Tolerance

After finishing my first week of Basic Training, surprisingly I'd have to say that it's been pretty easy so far. Well, easy for me at least. Majority of the other people don't seem to get it. It's like they were born without common sense. They keep disobeying orders and not doing things the right way. They forget that this was a choice that they made. I feel kind of sorry for the squad commanders because it's very similar to having 2,000 children who don't want to listen.

On a different note, we did a FTX (field training exercise) for two days on Thursday and Friday. On Friday we did Land Navigation. It was so easy for me, but apparently it wasn't supposed to be. We got a map and had to plot longitude and latitude points and then use a compass to find them. My partner and I were the last group to start and the first team to finish with over thirty minutes to spare. Everyone was pretty impressed with us because we also got to all five checkpoints along with finishing first and all the other teams missed at least one. On Thursday we threw live grenades. It was so exciting; I love explosions!

Other than that we've been doing mostly PT (physical training) and learning about other training. Everything we do takes so long here. Something as simple as eating takes about an hour to two because everyone has to finish and then go back outside for formation. I've slowed down my eating that way I don't have to wait as long for everyone else. I'm also eating less so I can lose weight with all the exercise I'm getting. Who knows, I may start working out in my free time.

The only thing that really irritates me about this place is the people. They honestly do not know how to quit talking. When my platoon gets in trouble it's because they were talking when they weren't supposed to. The things they say also gets on my nerves. The guys all try to one up each other about what they know concerning technology. I've quit correcting them because they are all wrong. I'm just so used to being around people who know what they are talking about when it comes to technology that it is really frustrating.

Other than that Basic Training seems to come pretty natural to me. I keep forgetting that the learning curve is set to the average person and not me. I just have to be more tolerant and patient, those are the things I'm working on right now.

If you could send me letters that would be fantastic. I have no communication to the outside world and I miss all, not just some, of you. I may not respond right away because I get really busy. I absolutly CAN NOT get food or candy or I will get in really big trouble. I can get letters, non political Digg stories, pictures and books. Don't send anything you aren't sure about, ask me in a letter first that way I won't be doing push-ups till my arms fall off.

My Address

Here is my address and you have to write it exactly as its shown otherwise some other guy will get my mail or it'll get lost forever.


PV2 Zalesny, Zachary
D Co 1/13th INF Reg
4th PLT (undertakers)
Fort Jackson, SC 29207


Heres a list of things you can send me.

Letters
Cards
Suggestions
Digg.com stories (you can just print them out)
Pictures
Music theory stuff ( I'd like to start learning it again)
And anything encouraging would help a lot

Thank you guys. I really appreciate it.

High School

Today was crappy and good at the same time. We did more medical things today. I got six immunization shots today. It wasn't horrible but shots are never fun. That was early this morning though. After enduring that nasty business we finally went downstairs and got our ACU's! That was cool and I look prettty sharp. Soon after though our platoon leader started being incredibly dumb. He flipped out on some girls for what appeared to be no reason. He's the same rank as me and he just got way out of hand. I would have to say that he's pretty spineless when it comes to controlling our group. It sucks. I'm sitting on my bunk listening to all of them argue about stupid stuff. I swear it's worse than the stereotypical high school drama.

Hurry up and Wait

We are supposed to head off to BCT tomorrow so today will probably be very busy. We've been in reception for 4 days now so I can't wait for this to be over. The saying "Hurry up and wait" has never been more fully demonstrated to me. I didn't get to sleep as much as I would have like last night so I hope I get a chance to take a nap today, I'm sure I won't though. The last two days have been really slow, so you never know. If I don't get to take a nap today I will probably go to bed almost immediately tonight.

Some girl was arrested yesterday. She walked away from a Drill Sergeant and told him to eff off. She has been Court-Martialled and will now spend the next 2 years in prison. Well we all know now never to do that, or else.

Reception

Well for those of you who don't know, I shipped off to basic training on February 25th. I had a straight flight to Atlanta, Georgia where I was picked up by a shuttle. We then drove for three hours to Columbia, South Carolina which is where Fort Jackson is. I arrived at around midnight and started going through all the processing without delay. I didn't get to sleep until around 03:30 and we had to be up at 0400 of what was now that same day. The next day we had our first meal on the base. Meals are incredibly hectic and tense. There is no talking aloud and they somehow have to feed 2,000 soldiers in one chow hall. Because of this every meal takes about 2 hours to eat, or rather finish. You only get about ten minutes to eat because the rest of your allotted time is spent sanding quietly in line.

It is after this that we proceed to our first processing station (we spend about a week in reception which is where we take care of more paper work, medical things, and haircuts). The first station I went to was to get my head shaved. I kinda like having my head shaved because it feels cool and I don't have to worry about my hair being messed up. Then we all went through several other stations like medical. Medical was sucky. When they drew our blood (which was a lot of blood I might add) some dummy in my platoon wouldn't stop talking so our sergeant made him stand up and shout "I'm an idiot. I'm stupid." for an entire hour.

The next day I awoke at 0340 because it only takes me 2 minutes to get ready versus everyone elses 30 minutes. They all crowd into the showers and latrines to shave. I do all that the night before so it makes mornings a lot less stressful for me. Hopefully we will be getting our ACU's today. From what I have heard they are awesome. They basically make you feel invincible, so I can't wait.