Basic Training
Journal: Friday, August 1st
This is our fourth day of BT, really sorry I didn't start
this journal earlier but I've been a little busy:-) The plane
to Fort Benning(July 29th, Monday) was delayed for 4 hours
so when we reached our final ariport we were sent to a hotel
to spend the night. July 30th we went from the hotel back
to the airport and reported in at the USO where we received
transport to Fort Benning.
When we arrived at Benning we went immediately to Johnston
Hall. We were then assigned to 111 Delta Bravo and went to
the barracks. We had to wait until 9pm since they don't start
processing until then. You definitely won't be getting much
sleep the first day...processing takes several hours so you
end up sleeping from around 1 to 4:30am. We learned how to
make beds while we waited for in-processing.....they had us
make the beds in the empty bays(I made about 5 beds).
Excess people are in the same bay as us..we heard some horror
stories from those guys. One guy has been in reception for
121 days, crazy! Excess are the soldiers who have medical
problems whether they knew beforehand or not. Don't let them
give you a hard time....they just like scaring the new guys.
We had the shakedown of our civilian bags the 2nd day(July
31). This is where you take everything out of your civi bag.
They then read off a list of stuff you can have and you throw
it back in your bag. Everything else is considered contraband,
and they have you throw the stuff in a hole in the wall...I
think it was called the amnesty hole.
Let me tell you...you spend a great deal of time just waiting
around at reception. Learn to live by "Hurry up and wait"
because that's what happens most of the time. Chow is better
than I expected, but they make you cram it down your throat
in like 5 minutes.
I don't know if it's true or not, but I heard someone say
that Fort Benning is returning to all infantry in a few months.
They supposedly sent overflow from other basic training posts
to Benning...but again, that's just word of mouth. I'm an
Information Systems Operator(74B). Benning is supposedly the
toughest place for BT..plus I've heard that the drill sergeants
don't like us since we're not infantry.
Back to the shakedown....it makes it a lot easier if you
packed just what you need, but you'll have to fit your civilian
shoes in there too. If they don't fit, you have to throw them
away or tie them to the outside of your bag...I just threw
mine away since they were pretty old anyway.
We got our shots today; we got 6 or 7 total. The room you
go into is padded all over...I guess they get a lot of people
that pass out from shots. It really wasn't that painful except
for the infamous butt shot....and I didn't think it was that
bad. You have to make sure to rub it thought or it will hurt
the next few days. I did see one guy spaz out while they drew
blood from him...I almost forgot about that, they do draw
blood from you right after you get the shots. It's not fun,
but you'll live through it.
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