more weeks to graduate from advanced training for cavlery scout. I should graduat from knox on may 14th. then i am to report to ft lewis washington on may 21st. that is good news for me I dont know much about ft lewis but it was my first choice on my wish list for duty sataions. Its in seattle which is a short jump home on a plane from seatac direct to haily which is cool, I also like the climate and the area. Ive heard allot of people really like that base and want to get it but dont, i dont know if thats true but if it is i got lucky i suppose. after that i dont know. i have to worrie about the next six weeks only. allot can happen in six weeks that can change everything so day by day.

I also wanted to say hello and thanks to everyone for all the letters, and positive words and support. the letters really helps me stay sain :)
I hope to keep hearing from you all. and I hope you all keep cheaking up on the blog now and then to see whats going on. im sure over time there will be some interesting things that could happen, im on a long journy thats just really begun, im sure theres lots of stuff to come that might be interesting. so keep cheaking in

I also realy want to say thanks to morgan for all she has done with this page for me and with little bear, she is doing more for me than i can explain to you all.
I also want to thank mom who also is doing more for me than i can explain with out them none of this would be possible. Iv found out that bear is dong great after his little issue, and that the girls, camas and cotton are happy and content at home with mom now and not in any danger of being run out of the complex that is their new temporary home.

Well I should go, i just wanted to say hi, and thanks once again to all, i will keep you all posted on how things go. and Ill try to get some more photos to morgan to post soon.

Take care all, talk to you soon.

SCOUTS OUT
justin.........

March 25th, 2009

Well it's Wednesday. Today we did tactical kill stuff where we shot AR15/M-14s at big ass video screen that register hits. We're picking targets out of groups of people. It's pretty crazy and super cool, but like everything else they rush people through like you can't believe. So you don't get a lot of time. I got to go twice. I had one really good kill. A Iraqi in a room of people had a detonator I was the only one to take a shot at him in our group and I hit him right between the eyes. The playback shows you all the points of impact. It is really cool shit to work with. We marched to the kill houses in a torrential rain where we did building entry for about 4 hours. Door breaching, clearing rooms and houses, setting up cordons ect. It was ok, most 1st platoon are jack asses and it's a game which sort of ruins it for me. Tomorrow we have to rappel tower. Last thing we do before BCT graduation ceremony. Friday we clean barracks, graduate BCT and go on a 2 day pass WOOO HOOO

I want to get some peace and quiet so bad. Two days ain't enough, but it'll have to do. Then back Sunday afternoon for 6 more weeks. Fucking bloody hell. I'm pretty sure nothing changes. Our senior drill for "C" troop is a friggin prick. His goal in life, I think, is to make people miserable. Got it gets old. I can imagine being that bitter at life. Oh well, I got fire guard at 0330 - then Friday wake up is 0330 so fucking shit. First thing I do when I get out of this shit hole Friday is I'm going to the nearest convenience store and I'm gonna ransack it. :) ha ha. Along with 100 other people.

Well damn - I'm going to bed. I'm looking forward to Friday. I'll be talking to a few of you this weekend I hope. :) Till then

Justin

March 23rd, 2009

2100 hours, lights out at 2130. Fireguard at 0130-0230. Wake up at 0430. PT at 0530. Breakfast chow 0700. Light tactical assault battle at 0900. Weapons maintenance at 1300. That's it. Then if we don't screw up - we just clean and wait till dinner and mail. Things are sort of mellowing down. Tension among the privates is high, bunch of knuckle heads. We picked up our pickle suits today then promptly sent them to be dry cleaned. Wednesday we have classes and graduation dress rehearsal crap and Thursday I don't know. Maybe rappel tower.:) Friday we should be graduated and gone before noon. I sure hope so. Here the weather is getting nice. The dogwoods are blooming and I've noticed a lot of cool birds. I saw my first ever cardinal. That was nice.

I sure don't know about this damn place. At the end of the cycle we get t-shirts and hoodies guys in 1st platoon designed for our "hellraisers - cav scout - recon" shit. If any one wants a t-shirt or hood sweatshirt, let me know. I don't know the price and they're specific for our platoon, "Hellraiser Recon." So if not that's cool, I just thought I'd put it out there just in case. I;ll probably get two of each just for the hell of it. I don't even know how cool or stupid they'll be. I'm just gonna grab some for memorabilia shit. We won't get them for 4-6 more weeks.

I look goofy in my Class A's. We're supposed to wear them all Family Day weekend - we'll see about that. Hopefully the hotel has a pool. I need a chlorine bath. Kill some of the disease on me. Dirty bastards everywhere. Well, light out. So talk to you all later.

~Justin

March 22nd, 2009

Damn, what a place. Went to church. That was OK. When we got back instantly into full battle rattle and on Red line for 6 hours. Holy shit that sucked. Strange, we've been together without break for 9 weeks - 24 hours a day - God, talk about fucked up. All those reality TV shows you see ain't got shit on the real thing. Sometimes I have to realize also, as cavalry scouts, most all of us who are regular Army are all going to the same place and will end up together where ever we go. It's a real mixed bag of people when we leave here. We'll go do the same shit, at some point we might see some of the National Guard down the road, but if we do, we'll have been going our job for quite a while when they show up. Some of the National Guard and some regular Army are cool and I hope if we do get stationed together it's some of the people I like. There are quite a few shit heads. I don't want to get stationed with them. There are some people I don't trust with my life here. Some are too fucked. We'll just have to wait and see what fate deals me (then he drew a little picture of a hand of cards).

One good thing about this place is I do tend to forget how old I am a lot. Most times that is good.

Mostly we've been cleaning tonight. I'm lucky, I got off fireguard tonight and had it at 9:30-10:30 last night. That's cool. Tomorrow we get refitted for Class As and then who knows what. Well, I'm getting some shut eye. 4 1/2 days tille I get some relief :-)

~Justin

March 21st, 2009

Well, Saturday night, I go on fire guard at 2130, that's in 1/2 hour. Did the 12k today with all gear. When we got back I was good. Then senior drill said, "everyone dump your rucks. If you don't have everything in your rucksack, you will do 65 laps around the little quad." That equals 13 miles. We started. All the shit we dumped out, a total of about 40-50 pounds. THANK GOF!! I had everything, but out of about 100 people, about 70 some odd people were missing all sorts of shit - from socks to earplugs, IBA plates, flashlights, etc. So me and about 40 of the troop get to clean tomorrow instead of walking 13 miles. That's cool. And I get to go to church. That will be nice for about 3 hours. And the crazy cat, VonRatzka, said he would give me half his breakfast tomorrow. That's cool.

Counting down till Friday. Why, I'm not too sure, but when we get back, only 6 more weeks. That's cool.

People here are going a bit loony, I think. I can't even say, well, don't want to say what about ten of those idiots did tonight. All I can say is I had no part in it or desire to. Fuckin little freaks. :-)

I hope I can find a grocery store Friday to get some good shit to eat. I want to eat slow and enjoy it. I'm tired of eating like a starving dog.

I'm curious to see what is in the card Morgan sent me. I will open it Friday at the hotel.

Fireguard is over. Going to bed. Did laundry, my shit is still in the dryer. Hopefully that bozo Abraham will remember to deliver my shit when it's done. I rotated and delivered about 10 loads. Mine finished the wash at the end of my shift. I take care when I do others stuff. Some people are turds. You'll open your bag in the morning to half wet shit. I can only guess 'cause they need to free up a dryer for their stuff.

My throat is still messed up. I've been sick with some shit ass disease of another for 9 weeks straight. This place is a giant disease incubator. When I leave here I bet I don't get a lot of colds much any more.

Well goodnight, all. Hope you all are doing well. :-)

~Justin

PICTURES

He is on the far right behind the DS. Sorry about the picture quality, the original was too big for my scanner and I had to take a photo of the photo.

March 20th, 2009

I guess it's Friday. We took the PT test yesterday. I passed everything solid, but I wish I could have done better. We took the scout skill test #1. Passed that. Missed one, but I got screwed. Missed it due to Drill Sgt attitude. Oh well, I passed so on to the 12k ruck march tomorrow.

Rappelling on Monday, forgot church on Sunday, and Bradley fighting vehicles on Tuesday. That should be pretty cool. We're getting close to Family Day. Only 6 days to go now. I know it will go way too fast. Then we have April and 1/2 of May - Then who knows. I'm just praying not Ft. Campbell. We'll see. :-)

Two days sure won't be long enough, but I will take it. So, I wonder how everything is going back home. Hopefully, good. I'm always wondering too, what is going on in the news. We seem to be so isolated here. The world could be collapsing and we would be the last to know. Yeah, hehe, unfortunately, it's true. Well, I'm gonna shower and go to bed. So I hope you all take care.

:-)

~Justin

March 18th, 2009 (I'm guessing - not dated)

Well, I got a few minutes and an empty page.

Looking out the window. It's a nice night. I have my window open and the air is fresh here. 9:00 and the bugle started playing. The bugle plays at wake up and 3 chow times. 6:00 for the flag and 9:00 for I guess end of the day.

One of the drill sergeants can be heard down the hall screaming. Asking this guy Shelton is crop dusting people. "What the fuck, Shelton. Are you walking around crop dusting fucking people, you fucking scum bag." "No, drill sergeant." "The fuck if you aren't. Get in full battle rattle you piece of shit." - crop dusting is when you walk around blowing ass on people and walk on. There's so many people here, no one knows who it was. Gas here is out-fucking-rageous. Some say it's the food. Some say it's 'cause we eat our food so fast, but whatever it is, it's awful, just awful!

Well - lights just went out - LATER

March 17th, 2009 (I'm guessing - not dated)

Well, what is up, all? How is everyone doing? OK here. The weather finally turned out great today, but the ruck march home was hot as hell. I was soaked, but I was rolling. Everyone was dead at the end, but I was charged. I could run 4 more miles. Today was cool. We did the MOV urban obstacle. Where we breached doors and clear these old houses. You do it in teams, Alpha, Bravo, Charlie (Charlie is MedEvac) and outer cordons - they control the outside. Alpha and Bravo clear the housing. All have bad ass paint ball M-16 (A4).

We got to shoot out with the drill sergeant and cadre. We sucked, but it was fun and a good learning experience. You can tell regular Army guys are serious - we're going to be doing this for real - the Nasty Girls (National Guard) take everything as a joke. They're in this for the money and school, but it was fun.

Tomorrow is mounted live fire. We'll be training how to fire from moving vehicles. That should be cool.

BCT graduation in 9 days!

To graduate, we still have to pass another physical test - no problem for me. A scout skill test (mostly mapping), we have another 12k march and rappel 70'. So, BCT graduation is in the bag.

There are 7 more weeks. We started with about 140-150 people. Right now, we're down to about 95-100. Within the next week we'll lose about 10 more. Pretty bad attrition rate. The other fucked thing you have to know about - 70-80% of the people here are National Guard - They go home after AIT. The 30% regulars go to war. I just hope I go to Afghanistan.

Well, I gotta get back to the Army.

~Justin
Scouts Out :-)

March 16th, 2009 (I'm guessing - not dated)

What a day. Today we did building entry classes, roadside check, IED classes and about 6k of ruck marching. Got back and one of the sick calls (those are the people who are physically fucked up - actually profile are physically sick, calls are ill - but they don't train and do shit) well, one of them got caught sleeping so we all had to go to the pit. High crawl, low crawl, back crawl, pushups, flutter kicks, each in the wet sand and mud for about an hour. I kicked ass :-) but I'm sore now. Then tonight our bay has four people - one, Abraham, is an idiot - he's nice - he is just an idiot. Well then we got a new guy, VonRatzka, he came from the mental ward called Lincoln Trails, and on top of that, we got two of the AWOLs they caught the other night who've been gone a month - Wilson and Simpson. They're frickin crazy too. Now my bay is a friggin mad house. Lovely. Just my luck. Oh, and we went from Blue all the way back down to Red phase. 1st platoon barracks (mine) were good, 3rd and 4th platoon were shit holes. So, now we all pay - thought 2, 3, & 4th floors are off limits to us. It's so fucked. So we pay physically. It's this sort of shit that may eventually break me. Just being old, I'm doing great, but I don't know how long I can hold up. Hopefully another 9 weeks.

Tomorrow we have Urban Warfare Training. Who knows what that will be like. One day at a time. I'm sick as hell again. Massive sore throat. Makes it hard. I can take sick call, but you only get so many days. I want to save those all till the end. Besides, you get labeled a piece of shit just for going any time, even for legitimate reasons. A lot of people use it to get out of training. You get the rest, eat good, watch TV, etc. while at the hospital all day. I don't want to go at all. Sort of a personal goal. :-)

Well, lights out - God this place is a NUT HOUSE. It feels more like a mental ward at times hehehehe :-)
shit - scouts out
~Justin

March 15th, 2009

Went to church today. Ate 3 good meals and finally had a 25 minutes phone call with Mom. Everything sounds OK at home. The girls sound good and content. For that, I am thankful, although I still miss them much and long for the day I can hug them. I'm starting to look forward to the few days off, 2 days of food I can't have, sleep, a dark quiet room, hot shower, etc. I can't wait 2 weeks!

Tomorrow we work with landmine warfare and go to the shoot house. Basically a paintball war with building entry as the format. Who knows what that all will be like.

They finally caught two of the AWOLs. They're sleeping in my bay tonight. >SCUMBAGS< but whatever. Their lives are over. What a stupid thing to do, especially in a time of war. Damn.

Oh well, not my problem. Fuck it, I'm going to bed.

Scouts Out
~Justin :-)

March 13th, 2009

Just gonna write a little today. I'm too tired. Just got back a while ago. It's 11 now, duty at 2:30-3:30 and wake up at 4. Totally fucked. That and I'm starving. Breakfast chow's not till 2:30. Same old shit again. Today we did dismounted combat movements, which was pretty cool. Moving while giving suppression fire and cover fire. Then, tonight we did night infiltration course (NIC @ NIGHT). You go down into this trench and they're blasting. Weird ass music and screams and gunfire and shit. Flares are going off, then you move. You are low crawling through the sand while live 7.62 rounds are being fired at you, over your head. You have about to go about 300 yards over logs and barbwire obstacles. There are pits that C-4 is blowing up like incoming fire. You can see tracers flying over your head and the 240 Bravos just dumping rounds in full action down range. It's loud as fuck and you don't want to stand up. That's for sure!

That was pretty fun, but at this point I'm frickin fried and really want some damn food and some phone time. Hand to hand combat tomorrow. Damn, I'm going to bed.


YOU AIN'T CAV
YOU AIN'T SHIT

~Justin :-)

March 12th, 2009

Gotta make this one short. Wrote a few other letters tonight.


So things are sort of back and forth today. Still totally physically fried. Tomorrow is movement under direct fire. That should be pretty crazy. We'll see what happens. Got fitted for a Class A dress greens today "The Pickle Suit" and have to wear the barret now. It's not too bad. Shit, I'm falling asleep again. hehehe :-)

We've got our Scout Skill Test I coming up in a week. Mostly maps, compass, direction, location ect. Some more med evac shit, non verbal communication skills, GPS, shit like that.

Well, I'm going. I'm zonked. Fighting the 'Z' monster.

Scouts out
~Justin :-)

March 11th, 2009

Was at the obstacle course and confidence course today. Holy shit, I'm tired. Rucked there and back, too.

I got through obstacle and challenge which was fun. A lot of people can't get through a lot of the obstacles. Some are really fricking hard.

At some point we get a DVD of a shit ton of photos. I'll try and get some photos to send to you on a DVD you can use, but that won't be for quite a while. Shit that shit all gets mailed to Mom's. Oh well, we can figure it out and it's not for quite a while.

I'm so sore, I can barely roll over in bed.

We get fitted for class A's tomorrow, and we finally went into blue phase. We'll see how long that lasts. Hopefully I can get a few phone calls in before we lose it! :-)


Well, I'm going to bed, it's 10pm and I've got fire guard at 3:30-4:30 and wake up is at 4:15. So, it's like my wake up is 3:00. Oh well. The shit today sure was fun. It was the stuff you think basic's going to be. Oh well. Shit I just fell asleep - gotta go.

Scouts out
~Justin :-)

March 10th, 2009

We have grenade course today. It was pretty fun. I got to throw two real grenades and a shit load of ones that are just the primers going off. We did the 8k march. It wasn't really that bad. We got the shit smoked out of us 'cause 80% of our platoon are idiots. Oh well, whatcha gonna do? Tomorrow - confidence course. We'll see.

Well I gotta go soon. I'm friggin' tired and sore. I hope everyone is doing well.

March 9th, 2009

OK all, what is up?

Here I would like to say hello to a few of you. I really want to write everyone personal letters, but time is sometimes a precious commodity. So to be able to say hello to all, this is the best way for me.

Margie and Ernie
Hey there. I received your letters and had a nice surprise. It was good to hear from you guys. I'm glad to know you are doing well. :-)

Jason and Heidi
Hey, how are things there? I hope everything is good. It was a great surprise when I got your letter. It's real good knowing how things are going back home with everyone. Any time you want to write, feel free. I'm a guest here for about 2.5 more months :-)

Aaron
Another great surprise. It was really great getting your letters. It helps me feel like I'm still connected there. I can't wait to get back for a few days and we can all go have some coffee, you, me, Rob and Jim, etc. I could go for a headhunter and a big oat biscuit about now for damn sure! Hope to hear from you when you can. Till then, take care. PS - Congratulations on the twins! :-) :-)

Nana
I think Morgan had said Nana had read some of the blog. So I wanted to say hello and wish you the best.


~


So, this week is non stop bullshit. Today we did like combat shit things. We did the high and low crawl into fighting positions. So, basically this is like pigs rooting around in a trough with our rifles and maneuvering and taking up fighting positions in the muck. Then we ran a course - you have to understand we are in full body armor running through bushes and trees and much and shit, climbing over log barricades, under concertina wire in teams, giving cover fire as we move. The whole time we're getting shot at and shit with paintballs. We shoot 5.56 blanks for cover. Everyone here is covered in bloody welts. Shit's blowing up like incoming artillery. It was pretty nutty.

Tomorrow we road march our 8k and do the live grenade course. Both of which are BCT requirements. Well you must throw a minimum of two live grenades. Later this week is the 12k march.

It's 10pm no and wake up is at 0345.


MOM
I wanted to say hi to Mom. I want to write but like I said, time is precious. I'm glad the girls are being good. They can be a handful, but in good way. They are both so loving. I miss them a lot, but I don't worry about them much. I take comfort knowing they are in a happy, healthy place. I'm sure they just think it's vacation. I hope all goes well at the HOA meeting. I really don't want there to be an issue with the girls. They need to be there with you where they are safe and happy and together.

To Morgan & Mom -

I wanted to thank you so much for the hotel room. That is great. I'm looking forward to a few good meals and some good rest and phone time. Some sight seeing, some news and a hot, hot shower and now a massage!* That's great. I can't wait.

Really it's for the better no one is coming for BCT graduation. The end ceremony is the one to be at if you want to be at one. So, don't think I'm disappointed. On the contrary, I'm really happy to think you might come in May and I get a March weekend alone. :-)

As for answering a few questions:

I won't know my first duty station for a few more weeks. I can guess where I might go, but I don't want to. I'd just as soon tell it when I know for sure.

As for leave after graduation: Well, I get two weeks, but where my duty station is and when that unit's deployment time is, is the factor on whether I'll take it or not.

See, before you deploy, you get 30 days leave, but if I use my two weeks it screws that up. How much time I get and when I'll take it is still up in the air. I'll just let everyone know as it happens.

I'm wishing I would have put down Hawaii. Apparently the few who chanced it and put Hawaii got it. What the fuck! Oh well, that's probably a BS rumor.

Well, I gotta go.


Scouts out :-)

~Justin


*The way he wrote that sounds like he's thanking Mom and me for the massage. He knows that the massage is from you all and the $100 gift card, too.

March 8th, 2009

Well I guess the next week's gonna suck. Oh well, day by day, I'll get through it. This week and next and BCT portion is over.

So we had a tornado warning tonight. Had one private assault another private and one try to go AWOL - he didn't make it but 100 yards. Typical BS - Same BS different day.

I was lucky enough to watch a skunk out back through the window while all the commotion was going on. He was cool looking. Mostly white with a pink face - funny looking little bastard. It was a nice moment to just watch him for five minutes walking around, foraging in the grass.

Well, going to bed.

Over and out:-)

~Justin

March 7th, 2009

Well, back from fellowship day. "Operation Hug a Private" or some shit like that. Ate way too much food, then got to Ft. Knox and had to go to DFac for dinner ooooh shit. All those days of starving. Now I almost want to puke I'm so full. Oh well, it'll be gone and down the drain. Hopefully no PT tonight. I got cramps just marching back from the DFac. Tomorrow is church. It's funny. Well, not funny but interesting, how connected and interwoven religion and the military are.

Next week is supposed to be hard-hard week. We are now back in red. That really sucks. We're supposed to be in Blue yesterday. We now have ten weeks left. Lots of rumors on where we're all going, but won't know anything for a few more weeks. I'm wishing I would have put Hawaii just for the hell of it. Damn. Realistically, the only place I don't want to go is Ft. Campbell. If I get it I'll explain why. If not I'll just forget about it.

Took group photos the other day. My photos and the group and all will get sent to Mom. Hopefully she can post these sometime*. Supposedly we can get DVDs of all our training also. There are always people videoing everything we do. Maybe I'll be in some of it. Not all the people will be from Charlie Company, maybe even 1st and 2nd platoon only. Sometimes we train with 2,3&4. Sometimes just 2nd. I'll get one anyhow, just to see here in a few weeks. We'll see how many people are left.

Man my stomach hurts. Lack of self-control right there! Fuck it. It was good.

Found out about Little Bear today. Man that hurts. I guess now he has a little stubby tail. Haven't seen it but I can imagine. He had such a pretty tail and he was always slamming it back and forth with such happy energy. I'm happy he's okay, and I know he'll survive, but it still hurts knowing my decision to do this lead to the end result.** at least he's got his health and I know he is still a happy dog.

I miss that little fucker. Cotton and Camas I miss a lot, but they're such lazy little suckers and they've got each other. I worry less about them. Maybe to just because they are still somewhat in their environment and in a place of familiarity. Bear is in a great place, but it is all new. Well, it should be starting to feel better for him now. I hope.

When we get in trouble our cadence is 'Yellow Bird'.

Yellow bird - yellow bird - yellow bird with a yellow bill sittin on the window sill - I lured him in with a piece of bread then I smashed his fucking head.

The moral is: To get some head, you need some bread.

V-I-C-T-O-R-Y Victory, victory, that's my battle cry.
S-O-L-D-I-E-R Soldier, soldier that who we are.
C-A-V-A-L-R-Y Cavalry, cavalry, scouts till the day we die.

Next test I think is the PFT II. Which won't be bad. At 37, I have to do 24 sit-ups, 25 push-ups, and run 18 minutes - 2mile. I can do over 60 push-ups, over 60 sit-ups and do a 2 mile in under 14 minutes. That's good for me and I've got that all covered. So, I'm not worried. There are some fuckers who are 17-25 who can't hardly do 10-20 push-ups or sit-ups. It's fucking sad. How the fuck are these fuckers gonna be the Army's finest? These are the idiots I'm going to combat with. At least out MOS or 19Ds are mostly do night operations crap. Maybe they can all hide good. They better be able to. They can't run, jump, move, think, or shoot worth a shit. Hopefully I'll get a good unit with guys who know their shit. I'm highly motivated. Most the fuckers here are not, which makes it hard to be.

Just got weighed - 180 pounds - so I've lost 15 pounds since I've been here. I think some muscle and some fat. Oh well, I hope I'm about 170 when I leave. Shitty work outs for building big muscle, most shit is for muscle endurance which I'm getting little by little.


*Mom, when you get those, scan and email and I can post on the blog for everyone to see. Thanks!

** that happy energy slamming the tail on everything is what caused the problem. Justin is in no way responsible for what happened with Little Bear. The vet said it was probably inevitable with a tail as strong as his. It was hard, hard, hard, but he is fine. I will take pictures and post them for you all to see. He's a very handsome dog, regardless.

March 6th, 2009

Well, what to write. We've done a few really cool things in the past few days.

We shot the M-4 at close combat targets with red dot sites, and then night fired same with night vision with integrated laser system. That was cool. Then we shot the M-249 belt fed 5.62. That was pretty cool. Then we shot the AT4. It's like our RPG or if you really don't know what I mean, think sort of like a bazooka. Then we got to shoot M-203. Those are grenade launchers fixed to your M-16. Then we got to watch some claymore mines blow up. Then we went and shot the 240 Bravo which is 7.62. We did a day fire and then we got to shoot at night with a really cool infrared night scope that was the shit. 7.62 beltfed with thermal imager.

Today we took our BCT-II test; another requirement for graduation. Tomorrow we have fellowship day. Food, phones and time away for a few hours.

Today we were supposed to be going to blue phase, but a bunch of fucking idiots in different platoons did a bunch of really fucked up shit. So, now we are back in red; all the way at the bottom. Blue = free time from 6:00 to 9:30 at which time we can have all the phone time you want. That's what I was looking forward to. It's really fucked and really pisses me off. Most the people here, - MOST! - are total fucking rejects. I really mean rejects. I can't figure how these people are supposed to be some of the Army's best. They are bottom of society's barrel. I wonder what that says about me :-)

Well I got guard in 2 hours. I'm going to bed. Take care.

~Justin

March 3rd, 2009

Well, not much to say. Did the saline lock and IV today. Not too bad. It hurt a little and now I know how to do it.

Tomorrow is close quarters combat training in the day and night fire all night. I'll let you know how that goes.

Maybe I'll be able to call you this weekend. We have a special day and we get some good phone time this Saturday, and the word is we're going into blue phase next Sunday which could mean some phone time.

We've also heard again that we will be changing from OSUT to closed AIT, which would mean weekends off for phones and ability to PT on our own, eat how we want, ect. Fuck that would be nice. I'll believe it when it happens. I'll keep my fingers crossed but I won't hold my breath.

till next time

Scouts Out
~Justin

March 2nd, 2009

Not much to say today. We did close quarters combat techniques. That was pretty cool. In that stuff we use new rifles and red dot optics. I hit everything from 5-100 meters, about 100 shots. It's pretty easy and fun, but no award for that shit.

At first, we were outside for a briefing, just first platoon. The instructor told us we were scout and we could handle it without gloves. We took our gloves off and after about 20 minutes it got bad. One guy collapsed out cold, several others lost it and were freaking, one guy made it inside and collapsed. Our hands were that cold. Mine were fucked up cold, probably as bad as they've ever been, but it was not a new sensation so I handled it well. Though, given another five to ten minutes and it would have gotten real bad. This is how serious this was: the instructor had his ass chewed and was canned on the spot. Welcome to the US Army. It really wasn't very cool at all.

10 weeks of this shit left now. Still seems like a long time, but I suppose it's better than 16. Apparently next week is the roughest week of the whole cycle. Well one of them I guess. I saw the schedule and it's going to be grueling. I'll write about it all as it plays out.

Tomorrow we have to administer saline locks and IVs on each other. Oh boy that's gonna fucking suck. I got 9:30 - 10:30 guard tonight. At least I'll get some decent sleep tonight. GOD, I CAN'T WAIT TO GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE. Supposedly blue phase we get phone privileges, but we will see what happens. Anyhow, talk to yall later

~Justin

March 1st, 2009 (later in the day)

Not much today, white phase. We get left alone quite a bit. We still are watched. If we fuck up it sucks, but they don't ride us so much. I lose squad leader at 0000 tonight. I like that. Went to church today and studied for the BCT II test. Next weekend is some sort of fellowship day. From 9-6 on Saturday we get to hang out with no drill Sgts. It's put on by all the church groups. We get open phone time, eat all we want, BS, play games, etc. I hope it's a good time. I'm looking forward to the phone and the food. We'll probably get fucked by the DS's. Oh well. It will be worth it. Family day is in 26 days. I'm looking forward to that also. Food/sleep/quiet alone time/maybe a movie - 2 days and 2 nights. Well, take care, all.

~Justin

March 1st, 2009 (3am)

Board and on duty. I got CQ and line of sight duty. So, I guess we get to read or write cause we just sit here and stare at some kid who is nutso and make sure he doesn't go anywhere, escort him to the latrine, ect. The guy's a douche bag. I'm glad he's asleep.

Once you qualify with your M-16, the DS issue you 3 blank rounds that you must turn in at some point. Every time you go anywhere your rifle is locked and loaded. Every time you enter a building you must clear your weapon. No problem, right? Well, holy shit! Ever day I hear those rounds go off. They sound like fire crackers (there is no projectile) and some people pop theirs off while they're walking or standing there. I've probably heard 10 go off in the last 3 days. I'm not sure if many people understand what that means and how scary it really is. I mean, the weapons are on safe all the time and get cleared for safety as if they were loaded with real ammo and that's what these rounds simulate: real ammo or how things are on base in a war zone or whatever. To me that simulates let's say 10 people popping off 10 rounds in the last 3 days in a crows of people. What the fuck? That's the potential for 10 friendly fire deaths. I was told about this before and told to watch your ammo because as more and more people fire their blank rounds, people start stealing others to avoid the consequences when it's time to return the rounds. Some people just don't comprehend how serious this is and how seriously they should be taking this.

By Christmas we all will probably be deployed. When everything's not going to be some funny joke. Well I, for one, realize it and dont intend to forget it. By the way, I still have all 3 of mine and I sure as shit hope and intend to turn in 3 rounds at the end of basic. I mean shit, keep the shit on safe, don't pull the trigger unless you intend to discharge the weapon and always clear the damn things by ejecting. Observe the chamber. Make sure the weapon is clear before you pull the trigger. Oh well, these are the fuckers I'm going to be going into combat with.

Fuck, I can't wait for chow. I'm starving. You burn up way too much energy here. I think in black or gold you eat on your own and get to exercise on your own. I hope that's true but probably BS.

Well - shift's over - Scouts Out

~Justin

February 28th, 2009

Lights got shut out there at that last line (2/27 post). I'm not sure I want to explain all that now. I just had a close call. 3 guys got the whole platoon smoked. Standing out in the freezing rain in shorts, t-shirts and rifles. I almost was the fourth man, but I got lucky. My rifle was only partially secured right, but the drill didn't get it off my locker. Wee he didn't cause he had 3 others in his arms. Oooh lucky. I won't ever make that mistake again. Ever.

Found out most things are good at home at this point. I guess Bear might lose his tail. Boy, that's difficult to handle. In a sense, it's all my fault. It never would have happened if I hadn't made the decision I did. That hurts, but I'm just glad he'll be okay. He's a great dog and I'm sad this had to happen, but I'm glad he's going to hang around. I wouldn't know what to do if I lost him.

Today - the 28th - we had a bunch of class crap we learned about the M-130 or AT4 anti-tank weapon. It's pretty cool, but not that great. We also studied our procedures with the radio, calling for med evac and shit like that. We also played with the M249 SAW (squad automatic weapon). Now that's a cool fucking rifle. 5.56 belt fed machine gun. Can't wait to fire that sucker.

Had a weird conversation with a Sgt. - not a drill just a sgt - this morning while guarding about 1/2 million dollars worth of M-249s.

Finally had a good diner. I got to finish: lasagna, mashed potatoes & gravy, corn, 2 pieces rye bread, two glasses of milk, cottage cheese, pasta salad with some jalapenos, olives and cheese and 4 soda crackers. The bread and milk are a good combo. They make you feel full which is nice. Tomorrow I will have the same thing for breakfast I've had every day since I've been here - scrambled eggs/bacon/1 piece toast with gravy/sliced potatoes/1 bagel/1 banana/1 glass milk/1 glass water/ 1 bowl of grits with one small box dry cereal mixed in. It all gets eaten together in one giant pile and near choking speed. If you have time to get it all down, it's good. Sometimes you barely have time to get a quarter of it down, and when they say, "You're done, Charlie" or "You're done, 1st." the shit in your mouth falls out and onto the plate and you go at a high rate of speed you pass off your shit or grab someone else, cause you always double rush to dump it in a highly organized fashion and then get outside in formation. 3 times a day.

Who knows what tomorrow holds - fireguard tonight sometime, church at 7:30 - 10:30 for me. I picked LDS. It's a 3 hour service, all the other services are 2 hours. It's actually a nice way to get away and even though you're with 50 people, it's quiet and you can have some peace and know you're not gonna get jumped for something at any moment. You just sit and listen and let your mind wander. We went back into white phase today. We were supposed to be a week ago, but are fuck ups. Well, not everyone, but the majority of the 200 are. We're actually supposed to start blue in a week which is the last phase of the basic part of OSUT. I don't know if we'll see blue or not. For all I know, I'll/we'll be back in red in a day or two. Red is total control all the time/ white is less/ blue is even less/ then black/ then gold/ then onto your duty station and the regular Army.

I've heard varying stories about where people are going. I've heard a lot are going to Ft. Campbell, KY. I really, really don't want to go there. So, I'm sure that's where I'll end up. I heard a couple people are getting Hawaii. I wish that was me. Then that rumor might be BS, like everything else. They know where most of us are going already, but we won't know for a while, I'm sure.

Ft. Campbell is 101st Airborne. If I go there I got that to look forward to, but honestly at this point I don't know how much I could take. Airborne is pretty rough and I'm beat to shit and got 11 more weeks here. I kinda am actually hoping for a Bradly or a Stryker unit at this point, but would not hesitate to take an Airborne or Air Assault or Ranger or Pathfinder slot if offered one. even as beat as I am, but I doubt I'll get offered one. Although, I am trying my damnedest. My sit-ups and push-ups are in the 100% zone. My running I guess is about 1 minute off of 100% but I got about 8 weeks to work on that, to get 300 points in PT. I can get 1 of only 2 medals you can realistically get here in basic. I already have a marksmanship medal - not the best but not the worst either & the 300 would get me the other one - EIC (Excellence in Cavalry award). We'll see about that.

I got Jason's mail last night. That was a great surprise. It sounds like things are going OK back home, but it also sounds like if I would have stayed I might be close to super fucked at this point. Doesn't sound like the work situation back home is all that good. Well it actually sounds worse than when I left over a month ago. From what little I can gather, it sounds like the DOW and stock and that shit are all in the toilet. Housing market is still f-d up. Job market is still going down and that Obama is doing a pretty fine job of fucking it all up, but that's just what I gather from little bits of shit here and there. It could be all BS, too. Well I am pretty positive the job and house situation back home is in the shitter, and I would be fucking done if I would have stayed there at home. I'm still curious as to how this will all play out by the time I am out in a few years. There's going to be a lot of weird shit I encounter on the road of life in the next few years, but all in good time.

Well, it's almost lights out. So, I am going to get this ready for the mail. Tomorrow will come way too fast. I hope all is well with everyone. Things are good as can be expected here. Talk to you all soon.

Scouts out
~Justin


If you ain't Cav, you ain't shit!


You wouldn't believe the amount of repetitive brainwashing that goes on around here. Some day I'll write down some of the sick, twisted cadences.

Like:

"Shoot em in the head. Shoot em in the head. Kill em."
"Fill the body bags. Fill the body bags. Fill em."

February 27th, 2009

Well 9:30 again. What a fucking day. No obstacle course. It was torrential rain this morning so we just ruck marched in it for 5k then did some 240B training (big ass bled fed 308s - 7.62) and screwed with the M203 (that's a grenade launcher that fits on your M-16) then marched home. Did a bunch of crazy shit over and over. That's what happens when people fuck up which happens all the time. Before the ruck we got smoked. That's when they PT (physical training) as a sort of punishment. Sort of like rubbing a dog's nose in piss. Sort of things you keep doing push ups (front leaning rest) then thinking clear while lifting your rifle over your head then push up. People that put their knees down equal more, elbows not bent = more, complaining = more, grunts and groans = more, people just keep doing it. It goes on and one. I was to the point of just quivering, almost tears of pain in my eyes. Some people do cry. It's pretty painful.

At night we do this stupid shit:

At night or any time really, we do stupid fucked up shit. Like tonight. Drill Sergeant yells some set of instructions - i.e. get out side with full battle gear and ruck grounded and get in formation. You have 10 minutes. - all the sudden all hell breaks loose. You grab you body armor, Kevlar helmet, rucksack our of your wall lock and go to the front and arrange everything, which would be pretty hard to explain, but it's sort of a way the whole platoon organizes its shit.

February 26th, 2009 - Later that day

Had land nav today and 240 Bravo training then night nav. Back at barracks at 10, 10:30 now. Fireguard at 3 and wake up at 4 then march at 5:30 to chow then to obstacle coarse.

Man this is fucked :)

February 26th, 2009 - Ash Wednesday

7:30 - 8:30 pm

Just got out of a land navigation review course. Pretty much all day (7am - 5pm) was spent learning how to disassemble, reassemble, clear weapon, function check the BMG .50 aka M2 - .50 cal/MA Deuce - Belt fed 50 cal rifle, tripod or vehicle mounted. It's a big fucking rifle. Receiver and barrel total about 60 pounds. In two weeks we qualify on one we each get 100 rounds to practice with. That should be fun.

Tomorrow is the day land nav course. We have a map and compass and must locate 3 of 5 point out in the bushes in teams of four. I am worried it will be a cluster fuck like everything else, which I am sure it will be, but I start squad leader tomorrow of 1st squad. So, I'll have the ability to take control of my group. When you can't it's all f-d up (too many chiefs BS). Most groups will be like that. I was already PG once (platoon guide) - God that sucked. I'll have it again but probably not till close to the end of the cycle. Squad leader and PG suck. It's tons of responsibility, exposure and other peoples' BS you deal with and pay for, with no end result benefit.

It puts you up front in charge and responsible. I can do it. I just don't like to. One of the hardest things is a lot of the people you need to deal with are turds and that sucks. Good news for me is I can only have it for 4 days.

Mail call tonight. Still no mail. I don't know what is worse: not getting mail or not knowing when you might get mail. Before it was 'whatever' but over time I find myself hoping for it. It's not like I've been gone very long at all. I mean, shit, I've gone longer without family and friend contact and still been in the same town, or had a phone I could have picked up, but somehow when that ability is taken from you, it somehow takes on a whole different level of importance and necessity. I guess when that freedom is taken from you, you realize how important the need to be with family and friends is, and how the words of familiar people give you a strength and a peace of heart and mind. My mind also runs away with me and I always think the worst about what might be going on with my life at home while I am living here. The thought of family and friends and the dogs gives me a lot of strength to do good here, but wondering about how they are and having no way to find out also causes a lot of concern and a sad hopefulness that all is well. It is a strange place I find myself in now; never a moment alone yet completely isolated from the world I know. Here I function in two places: when I have to, I am here in the real world. Other times, when I can, I am some where else. I suppose it's just a way to pass time.

Well I hope all is good and everyone is OK.

Take Care

Scouts out
~Justin

Somtime between Feb 23 & Feb 25 (not dated)

Hey there, everyone. How are things going? All is about the same here. We're 1/2 way into week 5 here. It seems like forever. We've been doing land navigation the past few days and will have some more later.

Tomorrow is .50 cal training. I'm sort of excited, but sort of not. I've already shot those, but it will be cool anyhow.

I had to qualify the other day for marksmanship. You get 40 rounds and have 40 targets. If you get less than 23, you fail and shoot again until you pass, but it's sort of like winning by forfeit. If you shoot 23-29, you are classified as a marksman. If you shoot 30-35 you are a sharpshooter. If you get 36-40 you are an expert and 40 is the best. You have to do this on your first go. I was in the first firing order so I shot at like 8 in the morning. It was cold as fuck - about 15 degrees, completely snowy and miserable - 70% of about 200 people were no goes on the first go round. I shot 36 rounds. I missed 4 and hit 32 on first go, giving me rank of sharpshooter. 4 rounds misfired, which pissed me off. I missed 4 shots fair, but those other four cost me expert at no fault of mine. Well at least I passed on first go and sharpshooter is nothing to be too bummed about. There were no experts out of all 200 and out of 35 in 1st platoon, there were only 4 sharpshooters. You also get to requalify if you want at your unit in a better environment, with a better rifle, magazine and ammo.

Anyhow, sharpshooter, that's my first award in the US Army. WHen I got the award the captain said the drill sergeants have had their eye on me and have been talking about me. The word is I've been doing a pretty good job and it's been noticed and to keep it up. How true? I don't know. Does it mean anything? I don't know, but it was good words of encouragement all the same. I hope I do finish all this doing above average at least.

I had to move bays. At first I thought I was fucked, but it turned out OK. I got put in the very end bunk. It's dark and quiet and far from all the BS near the CQ desk where my old room and bunk was. Here there are only 6 of us and 2 are leaving. One is a nut and I think might already be gone and the other is a blown shoulder. Both are nice guys but that will leave only 4 in our room. One of the guys is now my assigned permanent battle buddy, which means we always work together. The other two are battle buddies. One is kind of a dumb ass, but he's OK. The other one is pretty OK, too. Plus he's on 6 pack detail with me, so that's good having two of us in the same room.

Things have been getting a bit better the past few days. The drills aren't quite so crazy, but that comes and goes. The worst time for their craziness is 4am. I hope they're not crazy tomorrow. Plus, tonight, I got left off fire guard. A whole night's sleep, how nice! :-)

Well, I am going to crash and get the most out of my night.

Take care all. You're all in my thoughts.
~Justin

New Posts

Hi all,

Morgan here. I just want you to know that I alter the dates on the posts to correspond with the date he is actually doing the writing. So, I just got a group of writings from January and more from February. So, go through the whole archive. If anyone wants to know about the Little Bear situation that Justin keeps mentioning in his writings, it's complicated. Essentially he whacked the end of his tail a LOT when he first got here. Because he continues to whack it, it won't heal. It appears that I am going to have to have it docked in hopes of keeping him healthy. If you believe in the power of positive thought and prayer, Little Bear could use all you have to spare right now.

February 22nd, 2009

2030 - Free time - The drill Sgts seem to be hit and miss. They're starting to really hammer the shit bags and lay off the guys that do right, but there are still problems. People are are starting to act like little girls - gossip and rumors and BS. I just keep my mouth shut and leave it all alone and take mental notes of it all.

One thing that sucked is one guy, who is on a bit of a power high, didn't handle a situation correctly, and we lost our salad bar privileges which constitutes about 1/3 of every one of my meals, and a lot of other people too. That really sucks.

It's a constant push and pull/give and take crap. Always unaware of what is next.

I went to church today. Was still on 24 hour quarters, but I went any how. I'm fine and no one noticed. I'm not supposed to PT tomorrow, but I'm going to anyway. I don't think anyone will say anything because it was a dentist visit, not a med appointment.

Man I'm hungry. hehehe, this sux. We have to qualify tomorrow and ruck march 5k back from the range. Oh and I got assigned permanent 6 pack crew, which mean sI am part of a 6 man detail that loads all the crew shit in the humvee or stake side and travels in the back of that and not the big bus. I pulled 0230 fireguard again. What horse shit. Although I did get last night off. I just hate the last two shifts. There's no time to sleep between duty and wake up.

Some one from Bravo asked me today if it was true. If Charlie was the most fucked troop to be in. I just said, "sure, I guess." Apparently all of us were actually supposed to be in Hotel Company, but there was some problem with the barracks. So, we got Charlie. Apparently Hotel is the easiest company to be in, easier than Echo. I guess Hotel gets cell privileges, TV, and lax DFac privileges.

Oh, phone call - we also lost our 5 minute phone call along with salad bar - that little fucker - I haven't had a phone call for 3 weeks to the day. Hopefully I'll get some mail soon with some info on what is all going on back there.

I don't know when, but at some point I think Mom is getting a picture of me in my ACU* shit. I probably look like a jack ass.

Well looks like no mail call again. What a fucking shitter. 5 minutes till lights out. So, see you all. Hope everyone is well. Take care.

Scouts Out,
~Justin


*ACU - Army Combat Uniform

February 21st, 2009 - Later in the evening 1800

Sitting in the barracks. I guess I'm on quarters for 24 hours. So everyone else is at chow and I sit here alone. All because of a tooth. Whatever. And the place you get prescriptions is closed on the weekend, so the Motrin I was supposed to get I can't get till Monday some time. So, what the fuck? Welcome to the Army.

Since I left the dentist it started snowing and has snowed about 1/2 an inch.

I'm hoping for mail tonight, but I doubt it. I'm hoping to get an early fire guard, but I doubt it. Wake up ain't till 0500 tomorrow. That's nice, but no church escape for me. Instead I'll clean, but that's ok, I don't mind.

Let's see, who are some of the other people around here? In my bay there are 8. Craig from Virginia.
Barno, he's is a skinny dude from Georgia.
Diel, a little short, feisty dude from back east somewhere.
Barns, he is an ex-cop from Maryland. He's close to my age.
Then there's Collins, young guy just out of high school, married with a new born kid.
Then there's Tony Anthony (everyone calls him Tony Tony), he's a truck driver from Tennessee and has a pretty good accent. He's in his late 20s. He's a real good guy.
Then btween him is Brown, little, short, quiet guy. Real nice and real quiet.
Then me. I got lucky. Our bay is all good people. Most of the other bays have anywhere from 1 to 8 total shit bags. I'll tell you about some of them in time.

Barns is this skinny black kid from Georgia. I don't think he's got much family to speak of, but he's got a pretty cute girl he adores. He carries her picture everywhere and even sleeps with it. Sometimes he is a bit spastic and slow on the go, but he's a real cool guy. And for an 18 year old, he's got his shit together a bit more than most of the others. He's been sick a lot and is close to his max 40 hours that you can miss, and the other day he also tore his rotators cuff. What a bummer deal. I wouldn't be surprised if he recycles. I'm sure I'll write more about him some day.

Craig - his bunk's across from mine. He is the one who missed a few days because he had pneumonia and he is a bit older - a construction worker - at first he was real slow and sort of lethargic, now he is a squad leader and all of the sudden he is a loudmouth, but in a good way. He gets real pissed off at all the younger privates.

Man, I wonder what's in store for us tonight. God only knows.

The food here is actually pretty good. You just don't get very much and it's a pain in the ass to get it. The whole process and all, but it's also screwy. They have donuts, cake, ect. you can take, but if you do you're fucked. If you try to take too many servings of bread, you're fucked. If you fill your salad bowl over the rim, you're fucked. If you don't drink a glass of water first, if you don't carry your glass of water with both hands, the rules go on and on and on and frequently they change. Breaking the rules can result in anything from yelling and screaming to being cut off of salad bad, or the whole platoon loses salad bar, or the whole platoon is instantly finished with dinner. That one really sux. You might just sit down and have to spit your first bite out and evacuate the D-Fac (dining facility). Whoops gotta go, platoon's back from chow.

2100 - Free time till 2130. The drills been being decent and I don't have fireguard tonight and wake up is at 0500, Cool. I'm 48 hours PT free. I get to sleep, eat and have a little muscle recovery. All for the cost of one tooth.

Well, no mail tonight :-( Oh well. Copied notes on basic map reading from Tony Tony. Nothing was taught I didn't already know. So, that's good. Lights out in 5 minutes.

February 21st, 2009

Well, it's 1230. I've been up since 0230 and sitting here at the dentist since 0700. Apparently I have a dental appointment today. I guess they Army has decided that to remove my last wisdom tooth. One I've had for 18 years and have never had a problem with. The one my local dentist opted to leave because it is just there causing no problem. Go figure.

So, my Land Navigation (basic map reading) started today. How nice. One thing I was looking forward to, I get to miss. Good thing I know how to read maps and navigate incredibly well, but it puts me down 8 hours. If you miss 40 hours of training, you get recycled. What a fuck job. This shit is starting to kill me. I thought it would be ok at least a little, cause there is a TV here. I wanted to watch the news, but there are 9 of us here and everyone else wants to watch music videos - go figure. I'll get to see a little bit of news. Apparently, they make you not train for 2 days after a tooth extraction. Which means I might miss training Monday. God, I hope not!

I hope the blog is working to some extent. I still am also looking for real mail. Every day I look forward to mail call. I usually figure there won't be anything, but I still look forward to it, just in case. It is (mail call that is) a big part of everyone's day. People that get mail are stoked. People that don't are bummed. I'm pretty reserved about it, but I still look forward to possibly having it.

Well here I sit minus all my wisdom teeth now. Well, I only had one left. Now I have none. It wasn't so bad, although I'm sure it will hurt like hell later. I got 24 hours quarters and no PT for 48 hours. I guess that will be a good excuse for the DS. They can chew my ass for being a pussy even thought it wasn't my call. I won't get to go to church and I will be forced to clean the barracks while everyone else is at church. Yeah, I can't wait. It's 1430 now and raining like cats and dogs. Still just sitting here waiting for the last dental to finish. He is a pretty cool guy. His name is Kerr. He is in Charlie 2nd Platoon. He is from Utah. He is pretty gun savvy and knew enough to ask why the hell I would have BORS. When I told him, he knew what .416 was. He's National Guard but has to do 4 active and 4 reserve. I think maybe that is what I should have done. Active National Guard. Those guys get paid a lot, but oh well. He's 28 so he was pretty easy to talk to and understand. He's the last one. The other guy here waiting with me now is Bales. He is this big ol giant son of a bitch with a serious southern type drawl. Thought he is from Tennessee, most people kind of treat him like he's a dullard. I think it's just his drawl. Although he is the idiot that blew his knee up to get out and openly said he was considering suicide. Shit, I don't care. He is a pretty nice guy and I get along with him. He is also National Guard. He is also from Charlie 1st platoon like me.

Kerr had a friend who was in Charlie last cycle and broke his hip and got recycled to Alpha company. He talked to him during the black outs a few weeks ago and supposedly verified what everyone is saying, well guys I've talked to from Delta, Echo and Fox - that Charlie is a nightmare of a company to be in. It's the hardest company at Ft. KNox. Well for OSUT (Basic/AIT). All Cav Scouts come from Ft. Knox. So there is lots who can verify this or discredit it.

In October, the Scout program goes to Ft. Benning and no more knox - gotta go.

February 20th, 2009

Back to the journal. Spent the last few times writing Mom. It's hard to find the time to write to both. Last night I fell asleep writing. Was at the shooting range every day for the last week. I don't think I did so hot today. I think my rifle is fucked, but that doesn't matter. I'll get a chance to qualify when I'm out of Basic, but for now I will just get by Monday with the rifle I was issued, which is seriously a P.O.S.. Tomorrow we are supposed to start land navigation classes. I'm good at that so I'm looking forward to that. It will be mostly basic map reading, I suppose, tomorrow.

Did lots of PT yesterday. Like 200 push ups and 200 sit ups in about an hour. That part killed. Well, I've been in actual Basic Combat Training for 1 month today. A new cycle just started today. "E" company (Echo). They all look scared shitless. hehehehe :-)

I was told we might not get to do the rappel tower. If that is true, I will be really upset. That is one of the things I was looking forward to, but you never know. Everything here is 95% BS.

As you might know, I am in OSUT (one stop unit training) and I am doing it as a 19 Delta or Cavalry Scout. So, instead of 8 weeks of Basic and 8 weeks of AIT which is general Basic and Advanced Individual Training. All 16 weeks for me is like Basic, but not geared for general soldiers. It's 16 weeks geared specifically for cavalry scouts, which is one of the more intense trainings for an Army MOS There are a few others but not at an entry level. So, it's pretty intense. Well it turns out - so intense that the Cav Scout companies at Ft. Knox have one of the largest AWOL rates in the whole Army, and it has a high self injury and suicide rate (well attempted) for the Army. Since I've been here, I've seen people that said they were going to kill them self, 3 people injure them self and several on purpose (like purposely dislocating a shoulder and blowing a knee to get out), and 8 AWOLs from our initial 120 man platoon. It's only been 30 days in here. That's not good. There are rumors that they are going to change OSUT to Basic/AIT like all other MOS to stop this.

In Basic, you have zero freedom. In AIT you get freedom just like living at a college dorm. In OSUT it's like Basic on steroids for 16 weeks instead of 8. They might even do it at the we graduate Basic and the 8 week mark. I don't care one way of the other. I personally would probably have more success in a Basic/AIT situation, but I like knowing that OSUT is the hard way and I would like to just see it through, but that that is not for me to decide. I just get sick of the yelling and belittling of people, but I do realize that without that control this place would be a fucking chaotic disaster all day. Too many numb-nuts here.

It does get old though. Every morning my first thought is pretty much, "Oh, fuck. I'm still here." and "Shit, another day of this hell." But it's good. I'm learning a lot and gaining a strong understanding of things. I'm getting more and more fit daily and am able to run pretty respectable now. 14:50 - 2 miles. I'd like to do 14:00 in the test.

I'm not sure if I told you, but one of the drill sergeants asked me where I wanted to go. I told him I didn't care where. I wasn't going to get what I wanted anyhow. He said yeah, most people don't ever get what they want, but he still wanted to know where I picked. I told him Alaska. He said, "Oh, shit. You'll definitely get that one, because no one ever wants to go there. It's too fucking cold and too many bugs and the sun stays up for months." apparently most people that go there, don't choose to. So, maybe I'll get what I wanted. On the down side, if it is Alaska is a Cav-Scout Stryker base. So, as opposed to Airborne or Light unite, like a Bradly unit; whatever, I would be in a Stryker unit. Which I suppose isn't bad, but guys that go to Stryker units apparently have to stay at Knox for an extra two weeks of Stryker training. That doesn't sound real fun. Although Strykers are pretty cool. I don't know what would be better: Scout with a Bradly or Cav Scout Stryker. Personally, I want Cav Scout Airborne, but we'll just see what happens.

Damn, lights out and I got fire guard tonight at 0230 - 0330 and wake up at 0400. God, this sucks. Sleep deprivation sucks.

Basic graduation or more Family Day for us (the Cav Scouts/OSUT) is March 27-29. I should get out Friday night, Saturday and be back Sunday for dinner. Not much time, so probably not much anyone will want to go to, but anyone is welcome that wants to come. Graduation as a Cav Scout is May 14th. That's the one I'm looking forward to, which any one is welcome to come to also. The BCT one I figure it's only 2.5 days. most people won't want to go so I'm, at this point, planning on getting a cheap motel for 3 days, eating pizza and Chinese take out and taking a long ass hot shower, sleeping and watching movies for 2 days.

Oh, back to that thought on Alaska. I think that is one of the bases where they teach arctic warfare. That would be cool. Ft. Lewis, my other pick, teaches mountain warfare. That would be cool, too. I don't know what would be best. Arctic in Alaska or Mountain in Washington. They also do that in Colorado and New York or desert some place like Ft. Irwin in Barstow or some place in Texas. Like I said, I'll just have to wait and see. It's a long road to get to that point. 3 more months here and I'm beat to hell already after only 1 month.

Thanks for the supplies. You and Mom both sent some. So, I've got plenty of paper, pens and stamps for quite a while. So, thanks again.

It's still really freaking cold here and flat, well rolling hills. Cold and lumpy. Just like my breakfast.

I hope Bear is doing good. I miss him terribly and can't wait to see him again, and the girls. I'm dying to see them again. Probably still one of the worst parts (well the worst part) of this whole experience so far.

Well, I'm super tired. I'll end this journal and send it out tomorrow and start some more tomorrow or Sunday.

Take care, all :-)

~Justin