So, news: Within classing up in the first week at Echo Company, I fell off the Weaver, one of the obstacles on the confidence course, and turned my ankle sideways. How exciting! It turned colors. I have been put back in HHC to heal up and try again, because you can’t keep up with the pace of OCS with a screwy ankle. It was ugly; I couldn’t walk on it the first couple days.
Now I’ve been here awhile; tomorrow is the 4 week anniversary of my injury, and it’s coming along very well. I’m going to try to class up into Alpha Company on the 7th of December. HHC figured I’d go to Charlie Company starting next year, but I’ve decided I want Alpha lest I get injured by the clowns giving out details here at HHC. Would you believe that today I got stuck on a heavy lifting detail along with three other OCs also recovering from leg injuries? Who makes these details? It clearly states on the board that Delta needs four HEALTHY people to draw weapons, and so the idiot who makes the detail sends four people who are recovering from leg injuries and still on profile! So we all ended up hauling a bunch of M249s and M240Bs out of a 1 ton truck, and then the best part: we hauled down the six heavy steel weapon racks to hold them, each of which was a four man lift, all of it into the basement down stairs. A cell phone request for additional assistance to watch the weapons when we were busy (the Company CO happened by and chewed us out for leaving the weapons unwatched while we hauled) was met by our OCIC literally QUOTING REGULATIONS OVER THE PHONE to refuse us. It was like something out of a book or movie, it was literally that bad. The only good part was that no one was dying in combat. At any rate, if they try to persuade me to stick around HHC if I pass the PT test, I’m going to tell them quite literally that I’m afraid I’ll get injured here at HHC and cite today as an example.
For Thanksgiving, we are allowed no further than 25 miles off post, meaning no one can go home despite our having a four day pass. Many are irate, especially me, because I’m fantasizing about egging the Battalion CO’s car. I won’t do it of course, but it says alot about my state of mind and feelings on the matter that I’m thinking of something so incredibly juvenile. And supposedly the Army wonders why it has retention problems with troops. I will not be surprised at all if the Army of the future starts relying more and more on private contractors who are at least well compensated for putting up with its stupidity. Why do we need to practice being miserable? How does missing Thanksgiving with our families make us better soldiers? We’re not in Basic training anymore, we’re on the command track to becoming officers! WTF! What a laugh. These people deserve to get soaked.
At any rate, I’m stuck here at Ft. Benning by an organization which really ought to know better after more than 200 years of existence. Feel free to drop an email or call, because I’m starting to feel like I might be moping a bit this weekend.