Basic Training Journal: Friday, August 15th

I wasn't able to journal yesterday because we had to write a 1,000 word essay on why the platoon is messed up and how to fix it. Yesterday we had a brief in the classroom about the chaplain, suicide, and handling your finances. They explained the leave and earnings statement(LES). You will receive an LES in BT if you are regular Army or if you're in the reserves with a wife and kid(s). Single reservists will not get an LES in BT, at least that's what was said. The LES is received the 15th and last day of the month.

Today we did more PT..stretches, then we did last man runs. We did a light jog around the track but the last man had to sprint to the front of the formation. We did 6 laps(1 1/2 miles) and had to sprint about 6 times. My legs were hurting bad when we finished. I'm pretty sure it's shin splits, but my leg also hurts by my calf when getting up. It's no biggie, I stretched it out throughout the day and it's just fine now.

After PT we got our M16s. They put tape on the butt with your roster number so you know whos is whos. We learned some drill and ceremony with the M16 for a good portion of the day. It was pretty simple. We then returned the M16s to the room we got them from.

I'm really enjoying BT....I was second guessing myself the 2nd and third day at reception, but after that I started to get in the groove and enjoy myself. Many people say the first few weeks are the worst so if I'm enjoying it already I'm in good shape.

The only thing I'm worried about is the road marches...we had just a 2 mile march to Eagle tower and that was sucking out all my energy. It's harsh marching in the daytime in 90° weather.

I'm definitely not worried about the PT test. At the end of BT I'm rather confident I will max out on the 2 mile run and situps. Pushups are harder for me but I'm hoping to score over a 70 in pushups. You get a PT patch if you score a 270 or better total with at least a 90 in each event.