Daily Logs . . . Again

These are from a letter we got today.
March 30
Yeah, it's my birthday and I'm at basic training. It really hasn't been a bad day. It started with the 1-1-1 assessment meaning we did as many push ups and sit ups as we could in 1 minute, then ran for 1 mile. I did 30 push ups, 25 sit ups, and ran the mile in 7:52. Oh yeah, it was way cold. Then we went to chow. I had eggs, bacon, and an apple. We are required to eat an apple, banana, or orange at every meal and it MUST be the first thing we eat. After chow we got to do a confidence course. We climbed tall towers, climbed down a rope from about 40 ft, balanced on large logs. All in all there were about 20 obstacles. Most were individual in nature, but you really needed to support the team. There was one exercise where you climb up a ladder and the rungs were about 2ft apart. We went 2 at a time and when we got to the top my partner looked down and by the look in his eyes you knew he was scared. After that we had lunch, then learned how to place our rifle in different positions as we march. We met the chaplain and the Battalion Commander. Then had dinner and worked on sit ups and push ups until 7:40pm.
April 1
Yesterday we challenged 3 other platoons to an obstacle course. It was not so much fun. We had to crawl on our bellies under barbed wire in dirty freezing cold water. It was so cold I could feel my body slowing down. Today we were supposed to do some more team building training. So we got al our gear on, backpacks, elbow pads, knee pads, MREs, then hiked what seemed like forever. And it's a lot more difficult to walk with an M16 that without. So we're marching and it's raining and we get to the destination and take off our backpacks, file into the bleachers for our briefing, and the come and tell us that there are tornadoes in the area and we have to reschedule the training. So we put our packs on, picked up our rifles, and marched back to the barracks for in class instruction.
April 2
Today was a light day. We got up and did PT, then had breakfast. Later we went on a 2 mile road march. When we got to our destination it started raining and rained the remainder of the day. At our destination, we learned about rockets, bombs, missles, and grenades, how they are used, and what makes them different. Because of tornadoes in the area, we got buses to bring us back to the barracks. We ate our MREs for lunch then practiced shooting techniques for the rest of the day and evening.
April 4
Today was much like yesterday. Not a lot of training and a lot of personal time to study the chain of command, my generals orders, and the soldiers creed. Today we learned about hand to hand combat and some simple rules on taking people down when in a fight. We had a class yesterday on the Army Values. It really has been a boring couple of days.
April 6
Monday it was a good day. In the morning we learned how to use a bayonet. Then in the afternoon we practiced against our battle buddies. The way we practiced was with puggle sticks, 5ft long padded PVC sticks. We put on football helmets, a catchers chest pad, and hockey gloves. The we paired off into weight classes. We each had chance to take somebody else. I hurt myhand, but ti's just a bruise. After we all got a chance, we picked the best from each weight class from our platoon to go up against the other 3 platoons in the company. In the end, we, the Reapers, won with 3 first place and 1 fourth place.
April 7 (I'm not sure if Ken wants me to include all the details, so I might edit more than just punctuation)
The dreaded day is here. Today was gas chamber day and the high felt like 40 degrees. Yesterday we learned how to use our gas masks and different types of gasses. We got on busses about 8am to go to where the gas chamber was. The whole company went. We were briefed quickly, then we were lined up around the wall. Then the drill instructors had us, 1 by 1, pull our masks away from our faces to state our name and last 4 digits of our social. I pulled the mask off, started staying Danley when I inhaled the gas. I about died. I got my social out and the drill sergeant didn't leave, so I said it again only slower, with about 3 coughs in between. Then I was good. I put the mask on and cleared it. I burned my lungs so bad and my eyes I could barely see out of. I got calmed down and my breathing back to normal. Then we had to line up and file out. We had to stick our M16 between our legs and put our helmet on top of our rifle. To make a long story short, we had to take off the mask, put our helmet on, and buckle it, then in one hand hold our rifle and in the other hald hold our mask, while breathing in the gas. I was holding my rifle wrong so the DS took it away from me. I had to go get it off the floor before exiting the chamber. So to find it, I had to open my eyes. It is an experience I hope to never do again. I'm glad it's over. It was an ugly site especially after the panic started. Now that it is over, we can joke about it. We, or I, went into is thinking millions have done it before me, it couldn't be that bad. It was terrible, worst experience of my life.