Me and G.I. Jane

So, I'm home from BCT (Army Basic Combat Training) and am waiting to ship off to OCS (Army Officer Candidate School) tomorrow. They certainly don't leave a lot of time to kill, do they? Regardless, what little break I did get has definitely been much needed and appreciated.

So, how did I do, you ask? I did pretty well actually. I made a 287 out of 300 possible points on my final physical fitness test, qualified with my rifle, an M16 A2 (which I appropriately named G.I. Jane), and completed all kinds of other training which included a 9-mile road march carrying a 30lb ruck. I participated in a mini war and repelled off of a 30 foot wall, too. It was actually pretty fun most days, except when my platoon was getting in trouble for some of the stupid crap people pulled. I was surprised that it wasn't as hard as I had envisioned it would be. Don't get me wrong, it was HARD! But not as terrifying as I had imagined. Does that make sense? The Drill Sergeants didn't really do alot of the crazy things movie drill sergeants do to their recruits so in a way it was easier. However, people still dropped out like flies. We had 6 people go AWOL (Absent Without Leave), 3 people went "crazy" (Remember Clinger in MASH?), and a whole slue of others who "rode profile" (malingered, basically)in order to get out of training, resulting in their inability to graduate. Others didn't graduate because they failed their PT (physical fitness) test, and still others got restarted (sent back to day one) for poor attitude or fighting and other really dumb stuff like that. So all in all, I held my own. I also accomplished a goal I had set for  myself, and which will probably seem inconsequential to most everyone but myself: I lost 15lbs and 10% body fat!!!! Woohoo! I now fit back into my size 6 jeans, lol. I'm hoping by the end of OCS I'll fit back into my size 5s. Keep your fingers and toes crossed for me!

I really think the absolute worst part of BCT wasn't the training itself, or even the Drill Sergeants. It was the other recruits! I swear I wondered on more than one occasion where in the world some of those people were raised and why in the world they signed up for the military! Some of them had the world's worst case of the BMWs (bitch, whine and moans) that I had ever seen. Others couldn't follow directions to save their life and others were just straight stupid as hell. I'm hoping OCS is a far cry from BCT in that respect. ACK!
I'm looking forward to OCS, but dreading it as well. It's longer, and I hear, harder, than BCT. So it will once again test my mettle. I'm up to it, and I will put my best foot forward. I figure I signed up, so I may as well not do a half-assed job of it! Half-ass Sassafras just isn't my style.

So, since I passed BCT, I guess I'm a true blue Army chic now...just call me G.I. Jane! =D