Zelse is still hanging tough

[Earthpig]

I received this letter today:

14OCT06
Ranger EarthPig,

Week 11 has arrived. Definately feeling the end now, especially when I only count the next two weeks and 3 days. We do a bivouac Wednesday and Convoy Live Fire on Thursday. Friday, our last day of training, is grenades, which is weird because normally that's done in Week 5 or so.

FTX prep and ITX up til Wednesday after next, when we do Eagle Run. Thursday, we move to FTX.

I got assigned the 240-B. I bitched the first two days I carried that around, but when I frontloaded w/2 rifles and the 240 back to the CTA, and people kept trying to help me carry it upstairs, I said "Fuck it. It's my weapon. DS wants to break me, but I'll just prove him wrong."

I'm learning how to motivate myself with pain and it's surprising how much it works. For example, we just did Battle March and Shoot. There was a weak private in the rear I got assigned to run with. I sent his ruck up to the main body of the platoon and dragged him by his sling. Once we saw the finish line, I sent him off and turned around to go help the litter team, carrying ammo/water cans. It was fun and challenging, but assembling the litters, along with poor amount of litter reliefs cost us the win.

Our DS was very upset. Very upset. Standing at our rucksacks, he takes a PVT's IBA vest and puts it on the other side of a 35 yard gravel field. "Prone position. 5 minutes. Go!"

Obviously, we didn't make it. He sends us back for another go. Our platoon is very used to getting smoked by crawling across sand, leaves, or clay, but the pain from this gravel was unreal. All that could be heard was screaming and cursing. Even the profiles watched us with regret that they couldn't be with the platoon.

I don't know what it was that hit me around this time. Maybe it was the heat, exhaustion, pain in my joints, rocks being thrown at us by other platoons.....but I got pissed. I took off at a high-crawl "sprint" across the sharp rocks, screaming the whole way, but when I tagged that damned IBA, I was glad I got it over with.

The night infiltration was fun and exhausting, but there isn't much else to say. We lost because ONE private lacked motivation and inched across the finish line a full minute after a private with severe asthma. Oh well...our DS made him pay.

On a lighter note, someone told my DS that I can do DS impressions, so the other day, I performed and got many laughs...thank God.

Lights out. Next letter I get, I'll either be packing fof FTX or letting my Warrior's Breakfast digest! Until then!

Zelse

[cdwdirect]

Good job Zelse.

Nobody who hasn't gone through OSUT can possibly understand the infinite amount of time it seems to take. You really discover what the word "duty" means. The novelty wears off, the fun runs out, the jokes and buddies get stale, the food starts to stick in your throat, the cadences start to make you cringe, and the time slows to a crawl... and you learn that you can survive yet another challenge: self control.