Phase 5+: Corruption corrupts absolutely!

Yes! We finally got it! After our third excruciating week of SINCGARS, we had a half-day Friday. Instead our usual lunch, we had a little batallion party on Barton Field. It was kind of dumb, because they had about 600 privates trying to get thru 2 lines for food in as little time as possible. Lucky me, I was near the front. By the time I was done (and I was taking my time), they'd gotten about half the others thru the line. But after lunch, they did have a Drill & Ceremony marching demonstration that was pretty cool.

Anyway, after we got back from that, they finally handed out our badges. It's a wonderful feeling having that little laminated piece of orange paper. We're allowed to stay out all of Saturday night and Sunday morning now, as well as move around without a battle buddy attached to our hips. I didn't go off post this weekend, seeing as I'm broke, but it's a feeling of status. As a Phase 4, you are the newbie; as a Phase 5, you tell the newbies how it is and how to survive here. Now that I'm 5+, I don't even see newbies - they're just specks of dirt on my civilian shoes. Not literally, I still help them out, but it feels like I'm old and experienced and important. I can't wait until next weekend to get paid and use some of these well-earned privileges!

Army Idol

There's really not much happening right now. We're thru with our second week of SINCGARS, and we're actually playing with the radios now. It's fun figuring out how to do everything, since I've never worked with this equipment. Thursday morning I went to the dental clinic for my mandatory exam, and everything checked out, so I'm good to leave as far as they're concerned. That's one of the major reasons people get "held over," or kept from moving on after school. They go for their dental at the last minute and find out they have major work to have done. Mine is out of the way, and I'm one step closer to home.

Today I got "volunteered" for attending the Army Idol show, a military spin off of American Idol. I wasn't really excited at first, but then I thought about all of the great talent I might see. Turns out, we only saw the award-giving and the victory solo. What a rip off.

We're all itching for Phase V+. It's the last phase, and it grants overnight passes on the weekend (we don't have to come back to sleep), walking around post without a battle buddy, moving into a different barracks with no drill sergeants, and more leniency in general. We're supposed to get it the 30th, but everyone's waiting to see if they phase us early. We'll see!

Tattoo!

Yes, I actually got it. And it looks good! It's definitely a different sensation, and the pain wasn't all that bad until KC, my artist, started shading. But it looks good so far, even if it's a little too red to tell. The atmosphere was a little tense, since KC was a bit distracted. One of his best friends left a distressed note to his wife and is currently missing, so obviously KC was not his usual self, but he worked thru it and offered me a discount on future work if I decide to get another.

Other than that, not much exciting happening. SINCGARS is going well, and I'm starting to see why our job is so versatile. We're the field experts of these radios, but you can hook anything up to them! That's why we need to know about the radios for voice, and the computers and GPS for data modes. It's interesting, but I'm not going to bore you with the long-winded explanation.

Back to 5

Yeah, we got our room strait this morning, so I got my badge back pretty quickly. Still, a day of rockin' the pistol belt wasn't exactly fun. Halfway thru the week.

A Minor Setback

Oops. As many times as I told myself today would be a good day, it really didn't turn out that way. School was fine, we started a new class on SINCGARS radios, which we'll be in for 3 weeks. But the setback came when we got back to the barracks. The DS's had their panties in a knot over the unpressed state of our BDU's. When we got back to our relatively clean room, DS Rivera started busting us down on everything from our dusty shoe displays to the way our laundry bags are tied to our bunks. He took the phase badges from the 4 of us that had them, and is threatening to keep them over the weekend if the room isn't perfect by tomorrow. Oh, the horrors. Please let me wake up to December 16th. Please?

Happy Columbus Day!

I've gotta say, it was a good weekend. We had a decent week in class, we learned about the military's field computers, some of the first Army-specific training we've had so far. Once again, I came out on top of the test scores.

But this weekend was, in a word, off the chain. I spent plenty o' time at the IET Rec Center doing nothing particular on the internet. I spent a day off-base, a little time at the mall, and a lot of time at the tattoo parlor while my battles got their ink done. If I can figure out how to send images from my phone to e-mail, I'll have to post them. I'm thinking next weekend I'll get a tattoo as well, a picture of Ashley's rosary. It's a good tattoo because it's obviously religious, but it also ties into Ashley without getting her name. I'd love to get her name, but my common sense says it's a bad idea.

I got really homesick over the weekend, and it all started with the weather. It rained cats and dogs on Friday. It would've been flash flood-worthy in Colorado, but out here its apparently normal. And it's been overcast all weekend, but hot and muggy. At least if it's overcast, it could be cold and dry like I'm used to. That, and I got to the "snogging" section of Harry Potter #6. That makes me homesick too, for different reasons.

Phase 5 is mine! Mine!

Yes, its true. I passed my EOC Thrusday, and Friday afternoon they gave me that laminated yellow piece of paper that means so much! Fewer formations. Later curfews. Civilian clothes. Access to the mall and Wal-Mart, and to tattoo parlors and hotel rooms. And possibly best of all, no more wearing that stupid pistol belt with my canteen and poncho. AIT is starting to feel a lot more like freedom.

The week was pretty good overall. We were in Routers class, and of course I have a certification with routers, so I basically knew the insides and outsides of the class. A couple of exciting points were Wednesday when the drill sergeants put out a new policy letter that bans TV's, laptops, non-handheld game consoles, and possibly portable DVD players. In short, some of the most prized possessions that we IET students have. However, the DS's didn't push the issue, so I'm not going to turn in my laptop until they come looking for it. Another point of interest was the PT test, which I passed with a decent margin. I suprised myself on my push-ups, which I had failed by a pretty wide margin last time. On the other hand, the sergeant grading me wasn't as strict as last time either; I probably wasn't going low enough this last time, but she counted anyway. That's fine by me!