August 12, 1997 - A-Line

970812 - Today we had classes all morning on A-Line information. Then, in the afternoon, we got our zero for A-Line and did some other stuff. Tonight, the platoon is working the pits for Lead Series' night fire but me and Cash are staying behind as firewatch. I'm looking forward to A-Line...ending. It's boring and high-stress (if that's possible). 17 days left...
A-Line was a week in which we learned to shoot in combat-like situations. We learned to fire from behind cover, how to fire at night (using tracer rounds), and we also went through day and night movement courses. There were long, long stretches of time where there was nothing scheduled, so, naturally, the Drill Instructors took that time to torment us. Despite all of this, (spoiler alert) the next three days of A-Line contain three of my favorite boot camp stories...

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

August 29, 1997 - Graduation!

970829 - Graduation!! I don't remember or care what happened 2-day. I'm going home and I never have to see this place as a recruit again! Graduation day begins with a Company formation PT run. It's easily the most motivating run in all of boot camp. Well, it is if you're not stupid enough to volunteer to be a road-guide. My whole "volunteer for everything" mentality finally came back to bite me on the last day of boot camp. Instead of spending the morning on an incredibly motivating formation run through Parris Island, chanting all of the most motivating and possibly not-allowed cadences, I spent it sprinting from intersection to intersection and then jogging in place while the company ran by. It was a not-spectular end to my not-spectacular time in boot camp. After that, my journal actually captures everything pretty well: it ended, I was glad for the end, I was too tired to reflect on anything. I'm actually in a similar mind-set now, having just sp...
Read more

August 27, 1997 - Losing My Job

970828 - Yesterday we turned in our rifles. That's about it. As we wound down toward graduation, there was less and less that needed to be done. One important detail was returning our rifles. With the return of our rifles, though, I lost the best job, and the thing that undoubtedly sustained me throughout so much of boot camp: Early Chow. With no weapons to guard, there was no longer the need to have firewatch during chow time. This meant that I actually had to eat with the rest of the platoon, like a commoner. I had to wait in line, had to sit in the main section of the chow hall (we'd always sat in small tables on the edge of the room), and had to sit with whomever I'd been near in line (i.e.: not with C___). I was not a fan. On the plus side, I only had two days to deal with it.
Read more

August 28, 1997 - Family Day

970827 - Yesterday we turned in our rifles. That's about it. Today I saw my parents and family for the first time in 3 months. We walked around some and I even rode in a car! Also C____ came with my parents so he was there. We ate at some restaurant on Parris Island. The food wasn't much better than in the mess hall but the company was. When we were touring the squad bay my father met DI Sgt. M______ and told him I thought he was my favorite DI. I wouldn't really care if M______ wasn't on duty tonight. Oh well. I only have one more night here so I don't care!!! The day before graduation is called Family Day. It's exactly what it sounds like: a chance to see your family and show them around the island. When my parents saw me marching in, my mother didn't even recognize me because I had lost so much weight. It was great to get to see them and even better that I was now one night away from leaving Parris Island for good.
Read more