mychai's Diaryland Diary

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It's getting easier...slowly

Dear Mike,

The third week of BMT has absolutely zoomed by. I can�t believe it is already over and a whole new week full of new challenges is coming tomorrow.

It�s a bit of a conundrum. The days seem like they are never going to end, yet they go by without anybody hardly noticing. When we got here and had all of the people who had been here for a while say that it got easier, we didn�t really believe them. In some ways they were right. The TIs hardly ever yell anymore. Heck, today our TI stopped just short of saying he thought we were doing a good job. We also know what to expect each day, which makes the day go by quickly.

But some things are harder than when we first arrived. We have inspections all of the time, which sucks. Every time we get new, neat things (military ID, uniforms etc.), we know it will come with a whole new set of responsibilities.

This week, we were informed that our flight and our sister flight were going to completely integrate and be what they call a �flag mass� during the graduation ceremony. We will carry six U.S. flags and 54 state and territorial flags. It is a huge honor, and we were all excited. But now, we have all kinds of brass breathing down our necks when we practice. Which sucks.

I�m inspired to make a list:

Things I Like About BMT:

• The food: It really is that good. It�s not as good as I could cook it, mind you, but it is far off from the stereotypical Hollywood depiction of boot camp food.
  
• Flight details:These are fun because you get to leave your usual surroundings for a day, do some easy job that doesn�t require anyone yelling at you, and nine times out of ten, you get candy and soda.
  
• The fact that I am shrinking:No�not *there*. I weighed just the other day. I am currently at 182 lbs. I should be in the low to mid 170s when I graduate.
  
• Our blue uniforms:The force more work on us, but I feel more like and Airman now that we have them.

Things I Don�t Like About BMT

• Texas: I�m sure millions of dollars and thousands of work hours could be laboriously wasted, all to come up with the same conclusion that I have come up with in nearly four weeks: Texas bites the big one. It�s hot. It never rains, yet the humidity always seems to find its way to 100%. And they have rabbits here that just freak my shit out. Remember the big wooden �Trojan Horse/Rabbit� in Monty Python�s �Search for the Holy Grail�? They are about that big. No lie.
  

• Boots:They issue you boots during your first day or two here. While you are trying them on, people are screaming at you, so you end up saying to yourself, �They�re a little tight, but I�ll manage.� Three weeks later, I feel like I have bone spurs, and I find a new blister every other day. Oh. And they are not the coolest things in the hot Texas sun. (See above what I think about Texas.)
  
• Meal time:They call it �chow.� I HATE that. Plus, you only get three or four minutes to eat all of your food. Especially so in the morning.

There are more things to add to the list. But, honestly, I don�t feel like writing them down.

Why? Well, somewhere in the middle of writing the list, our overly cool TI said, �OK, guys, I�m going home. I�ll be back around noon tomorrow.� So, I went into the latrine (hoity-toity military speak for �bathroom�) and took a 15-minute shower. That was a real treat!

It�s now twenty minutes before lights out on a Saturday night. We only have one more hard week ahead of us. It is this upcoming week. We have our physical training evaluations. If you fail, they recycle you back into a flight two weeks behind you.

They will be evaluating us on our military �tricks��saluting, facing movements, reporting statements etc. They are also evaluating the flight on our marching skills. That should go�Umm. We�ll see.

We also have to take a 100-item test about everything we learned in all of the classes. It�s multiple choice. Should be a breeze.

After this week is Warrior Week. It is where they march us to a fake front-line scenario, give us fake guns we have to carry around everywhere, let us sleep in air conditioned tents and make us eat MREs. Oh, and they will put us in a gas chamber so we know what that is like.

Yes, I�m actually looking forward to that. Me be�s loony.

After Warrior Week is Sixth Week. During that week, we will no longer be trainees, but Airmen. Sixth Week is just parade practice and base liberty. I surely can�t wait.

Since I won�t be able to send out any mail during Warrior Week, I will try and write a few short notes over this next week. I can�t make any promises, though.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE getting mail from y�all, though. You have no clue how good it makes me feel to get a few letters during mail call. When I get a letter, my TI likes to pick on me. He picks on most everyone, really, but I like it when he picks on me. It shows he doesn�t hate me. He never picks on the ones he hates.

One funny thing about my TI is that he calls everyone by their last name�except me. He calls me by my whole name: �Jon-Paul Brown, why isn�t this bed perfectly made?� �Jon-Paul Brown, why do you ask so many questions?� �It�s time for us to learn how to hang our blue pants. I�ll come show you how to hang your skirt, Jon-Paul Brown.�

I told him I preferred it to be called a kilt. He laughed.

Well, I am going to bed. We had a long, hot day in the sun practicing our flag mass stuff. It was H.O.T. hot. Ghetto hot. Africa safari hot.

And we were marching in our long-sleeved BDU shirts and long pants.

So, I�m bushed. I�ll write again soon�I hope.

Tired in Texas,

JP

7:43 p.m. - Saturday, Jun. 28, 2003

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