Here is another letter from Amanda giving us insight on life as a soldier at Army Basic Training.
Letter Five Dated July 27, 2012 ~ Summarized
(Notes in parentheses are mine.)
(If you recall, I sent a care-package to Amanda, but it crossed paths with her letter asking us to send her some things . . . face wash, conditioner, etc. She sent this letter after she received the care-package.)
Hey Hey Rental Units!
Holy smokes! What an amazing freaking care-package. Mom, if you weren’t writing a novel (which I’m still impressed brought me to tears and am anxious to read again), a writing tips book, and a blog, I’d say start a care-package company. You, no joke, thought of everything without me saying anything. Listen to this. I got like a million flippin’ ant bites in the field on Wednesday night and you somehow knew to send aloe wipes.
(Hmm . . . Care-package business. Interesting idea.)
Some stuff I can’t have until the end, like medicine or reading material. I thought we could have meds, but nope. I’m pretty sure they are concerned about suicide.
(I sent aspirin, antihistamine, and cough drops. Gosh, I didn’t think about the Army being concerned about the high-suicide-rate with our soldiers.)
We can’t have anything sharp either . . . not even razors or tweezers. Well, the razor thing is partially because shaving our legs is not a necessity. We were supposed to get razor privileges here on Saturday, but this dumbass girl screwed it up. Let me explain . . .
Don’t worry . . . that isn’t Amanda. (Photo credit: AN HONORABLE GERMAN)
If you remember from the website, there are three phases of Basic Combat Training (BCT): Red, White, and Blue. On-line, it seems like it is just a cute way to explain BCT to civilians, but here, it is a huge deal when you change from one phase to the next. It is a reward and signifies our progress, like “oh hey, you are starting to get it, you are working as a team, and you’re disciplined and physically and mentally tough.” It also means we get to make a phone call, the yelling decreases, and the freedoms increase.
We are not even close to being able to phase yet. Why? One girl was dumb enough to ask a new female Drill Instructor if we could have razor privileges, even though our Senior Drill Instructor already said “NO,” and told us how to earn them. That was the last straw for the Drill Instructor, so nope, no phasing for us for a while and no razors for the next seven weeks. Fantastic. I look like a gorilla.
Our Instructors are both really cool and the hardest Sergeants here. They have higher standards for us than the other Drill Instructors. I know I make it seem like my platoon is all-jacked-up, but relatively speaking, we’re not.
The Senior Drill Instructor inspected our barracks while we were at physical training and, oh man, that did not go well one bit. I stood up and took the blame. I’m “Bay Boss” and making sure the Bay is clean is one of my jobs. I’ve just been overwhelmed and it was my last concern. NOT ANYMORE!
I spent all my free time developing a chore-chart like we are in f**king second grade. I need some gold-star stickers. I thought everyone would be pissed at me, but most people said it was everyone’s fault, and thanked me for taking the blunt of the heat. In fact, we did peer evaluations today and I was in the top five of every list, and mostly ranked #1. You see, my Senior Drill Sergeant didn’t really know who I was before, but after today, with him reading my name out loud 29 times as #1, he knows who I am now!
(That’s our girl!)
We were out in the field Wednesday and Thursday. It was pretty cool. A lot of sitting on dirt in classes though, in the million-degree weather. Of course, no rain today to cool things off. I was excited to sleep outside, but the woods keep the heat and humidity in like crazy. Because it was so hot, I didn’t sleep inside the sleeping bag, hence, the ant bites.
(Amanda’s idea of “cool” and my idea of “cool” are two different things.)
People here are from everywhere, but my friends, the two girls and a few guys, all happen to be from California believe it or not! My friend Rebecca is from Southern California and yes, she is in my Bay and platoon, thank God!
Thank you so much for your love and support. I miss you!
P.S. Sloppy handwriting . . . it is way past my bedtime! It is 22:15 and I’m exhausted!
(I’m exhausted from just reading her letter!)
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so interesting — so hard — I know these people have to do hard things and have to be trained well, but how does anyone get through it–guess I am just a delicate little flower — so glad there are people like your daughter–what a girl
I’m a delicate flower too! 🙂
I don’t know how they do it. AND, think of the heat and humidity in the South. Ugh.
thank goodness that some people can do this
I think Amanda sounds awesome – she is certainly kicking ass! Seriously!
I don’t understand why they don’t have a nurse/matron who can administer doses of medication…
That would be waaaaaaay to accommodating. They would rather the kids suffer with a headache and sore muscles.
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So proud of your daughter….and YOU! She’s a Wow…..just like you ♥
Well thank you so much! She is much more of a “wow” than me tho.
and that’s what a good mama would say ♥
Ya definitely did something right eh?
I’m wondering why we raised her so that she feels the need to put herself in harm’s way to defend the country and our freedom. Why? Keeps a mom awake at night . . .
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Wow. Just wow.
That sums it up!
She is amazing!
She takes everything in her stride with her chin up..you must be beaming with pride for raising such an amazing young woman!!
P.S. I’ve nominated you for the Super Sweet Blogging Award..http://originalapplejunkie.wordpress.com/2012/08/16/day-230-the-super-sweet-blogging-award/
Congratulations! =)
Yup . . . I’m beaming over Amanda, and beaming over the award you gave me. Thank you so much and congrats on YOUR award!
No problem Robin, I think you deserve it!
And you should be beaming, she is wonderful!
Let’s hope she has razor privileges before you next see her, otherwise you might not recognise her.
These letters are interesting, and you must be proud that she is doing well.
Yes, we are so proud!
I can’t believe they don’t consider leg or underarm shaving to be a necessity.
Heathens!
I’m impressed — I second the Care-package business idea! Amanda continues joyfully, as near as I can tell. Good for her and Good for you!
It was fun putting the care-package together . . . a crazy mix of random stuff! Amanda seems to be hanging in there.
Ant bites! Ack. No fun. What a smart mom you are to send aloe wipes–what ever made you think of it? I’m not sure I would have known to send something like that, I never use them myself.
I don’t know what made me think of the aloe wipes. I just wandered the drugstore aisles and tossed stuff in the cart. Seemed like a handy thing to have.
Gold star for you creating that care package – sounds like you did great. (some college parent groups create and sell college kid care packages…so maybe not to unrealistic….like you have that much time!)
Sounds like she’s earned a lot of respect. That says a lot.
Thanks for sharing
It was sure fun pulling the care-packages together. It would have been more fun if they let them have reading material and homemade cookies!
The cookies will be a big hit later!
Absolutely awesome letter. There isn’t a hint of whining; it’s obvious she loves this. Very cool that her Drill Sergeant read her name 29 times – she works hard and deserves the recognition. Thanks, as always, for sharing, Robin.
I’d love to know what the categories/questions are on the peer evaluation. I guess we will find out when she is finished with training . . .
lol re ‘gorilla’ comment ~ bet she’s utterly gorgeous as are all young things (bejabers, we were once, but failed to see it!) ~ so enjoying these posts Robin 🙂
I’m so glad you are enjoying her letters! Amanda will be tickled too. I’m surprised you are the first to mention the gorilla comment. It made me laugh out loud!
Yeah, ant bites?!? And she’s so positive about everything. What an incredible kid you’ve raised. Maybe I should send my teenagers your way so you can straighten them out. 🙂 Enjoy the rest of your vacation.
Or, you could send your teenagers to Boot Camp . . . they seem to know how to get people to toe the line!
Yeah . . . Ant bites? Please send me home!
She’s doing well. Smile.
I’m trying!
A lot to handle, I imagine. No doubt in my mind that she’ll excell… heck, she already is. Be proud, right along with her.
The only thing that makes it possible to handle is that the Army is “so her.”
🙂
Wow what insight the letters give us. I look forward to the next letter. Dad never mentioned ant bites but I know he had “poison” (poison ivy) many times. Weird about the meds. I guess if they need them they have to go to the sick bay?
She gives us a good feel for what it is like, doesn’t she? Oh Lord, poison ivy would be miserable! Yeah, in a later letter she mentions they have to go to sick bay for meds, but are cautious to do so lest they be viewed as “weak.”
what a great mom you are, I have a lot of family and friends in the military I remember these letters, they are precious.. thanks for sharing, its nice to hear from a womans point of view what its like!
Her letters are precious to me and it makes me happy to hear she is doing well, and going through the training with the right attitude. I like the woman’s perspective as well.
Congrats on getting the care package right on the first try!
For what it is worth, it is a little cooler out this way this week. I’ll push for it to stay so…because, you know, I’m in on that sort of thing.
It was a crazy mix of things! The check out clerk thought I was nuts.
Yes, please. See what you can do about keeping the weather cool. I know you have friends in high places.
There is no way I could do what she’s doing. No way at all. Hopefully the girl who brought up the razor privileges subject learned a lesson.
I bet that gal DID learn her lesson. The wrath of 59 females in her platoon can’t be pretty!
Holy cow! I’m definitely not military material. Granny panties, no razor, and no sleep = AWOL for me. :-). She is really doing awesome!!!! I’m so impressed, and I’m sure you are so very proud of her. She is really amazing, and I’d bet my last penny she’s going places!
We are incredibly proud of her. How she is doing all that with such a positive attitude is a mystery to me.
You and I would be AWOL together!
We could go hit the first bar we see together….
I’m in. Make mine a martini!
This is all very interesting, thanks for sharing Robin!
And when do you think your book will be finished? Sounds like a must read.
Learning about the experience at camp through her eyes/words has been cool for us.
My plan is to finish proofing my book while on vacation, and then the dreaded query letter process. Argh! If that doesn’t get any bites, then I will self-publish.
As you may have guessed, Amanda is a tough cookie and doesn’t cry easily. The fact that my book made her cry is high praise for me!
I figured that!
A law of survival – Be first or be anonymous. Good for her.
I’ve never heard that expression, but it is fitting for what she is going through, for sure.
That is one of my own based on personal experience. A friend from Alaska also uses the following:
“Unless you are the lead dog, the view never changes.”
“Razor privileges”—something I hope I never have to experience…
Same here . . . or ant bites.