Zeroing

Hi Everyone,

So I'm standing here waiting in line to get a chance to zero my weapon. Basically, I'll be shooting 10-20 times and getting my sights set for my eyes. This is an all day thing which sucks because its super boring and we have to eat/sleep out here. Fields are bad because we have to eat standing up and get a lot less food than usual.

Saturday I was given a really important new job. I'm the platoon guidon bearer. It's my job to march out in front of the formation and carry our colors. Those being the white phase banner, so its just a plain white flag.

Its crazy to think I've been gone for almost 5 weeks already, getting close to the halfway point. I'm enjoying myself but at the same time, I really can't wait to get home. When you're at a place like this, you really learn to appreciate the little things in life. Things like TV, eating when/what you want, couches, sitting down, free time, things like that. Thankfully its really just during basic that this stuff isn't allowed, but still, its crazy. I really can't wait until I can sit down and enjoy a meal. Although I'm pretty sure on family day we're going to have to go out for some gourmet fast food. This being the south, there is plenty in the area...

Just finished my zeroing. I did it on my first try which is pretty cool. Except we just had lunch and now I have to sit around all afternoon and do nothing. Since we're not going back tonight we have even longer to sit around. Apparently we qualify next Tuesday, so we have just over a week to get ourselves ready for it. Hopefully I'll get sharpshooter or expert so I can wear a nice little badge on my Class A's.

We had our PT test a few days ago. I passed pushups easily, ran a 13:58 2 mile, and got screwed on situps. Our DS's said we could take our hands off our heads and the rep just wouldn't count. The DS in training stopped me after 1 minute for doing just that. I got a 38 in the first minute, and had to get just 9 in the second. Needless to say, my DS wasn't mad at me.

So it's the next day after sleeping out in the woods. We just did our first down range shooting and it went well. I hit 35/40 targets but had some trouble with the 300m targets. I missed 5/10 of those. Everything else I had no problem with. It's pretty cold out right now and its about noon. They say it's gonna warm up, but its not looking like it.

I'm hoping we don't have to march back. Its only about a 5k, but our packs are huge right now. At least carrying the flag is easier that carrying my weapon. (I get to attach it to my back for road marches.) Of course, right now I'm more concerned with when lunch is than anything else. It should be very soon which is good. We get to eat dinner at the dining hall tonight, which means a lot more food. Very exciting.

So the day is finally over, well, somewhat. Its 2108 and I have the 2200-2500 fire-guard shift, so I can't go to sleep. I want to shower but I'm not going to bother. It looks like graduation/family day is the 17th, but we hear different stuff every day so I can't be sure. Tomorrow is Veteran's Day, so we get most of the day off. I plan to PT a bunch but that's about it. After tomorrow, we will be at the halfway point, which is quite cool. I'll keep writing but for now I'm taking a break. Night.
~Corey