Well, we pushed off and got hit with and IED (improvised explosive device). We had to carry 3 or 4 guys, and their rucks for awhile. And this was the beginning of the bayonet, a tradition passed down, cycle after cycle.
The first real station, we had to carry the 2 biggest guys on stretchers. Next station was to carry full sand bags to another location. Keep in mind we still have our heavy ruck, raining weather, up and and down the hills, and through forest. Next was the tires. One 150 lbs. and the other human goods tire that was literally as tall as me! By this time, we caught another platoon, but the big tire rolled off into the woodune and was a disaster! Then we had to hump mannequins and ammo cans full of sand. Lastly, the most painful was the two logs. All this accumulated to about 4 miles. An UPU was finally awarded for chow, but h-e-l-l was not finished. No earlier than 2100 hour, we started the final 8 miles of FTX.
It was still pouring, we were doing 12 or 15 min. miles, crazy fast. It was hill after hills. After about 4 miles in, right before 'stairway to heaven' (3 huge hills one after another), we stopped for a water refuel break and an emergency. God showed His mercy on us and gave someone a high temperature. Heat casualty. Fell out. 106.8 temperature. Poor guy! Rushed to the hospital and still not back. But due to that, the whole company unloaded their rucks and finished with the rubber duckies, flick, camel back, and PC. We swapped out our M4's for the rubber duckies or plastic M16's, our flick includes 2 canteens, 3 M4 double mag pouches, grenade and flash pouches, and our PC is our patrol cap. So the last 4 miles were a lot easier, and finally, just before 0100 hour, we arrived at Honor Hill. They had smoke grenades, flares, flashes, pretty much all the leftover ammo from FTX going off as we walked in. When I walked through the gates, it looked like a tribal ceremony. They had torches, 2 bonfires, tall wooden gates... so that night, we became infantryman. Finally! We got our cross rifles and congratulated by many honorable men. We finally made it! I made it! It's done!
We finally go back around 0300 and had to wake up at 0600. However, it was an easy day. I actually didn't feel like an army robot that day.
We've been cleaning our equipment in the last few days so they can be turned in by Mon or Tue. Last night, dinner chow was burgers, pizza and all that great terrible stuff! And even ice cream! But it didn't stop there. They took us to a classroom where we ate while watched you tube videos and a movie. That was heaven! Especially after the past 12 weeks, the DS have been easing off too. Well, may be they're still recovering too. I saw one of them limping after the ruck, amazing huh? The movie we saw was 'We were Soldiers' or something like that. It was based off of Charlie I-50, the first graduating class. It's a good movie. Our company doesn't get many privileges like others because of its prestigious and honorable history. Kinda cool, huh? Well, my hands are tired, so I'm gonna go. Hope to talk to you soon. Love ya guys!
PFC Guido
I am the infantry! Follow me!
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Friday, September 25, 2009
Part 2
This one guy who manned the M240B (first at 6 o'clock but got moved to the 2 o'clock after many mess ups), called movement and said a terrorist captured on of our sergeants. Everyone was yelling, 'Don't shoot!' 'Give him an ultimatum'.... we already had 2 teams out flanking the 3 of them within 30 seconds of contact (really fast for us) and ready to overtake the terrorist, when BAM! One single burst form the 240B! Though it was a blank round, it would have killed them both. We now call that person the 240 sniper. Morale of the story - you can't snipe with a machine gun. Duh!
Another short story. Every night, I fall asleep to the sound of arty rounds, small arms, and flares. When the DS attack, they use flares and simulated artilleries and whole bunch of stuff. Wicked cool when you are on guard and have the NODS (night optic device). You see it in green, just like the video games!
Near the end of the week, we had to get rid of all our ammo so we worked on MOUT (military operations urban training) i.e. room clearing, squad movement, etc. At the end of the day, we did a company attack on 4-5 houses against invisible DS. It was way unfair, but fun. People got lit up by saws and bravos (M240B) all that good stuff. But the real action started and ended on Friday.
Friday began pretty uneventful. Police calling our area, chow, checking our gear, sorting expended rounds...Then all h-e-l-l broke loose (pardon the language, I'm not sure what to replace it with) at about 14 or 1500. Company formation, just as we were about to set foot back home, it started to rain, making our rucks, clothes, boots, and everything else waterlogged and heavier. We were already wet from the night before, and sandy, so it made everything worse.
Another short story. Every night, I fall asleep to the sound of arty rounds, small arms, and flares. When the DS attack, they use flares and simulated artilleries and whole bunch of stuff. Wicked cool when you are on guard and have the NODS (night optic device). You see it in green, just like the video games!
Near the end of the week, we had to get rid of all our ammo so we worked on MOUT (military operations urban training) i.e. room clearing, squad movement, etc. At the end of the day, we did a company attack on 4-5 houses against invisible DS. It was way unfair, but fun. People got lit up by saws and bravos (M240B) all that good stuff. But the real action started and ended on Friday.
Friday began pretty uneventful. Police calling our area, chow, checking our gear, sorting expended rounds...Then all h-e-l-l broke loose (pardon the language, I'm not sure what to replace it with) at about 14 or 1500. Company formation, just as we were about to set foot back home, it started to rain, making our rucks, clothes, boots, and everything else waterlogged and heavier. We were already wet from the night before, and sandy, so it made everything worse.
He's Official
After not hearing from Ben for almost 2 weeks since his 'camping' trip, we got a 6 page letter today! We were all very anxious to know how he survived the trip. I will detail the letter part by part. I just wanted you to know that he made through this very tough training exercise & is now an official infantryman! Thank you for all your prayers & letters. It really made a huge difference in helping through this experience. (I'm just going to re-type his letter because it's kind of hard to summarize. Besides, it was fun to read them; at least for me).
From Friday, Sept. 18 Guess who just emerged from the Georgian Woods! Yup! You guessed right - me! It's been a long week! 7 days, 6 nights; miles after miles, hills after hills. Blank (yes, that's what we shot, kinda hard to 'practice war' with live rounds) after blank. 33 started, 33 finished. Ready for my "Story of OSUT" ? Sorry for all the acronyms (One Station Unit Training - includes basic training (BT) & advanced individual training (AIT))? It's a long story.
Day 1 - We all had our rucks packed day(s) prior so we weren't rushing too bad. We got transported to a very far away range where we ate a UPU (you pick up a breakfast delivered from the DFAC (dining facility) so it was an alright breakfast). Then after being lead in a series of exercises and battle drills, we had to run 1/4 mile and engage targets. Platoon with the most hits got a streamer for their platoon guide on. We didn't win it, but its probably the last time I'd fired a live round for awhile. We then got trans to our FTX (field trainig exercise) site. And that, is pretty much wraps up day 1.
Next few days, we didn't leave our site, but don't remember doing very much. I'd say 80-90% of the time, were spent pulling security. That means nothing more than sitting with your back to the ruck, watching. The hardest part was not falling asleep. As soon as contact was made, we called out the 3 D's (description, distance, direction), went up to 100% security, if not already, went prone, and scanned our sector for movements. DS's (drill sergeants) tried to probe security, changing scenarios, etc. Every breakfast & dinner, we got UPU's. We carried 4 MRG's on us for lunch and were even allowed to buy fum & sunflower seed! That made thing go by way faster!
We set our perimeter up like a triangle. 10 0'clock to 2 o'clock is the side that is most likely to be attacked. But we did it wrong and it faced a woodline. 1st squad was from 10 - 2 o'clock; 2nd squad (my guys) took up 2 - 6 o'clock; 3rd took 10-6 o'clock; and 4th intermingled. There were 3x M240B (a huge machine gun) that splits out 7.62 and brings comfort to whomever is firing it (meaning massive fire power). The M249 Saws were spaced everywhere. My line got 2 (as it got attacked the most). And everyone else kinda just filled in. The 6 o'clock got the most attention. They were always calling contact and had to be manned 24/7. Ok, so now you know what we kinda look like. Now for the rest of the story.
From Friday, Sept. 18 Guess who just emerged from the Georgian Woods! Yup! You guessed right - me! It's been a long week! 7 days, 6 nights; miles after miles, hills after hills. Blank (yes, that's what we shot, kinda hard to 'practice war' with live rounds) after blank. 33 started, 33 finished. Ready for my "Story of OSUT" ? Sorry for all the acronyms (One Station Unit Training - includes basic training (BT) & advanced individual training (AIT))? It's a long story.
Day 1 - We all had our rucks packed day(s) prior so we weren't rushing too bad. We got transported to a very far away range where we ate a UPU (you pick up a breakfast delivered from the DFAC (dining facility) so it was an alright breakfast). Then after being lead in a series of exercises and battle drills, we had to run 1/4 mile and engage targets. Platoon with the most hits got a streamer for their platoon guide on. We didn't win it, but its probably the last time I'd fired a live round for awhile. We then got trans to our FTX (field trainig exercise) site. And that, is pretty much wraps up day 1.
Next few days, we didn't leave our site, but don't remember doing very much. I'd say 80-90% of the time, were spent pulling security. That means nothing more than sitting with your back to the ruck, watching. The hardest part was not falling asleep. As soon as contact was made, we called out the 3 D's (description, distance, direction), went up to 100% security, if not already, went prone, and scanned our sector for movements. DS's (drill sergeants) tried to probe security, changing scenarios, etc. Every breakfast & dinner, we got UPU's. We carried 4 MRG's on us for lunch and were even allowed to buy fum & sunflower seed! That made thing go by way faster!
We set our perimeter up like a triangle. 10 0'clock to 2 o'clock is the side that is most likely to be attacked. But we did it wrong and it faced a woodline. 1st squad was from 10 - 2 o'clock; 2nd squad (my guys) took up 2 - 6 o'clock; 3rd took 10-6 o'clock; and 4th intermingled. There were 3x M240B (a huge machine gun) that splits out 7.62 and brings comfort to whomever is firing it (meaning massive fire power). The M249 Saws were spaced everywhere. My line got 2 (as it got attacked the most). And everyone else kinda just filled in. The 6 o'clock got the most attention. They were always calling contact and had to be manned 24/7. Ok, so now you know what we kinda look like. Now for the rest of the story.
Friday, September 11, 2009
Wrestling Tournament - by Mark Guido
Ben has gone through a lot during basic training and he shared many stories and this one was fun to hear him tell.
They had a wrestling competition in his platoon. He has some advantage as a wrestler, but since they do not break down by weight class, they pretty much have to wrestle whoever no matter what size difference there is, and most guys are much bigger than him. They broke up into two teams and have each team on opposite sides of the mat. One person from each team goes to the center and they wrestle. The goal is to either get your opponent to tap out or drag them to your teams’ side. If you can drag your opponent to your side, you can tag another team member and then he can get on the mat and help you out for 10 seconds. So during these ten seconds, it is two on one but when the ten seconds are up, the first wrestler gets off the mat and the second one takes over.
So Ben is in the center and his opponent came out and Ben handled him fairly easily and made him tap out pretty quickly. Then they send another opponent out and Ben has a harder time and was able to get his opponent close to his side, but not close enough to tag another teammate. Then the other guy gets the upper hand and gets Ben to his side of the mat and tags a teammate. Now there are two guys on Ben but he holds them off for the ten seconds and the first wrestler leaves. Ben is able to move his new opponent to his side of the mat but again not quite close enough to make a tag. Ben looses ground as he gets dragged to the other side of the mat and again another tag is made and it is Ben against two one more time. Well Ben holds on for the ten seconds and is left with one to wrestle and as Ben moves this guy toward his side, his opponent just grabs Ben’s neck and start to chock him. Ben holds on as best he could but could not break free. Unable to breathe he finally gives in and taps out. Just as he does, the sergeant runs over and knocks the opponent off Ben and sends him flying. He then yells at the guy for doing an illegal choke move. Ben is a bit upset because they did not give him the win even though the guy cheated.
Friday, September 4, 2009
No brownies, please!
Now they are able to receive goodies from home. But they will tell (beg) you not to.
At first, the DS gets the package and put it in the middle of the floor of the barrack, and 30+ guys just dive right in and devour in less than a minute. Then he thought that it's too easy for them, so he thought of a contest. Normally, it's doing sit-ups and push-ups. But this time, DS got creative! They are to go to a hill, bring a huge tracker tire (weighs over 100 lbs) down to a designated spot, and get back within certain time. Well, not knowing what the contest was, everyone in Ben's group volunteered him because he's good at sit-ups & push-ups. Since the tire is too heavy for him to carry, he had to rolled it down the hill, but made terrible time. He came in second to the last, then his group got smoked for that. So that was bad!
They got a new DS the other day. He made Ben do extra 25 pushes just because we used address label for the envelope. They'll think of anything to make him work for it.
Some good news, because he and his teammates came in first out of the whole company, on a physcial training test through an really touch obstacle course, they were given a 6 hr pass. Unfortunately due to the time difference, he couldn't reach many of his friends. I talked to him while he was bowling (interrupted by his turn about every 15 seconds!) away and having pizza, in an A/C room!
He's asking for prayer for this week because they are training (camping) out in the woods from Sat (8/12) 'til Thur (8/17). It'll be very tough not only physically, but emotionally as well. They will not have any hot meals or letters. Please pray for protection from the elements, good weather (it will really suck when it rains), strength & endurance from lack of sleep and food. Pray that he will feel the presence of God & endure this whole process. He is also very concerned about the 12 mile ruck march. They have to be able to carry their own pack, which could weight 60-80 lbs. They march at a fast pace over a rough terrain. They are in full battle uniform ('fatigues' pants/shirt, body armor, helmet, weapon, canteen/water, etc.) It really adds up, and in Georgia's humid weather! The most exhaustion will come from the legs and lower back. And with his swollen ankle, it certainly does not help. We know he is strong, but this is no cake walk for him.
At first, the DS gets the package and put it in the middle of the floor of the barrack, and 30+ guys just dive right in and devour in less than a minute. Then he thought that it's too easy for them, so he thought of a contest. Normally, it's doing sit-ups and push-ups. But this time, DS got creative! They are to go to a hill, bring a huge tracker tire (weighs over 100 lbs) down to a designated spot, and get back within certain time. Well, not knowing what the contest was, everyone in Ben's group volunteered him because he's good at sit-ups & push-ups. Since the tire is too heavy for him to carry, he had to rolled it down the hill, but made terrible time. He came in second to the last, then his group got smoked for that. So that was bad!
They got a new DS the other day. He made Ben do extra 25 pushes just because we used address label for the envelope. They'll think of anything to make him work for it.
Some good news, because he and his teammates came in first out of the whole company, on a physcial training test through an really touch obstacle course, they were given a 6 hr pass. Unfortunately due to the time difference, he couldn't reach many of his friends. I talked to him while he was bowling (interrupted by his turn about every 15 seconds!) away and having pizza, in an A/C room!
He's asking for prayer for this week because they are training (camping) out in the woods from Sat (8/12) 'til Thur (8/17). It'll be very tough not only physically, but emotionally as well. They will not have any hot meals or letters. Please pray for protection from the elements, good weather (it will really suck when it rains), strength & endurance from lack of sleep and food. Pray that he will feel the presence of God & endure this whole process. He is also very concerned about the 12 mile ruck march. They have to be able to carry their own pack, which could weight 60-80 lbs. They march at a fast pace over a rough terrain. They are in full battle uniform ('fatigues' pants/shirt, body armor, helmet, weapon, canteen/water, etc.) It really adds up, and in Georgia's humid weather! The most exhaustion will come from the legs and lower back. And with his swollen ankle, it certainly does not help. We know he is strong, but this is no cake walk for him.
An Example
Ben got a 3 hr pass today and he called home! His ankle is still pretty huge & swollen, and the ringworm on his face flares up now and then and its getting pretty huge. But if he takes time off to go see the doctor, he may be on profile & may get a restart. But...he came in the in the top 10% on the PT (physical training) test and was given leave to go to a high school football game tonight! He's not a football fan, but anything off the base is nice.
He's officially in AIT (advanced individual training) and is doing more interesting & fun stuff - drills like ambush maneuvers, going into a room with 4 other guys with guns to secure the room, etc. He said it's fun but it's also scary when you don't know what's on the other side of the door (like you see on TV). He's working in groups and one guy is from Camarillo, Wilson. He's a real nice (big) guy and they work well together. Wilson helps him out on those 8-10 mile ruck marches. They will both going into Ranger training in the future.
Last week after 'Family Day', they got pounded pretty hard. He gave an example of getting smoked: DS saw a weapon that was unsecured, he took it apart, and scattered it. He then put sand in every nooks & cranny there is in the gun and got it all muddy, and put more sand on it. They have to clean it, reassemble it, and run back to the camp in 3 minutes. They have to run twice as fast to make it.
Next Sat, they have to spend a whole week camping out in the woods, doing training and battle drills, night time exercises). Please pray for that. It'll be a very tough week.
He's officially in AIT (advanced individual training) and is doing more interesting & fun stuff - drills like ambush maneuvers, going into a room with 4 other guys with guns to secure the room, etc. He said it's fun but it's also scary when you don't know what's on the other side of the door (like you see on TV). He's working in groups and one guy is from Camarillo, Wilson. He's a real nice (big) guy and they work well together. Wilson helps him out on those 8-10 mile ruck marches. They will both going into Ranger training in the future.
Last week after 'Family Day', they got pounded pretty hard. He gave an example of getting smoked: DS saw a weapon that was unsecured, he took it apart, and scattered it. He then put sand in every nooks & cranny there is in the gun and got it all muddy, and put more sand on it. They have to clean it, reassemble it, and run back to the camp in 3 minutes. They have to run twice as fast to make it.
Next Sat, they have to spend a whole week camping out in the woods, doing training and battle drills, night time exercises). Please pray for that. It'll be a very tough week.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Chow Time
I'll be posting some stories Mark brought back from Ben. Some more interesting than others. But this will log them all here on the blog.
Eating suppose to be a pleasure in life. But not in the military.
They march everywhere, including to the Mess Hall. You would think after 9 weeks of the same routine, they would be able to march properly. But apparently, this is a skill that some soldiers have a hard time acquiring. So they get smoked. Some of them just do not care if they get smoked or not nor do they care about anyone else in the platoon. They think they know it all. That is extremely frustrating to Ben.
They have about 8 minutes to eat a meal without talking. They have to sit with their feet at a 45 degrees angle with heels touching. They could only look down at their food, and have to eat their fruit first. So if they spend 5 minutes to peel an orange, then only 3 min left to eat the rest of the meal. So bananas are a hit there! When they drink, they have to close their eyes first then tilt the glass. They have chocolate milk now, so that's a nice treat. Still no forks!
Once DS caught someone drinking with their eyes open, they immediately stopped him from eating and throw his food all over the floor! He was told he's done eating and to clean up his mess.
Eating suppose to be a pleasure in life. But not in the military.
They march everywhere, including to the Mess Hall. You would think after 9 weeks of the same routine, they would be able to march properly. But apparently, this is a skill that some soldiers have a hard time acquiring. So they get smoked. Some of them just do not care if they get smoked or not nor do they care about anyone else in the platoon. They think they know it all. That is extremely frustrating to Ben.
They have about 8 minutes to eat a meal without talking. They have to sit with their feet at a 45 degrees angle with heels touching. They could only look down at their food, and have to eat their fruit first. So if they spend 5 minutes to peel an orange, then only 3 min left to eat the rest of the meal. So bananas are a hit there! When they drink, they have to close their eyes first then tilt the glass. They have chocolate milk now, so that's a nice treat. Still no forks!
Once DS caught someone drinking with their eyes open, they immediately stopped him from eating and throw his food all over the floor! He was told he's done eating and to clean up his mess.
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