July 5, 1997 - Weeding Out the Weak

970705 - Yesterday was very easy! We had SDI's inspection in the morning and I passed. then the day was pretty much free. After evening chow and showers we went out to the parade deck and watched fireworks. It was pretty fun but we got to bed late and I had firewatch so I only got about 5.5 hours of sleep. Today was easy but M______ was a real jerk so the day dragged on a bit. I'm tired but tonight I have 9 hrs. of sleep so that's good. Plus, we only have 55 days left. Before I forget, I'm going to document this: when we got here there were 78 of us. There are now 64. They've definitely weeded out the weak.
There's not much to say about July 5. It was a typical Saturday with a typically annoying Sgt. M______ on duty that night.

This Saturday marked the end of the first Phase of our training. After this, we were headed to "Mess and Maintenance Week" (more on this tomorrow), followed by Swim Qualification, the Rifle Range, Basic Warrior Training, A-Line, more inspections, final drill, final testing, and the Crucible. Clearly, there was still much to do, but Phase I had set the foundation so that we were able to follow the instructions necessary for the more intense training that was to follow. It had also reduced our numbers significantly.

I will also say that, even twenty years later, I find irony in the fact that I wrote that they had "weeded out the weak" and that I was somehow not in that group. As someone who had never excelled in anything athletic and who really doesn't have an aggressive bone in his body, it was pretty incredible that I had made it through to this point. To be clear, I say that as a testament to the abilities of the Drill Instructors to motivate even a dweeb like me, not as some ego boost for me.

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