More on Ken (WARNING: It's long b/c it's been a while.)

April 18th (or about)
It has been a busy week. We have done a bunch of different things, learned a lot. And have had a lot of new experiences. Saturday (18th) we got to go to an arena football game. It was soldier appreciation night. Columbus took on DC. There were 5000 people in attendance and 3000 of those were soldiers from Ft. Benning. They were selling Dominos pizza for $21 a pizza and they couldn't keep up. Soldiers were buying pizza like it was their last meal. Another favorite was the Dippin' Dots ice cream. Because I hate standing in line I just got a hot dog and a coke. I had a good time. At one point soldiers started quoting the Soldier's Creed. It didn't take long for the fans to watch the soldiers and not the game. It was sight to be seen. We practically filled the upper deck. As far as the game went, the score was 70-something to 6 in favor of Columbus.

I was able to take part in a taking down and putting up of the flag. Every day they put the flag up and take it down. It was asked to participate. It was a very humbling experience to be in uniform as an American soldier and take the American flag down. It made the hair on my neck stand up.

Tuesday, April 21st
We practiced marching for a ceremony. The ceremony was on Thursday. We got a new Battalion Commander and they had a ceremony where were learned several new steps and commands like marching in big groups. It was much like what it will be like for graduation. There were probably 400 soldiers in an area the size of a football field with a band. There were 3 speakers. It was fun and what made ie better was that it felt like graduation.

After the ceremony (Thurs.), we went camping as soldiers. We were bused out to a remote spot. Then we hiked with our big backpacks about a mile and ahalf to where we would set up camp. How we set up came was out platoon made a circle, each standing 3 meters apart. Then we laid so our feet were together and we made a V-shape. (So my feet and another guy's were the point of the V.) Our leaders were in the middle. Soldiers sleep like this so they have a 360 degree defense. Each soldier had o dig a hole 3 ft wide, 18 inches deep, and long enough for his body and pack to lie in. That way when the enemy comes nothing is above ground and we can't be spotted as easily.

When night came, we did night time navigation. We had to find 4 points on a map and we had 3 hours. We started at 9pm. We had to go through thick forest with stickers and vines, swamps, and creeks to get to each destination. At our first point, we had to pick up a dummy. We did really good and went right to the drop off point. We did perfect once again. On our third point we had to pick up supplies. We got water, food (MREs), and ammo. We didn't hit the point exactly, but we were close enough to see the glow stick. By that time it was midnight so our time was up. WE felt we were doing really well so we decided to go to our next point, get the info we needed to get, then go home. So we start in the direction we were supposed to travel, or so we thought. Then we ran into thick vegetation and lots of water. Water everywhere! We were in a swamp and with no light and no way to tell if we could get around. We went through. Then got lost. By 1:30am we found a road and a drill sergeant came to show us how to get back. It must have been a 2 mile walk back to base and we still have no idea how close we came to our point. I rechecked the map when we got home and everything was correct. We arrived back at camp at 2:30am and wake up was 6am, minus fire guard for 1 hour and an uncomfortable bed. I got about a half hour of sleep. Oh well, this is the Army. Fire guard is when you take turns keeping watch while others sleep.

Another thing that happened this week was there was a leadership change. Its funny. We all knew it was coming and everyone wanted me & PFC Cluff to be the leaders. PFC Cluff is the other mormon. Both os us are Eagle Scouts and yes, both of us were interviewed for a leadership position. We both are leaders, but not as high up as everyone wanted. He is the leader of of the 3rd Squad and I am the team leader of the 4th Squad. The strange thing is that everyone picks on the mormons, but when they want a leader that's who they would have picked.

Saturday (April 25th)
We learned more hand to hand combat. Not my favorite thing to do, but it has to be done.

April 27th
We had our 2nd Physical Training test. I did really good, and flet great. For the first test I did 41 push ups, 42 sit ups, and 2 miles in 14:59. THIS time I did 51 sit ups and push ups, and 2 miles in 13:48. I was the fastest guy over 30 and also the fatest from what my battle buddies say. One guy said "You run fast for a fat guy." My clothes are too big now so I can't be too fat. We also learned how to administer an IV. We will be certified on Thursday for first aid. We all have to give each other IVs to become certified. Fun Fun.

April 28th
Today we had our rifle qualifications. Everyone qualified, which is a good thing. I qualified marksmen, which is the lowest, but still qualified. I taped my glasses with duct tape over the left eye so that I wouldn't strain my right eye. I shot 23 out of 40. I'm glad I qualified on my first go, but I have shot better. My goal was 30, which is sharp shooter. Maybe I can do that in AIT.

April 30th
We learned first aid. For the Eagle Scouts/mormons it was review, but we had to do the IVs. I don't have a problem with needles, but when your battle buddy, who has never poked anyone has to give you an IV you get real nervous. It turned out he paid attention in class and not a drop of blood was spilt. Me on the other hand. . . . just kidding. :) As I administered the IV I did everything correct, no blood was spilt. After, my battle buddy said I was shaking a lot as I put the needle in. All in all, we were proud of our performance. There was a lot of blood shed that day and one private passed out after he was done.

May 1st
Training has gotten a whole lot worse. My drill sergreant has won the rifle trophy for the past 10 cycles and we lost it this week. It was based on the first time qualifiers. We had 11 people not qualify and we lost by 1 guy. We all tried our hardest, but the other platoon won and he isn't taking it very well. He now finds every little thing wrong and punishes us. We also had the most failures for the PT test. He says we're undisciplined among other things that aren't so nice. He makes fun of us in front of everybody to make us feel terrible. It works, but we're all stronger than that. Some are using it for motivation and some aren't so much. I think it is all part of the training. He is trying to break us down mentally. Anyway, don't worry about me. I'll play his game and keep my team in it as well.

More from that week (with no dates)
We also got to practice throwing grenades. We have empty grenades that we throw to practice seeing how far we can throw them and still be accurate. We learned how to kick in doors and clear out houses. Later this week, we are going to use a simlutator to practice going into homes and taking out bad guys. Later we will use live ammo.

We went to the rifle range where we learned how to shoot while walking forward. how it worked was there was a target 25 meters away. When told to shoot, we would put the weapon up toward the target, placeon semi, shoot 2 rounds, then put on safe as we lowered it down. Then we would repeat, move forward, shoot again at 15 meters, then 5 meters. We are also allowed to listen to music in the bay now. Everyone bought music at the PX so the music rotates and we listen to it as a group.