August 8, 1997 - So Long, B______

970808 - Yesterday was pre-qual. I passed. Today was Qual. I qualified "Marksman" with 205/250 points. I'm just happy I don't have to go home. I'm motivated but in a hurry so I can't write more. 21 days left...
As my journal indicates, I made it through rifle qualification. I didn't do exceptionally well, but I at least qualified. The same could not be said, unfortunately, for my bunkmate, recruit B______. He and I had shared a bunk since very early in our training and had therefore gotten to know one another pretty well. Unfortunately, since he didn't qualify on the rifle range, he would be leaving the platoon.

Actually, he wasn't just leaving the platoon; he was leaving boot camp altogether.

B______, like me, was a 92-day reservist. For those who might not have read the post that explains that (or have forgotten), that means that he enlisted into the Marine Reserves and was heading to college immediately after graduation from boot camp. Evidently, his college commitment was important enough to him that, rather than being put into a different platoon and trying to qualify again the next week, he opted to end his time in the Marines. Maybe it's because I never really put much emphasis on my own college education, but I could not fathom how someone could get this far in boot camp (only 3 weeks away from graduation) only to give up. Now, I will also say that I had never seen someone lock up and panic so much when trying to shoot. It's possible that B______ must knew that he would never be able to pass rifle qualification and so he just figured he would end the agony on his terms. I don't know. I just know that B______ was gone, I had a new bunkmate, and we were moving forward in training.

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