Remember Amanda’s letter where she wrote about her Platoon going to the rifle range to “group and zero” their M-16s? I thought you would enjoy this photo of Amanda next to her target. You can see, first-hand, the tight pattern of her shots. The tight pattern was the first thing my husband noticed. The first thing I noticed was she is in one piece. You can also see her cool Birth Control Glasses. The glasses don’t hide the intense look in her eye though. That is our Amanda!
I snagged the photo off her Platoon’s Facebook page. I know, I know . . . no razors, telephones, or computer access, but someone in the Army is maintaining their Facebook page. There is irony in there somewhere, but I can’t put my finger on it. If you want to check out their page, here is the link ~ Delta Company
Tomorrow, I will start posting her latest 14-page (yes, 14 pages) letter in a series of installments. I needed a nap and an aspirin after reading it. Interesting (read, harrowing) stuff.
P.S. Your letters are in the mail with guaranteed delivery by Saturday. I have a couple straggler letters (thanks stragglers!) and will send them off tomorrow by priority mail. You folks are A-Maze-Ing. Bless you all.
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Robin Coyle 
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How funny that they have a Facebook page. I just hope the bad guys aren’t keeping track of everything via Facebook.
I wonder if the bad guys “like” and comment on their wall.
How wonderful it must have been for you to find this amazing picture. 🙂
It was wonderful to find her picture. Especially so since it captures she intensity perfectly.
Awesome, Robin! 🙂
I agree! Like the new Gravatar photo!
Nice shooting. I’d hate to be the one at the other end of her rifle. Don’t need a magazine worth of superfluous holes in my head.
We have enough holes in our heads, don’t we?
Yes, I feel safe with her protecting our country. 🙂
She will like hearing that. I do too.
Pingback: Our Daughter Entered the Army ~ An Update ~ Part 12 « Robin Coyle
I feel like such a loser. I had a last minute revision from my publisher with a tight deadline and never got around to sending a letter. Bummer.
Yesterday was my daughter’s birthday and I haven’t even picked up a card for her. Loser mom. :o| I’m sorry…
I hope you still had plenty to send.
You are not a loser! Publishers are so demanding! I did have a nice stack of letters and cards to send. Happy birthday to your daughter!
Nice group. Good sight picture, breath control, and trigger squeeze.
That is exactly what she said! The do breathing and trigger squeeze exercises. My heart would be pounding, so no amount of deep breathing would help me!
Wow. Totally badass.
And, for the record, all glasses are awesome.
I read the Army recently updated the glasses they issue to something more stylish. I’m not so sure they accomplished setting a new fashion trend. But, I can see if she can get a pair for you!
I would go look at the fb page but I am still in fb limbo but once they give me my fb back I will
Good luck with that!
Harrowing is the only word for this serial we’re all been reading… when do we get to the happy ending?
Well, I have one more long letter to share, which I will do in a series because it is 14 pages. I don’t know if she will have time to write us anymore since they are in the final stages of their training. I think they keep them very busy. Or should I say MORE busy!
Very intense look there. Don’t mess with Amanda.
She looks serious and focused. Or mad. Can’t tell which . . .
Amanda may not appreciate the choice of word, but I think she looks adorable! Her cheeks are rosy. I wonder if it’s from the heat or the excitement. Very nice shooting.
Oh, no. She will like being called “adorable.” Even as a tough soldier, you want to look good.
I still love the ‘birth control glasses’!
This is a great pic – she looks confident and in control. Man, she’s so good at handling that rifle! 🙂
Even with the Birth Control Glasses, I think she looks pretty cute, in an Army fatigue kind of way. If she were here, she would say she looks, “badass!”
Yikes, where is my sweet little girl?
She wears that outfit with flare/style that comes from confidence and strength. You are right about the intensity.
(Will there be a graduation ceremony with parents attending?)
Searching for the aspirin to have ready for the next installment….
The topic of the graduation is rather painful for me. There is a family day on September 12th, with a graduation ceremony on September 13th. We discussed with Amanda us flying there for the ceremony. She said, “Nope. I would rather you save the money and let’s use it on one of my leaves to go someplace really cool, drink beer together, and eat great meals out. I have a family to do the graduation with.”
I get that. I do. That is her. I still would like to be there. Sigh. Wrestling with the decision to not go as we speak.
Actually she’s making sense – and will need that really cool break later on more – now she’s riding pretty high and in good spirits…and as kind as she has been to so many, I have no doubt she will be included.
Maybe they can make/send some little phone videos to you as they celebrate – they are good at that and do it so well.
She knows you are proud of her (she’s lucky we don’t all show up…or maybe that’s what worries her! – insert giggles here)
Wouldn’t it be funny if we will all showed up?
She is practical that way. Amanda would rather hang out on the beach in Hawaii when she has a leave and relive the moment and share photos, rather than us being at the ceremony. Torn, torn, torn, though!
Can identify with ceremonies for med school, residency, fellowships.
Hard to tell parents’ hearts be sensible after having to watch all the struggles from a distance – unable to smooth the way.
Kids always vote for the beach…(they see the obstacles differently: just something that’s over and done – and they have already moved on?)
You are so right. She would rather celebrate her future than the past.
Good shooting. I wonder what the deal is with the watermelon rinds behind the target.
Ha! I didn’t notice! Target practice? Snacks? A watermelon field shot to smithereens?
Maybe keeping them hydrated. They look like slices. Big slices.
I’ll ask her about the watermelon when I can. Odd.
I think it’s safe to say she can handle a rifle….
Thank GAWD for that!
“Birth control glasses.”—Now I know what to call those godawful things I wore in the 80s and early 90s.
I had a pair of glasses in the 80s you could use as riot-suppression-gear. Each lens was about the size of a hubcap. Where were my senses when I picked them out?
They sound like mine. Only mine had the added bonus of being red.
My frames were purple, and the lenses were tinted at the top. What the heck was I thinking!?
Ooh, pretty. Together you and I could have formed the rainbow coalition of eyewear.
Nice score on the photo!
Don’t tell the Army I lifted the photo. They have M-16s and grenades.
Doesn’t half the American population have them too?
In the inner cities, yes.