Day 20 - MSE & filling time

For PT this morning, we had MSE (muscular strength and endurance). It worked like this:

1. Pair up with someone (usually the person behind you.
2. Do two minutes of push-ups, while the other person critiques them. Then switch.
3. Do two minutes of sit-ups with the other person holding your feet. Switch.
4. Do 90 seconds of push-ups in the same manner, followed by 90 seconds of sit-ups.
5. Keep going like this for 60 seconds, then 30 seconds.

After that, we finished with shoulder flexes, pull-ups, and tucks on the horizontal bars. Pretty tiring.

After breakfast, we had an "in-rank inspection" which consisted of making sure we'd shaved well, followed by a three hour class on the M240 and M249 assembly and function. We had "MRE lunch" scheduled, but got the regular DFAC one instead.

Drill and ceremony for two hours, which consisted of extending and contracting formation lines (not just a waste of time, but a silly one). Personal finance class was about two hours long and consisted of looking at our Pay and Earning (P&E) Statements. (Believe it or not, this was my favorite part of the day....)

After dinner chow, we had weapons cleaning for the third time, even though we've never even gotten a chance to shoot our rifles yet. *sigh* It seems like the Army is deliberately trying to keep us busy with these exercises in futility.... However, weapons cleaning does have its advantages -- we're allowed to talk, so time goes quickly.