Overcoming Fears

Dear All,
I can’t believe tomorrow is Sunday! This week has flown by and I’m still shocked at how quickly they’ve thrown us into the deep end. There have been a lot of really exciting things to have happened this week. I was officially appointed APG (Assistant Platoon Guide), and was given an SFC rank badge to wear on my sleeve as 2nd in command of the Platoon (which meant a lot to me because that was Dad’s rank).
I officially overcame my fear of heights on the Confidence Course when I was forced to climb to the top of a ladder made of telephone poles and then go over and come down the other side. Honestly, if it were voluntary there’s no way I would have done it!
We’ve also had our first share of classes, including: evaluating a casualty, law of land warfare, uniform code of military justice (which was right up my alley), and we also began our MAC (modern army combatives) training this week (basically MMA for the army).
And today was one of the highlights because we got to fight with the Pugil Sticks. There’s nothing like releasing some frustration than by strapping on a football helmet and beating a kid’s brains in for 3 minutes with a giant Q-tip. I had an even match and we both got in some good shots, but I’ve never been more exhausted that I was when the round was over.
Our Platoon won the middle and heavyweight divisions in the Company Challenge, so we finally get to put our names on the Victory Board (we came in last in both the Obstacle Course and Confidence Course competitions). That was a big morale boost. Our Platoon name is the “Titans” and we were chanting liens from “Remember the Titans” all the way to the chow hall.
Of course everyone is looking forward to tomorrow since wakeup is not until 0600 (definitely considered sleeping in), and we don’t have to carry our weapons. We also get to go to church, and the saying is true: everyone does find God in the military. It’s a good way to refocus for the week to come.
I hope everything is going well at home. It’s starting to warm up here; I hope the same is true for STL. It must have been great watching the Super Bowl on the new TV, Dad. I’ve occasionally caught glimpses of a TV when working with the Drill Sergeants in their office, but otherwise I’ve been totally cut off from the outside world. Fortunately, I’ve been busy enough not to notice.
Thanks for writing the letters, it’s nice to hear from home and it’s always a good feeling when they do mail call. I’ll write more soon – I can’t wait to get a chance to tell you about the guys in my platoon.
Love, Nick