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