Officer Candidate School - Ft. Benning

Hello all...Mrs. K here to report that Sarah looks absolutely wonderful! I have been proud of her all her life, but I don't believe I have ever been as proud as I was to see her on the field at Ft. Jackson with hundreds of other soldiers graduating from Specialist to Sergeant.

We had a lovely visit. Wednesday the 16th of April, we drove to Charlotte NC with lots of "civilian stuff" for Sarah. (You know - tank tops, bathing suits, Jelly Belly Jelly Beans, Easter Candy...the essentials!) Emily and Laura flew in from Arlington and Ithaca and we drove to Ft. Jackson/Columbia SC on the 17th.

We were on base for hours before we actually got to see Sarah. We were seated in bleachers at Hilton Field which is an area of land much larger than a football field. The area is entirely surrounded by woods. In the distance we could see busloads of troops in basic combat gear exiting the buses and walking into the woods where they all but disappeared from sight. We waited and waited...searching the woods with binoculars trying to catch a glimpse of Sarah amongst the over 600 soldiers there.

Finally, music began to play; we were welcomed by someone in command; and from the woods came a dozen or so smoke bombs of yellow, purple, blue and green and through the smoke nearly 700 soldiers ran across the expanse of field towards us yelling and suddenly falling into formation before us! I still get choked up remembering it. Everyone in the "stands", husbands, wives, children, parents, were on their feet thunderously applauding and crying! Well, I was crying. It was an spectacular sight. We were told that our soldiers were stay in formation until we found them. It was all we could do to keep from scaling the fence or knocking over old ladies to get to Sarah! It took forever. Sarah of course, did not stay in formation and was helping others find soldiers in her platoon. Suddenly out of nowhere Sarah charged her Father, jumped into the air and wrapped her body around his! To her Father's credit, he managed to stay on his feet! It was a lovely reunion!

It was extremely gratifying to see the respect that her contemporaries have for her and to hear the kind remarks regarding her character from her Drill Sergeants. She looked beautiful; has not forgotten her table manners; and refrained from "coarse" language in front of her family! She humbly accepted the praise of individuals in her platoon and discharged her duties with quiet strength.

I have told Mila this story but it bears repeating...Thursday afternoon, Family Day, we were out and about on base. Apparently, on all U.S. Military installations at 5pm daily, everything comes to a stop and the Star Spangled Banner is played over huge loud speakers. All military personnel are to face in the direction of the American flag; stand at attention; and Salute until the music stops. We were in a parking lot and there were several soldier's milling about as the music began. Sarah spotted them, called out a name, raised her hand and twirled her finger in the air indicating that they should circle around toward the flag. They immediately snapped to attention and saluted the flag. It was awesome to watch her quiet command!

To summarize, the next day was graduation followed by a 5 hr. drive to Ft. Benning in Columbus GA. We enjoyed a lovely meal together, Sarah had a comfy bed to sleep in, and she and her sisters stayed up late catching up.

Sarah reported to her new post on Sunday evening the 20th of April. She is currently living in a quad with four other women and a shared bathroom (luxury accommodations compared to BCT). She does have occasional weekend passes (although she cannot leave the base) and some phone "liberties". She also has classes and PT (physical training).

Week one found her on a diving board 12 feet above a pool of water in full combat gear; blindfolded; and instructed to walk backwards into the water; remove the blindfold; and to swim to the side. Obviously her boots immediately filled with water and she sank... The fact that I am telling this tale should indicate that she lived to share the story with us!

Ft. Benning is where lots of Special Forces train. Lots of men, who have seen lots of combat. To say that Sarah is going to have her work cut out for her is a gross understatement.

So, without further ado...I am going to post her new address. Please write. Hearing from you means so much to her.

Thanks in Advance.

Mrs. K.

OC Kuebler, Sarah

Class 307-08, 1st Platoon, Delta Co.

(OCS) 3-11 Infantry Regiment

7480 Riodron Street

Ft. Benning, GA 31905

It's actually me!!

HELLO HELLO HELLO!!!! Yes that is correct, it is they very Sarah Kuebler...and she's actually writing on HER blog. While I have to say my Mother has done and amazing job keeping you all up to date on my life and wherabouts it's nice to be writing myself. (Mother sorry that doesn't give you permission to stop writing..haha) I only have a few minutes left on my pass so this may be a short but sweet message.

A quick recap. As most of you all know I graduated from BCT at Ft Jackson 18 April and I'm now currently at Ft Benning about to start week two of OCS. I'm not gonna lie it's been a hard adjustment and i'm still not sure if I actually like the course, but these things take time so i'm doin my best to keep my head up and push on. I never thought i'd say I miss BCT but I really do. The course is just different here. We're really getting started this week so hopefully (keep your fingers crossed) things will become a bit more settled and enjoyable.

It's great to be with prior service (most have 10 plus years in the military) bc of the knowledge base is endless. I'd say almost all have combat experience which is amazing. I'll keep you posted me as I have more time on the weekends now. But I'm off we have formation at 1445 (2:45) and I absolutely can't be late.

I miss you all and can't wait to be back in the Erie/DC area come 10 Julyish.

Lots of Love

Sarah

7 Days and a Wake Up

Hi All, Mrs. K. Here....

Sarah has only one week of BCT left till graduation on Friday, April 18th or, in the verbiage of the United States Army, "7 Days and a Wake-up" !

She is just finishing a week in the wilderness at "Victory Forge" functioning as Platoon Guide under the scrutiny of members of the Congressional sub-committee on Military Affairs (or some such committee - that is/was evaluating the readiness of our "troops") Generals, and a host of others. I daresay the pressure was something even greater than the NCAA Division III Rowing championships!

Please, write her a note of congratulations! She is so fond of you all and has mentioned on numerous occasions how much your letters/notes mean and how grateful she is to hear from you. She has also mentioned how terrible she feels that she hasn't the time to write to all, which is why she has asked me to keep this Blog current.

Anyway....the countdown begins.... We all have one last chance to send our love and congratulations before she is through. I know Mother's always say this, but no truer words were ever spoken when I say how proud I am of this young woman. I get vaklempt just thinking about what she has been through and how she has excelled!

If you have absolutely no time to write...post a comment here...In fact, I want to hear from everyone reading this! Just sign in please! (Alright, so I am her biggest cheerleader!)

On Friday the 18th of April she is off to Ft. Benning in Columbus GA. Info from there will follow when available.

Thanks so much!

Love to all

Sarah's Devoted Family!

BCT Chronicles - The Blue Phase!

NOTE TO ALL: This is crunch time - Sarah is currently in the wilds of South Carolina on a 7 day training course that simulates conditions in Iraq. On Saturday morning, April 5 at 0300 hours 4 battalions set out on a 10 mile march, before breakfast, to begin this rigorous wilderness training. Sarah is the Platoon Guide, which means that she will be in command of the 60 members of her platoon for the duration of the exercise. She did not expect that her platoon would be relieved of their duties until 2300 hours. She then anticipated that they would be "attacked". Making sleep an impossibility. She was quite nervous, but looked forward to the experience. And yes, this exercise includes real bullets and danger! Makes a Mother's blood run cold. I freaked when she ran to the boat house at 6am for practice. This takes things to an entirely different level! Having said that, we are extremely proud of Sarah. The following is a short description of what I have attempted to explain:


Victory Forge is a 7-day field training exercise combining all previously taught basic combat training skills. It is the culmination of basic training. Soldiers are continuously challenged on all the skills learned throughout the nine-week training cycle

Before she left she asked that I update this blog and tell everyone that she "loves you and misses you terribly". She begged for letters and asked that everyone understand that she will not be able to write to you for awhile given the intensity of the training in this, the last phase of her instruction.

Graduation is on Friday the 18th of April at 9am on Hilton Field at Ft. Jackson, Columbia SC. (Stacy....and any other's that planned on attending) Hope to see you there!

And now...Sarah's most recent correspondence, that came to us in two parts! The first part of the letter was written in "pink" ink.

16 March 08

So, I'm writing this letter feeling really bad because today is Sunday ( Palm Sunday to be exact...yes Mom I went to Church) and I know you're going to be waiting anxiously for my call and it's not going to come. Thanks to some people who felt the need to sleep when they weren't supposed to, we've lost phone privileges. I'm staying positive though in hopes that I can call you today.

I got your package of cough drops and tissues. It couldn't have come at a better time. I just added them to my Px shopping list, we go later today. Thanks also for the much appreciated letter and bank statement.


Color change...now introducing Purple. If I failed to mention it we had colorful pens at the Px. I totally scooped them up. (Writing the word "scoop" made me want Coldstone Ice Cream really badly) But anyway, the latest on my life. As I mentioned to Dad on the phone Friday was the day of all days...weapons qualification day! Qualification day is basically like a Wednesday. They're both hump days. We've reached the top of our BCT hill and are on our way down. Life @ the end of the tunnel - however you wanna look at it. I'm sure you already know, but I did fairly well. I shot 33 out of 40 targets. I qualified as Sharpshooter. I was really going for expert 36+ out of 40 but no such luck. The DS's were really pushing for me as well. They said I was prob the only female in the company capable of shooting expert so I feel bad that I let them down. But 4th platoon took high BRM (basic rifle marksmanship) by -07 points I think. So we're 2-0 in the company. Now all we need is high PT and we'll have a clean sweep competition wise. We should be able to pull it off.

Our next PT test is Tuesday. I'm hoping for a perfect score this time. I need at least 15 more sit ups and to shave some more time off my run.


I am currently - still - Platoon Guide (PG) I've been PG now for about two weeks. Rumor has it that I'm the permanent PG, but rumors here are about as reliable as a Chrysler vehicle. If I haven't mentioned what a PG is it's a soldier who is in charge of the platoon when the DS isn't around. I march us everywhere. To PT, chow, etc. etc. Only those that the DS thinks has leadership ability gets a chance at PG. I think I like the position, I def don't dislike it, but you have a lot more pressure on you.. Plus everyone is calling your name with another inane question that most likely they already know the answer to or they know you have no clue. It's just something I'm gonna have to get used to going OCS (Officer Candidate School) and all. Oh, I'm also up for soldier of the cycle. Now that is a big deal! There are three of us that are either representing 4th or competing to represent 4th, we're not sure which it is. But needless to say, we have a huge book with questions to study because we go in front of the board which consists of the 1st Sgt. and the four head DS's. It's very similar to my OCS Board so I'll most likely be scared shitless...yes I said shitless. But I know I need to rock it because I really want it for myself and because I can't let 4th platoon down. You also get to stand in front at graduation and meet the general etc. etc. Pretty Sweet!


Let's see what else. Oh ya, I forgot stuff about qualifying day. To many thoughts or in the words of DS R..." A.D.D. F**K, where was I?" ha ha...Anyways to keep us calm DS C had me stretch out the platoon after PT and at one point he said for me to lie down & act like I was sleeping and for everyone else to follow. He then turned the lights out and let us rock out to the new Lincoln Park CD. It was FABULOUS!! The CD is amazing. Totally motivating and awesome. It's now my soundtrack of BCT. Layland and I are buying it the minute we can on family day. P.S. Layland and I want our families to go bowling together on family day. It'd be fun. We have to stay on post and there' only so much one can do. But for serious you know I can kick butt at bowling. Look there I go again with the A.D.D. or in the words of Sue Kuebler (that's you Mom) "I digress". Back to qualifying day... we were waiting to leave for the range and DS C let us have the radio needless to say we rocked out. One of our fave songs "Low" by Flo Rider aka the "boots with the fur "song came on and Layland and I busted a move "club style". D.S. C was watching and said "Man I'm glad I won't be around to salute you two!" ha ha ha Everyone got a kick out of it. You'll meet DS C on Family Day. He's seriously on the best DS's B-Co. has. Anyway what else...


We have the confidence course tomorrow which will be awesome I'm sure. Oh and our scary DS E is gone for 17 days. Her husband just got back from Iraq. And really after becoming PG I have a new found respect for her. I'm still very much afraid to make her mad, but she pushes us extra hard - as females - to do well. We're sad that she's gone. Well my fire guard shift is just about over, so I'm off to bed. I'll reference questions in your letter tomorrow.

November India Golf Hotel Tango

Okay, I'm back and I found my pink pen so it's time to change colors. I'm currently chilling with Layland trying to unwind after a long day @ the confidence course. I'm also moody because all I got to eat at dinner was a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios and two pieces of bread & two packets of peanut butter. NOT ENOUGH!! Being PG requires me to eat last a lot so I often have to slam whatever I can because I only get 5 minutes to eat.

I must apologize again because it has taken me exactly a week to write this. I have so much on my plate right now with training, being PG, studying for soldier of the cycle and doing my OCS assignments that my DS gives us. I can barely find time to rest let alone write. It's currently 3am and Layland and I are on fireguard duty right now. We are on duty until 4am so thankfully, I get two more hours of sleep before getting us for Church. Happy Easter though. I got your package, let me tell you, I had to push for that box. But the Texas Sheet Cake arrived just fine! Thanks for the toilet paper, stamps and calling card also. The same day my box came, four other people received either brownies, Rice Krispy Treats or Easter Candy (Note, Sarah told us that we could send food if we sent enough for 64 = platoon + DS's) It was ridic, DS R said we weren't allowed to have them. I got pissed at first but then after talking to DS L and telling him how much you prob spent to make them, he caved. ha ha - Nah he totally would have allowed us anyway. But they were FABULOUS. Everyone says thank you. DS L took the leftovers home to his family. He had at least 3 while here. So thank you so much for doing that I really appreciate it.

I wanna write in blue now. This letter is very Spring time! I may even draw little flowers on the envelope. But it's story time now. .. One of the requirements for BCT graduation is that you have to learn how to give an IV and receive one. Picture me giving an IV. Ya, totally scary I know. Well I've been dreading IV day since before I even left for BCT. Unfortunately the day came and what a day it was. I was almost in tears by the time we arrived over there. Of course, I got paired up with the flakiest female in our platoon I mean, she's a serious nutcase. so we get our demo and practice on the dummies and then it was my turn. I was a mess, we're talkin' tears running down my face, terrified! The 1st Sergeant was trying to keep me calm. I didn't act a fool or anything, I laid there perfectly still but I just cried. It was not a fun experience. The girl giving it to me was actually really good. It barely hurt, but you know me and needles. I did a pretty decent job giving mine. It's kinda nerve wracking though knowing you're entering a persons vein, but hey, if our battle buddy is wounded in combat, or Vice Versa, I'm glad I know how to do it. Needless to say, it wasn't my most heroic moment of BCT (Mila would have straight up passed out, she gets ill at hearing the word vein ha ha) When you post this on my blog I can already picture her reaction!

Speaking of friends they've all been really great. I've heard from Mila, Jen, Laura, Stacy and Heather. Laura sent me a Washington Post magazine with an article about being female and in the Army. It was really good. I'll hang onto it so you can read it. I just feel bad because I have absolutely no time to write to you let alone my friends and I know they all want to hear from me. Would you guys mind putting a message on my blog to Mila, Jen, Laura, Stacy, Meg, Heather and Killa letting them know I love them dearly and to please forgive me. I want to write them all - but can barely find time to breath let alone write. I'd still love to hear from them though, selfish I know. THANKS!

Let's see, what else. We get our Class A's (uniforms) tomorrow. We're headed back to reception to get fitted for them. Getting our class A's is a huge deal to us. This means we are really getting close to graduation. We have a count down started to Family day. 24 mores days and a "wake-up"! But our Class A's make it feel real. Plus it will be nice to see people at reception and know I will NEVER have to do that again!

Have you guys made any more plans about family day/graduation? Do the girls know if they can come yet? Also will you send details to Stace? She wanted to come to graduation. Josh said he was going to come also, but I haven't heard officially yet if he can. He was gonna visit a friend down here as well.

Okay, so I think that's about all that I have to say. Oh one more thing. As PG I'm currently dealing with a female who doesn't shower; female on female fraternization; and a Turkish male (not a US citizen) who is so volatile and quick tempered that he was pulled from the range for my safety and the DS's as well as the Platoon. Needless to say this 39 yr. old Turkish man doesn't like me very much. The DS's already know that I won't be on the firing line if he is. I believe he's getting restarted though, which is good.

Tell everyone I said hello, especially the Batchelors. Tell my Bro I miss him!

I've included some stuff from BCT, as well as my absentee ballot. The pic is of the five OCS females. Layland doesn't really look that way in real life, she's very petite and not so mean looking. You'll meet her on Family Day. We're attached at the hip here.

The other stuff is all from shooting. The sheets with the colored bullet holes are from grouping and zeroing my weapon. Aka adjusting the sights on my weapon to my eye. Each color group is a five round shot group. You need to get two consecutive shot groups within the target. Grouping you just have to get two consecutive shot groups within a 4 cm circle. You group first then zero. I'll explain it more when I see you . The computer print off is from LOMAH their computers judge our shots. As well, I'll explain this later. For now though, I'm gonna go because my hand feels like it's gonna fall off and I can feel the bones in my fingers poking through!

I LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU BOTH!!!! Write soon!

Love Sarah

The Chamber et al continued...

I will pick up where we left off....

....Now onto Thursday. Thursday we got to kick some ass, literally. We learned BAC (Basic Army Combatives) or how to put people in the mount position; the guard; and how to escape them. The best part was learning the choke holds. We learned the red neck choke and the collar choke. After our class on "How to Kick Ass and Take Names", we got to practice on each other in 1 minutes bouts. I went up against my friend Bulbul. I'm not sure if either one of us won but towards the end she had her hands wrapped around my throat. It was so much fun!

One of the guys looks like he was in a major bar fight. He has a black eye and scabbed over cuts on his nose, eye & lip. He deserved it though, I can't stand him.

The best part...get excited...is that we got to challenge people from 1st Platoon. We share a bay (sleeping area) with 1st Platoon females and there is one girl that 4th just can't stand. She thinks she's so smart and basically that her stuff doesn't stink. Ahhh... she aggravates me so! Soooo....I called her out to fight!! hahaha The girls in my Platoon loved it. She put up a good fight, not gonna lie. I was nervous at first, she had me in a good choke hold. But I wiggled out of it and eventually got her in a red neck choke hold. I WON!!! It was seriously intense. I was flipping and thrashing all over the place. I almost used my nails but didn't. Needless to say, I am bruised from head to toe. I have a bruise on my chin, my forearms, my knees, both my hips, even my hands. I didn't even know hands could bruise! I so did the victory walk after my win haha. I strutted off the field back to my platoon; it was a good day! It was fun being scrappy.

That is basically my news from here. We have a team development obstacle course today. (PS it's Saturday, it takes me awhile to write) Should be fun. Sunday is the PX and then Mon-Wed. we have our first FTX (Field Training Exercise.) It's a three day overnight training event. We sleep in tents and all. Hopefully we'll move into White Phase Soon, who knows though. Update...they have moved to the White Phase of their training.

Well I really need to get going, It's 0513 am time for bay maintenance. I'll talk to you on Sunday. Please save me my Easter Basket. I'm bummed I'm gonna miss 5 lb bags of Sam's Club jelly beans and Romolo peanut butter filled bunnies & my Chocolate Cross (sad face here) Oh ya and Dad your Scavenger Hunt. Those are always so good.

I LOVE YOU & MISS YOU! Keep the letters coming. So far I've heard from : Emo, Loopy, Mila, Sal, Meg Cantrell, Beth M., Gina, Alex, Ashley Bacon and you guys. Alrighty I'm out! LOVE Sarah

PS Do raisins and nuts make you fart???

Update: The Sunday phone call...

We were in Ithaca when Sarah called, actually having dinner at ZaZa's (Mila....our same table!) Anyway, Sarah called sounding rather despondent, although she was putting on a good face for us. It appears that one of the women in her platoon, glued - shut the door to the men's barracks/or bathroom - I am not entirely sure which one! Suffice to say, the men were on the wrong side of the door. This may outwardly appear very humorous to us, however the DS did not see the humour and since the guilty party/parties would not confess to their act of vandalism, the entire platoon had to march in full combat gear in the South Carolina heat for 2 hrs. No restful Sunday for Sarah or trip to the PX.. She was not amused!

Send her a long cheery letter...She's working hard and lives to hear from all of us.

Thanks and Love from Mrs. K.

The Chamber and Other Related Events

Hello All,

The following is excerpted from a letter we received on March 12, 2008. Sorry for the delay....

28 Feb. 08

Mom & Dad

Oh man do I have so much to tell you. Be prepared bc it may take me 8 million pages to get it all down. I guess I'll start with answering your questions Mom.

Ques. 1: When Emily said I was doing "office work" it's called JSIIDS (jay-sids) basically whenever our DS has 24 hr office duty the soldiers are required to pull 2 hour shifts w/the DS. So I was one of the lucky ones to get the 11-1am shift. It sucks but we have to do it. And a giant HELL-NO to the "are we allowed to sleep in?" We still have to get up at 0500...0400 now bc we got in trouble.

Ques. 2: I'm doing great in BCT (at least that's what I think) We have counseling this week to discuss our progress. We haven't had anyone from our platoon leave yet, but I know at least a dozen are leaving 3rd Platoon. I'm still doing well though.

Ques. 3: I believe I'm still the highest ranking female in my platoon (you used the correct word..a battalion is made up of companies, companies are made up of platoons. Get it?) Unfortunately though I'm not the highest overall in my platoon. A guy finally beat me. We had our 2nd PT test today. I did 46 push-ups , 65 sit-ups (in 2 minutes) and ran my 2 mile in 16:25ish. SWEET!! And yes the Army has an acronym for everything!

Ques. 4: As for family day ... You should receive the packet on week 6ish of my training. If you don't get it in the next 3 weeks let me know. I will not be able to stay at the hotel with you though. But I should get a pass off base till 8pm both Thursday & Friday. Things are always subject to change though if people act up. I'll def wanna take a hot shower at the hotel and look decent again.

Ques. 5: That would be a negative on the reading material...no book, mags, etc. However, if there is a good article or clipping that you can send with a letter that would be great. Frankly, some good celeb gossip/fashion news would be greatly appreciated. Nothing too drastic though. If the envelope is to thick we have to open it for them. Oh and before I go on. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE don't listen to your INCORRECT MORONIC LIBERAL FRIENDS ! No matter what party takes office we will still be in Iraq and I am still going at some point. SO VOTE REPUBLICAN. It astounds me that you would believe that. (Note: I simply related that individuals were suggesting that I vote Democrat as that administration would end the war and keep Sarah from combat) Frankly if it's not Iraq it will be somewhere else. Bosnia still has troops even. Hell you'd better believe you want me in Iraq than Iran, which I'm sure we'll invade sometime. And, yes, I'm still with my transportation Unit and No, I'm not changing units. I'm still at HQ, but hopefully changing to a more active unit.

Okay, I think I answered all your questions. Now onto other news. (She talks here about wanting a hair appt. sometime in July...and resumes with ) That also brings me to another point. So many people told me before I left that I was going to change so much. But really I couldn't disagree more. I think being here has given me an even greater appreciation for being girly and feminine. Plus the discipline here really isn't anything I didn't already have. I have no problem following the rules or being someplace when I need to be. So I guess everyone that thinks I'm gonna be this "butch stone cold killer" has got it wrong. Frankly I plan on wearing skirts and dresses for a good long while when I get out of here. That and I'm going on a shopping spree with Mila. Ya and we're def doing a spa day. Man I'm getting the works, facial, massage, you name it, I want it. The DS's said when we get out of here we'll have a totally different body, just in time for bikini's from Target. You're required to buy them for me, small top, medium bottom. Oh ya, and any cute spring AE clothes bc by the time I'm outta here back to school will be coming out Kay?Kay!

Anyways let me get back on track. I'm glad to hear that Malibu Barbie (this would be her little sister Laura!) was able to break you down and you're letting her go to London. Does she even have a passport yet? I can't remember if she needed one for the cruise. I told her to buy me lots of cool stuff bc I mean I am protection our country. HaHa! She'll have a great time though.

Now onto what I am up to. It feels like it was just Monday. I can't believe it's already Friday...only two more days till relaxing Sunday yay! This will be prob be old news when you read this bc I will have talked to you by then but oh well...it's good for the blog. So Monday we had our bayonet/pugil training. Picture 180 soldiers positioned in front of dummy enemies (made out of tires) saying "Kill Kill" and stabbing them. It was so freaking AWESOME!! I loved it. Man does it get your adrenaline pumping. After learning the basic moves we ran through an endurance course with our bayonets. It was through woods and we had to hop walls, low crawl under barbed wire and stab the enemy. Towards the end there was a 3' trench with a dummy enemy in it. But it had rained so it was also ankle deep in water. Both DS Cruz and Ester were watching, so when I came up they told me to give my war face - I leaped into the trench, totally soaking myself ,and yelling kill then went to town on the enemy. It was AMAZING. A very good way to relieve stress.

After the endurance course we then had pugil matches. Think American Gladiators when they fought with those giant Q-Tips. That was us in a giant sand pit. We paired up against people we had issues with in the platoon, and fought them. One guys pairing turned into a fist fight. Totally rocking! I fought Logan...we don't hate each other, we just didn't have anyone else to fight! Man it was exhausting. I won my fight though (smiles) and that was only Monday.

Now onto Wednesday. Wednesday was...GAS CHAMBER DAY. The day we voluntarily subject ourselves to CS gas (mace/pepper spray). We first started the day by road marching to an endurance course. We ran it with our squads. My squad (2nd squad) came in 2nd. The obstacles consisted of a cargo net, monkey bars, culverts, trenches, barbed wire, low crawls, etc. It ended with a five foot jump from a wall. Again there was plenty of water at the bottom so we jumped down and dove onto our stomachs low crawling to the finish line. Don't worry the DS's have been taking pictures, I think they're putting them on a DVD for us. The course was awesome though. Next we ate breakfast. We got our first taste of MRE's (meals ready to eat) they were soooo good. Dad google how MRE's work it's quite interesting. MRE's are rations served in Iraq when deployed. I had BBQ pork on pita bread, a vanilla milkshake, a molasses cookie (amazing) and gum. I was most excited about that. Some people got M&M's...I was quite jealous. Needless to say it was a nice break from DFAC. After our breakfast we headed over to class for gas chamber instruction. It was basically ( I say basically too much sorry) a straight up comedy show. SSG Tate was so hilarious. It was one of those grab your stomach bc it hurts laughing. It was a nice break from the no smiling that we usually have.

After our briefing we had chow, which I think they did just so that we'd puke our brains out. But we literally suited up right after chow for the chamber. Well not actually suit up just put our masks on. Unfortunately we got smoked right before in the sand pit so my mask was full of sand. But anywho, we all marched into this one room cabin type thing and the DS's were all in there. The place held around 50 soldiers. They came around to each one of us & we had to say our rank, full name and SSN then clear the mask of the gas and breath. I didn't have any problem with that bc you just say it all in one breath. Next we had to, 5 at a time, remove our mask and recite either the soldiers creed or sing a song whatever they told you. This was to make sure you breath in the gas. We were required to breath it for 15 seconds before they let us out. I had to sing "I'm Proud to be an American", with my group. I got through the first line, promptly forgot all the words, and began coughing my lungs out. It burned like a son-of-a-bitch. Your eyes instantly start burning & watering. Your nose starts running & your mouth fills with spit. We had to walk for about 5 minutes flapping our arms to clear our system of the CS gas and then you are literally back to normal. It wasn't fun but it wasn't that bad really. If they said we could do it again I probs would. And that was Wednesday.

I will be back with the last few pages a little later...this will get you started. Mrs. K.