8-11
0753
Dear Aqizzar,
I received your letter last night, mail is greatly appreciated, irregardless of length. I haven't gotten Barbarossa's yet, maybe tonight. Mail call tends to be the part of the day that the PLT looks forward most to. We don't get anything from the outside world here, newspapers get taken from the mail. Any news of the world starting on fire'd be appreciated, especially the Korea situation. Word from the range sergeants is that shit's flaring up there again. Maybe that'll be my war, but in my case, any kind of news information would be nice.
I've been promoted to PG for 2
nd Platoon. I very much did not want the job. I returned to duty on Friday, then
we suffe suffered on Saturday (I didn't plan this letter before writing it, so it'll be jumpy. Apologies). The doctor told me that I still had crap in my lungs, but I asked if I could return to duty. She let me, but amongst other things, I wasn't supposed to march more than 1/8 of a mile. Saturday featured not one but two things I shouldn't be doing. Firstly, a 4k road march in armor. It really really sucked, because my airway lets in progressively less air as I march. DS Berg was royally pissed at me when he found out that I was ignoring my profile (I am taking the five kinds of pills and inhaler mostly as proscribed though). I made it the whole way but I did have to fall back a few paces.
Afternoon was the gas chamber. If need be, I'll join an angry protest, but the bloody second I see any sign of gas, I'm bolting. Groups of ~30, wearing a gas mask, march into the chamber, filled with CS riot gas. Then everyone has to unseal the mask, then clear and reseal it. After that, everyone has to take the mask off, stow it, and wait for everyone to unmask. After a brief period of standing, everyone charges outside the chamber to fresh air. I was in bedrest when they issued masks, and understandably, the company ran out of masks (no more money until the move to
Benning is completed, I couldn't even get my request for a new mop accepted!). So I wasn't able to practice with a real mask ahead of time. After spending a few frantic minutes finding a mask to borrow, I had to get the thing fitted really quickly.
The gas masks work great; the CS burned a bit on exposed skin, but nothing bad. I held my breath through the first clearing, a little bit of burning eyes, but not terrible. The demask though sucked. I was still pretty sick, and I coughed while taking the mask off. Worst pain I've ever experienced, lungs already sore from coughing filled with fucking gas. I was considering trying to bust out early. We got the go ahead and charged outside. I started hacking bad. It felt like I was going to puke, so I went to my hands and knees and shoved my borrowed mask as far away as possible. I couldn't take shallow breaths because of the gas burning in my lungs, and I couldn't take deep breaths, because the funk'd [sic] made me cough. But I survived well enough.
Sunday was a rest day, as per usual. The Lutheran Chaplin was on his honeymoon, and I didn't really care for the deacon who was subbing. Instead, I went to the generic Protestant service. I didn't care for it all that much. The rock band sounded good, and I didn't realize how much I needed to hear a power chord [Aq: fuck yeah boy]. The actual songs were lackluster, the screen for showing the lyrics wasn't run properly, and the preacher was pretty annoying. Still, hearing a few good chords was worth it. I spent the rest of Sunday trying to organize the PLT's cleaning supplies.
Monday, we had an inspection of our wall lockers. DS Berg fired the other guard leader in my room. He went through my stuff, and tore out all my ACU's for wrinkles. Then he said that the cleanliness of my weapon would determine if he would be firing one or two squad leaders. He asked me if I like being a squad leader.
Being the hone Being an idiot, I automatically answered the question truthfully. I said, "Not especially." He called the PG in, tore off the patch and stuck it on me.
Don't get me wrong, I'm proud that the DS was confident in me, but I'm doubtful. I'm
not up to a very min-mixed individual. I can organize a closet by myself or ace a test, but I suck at everything PT and inspection related. I'm worried that I won't be able to keep my head above water if I'm worrying about the Deathriders. My chosen role in a group is that of an aide. I really worry about my direct superiors and try to help shoulder their workload, but I doubt that I could do it all myself. I wallowed in not wanting the job until halfway through Tuesday, but my honor code has reasserted itself. The good of the group comes first. I'll be the best damn PG I can be until I'm replaced!
As PG, my personal time has gone from very little to very very very little (I spent last night's personal time dealing with little problems for the PLT). In two days of trying I got 4 lines into a letter to my dad (who is writing really nicely now that I'm actually at Basic). So, I'll be writing in this notepad, whenever I have the downtime. Sorry for the small paper however, note that I've made a "PG is not to be disturbed while he's reading his mail" rule, so feel free to write as much as you'd like.
This week is dedicated to firing the M4 carbine. First time to the range was Tuesday. Me and my rifle wall had a tough day. I fired 135 rounds without getting a decent zero or group. The range safety kicked me out in disgust. However, as I'm writing this, I just finished zeroing, as the entire place is boarding up due to lightning. I'm damn happy. Plus, unlike a lot of people, I've got wall with me under cover, instead of sitting out in the rain. Zeroing a rifle requires putting 8.10 rounds into a 4cm circle at 25m, which is equivalent to doing 8/10 rounds into someone's center of mass at 300m. I think that I was sucking before because my hands have been shaking for a while now. I take a fair number of deep breaths and aimed mostly with my shoulder to compensate.
Not a lot else to report, I'm optimistic for the future at the moment. White phase starts Saturdayish. So I'll be able to walk to church myself. This line is almost entirely here to fill space, so my signature looks okay. [Aq: yep]
Sincerly,
-Kaseman
-Strife26
Author
Topic: Life and Times of Strife26 (Read 161336 times)