Phone call 2-3-12

Andrew called today!  His mom also got a letter today which means mine should be here any day!  We're in a severe winter weather storm right now - expected to get 22 inches here in CO so I'm thinking my mail may be delayed.  He said he wrote me about 6 or 7 pages covering everything about boot camp life but here is some of the information Andrew shared with me; I'm sure some of it may be repeated when the mail does arrive.


The week Andrew got there he was put in a temporary cell where they did all his medical and dental checks.  He had to get a shot in his butt that he said hurt a lot!!  They also gave him the flu shot which then lead him to being sick.  His voice was still all stuffed up when we talked.


He has been placed in an Elite Staffing Division. He was placed here because of his age, skills, running and swimming ability, and ASVAB score. He will have to tryout for the position he will be placed in but he may be helping at Recruit graduations in the coming weeks.  He hopes to be able to march with a rifle or sword at his own graduation.  He is also an Education Petty Office so he helps teach the other, younger recruits about "the book" of military law, uniform regulations, survival, etc. 


He said they sit on the floor all the time and it's killing his back.  He can't sit camper style so he said that's one of the worst things. He is still having a hard time sleeping well or ever feeling caught up on sleep.  They only do physical training an hour a day, they get three meals a day and he said the food is really good, and he actually has a lot of down time to study.


He has to share the bathrooms/showers with 83 other men.  They have 45 minutes every morning to get them all showered, shaved, and the bathroom cleaned.  He said he often wakes up at 4:00am to shave and goes back to bed so he has time.  He takes about 1 minute showers.  There are 16 sinks, 18 toilets, 6 urinals and 2 shower pillars with 6 heads each.  They only use 1 shower head though so they don't have to clean the other.  He said he gets under the water, lathers up and walks out! Sometimes they have to get ready to fast that he has to put on dirty or sweaty clothes. He said they wake them up and count back from 5; if they aren't up quickly enough then they have to do push ups.


Once a week he has to do a night watch (with a gun) where he has to stand at the door and guard for two hours.  He said he just reads "the book" and tries to stay awake. Sometimes he also has to do daytime watch which is in 4-hour rotations.


He is able to get mail during the week but only write mail on Sundays.  He loves receiving letters and cards.  He is not allowed to get musical cards (lol...Meredith) or newspaper clippings (though the website says he can). He has about the size of a sock drawer to keep all his toiletries and letters.


He said there about 6 others guys around his age and they all sit together at night to read letters and talk about family. He said boot camp is not as hard as he imagined it would be.


He should find out about A-school during week 5; he is starting week 3 this week.  He has passed all his inspections and tests with flying colors except his run (he was 1 minute over) and will take his final physical training test during week 7 (only the final one matters).  I should expect another phone call on March 6th - 3 days before graduation.

His 2 prayer requests are for his physical health: not only his cold but his back, knees, and calves are killing him.  The second is to catch up on sleep.  


I think that covers it all!!  Keep sending those cards and letters!!