Hello followers of the Musings! It’s been a while! Heck, it’s
been about 10 and a half weeks since I’ve even seen or felt or touched the
magic of the interwebs! Well, where the heck have you been (you may ask…. Go ahead…
ask…. Good)?
Basic Combat Training. Yes, it was EXACTLY like in Full
Metal Jacket. Or Stripes. Or Major Payne. Or that one episode of Family Guy
where Stewie and Brian join the Army. Exactly like that. Just except for
everything.
Basic Training is split into 3 (and a half) “Phases.” Red
Phase, White Phase, Blue Phase, and “Graduation Prep Phase You’ve Come This Far
Don’t F It Up”
Red Phase included a lot of yelling and push-ups. White
Phase had SLIGHTLY less yelling, the same amount of push-ups, but we were
getting stronger, so the Drill Sergeants added V-Ups and 8-Count Push-Ups (like
burpees without the jump) to help motivate us. Blue Phase consisted of a lot
less yelling, a lot of PT to prep us for the final Physical Fitness Test, and a
lot of student-leadership owning what we were doing.
There’s a lot to talk about in all of that, and over the
next several weeks as I have time, I may go ahead and do just that… dig into
the details. We were in a tough company, and a tough platoon. Specifically, the
Drill Sergeants I had in my platoon were (in my estimation) the strictest and
toughest we came across in the entire Cycle (10 week period). That’s a good
thing because it meant we were the best trained as well.
Between us SIT’s (Soldiers In Training), friendships were
forged, we all got on each other’s nerves by the end, we briefly hated each
other, and then we all came together to push to graduation. With the exception
of a couple d-nozzles who got themselves in so much hot water over the course
of the cycle, they were beyond helping. Pro-Tip, self-inflicted wounds are
preventable.
Now I’ve graduated and am in AIT, (Advanced Individual
Training) where I’ll spend the next couple months learning how to fix things.
After that, back to Milwaukee to resume my planning to rule the known universe.
Currently, I’m scheduled to return at or about 9/10 or so. But between now and
then, I’ll be here in Virginia.
The differences between Basic and AIT are already
astounding. I’ll get into those as I go along as well. But for starters, the
release from “total control” that the Army maintains throughout Basic to the “NEAR
independence” we have at AIT is enough of a shock that it actually will take a
couple days to get used to…
Onward and Upward!!!!!!
PS – I’ll TRY to inject a hint of humor along the way as
well… we shall see how that works out…. Note the picture atop the posting....
Congratulations Brad!
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