Week 3 (2-8 May, Day 7-11)

Monday, 2 May (Day 7)-
We started off the week with Basic Rifle Marksmanship, this time at the range! We grouped and zeroed our M-4's, meaning we learned and adjusted our M-4's and techniques to shoot a group of shots within a small area, and close to the second of the target. I was able to group and zero in 15 shots! When we qualified later that afternoon it didn't really go so well...I'm going to blame it on the SSGT coaching me though :P
That afternoon I came home, looked in the mirror, and saw that I had literally scorched my face. I was so red from the cheekbones down, and my ears were so fried. It's still painful actually, even as I write this nearly two weeks later! Hopefully one day my ears will heal...

Tuesday, 3 May (Day 8)-
ARM-Advanced Rifle Marksmanship was Day 8. That's stuff like shooting from behind barriers and while moving. I learned my lesson from the day before and wore SPF 70 sunscreen all day, re-applying on the hour until we went home...which resulted in me getting it in my eyes, which didn't come out until like 9 pm that night, but oh well, at least I saved myself from another 10% increase in skin cancer probability.

Wednesday, 4 May (Day 9)-
After two days out on the range and in the sun, they had mercy on us and gave us classes. The classes covered all kinds of things that we'd experience in the field. Boring, but helpful!

Thursday, 5 May (Day 10)-
Land Navigation Practical Exercise Day... Let me summarize the safety brief for you- weather concerns: its dry, its hot, there's a ton of fires around, the UV index is extreme, drink water or you'll die while out on the 4 hour land nav course. Terrain concerns: The ground is dry (and in some places on fire) the ground is rocky, there are mountains on course, be careful of cliffs...oh yeah and don't terrain-associate because the map is wrong (WHAT??). Plant concerns: once again...(bet you can't guess...) the plant life is dry (big surprise) in some areas it is on fire (hoooly hell, literally) if you fall on it, it will likely poke or cut you, there's cactus out there, it hurts even worse than the dry grass. Finally, animal concerns: spiders, snakes, scorpions-the usual, havolena, bobcats, bears, cougars (not the kind that love my former co-workers at FT), don't let me forget the 'Julios'! Y'all may recognize them better when I refer to them as Illegal Immigrants. Oh the joys of the mountainous area 12 miles north of Mexico. To clarify the sarcasm of my description of the safety brief, all that did was motivate me to get out there! Danger always makes boring land nav something to look forward to.
Cynthia's friend came in that evening, at like 9pm in Tucson, which is an hour away. Our hit time for Friday morning (when we have to be in formation on post) was 0245... Ouch.

Friday, 6 May (Day 11)-
0245-I haven't slept at all, I have decided that cougars at night are scary, but not as scary as the creepers that help out the immigrants get across the border. Did I mention it was cold? I literally found several different ways to be miserable for Friday's Land Navigation test. The test went well for my first two points, I literally walked into both of them...then came the third point, I spent an hour and a half looking for the damn thing and I couldn't find it. I ended up resectioning to find a point I had found the day before, where I knew a water point had been so it would be easy to find. I found it easily and plotted to the closest point, deciding I'd have to be ok with only 3/5 for the test (passing) instead of going 5/5. I found the point and made it back with only 5 minutes left. I was horrified to say the least to walk back to the TOC (the headquarters) with only 3 points, leaving no room for one of those points to be wrong. As it happened I was dead on with the 3 I found, and grossly misplotted the 3rd point I tried to find. It was shameful, but I passed.
That evening I enjoyed a nice dinner with some of my classmates that I don't usually hang out with, then joined Cynthia and her friend at WD's house for a party he was having there. Overall a nice evening!

Saturday, 7 May-
Busy morning! Saturday I was roused from my apartment by WD wanting to go to the gym with me to kickbox, he smoked me...again, but it was awesome and I'm getting a little more confidence in my technique. We followed that with a trip to the PX and Clothing Sales so I could pick things up for the field the following Monday and Tuesday.

That afternoon I joined the better part of my class by my apartment complex pool for some bratwurst and hot tubbing, it was a great bonding experience! Later that night we went across the street to a karaoke bar (Lord help us) where pretty much all of us sang...including myself, I just remembered why I only sing in the car... Here's where it gets interesting-I went home, because I'm the oldest 24 y/o you've ever met and I was tired and didn't want to go dancing at the local club. Smartest decision I ever made (aside from giving Robert my resume). That night my friends had a wonderful night of drinking and dancing, got themselves a cab to go home, and got assaulted by another group of people riding in the same taxi-van. One of the assaulters randomly suckerpunched a guy in my squad, and was then followed by the girls he was with who knocked out a friend of mine with a shoe and tried(key word) to break Cynthia's leg. Needless to say, charges were pressed against the assaulters, and the charge pressed against the member of my squad who was punched were dropped since he, like the others in our group, were acting purely in self defense. Needless to say, the Army has its own ideas of what to do with them that hasn't been resolved yet, I don't expect it will be an issue for much longer.

Sunday, 8 May-
0330 and I'm awake unlocking my door to provide shelter for my friends, by 1100 I was able to
work on re-packing and such. I didn't get as much done as I had originally planned, but I got enough done to allow me to feel good about leaving for the field.