Basic Training Journal: Monday, August 18th

We ran in ability groups today immediately after waking up. They split you up depending on your run time on the PT test. I ran in the second group which ran 2 1/4 miles. I don't know what our pace was. I was a roadguard so I had to sprint in front of the formation and guard intersections while the formation ran by. I then had to catch up to the front of formation again. It was a lot of work because the formation was really long. I had to cover intersections about 5 times; I was the only road guard to keep up with the front of the formation, the rest dropped back to the rear.

After that, we went back to the barracks and cleaned up a little more before the sergeant major came through to inspect our barracks. We had first aid for the rest of the day. We learned how to evaluate a casualty, clear the airway, and stop bleeding. You're usually doing hands on training so it's easy to stay awake and it went by fast too.

The inspection of our barracks went okay. We did have some minor problems like not sweeping the stairs enough. Some people left their wall lockers unlocked too. Other than that, our bay was okay. I've heard that this inspection affects when we get off total control. Supposedly, one platoon got off total control early because they passed the inspection with flying colors. We did okay so we'll probably get off total control the regular time...after 3 weeks.

We got mail today, and a lot of it. They sort out the mail at reception and then send it to the different platoons. The mail gets backed up sometimes so some days no one will get mail. Mail time is a big morale booster.....you should see the big grins people get when they receive mail. I think we'll be in the classroom again tomorrow for more first aid.