March 22 Letter from John

Dear Mom/Blog,
Time to update everyone on the craziness that has been the last week of basic. So...last week, some soldiers in my bay decided to do something extremely mean to a soldier that is just a little strange. They gave him a "blanket party." This involves placing a blanket over the soldier while he is laying down to hold him down. Then they proceed to beat the crud out of him. Well, needless to say the drill sergeants found out and the next day we got smoked for almost two hours straight. We also lost all of our personal time all week. AND we lost all of our shower privileges. This meant that instead of the usual unlimited shower time (not really unlimited, but I take 10 minutes) we had literally 30 second showers, supervised by a drill sergeant. It went something like this..."Get in, rinse off, wash your face, armpits, genitals, your butt, your toes, your feet, get out!...GET THE HECK OUT! Let me tell you, that was fun. The next day we found out that because of the mistakes of four people, the entire company was sent back to the red phase. CRAP. We only had about three good days of white phase before the idiots screwed up, and surprise, surprise it's the same people who screw up all the time.
Over the next four days we continued the 30 second showers and no personal time. On the fifth day we had shown a little discipline through the week so we got our showers back. If all goes well we should be back to the white phase soon and then on to blue phase.
In other news, today was a laid back day. We had uniform issue today. We went to get our "high speed" PT uniform. (The same uniform the drill sergeants wear!) and our class A uniforms. You know, the fancy uniform. It is custom tailored, and let me tell you... I look good in that sucker.
Tomorrow night is the live fire night infiltration exercise. AKA "Nick at Night". We crawl along the ground while live rounds are fired over our heads. Dangerous, but necessary training for a soldier. Knowing that I only have four more weeks of Basic is encouraging. And really we only have two more weeks of actual training. Then comes Victory Forge, where we put everything we have learned into action for 7 days non-stop. And then graduation week we just clean and turn in equipment, and have a pizza party...I am so looking forward to having a Dr. Pepper and a slice of pizza.
Well, off to bed. Hope all is well with the real world. What's this I hear about fat kids being taken from their parents in England???
Love you!
John

Letter to Dad dated Feb. 19, 2007

The following came to me on Feb. 22nd which obviously a while back but I just found out how to post on a blog!
Dear Dad:
Hey Dad! Hope all is well on the home front. Things are pretty good here (well, relatively). It sure sucks though. It's hard getting yelled at constantly for doing things that seem perfectly normal. I even got pushups for trying to stop an arguement. Actually, the pushups were for falling out of formation, but I was just trying to keep a fight from breaking out. Especially because it happened on the way to church. Gotta love the Army.

For the Army, the food is absurdly good. Don't get me wrong, its not gourmet, but its way better than I expected.

Right now, I am at "sick call". I have a cough, cold and sore throat. I was going to try to tough it out but the Dril Sargeants said today was a good day to go because there is not graduation requirement training today. I wrote Mom a letter last night, and asked her to show it to you so that I didn't have to write the same stuff all over again. Let Mom know that my graduation date is supposed to be April 20th and family day is shortly before that, but I don't know that exact date. That means I have two months to go. Yikes!

We were issued our M16A2 rifles two days ago. We have to carry them with us everywhere all the time and we even sleep with them in our sleeping bay. (locked up of course). We haven't gotten to fire them yet. The darn thing weights about 10 lbs. so carrying it in front of tyou for long distances gets tiring. I'm going to name my rifle "Sandy". Why? Just the first name I thought of, and I decided to go with my gut.

My battle buddy is a guy named Morrison. He is nice enough but not too intelligent. No one here is all that smart. It's tough not being able to have a conversation that consists anything more than "farts, poop, females (their private parts) or any number of stupid comments".

I got in trouble for laughing the other day. The drill sargeants aren't too keen on it when they say something and you laugh.... even if they say something funny. When they caought me laughing he asked me, "What's so funny, Private?" I responded, " Nothing, Drill Sargeant." He said, "Then why are you laughing?" I responded, "Because DS Neely said something funny, Drill Sargeant." He said, "So you lied when you said 'nothing'?" I said, "Yes, DS." He made me write "I am a liar" 1000 times. I wrote it 608 times before the guys in my bay helped out and each wrote it 50 times for me. (About 8 guys helped my out.)

Well, that's all the news I have from the "sick call" front. I miss you guys. Write me soon.
I Love You,
PFC John Owens Jr.

Letter from John

Hello everyone,
Here's the latest letter from John. It's not dated but it was mailed on March 21st.

Dear Mom and Bloggers,
I can officially say white phase is better than red phase. Today, guess what I did from 5:30 until 9:00pm? Whatever I wanted to do. No drill sergeant breathing down my neck. No one yelling at me. It was great. I wasn't however allowed to leave the batallion area. (An area of about 500 acres). There isn't much to do in this area so you know what I did...I ran two miles on the track, and I did 110 push-ups. I can't help but laugh at myself. Now I am doing what the drill sergeants want, and they don't have to be there. Actually, I just want to pass my PT test so I can get out of Basic. After running my two miles (in 14:58) I went back to the barracks and spent some time reading my bible and some time writing letters.
I'm looking forward to seeing everyone for graduation, and family day. You know family day is the day before graduation right? Also, I'd thought I'd tell you some of the strange things that have entered my vocabulary since coming to basic...First and foremost, I say "scouts out" about 1000 times a day. This phrase means just about everything. It means yes, I'm sorry, thanks, woohoo! etc. It is our batallion (2/60th) motto. Next is "negative", a phrase used humorously to tell someone they are just plain wrong. It's funny to yell when the drill sergeant is wrong. (Even though drill sergeants are never wrong) When someone messes up we like to say "beat your face", meaning "do push-ups." I also say "Yeah Boy," a phrase we say when the last person at chow sits down, ex. "last cold steel seated"...everyone yells "Yeah Boy."
One drill sergeant calls everyone who messes up "Mr. Wizard." Ok, just now everyone in the bay just broke into a disco party. People are beatboxing and flashing their red and blue flash lights. It's funny, but we are going to get the hell smoked out of us when drill sergeant notices. Oh well. That was crazy. Alright, off to bed when the disco stops.
I love you,
John
P.S. After writing this letter I was unable to send it because we were put back in the red phase. GAH!

Call From John 3-20-07

Hi Everyone,
I got a call from John yesterday around 7:00pm. He only had a couple of minutes to talk but he was doing pretty well. He sounded a little hoarse and he said his platoon had been doing their cadences really loud in order to be able to phase. Last time we heard, they had moved into the white phase after many delays because of people messing up. Well now they have just moved back into the red phase because of some people messing up again. Anyway, he said he qualified with his rifle as a sharpshooter. I guess that's good. Don't really understand it all. He also said he had passed some of the PT tests he has to pass in order to graduate. He also said he was glad he only has four more weeks of basic. It was a really quick call. He always has to get off the phone all of a sudden. But overall, he sounded pretty good.
Keep praying,
Mom

Letter from John to Catherine

13 Mar 2007
Dear Catherine,
This army life is not my style. They got me lookin like Gomer Pyle. They stuck me in a barbers chair, spun me round I had no hair. This army life has brought me pain. They got me lookin like GI Jane. Ha-ha. This is actually part of one of the cadences we sing while marching.
How are you? Thanks so much for the pictures, they are great. I laughed for about 5 minutes straight when I saw you making them do push-ups. They are hanging in my wall locker.
I am adapting well to Army life. Don't get me wrong, I still think it sucks that I have to do everything some jerk tell me no questions asked, I am just used to it now.
I can't wait to be able to have my cell phone back, wear civilian clothes, and drink Dr. Pepper. Only 5 more weeks!
Time is actually going by pretty quickly here. They keep us so busy that you don't even have time to dwell on how much you miss home. Right now it is almost midnight and I am on fire-guard. This involves sitting at a desk for two hours in the middle of the night. I really hate it. I have a shift about once a week.
How did your tests go? Do you have to retake any of them? I hope all went well. Has Louie been offered his residency position yet? If so, where? If not, when? Let me know, I'll be praying for you. I'm going to write a letter to your class, I think. Not to sure what to write though. Guess I'll just tell them about being a soldier. Well, I wish you could come to my graduation, but I know how life can be. You have a class to teach. Just know that I will miss you.
Talk to you soon,
John

Here's a Postcard From John

Dear Mom,
Thought I'd write you a quick note. This week we finally phased into the white phase. We also started and finished Basic Rifle Marksmanship. I qualified with my weapon yesterday. I shot 30 out of 40 meaning I qualified as a sharpshooter. I also lost my job as squad leader today. Not because I did a bad job, but because drill sergeant wanted to give someone else a chance. It is actually quite a relief. Now I don't have all sorts of extra duties and I don't have to keep up with 12 soldiers and tell people what to do. Well, out of space so I'll write you more later.
Love you,
John

Latest

Hello all you John Fans,
Here's the latest.
Dear Mom and everyone else who checks the blog,
Let me start by telling you how frustrated I am. We were supposed to switch to white phase early (last Saturday), but another platoon in the company couldn't get their act together so First Sergeant, the sergeant in charge of the whole company, said no. Then we were supposed to switch over on Wednesday, but the night before two people decided to get into a fight. This again caused us not to phase. Then we were supposed to phase on Thursday but two soldiers (a male and a female) were caught kissing in the stairwell. I figured we would all get smoked for this but instead, drill sergeants took away about 1 hour of personal time. Not just once, but every single day. This sucks because this is my time to wind down. We now have only about 20 minutes of personal time a day. Lame! If we can get our act together things will get better, if not, First Sergeant has promised that we will be in Red Phase the entire cycle. AAAAHH! (LOL)
In other news, this week we started BRM, Basic Rifle Marksmanship. I finally got to do something with my M16 other than carry it around. This weapon is pretty freakin' cool. Let me tell you... when the bullet leaves the barrel it is traveling at about 2/3 of a mile per second! I can hit a target from 300 meters 8 out of 10 times. Usually pretty close to dead center. If I can improve by 5 targets out of 40, I'll be an expert! (That's the best marksman rank in the army)
Well I had to write this whole thing after lights out since we lost our personal time so I'm going to bed.
Love you,
John

More from John

Hello friends and family,
I received a letter from John today that is also addressed to all of you.
He writes:

Dear Mom/Everyone,
Today is Sunday March 4. I haven't had much time to write this week so I'll tell you all about each day. I'll start with Monday, (I may have already written you about this, I'm not sure).
Monday was Land Navigation Training. We also had a 3.3 mile road march. Once we marched there, we were given a set of coordinates. (ex. NT80726341) That's just one, we got five of those. We were given our starting points and a compass and told to wonder through the woods and find these points. (They were marked with a pole) For lunch that day we ate "Hot A's" meaning cafeteria food served at the Land Nav. site.
Tuesday we did the Teamwork Development Course. We are given an obstacle, ie a ten foot wall in front of a broken bridge. We have to get all team members across the bridge and over the wall using only a rope and a plank. You can't touch the ground at all until you are over the wall. We had 5 minutes to plan and 20 minutes to execute. This was a tough day for me because when I am not a leader I have a hard time just sitting by and letting other soldiers make their own mistakes.
On Wednesday we did a bayonette training. The whole company competed (about 200 people) and I did the best. I even won a phone call! After that we had a pugil stick stick competition. I got my butt kicked but it was fun to watch everyone else beat the crud out of each other.
Thursday we learned Unarmed Combative Skills. (fighting without a weapon) Mostly Brazillian ju jitsu. This was fun because you don't have to be really strong to win. We all got in a circle and the drill sergeants would call out two names and we would get in the middle and kick the crap out of each other. I won my bout! I put my opponent in a "bent arm bar"submission hold. I was really proud of myself. I'm not much of a fighter normally, but I seemed to find that "warrior spirit" that day.
Friday...What a day this was. We did NBC training. Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical. This means I learned to use a "pro-mask." (gas-mask) After learning to use it, we had to put what we had learned into action in the gas chamber. The drill sergeants take you into a room filled with CS gas. CS is like tear gas, but they add an irritant so it can burn your skin with prolonged exposure. Once you are in the room you have to remove your mask long enough to say your name rank and social security number, then you put your mask back on. But...it's not over yet. Then after we get comfortable again we have to completely remove our masks and recite the soldiers creed. This forces you to breathe in the gas. They also make you open your eyes. Let me tell you. It BURNS! I left the gas chamber with a foot of snot hanging off my nose, crying, and spitting up crud. The worst part is you can't touch your face cause your hands still have gas on them. About five minutes later we are all "aired out" and we can clean ourselves off. It's really unpleasant but it's funny as heck to watch everyone else come out.
On Saturday we started BRM. Basic Rifle Marksmanship. We don't get to actually fire our weapons until Wednesday the 7th but as of right now we are learning to properly hold, aim, breathe, and squeeze the trigger. We do a drill where we cock the weapon, place a dime on the muzzle and try to squeeze the trigger without the dime falling off. This is actually pretty difficult.
Today is Sunday. I went to choir rehearsal this morning. We sang a Chris Tomlin song (my choice) and it made me feel a little more at home. The service was good today and it was nice to take communion. We had a bible study after church, that somehow turned into a a big yelling match about racism. Boooo. Hopefully next week will be better.
Well for the rest of the day we should be laying around the barracks on personal time.
It's time for chow now so I'm gonna end this here, but I'll write again soon.
I love you,
John

Extras on John

Hello family and friends,
I received a little info about John from one of his friends. He described the first week at Ft. Jackson as spending a lot of time in boring classes on military history, hygiene, & finances. Once out of reception batallion & into Basic, he had a one day field training exercise or FTX for short.They went out to the middle of nowhere and slept on the ground with nothing but a piece of cloth & two poles for a tent, a mat and a sleeping bag. To make it worse, it was raining all night. They woke up at 3:45 am after going to bed at 2100 and packed the stuff and went on a 2.5 mile road march. After that they had to rappel down a 60 foot wall using a harness they made out of a piece of rope. John thought that was actually a blast! The next day they had first aid classes where they learned CPR, rescue breathing, how to dress a wound, how to insert a chest catheter to fix a collapsed lung, how to apply a tourniquet, how to do the Heimlich maneuver (John already knew that one) etc. They also had land navigation classes. He learned to read military maps and different terrain features and about how to navigate with an azimuth and compass. John says he feels cool knowing all that stuff but hopes he never has to use it. The drill sergeants tell them that most of them will have to go to Iraq. John is doubtful that it's true. He says you can't believe a single word the drill sergeants say. They just try to mess with your mind he says but he can see through the act. He says its tough being there with mostly 18 and 17 year olds. They act really immature, and for many, it's their first time away from home. John says he is learning things from them, like patience...it's been really tough being patient with people who can't follow simple instructions, humbleness...not coming off as a "know it all." It gets annoying to people and He understands why. Motivation...some of the guys are really pumped up about changing their lives. This keeps John going too. They march everywhere they go. John was looking forward to having a nice laid back walk to church. He really misses solitude. He likes to be by himself sometimes and they really aren't allowed to go anywhere without a "battle buddy." The only place he's alone is in the bathroom stall.
Well that's the latest.
Keep praying,
Mom

Another Letter From John

Can you believe it?
I was blessed to receive another letter from John today. He wrote this one on Feb.26th. Here's the 411. He says... Today started at 0400. We did a really tough PT session and then did a three mile march to a land navigation course. the land navigation course is basically a big wooded area, and you get a compass and some coordinates, and you find random points in the woods. Then we ate "Hot A's" for lunch. (A "Hot A" is like dining facility food served at a remote location) After lunch we marched 3 miles back for a total of 6 all day. Then we learned how to disassemble our M16A2 rifles. I named my rifle "Sandy." She and I get along alright, but she does get a little heavy and annoying after marching 6 miles. I get 7 or so hours of sleep a night. Enough, but I could go for a good 12 hour night. Don't have much more time to write so I'll let you go, but know that I love you and miss you. And thank you so much for writing me all the time, even though I can't always write back. Your letters really help me get through the next day. Plus I look forward to mail call all day.
See you on Family Day.
John