Day 3 - Forward is faster

Today sucked, too, but slightly (only very slightly) less than yesterday.

We started off with a PT test. We did push ups and sit ups for one minute each, and finished with a one-mile run – nothing too strenuous, but my arms were so worn out from yesterday’s fun that I could only do 24 push-ups and about 30-something situps. My run time was a disappointing 7:58, but I suppose that – given the humidity, the gravelly track, and the fact that I haven’t run since the third week in June – it wasn’t all that bad.

Our BCGs arrived, but even apart from how they look, I don’t like them – they seem to be off-kilter, and it throws off my vision.

We also got issued our rifles today, which is kind of neat. For the rest of basic training, we’ll be carrying them around with us pretty much everywhere we go – not just to the field, but also to PT, chow, and everywhere else. We’ve even got a racks in our bay so we can sleep close to them.

Of course, there’s more opportunity to get in trouble, too. We have to watch each others’ weapons when someone needs to go to the bathroom (or, in Army terms, use the latrine), and I almost switched weapons with another guy. That would have been – to put it lightly – bad. But, despite myself, I landed on the right 50% of that coin. Lucky me.

And you’ve got to be careful with them. I dropped the buttstock on the ground a little to heavily, and got smoked for it. Then I got in more trouble for having the specialist rank on my chest upside down. I felt pretty stupid, and thought about quitting.

Of course, then I remembered there’s no easy way to quit the Army. You either go forward and graduate or sit in a holding pattern in Reception until long after you would have graduated. So I guess I’ll persevere and look forward to tomorrow being another quantum less sucky than it was today.

I’ll be happy to go to bed.