Kristie's Phone Call, Sunday, August 16, 2009

Sunday, August 16, 2009
Kristie called this afternoon. She sounded great and upbeat. It was pretty funny because she was inside her locker talking on the phone trying to get some privacy. I guess her area is the social place. All of the “sisters” like to come over and visit her roommate. We talked about how fast time has been going. It has been 6 weeks. It has gone by so fast. Here’s some of the things she talked about:
Shooting: She told me about how her drill sergeant knows everything about guns. She is so impressed with his knowledge. They shoot their M-16 every day. While her group was practicing their shooting, she was one point away from making sharp shooter. When they did the testing, they had to suit up in their full uniforms. It added about 15 pounds and messed with their accuracy.
I sent her pictures of Shoshone Falls, the canyon, and other pictures of the area. Everyone was impressed with the Falls. No one could figure out why I would be sending scenery pictures to her. She told them that she only lived 5 minutes from there and everyone was amazed.
Her platoon keeps getting yelled at by the drill sergeants’ because they just are not coming together as a team. They say their platoon is the worst they have ever seen.
Someone from her platoon s being kicked out of Basic. She was caught stealing clothes from the dryers. I guess she has caused quite a few problem sever since she got there. She has faked passing out because it was too hot and other stuff.
I asked her if the black bras and panties I sent her fit. She was so excited that they did and that she didn’t have to wear the dingy brown (formerly white) underwear that she had. I asked her if she appreciated the little things in life better. Oh yeah!
They have been doing FTX Training. It is where they sleep in the woods for 3 days. Her drill sergeants’ tell them that they are going to throw gas into their tents while they are sleeping. Kristie says she doesn’t sleep very well on those nights.
Do you know what chiggers are? Little bugs that are in grass and other areas and they like to bite people. Kristie had never heard of them before and didn’t realize that she had been being bit all day long. She said she looked like she had chicken pox there were so many bites. Ticks are really bad too. Whenever they get back to the barracks they have to do a buddy check. Nasty things!
Next week, her platoon will be doing the Blue Phase Testing. Not sure what that is. Maybe I’ll get more information and post it. She will be doing some combat water training. She is excited about being able to play in the pool. She’ll have to tell us more about it.
She said that when the mail leaves or is received at the base it has to go through x-rays and chemical testing. It probably takes an extra day to process it through.
They have been working on their night shooting. Wearing the night vision goggles (only one eye) really messes with your depth perception. When shooting, they have a lazor on their gun. She was sahying that her gun jammed and that nothing was going right. Her drill sergeant just looked at her and said, “Private You’re Dead”. Hummm….
Next week, they will be practicing their shooting while live rounds are being fired over their head. Scary.
I guess there have been several tornado sirens go off. She is real scared when they go off but a lot of the people don’t think too much about it and think it is funny that Kristie is scared. They ask her if Idaho has any tornadoes or other natural disasters and she says no, nothing.
She received an e-mail from one of the people she works with. She was so excited when she received it. This last week she has had some free time this last week so she was able to write some letters. Look for them everybody.
I’ll post her next letter when I receive it.
Thanks for reading!
Jodie