RSP Drill #2

Well, for starters: I did NOT get hurt this month so that's a major plus! :-)

I got to the armory around 0800 on Sat. morning (About 45 minutes early actually, but I'm a bit anal that way.) wearing full ACU's and ready to rock. Thank God I had a cover! The sun was brutal on Saturday. We started off by filling out what cadre calls a "vulcan" report that shows any problems or issues the new soldier has had since last drill. I had two: the ankle, and the fact that I haven't been paid for the first RSP drill yet. The ankle was no big thing, they were already aware of that but the pay issue meant spending time with the finance officer later that afternoon. Turns out somebody had entered an incorrect code for my service status into the DOD system. They have me marked as a "Special" candidate which means I'm SF, ROTC, or entering OCS. Now, as y'all know, I'm none of these things. I did tell the officer though that if they really wanted to give me the rank, I'd be happy to ship off to OCS at their earliest convenience. He thought that was funny as hell. Sadly, I'm still just a lowly PFC and he's going to change my code so I get the cash. I gather it's not a simple process though because he couldn't do it then and there online. No rush really, it ain't like I'm desperate for the little bit of cash I get from drilling (in case you're wondering: being in the NG doesn't pay all that well!) If you follow that link and look at the first chart, look up the pay for an E-3 with under 2 years TIS and take into consideration that's BEFORE taxes and insurance deductions. it's a labor of love, folks! :-)

The first day was pretty casual, we were helping the first time guys get all their paperwork squared away and getting some class time on things like EO (Equal Opportunity) and IG (Inspector General) issues and legalities. We also spent time drawing linens, etc. for the our bunks and doing a little bit of D&C (Drill and Ceremony - marching, about face, etc.) That night we had a shake down in the barracks that ate up all our personal time. They weren't really looking for anything, it was more of a punishment because we had a jackass in the platoon. Our Platoon Guide (PG) is an 18 year old kid from the NG Youth Challenge Program. He's a great kid and puts forth a lot of effort. Well, he drew some negative attention from an officer - a Lieutenant- over a simple mistake and got badly smoked for it. He took it like a man and when it was done, the LT pulled him aside to tell PG that he'd acted like a solid leader by not trying to cover up his mistake and taking the heat without complaint. The LT started giving him some tips on leadership in general, and he told PG to have us "Fall out". Well, normally, when we're told to fall out, it's followed by a location, or instructions, as in: "Fall out to the barracks" or "Fall out and form ranks in front of the DFAC." Well, PG was a little nervous what with the LT hovering over his shoulder and he just called for us to "Fall Out!" Most of us did just that, taking a step backward, then milling about in a group (which cadre calls a "gaggle-fuck" . . . too funny!) waiting for some idea of what to do next. The jackass though, calls out: "Where the fuck are we supposed to fall out to?"

As you can imagine, the LT lost his frikkin' mind.

He called us back to attention and asked the person who said it to step forward. Well, it turns out the jackass was also a coward because he wouldn't step up to take the heat. We didn't know who it was either because it was already dark, so no one could specifically identify who'd said it. The cadre came out and saw the LT dressing us down for lack of Integrity and they were about to kill us but the LT asked them not to. Instead, he pointed out that a group with such low integrity might do anything. Might even bring contraband onto his base. The Sgt's. smiled at that and I knew we were screwed. They sent us back to barracks and proceeded to spend the next two hours having us tear apart all our personal gear and shake it out in front of them for inspection to make sure we didn't have anything we weren't supposed to. Luckily, they put a box in the center of the room and gave us a five minute "amnesty" period to put anything we wanted in there, no questions asked. I was amazed at how many people brought cigarettes, lighters, condoms (WTF???) even pocket knives to drill, even though we've been warned a dozen times those are forbidden. They didn't find anything else but they chewed up all our personal time for the day and left us a huge mess to clean afterward. Want to know the sit thing? Even after it was over and all the cadre gone, the jackass wouldn't own up, even to his fellow soldiers.

Sad.

Sunday was killer PT - for everyone except me. It was thunder/lightning so we stayed inside the armory doing circuit training. Cadre set up six exercise stations, where recruits would do a specific exercise for two minutes before moving on to the next. In between, they'd periodically yell "GO-Go-Go!!" and they'd have to sprint laps around the room. We did this for over an hour and it was brutal. I felt like a complete schmuck standing there while my fellow soldiers were busting ass. I did grab water bottles and move around the room taking swapping them out for empties to keep my battle buddies hydrated, but I would have preferred to be working with them. (Yea, I'm kind of a dumbass that way!) Actually, we had three/four people puke because they chugged the water too fast while working out like that. Nasty, but they were all fine in a few minutes.

The worst part of the weekend was a smoking we received just before lunch. We knew it was coming (We hadn't done anything but cadre is NOT letting a day go by without smoking us!) and it would have been just a minor event except people have a tough time listening. They had us down and doing push ups. All we had to do was follow the Sgt's. count and do them in cadence(everyone down/up at the same time) but we just couldn't seem to get that done so he had us pushing for ten minutes straight. When he finally called us to our feet, people kept screwing up again! When you recover, you come to the position of Attention. This means you DO-NOT-FRIKKIN-MOVE!!!!! People could not get that through their head. They kept wiping sweat out of their eyes, dirt off their hands, adjusting their blouse and looking around. Every time they did, it was back down to push out another ten. It must have been 110+ in the sun and I looked like I'd just stepped out of the shower by the time we were done.

Now, here's the sad thing: reading this, you probably think my weekend sucked, huh? Nope. I had a friggin blast! Those of us on our second drill are learning to work as a team and look out for each other. I had one private I'd never met stop me and point out a problem with my uniform that would have gotten me smoked, and I stopped another private from accidentally breaking a unit formation in front of two SSG's and a MSG. He was grateful as hell and thanked me for saving his ass but I pointed out to him that, since I was his Battle Buddy at the time, it would have been both our asses! The Wife asked me yesterday why BB's are needed and that's the best explanation I can come up with: it teaches you to always have an eye out for your fellow soldiers. Good training if you ask me.

I can't wait for next month. I should be 100% again and ready to train with my Battles. Hooah!

Later!