Day 5

11-04-05 Day 5

Well sorry I skipped yesterday, there wasn't really anything good about yeasterday and I didn't feel much like sharing. I'll run through it fast so I don't bum you all out or get down myself. They woke us up at 4am to give us a pee test at the crack of dawn. Not very nice, it felt like Basic Training all over again with the surprise wake up, pounding on the door and throwing on the lights. No biggie to me but I will say I think there's one guy who won't pass it cuz he kept asking me quietly how long it takes for marijuana to leave your system...hypothetically. And we did have an older guy that couldn't pee for like 3 hours...poor guy missed that great breakfast of eggs and grits, darn! After that it was pretty much a day of crappy classes. The only one that keeps running thru my head is the one on IED's, or Improvised Explosive Devices and the damage they cause to the human body. It started by showing all the crazy and unexpected things you have to watch out for because they could be bombs. Stuff like a pile of rocks, a coke bottle, a gas funnel, and pretty much any little piece of trash laying on the side of the road. That really sucks because everyone keeps telling us that the entire country is covered in trash. I guess it's cause no one wants to pick it up and lose an arm! Our instructors, a couple Drill SGT's, kept giving all these examples of what not to pick up by telling us what happened to their buddy or what almost happened to them. They did a good job of making it very real. I could tell it was already affecting me because my legg wouldn't stop tapping up and down and I'm usually a pretty calm person. Then it only got worse because for each explosive device they had shown us, they showed photos of what happened to humans from the very same bombs. I will just say it was sickening. It's the kind of thing that if it had flashed on tv at home I would have looked away and changed the channel to cartoons. But I couldn't change the channel and I had to sit there and nod my head like, uh huh, yup, seen that before. I have 3 other broadcasters in the class with me and no one wants to know that their future battle buddy can't handle some bad stuff. OK, that's all. One good thing from yesterday...I had spaghetti for dinner and it actually tasted good and it didn't hurt to chew anymore, yayy!!

Today was way better! Well except for having to run this morning. I could have done without it but I'm a little glad we're starting now since in about 6 weeks I'll be wearing an extra 60 lbs around everyday in body armor and stuff. My legs could use the extra workout beforehand. I was pretty proud for the first 3/4 mile (we only ran a mile) cause I kept up and was brething ok. But all of a sudden, as I was about to pass a very fit female (my Major Sherry Rodriguez) I realized my lungs weren't working as well as I thought! I just hit a point where all I could get were burning ragged breaths. I need some breathing tips for sure! Any suggestions?? Anyway, I had to slow the heck down and put my hands on my head, I was seeing spots, not cool. But after like 100 feet I could breath again and quick jogged the rest of the way in. The whole rest of the day I've been coughing up a storm and my throat still hurts. I don't feel like I quit smoking (January 11th, 2005 for those of you who didn't know!) I feel like I'm still a smoker, it sucks! My body feels pretty good though, I was pretty sure this morning my legs would have kept going if my lungs hadn't skipped town!

The rest of the day we learned how to read a map and to some convoy ops. I remembered alot of the map stuff from Basic and both Drill SGT's seemed impressed with how "high speed" I was. Matter of fact, I stood out so well they started picking on me for stuff so I spent the day passing crap out in class and cleaning up after. Seriously, for those of you who don't know, this really is the way a DS rewards their soldiers. I don't know what twisted individual teaches them at Drill SGT school that the good kids get more chores but I'd really like to have a say in their curriculum! The convoy operations stuff was kinda cool until I asked a DS, only half joking, "I won't actually have to do this kind of stuff as a Broadcast Journalist, right?" and he looked at me like, oh you disillusioned child, and proceeded to tell us about a squad of paper pushers and computer guys. The first month they were in the sandbox they had to clear a building that kept firing at their offices. None of them had ever done any combat and they had to go across the street with rifles and freaking clear a building of snipers just so they could work. Ah well, at least the Drills are giving me a realistic idea of what to expect, that's good right? I'm loving them right now because they let us go today at 1pm, yaayyy!!! I really haven't done anything productive but I don't care. It's nice just to put on civilian clothes and pretend for an afternoon that I'm just visiting here, hahaha!!

Well folks, it's chow time (I can't help but picture dogs in Army uniforms eating at tables when I use that word!) and I don't want to miss...well, actually I probably DO want to miss whatever they made but I'm starving so I'm out. Wish me luck for tomorrow, it's time for the gas chamber. Omigod, I can't think about that! I'm soo glad I didn't get a facial today. Open pores in a gas chamber? My face would feel like it was melting off! Pain...terrible pain! Heck, I'm not even going to shower tonight on hopes that my body oil will keep the CS gas from burning my skin. Dirty girl, I know it's gross but oh well!

Good night,
Stacy Sanning