Bit of Lee News

Lee has said that Reception is horrible. They aren't able to do much PT, just a lot of sitting and standing. He sounds pretty bored. In Reception you get yelled at and treated like crap. He's looking forward to getting shipped to Sandhill to start training so he can at least earn priveledges and start PT. I've read on my forums that he'll have the opportunity to be treated like a maggot rather than just dirt. Ha! He said that the food has been decent in Reception but you're usually given a spoon only. He ate a steak with a spoon! The other day he had ribs and had to eat them in 3 minutes. In the mornings they're given 50 minutes to potty, shave, make their bed, sweep their bay, mop, clean the latrine, clean out the washer/dryer, and close any open windows. Lee said that many guys seem fresh out of highschool but there are several his age and older. The younger guys are acting out but he hopes they settle down once they ship out. He said they're having a 90-100% huimidty levels and their is a heat exhaustion casualty everyday. He said he unforutnately stands out not only bc of his age but also bc he sweats so much! He said he wouldn't be surprised if his ACUs(camo) differ in color than all the other guys ACUs soon bc of the sweat. The drill sergeants picked 70 out of 270 to take to a UFC fight the other night. Lee was one of them but his immature battle buddy wasn't. From what I gather, he doesn't stand a chance. Sounds like morale is low bc everyone had been looking forward to starting training last week. Having to be in Reception one more week and being delayed is testing their patience. Lee said there is another engineer in his barracks. The guy missed the birth of his baby girl. He didn't go home bc him and his wife had rather him get training out of the way. Graduation will be the first time he see his daughter. Lee said that talking to me for 5 minutes the other day was amazing and it was really hard to hold back emotion. He said waiting in the phone line is a scary place. It's like a funeral home. Everyone misses home so much and many guys burst into tears when they hang up the phone. Lee said that his favorite part of the day is when they are allowed time to write home bc he feels like he gets to talk to me. He ships to Sandhill today and I'm sure he'll be greeted with the sterotypical yell in your face greeting. I was wondering how I would respond to that and imagining myself in his shoes. I'd cry or laugh outloud I'm sure. You can follow his training by the link to the OSUT Journal beside my blog. Let me know if you have problems locating where he's at in his training. It should be the first Friday of Week O. (Although technically it's not bc of the delay.) I have it saved to my desktop and highlight each day we conclude. Countdown.