Chris's Army Adventures

JRTC 2009

2009-02-11T16:50:00.003-07:00

Here are some pics Chris took while out in Louisiana for JTRC.

This is Chris working in the shop.

This is one of his buddies. You can see the living arrangements.

This is another buddy just goofing around.

Developmental Counseling

2008-12-05T13:24:00.002-07:00

Monthly the army does a developmental counseling review. This month Chris actually got the summary form. Here's what Sgt. Bravo, Chris' Shop Foreman had to say:

"PFC Allen, you are hereby being counseled for your performance for the month of November 2008. During preparation for Warrior Task Bravo, you continued to support the company with communication support although you had an injury to your knee. This say a lot about your work ethics and I commend you on an outstanding job maneuvering around the company area while having a brace on your knee. You completed all tasks in the preparation phase without hesitation or complaint about your knee, and continued to provide support during the setup and tear down. Your technical knowledge help you sustain your company's commo through the duration of Warrior Task Bravo without fail. Keep up the good work and maintain that contagious positive attitude."

"Physical Fitness; Your knee has somewhat prevented you from improving your run time for the next upcoming PT Test. By somewhat I mean that even with that brace on your leg you still manage to move around instead of taking the easy way out and pulling out your profile to get out of certain tasks and details. Continue to push yourself for push-up and sit-up improvement to achieve the BDE standard of 270."

"Education; You need to continue to complete correspondent courses and enroll in civilian college courses for promotion. You have the potential to be an exceptional NCO and the road to success start with your preparation for a promotion board through education both military and civilian."

Isn't that a great review?

FTX with No IBA

2008-11-19T00:45:00.002-07:00

This week Chris is on his third and final FTX. On his second one he was the Commander's driver. That one was cold and wet and his company got stuck sleeping in the tent housing instead of the buildings because there were so many people.

This time Chris was supposed to be the Commander's driver again, but was unable to because of his knee injury. Chris has a meniscal tear in his right knee and has been wearing a large knee brace for about two weeks. The brace is the kind that allows very little bending, so this makes driving difficult. In his profile (documented physical condition that exempts participation in certain activities) it says he isn't allowed to run, ruck march, or wear his IBA (Bullet Proof Vest). The reason for not wearing the IBA is that its heavy; same goes for the ruck sack.

I don't like the idea of him not having the IBA with him, but he double checked with one of the head guys when we dropped him of on Monday morning (before the crack of dawn at 0300) and they didn't want him to bring it. I'm just glad he is still allowed to wear his kevlar (Bullet Proof Helmet). I told him to be extra careful. He just laughed at me and said, "of course."

We will see how bruised up he comes home this time.

Speaking of bruises... While at the doctors for his knee they did a blood draw because they were a little concerned with all of his bruises. Turned up to be nothing. He just gets a little banged up and doesn't notice.

Preparations

2008-10-02T23:29:00.004-06:00

Okay, so we are slackers and have not posted here in over a year... Well, most of you know it has been a busy one. So we will skip to the present instead of recapping everything.

After having a bunch of knee problems and other issues that prevented Chris from taking and/or passing a PT test since we have been at Ft. Carson, he did it! He passed! His direct supervisor was thrilled and put in the papers for Chris to get a raise and promotion. Yay! Soon Chris will be an E-4 also known as Specialist.

In preparation for his unit to be deployed to Afghanistan last week Chris was gone on a Field Training Exercise (FTX). It was held somewhere on Ft. Carson, but he didn't get to come home at night. That kind of sucked. While he was on the FTX he did a bunch of weapon training. When he gets deployed Chris will be carrying a M249 SAW.

Shooting at targets 100, 200, 300, and 400 meters away Chris got 10 out of 11 targets. The best in his company with his weapon. The SAW is heavier and holds more ammo than the M16s that most of his unit will be carrying. When he came home on Friday he was all banged up. He looked like he was developing cheetah spots. Also while on the FTX Chris drove a military Hummer. He is one of a handful of guys that now have both a military and civilian driver's license.

Here is a picture of a soldier with a M249 SAW. I will ask Chris to try and get a pic of him on his next FTX later this month.

Status Update

2007-06-21T12:46:00.000-06:00

Just thought I would post a little status update about AIT.
Chris is doing wonderful in his classes. Each week they go over a new section/area then on Wednesdays they take a test over the section they have just covered. Chris has gotten A's on all of these tests! He is doing so well! I am so proud of him. He has really put his mind to it and kicked some butt. :) He is also doing really great with the Physical Training. His normal PT time is at 7:00pm Monday thru Friday, but because it has been stormy or just plain too hot they haven't been having it regularly, but Chris has joined up with a group of guys that go running every night at 5:00pm. :) He has been running 2.2 miles in 15:30 minutes and doing extra pushups and situps. This is a terrific improvement from when he started basic and was running 2 miles in 20 minutes! Way to Go Chris!
Chris should get to phase up to 5+ soon. He has to complete that before he is done with AIT.
After AIT we have until September 16th (i think) to move to Fort Carson, CO. Because of this little break in between we are going to go visit some family. :)

That's all the info for right now. I will post some pics of Chris after I get back from visiting him next week! :D

Goodish news

2007-06-05T22:57:00.000-06:00

Well, Chris told me today that he found out some goodish news. A reliable source told him that you have to be at your first post after AIT for at a minium of 6 months before you are deployable. :) It doesn't mean deployment is out of the question, but at least it gives me some time to spend with Chris. HOORAY!

I hate Rumors!

2007-06-03T12:20:00.000-06:00

Okay, here is the update on Chris. He is doing Great! He has past all of his section tests so far and he is a phase 5. This means on the weekends he is allowed to leave base on Saturday and he doesn't have to do as many formations. He hopes to be able to phase up again soon.
Now to those rumors:
Rumor #1. Most of Chris's company will be on a striker team.
Rumor #2. A Striker is a vehicle that is well armored, has weapons, and is full of computer technology.
Rumor #3. Some members of the Striker team will be on the Striker. Most won't be.
And now for the worst Rumor...
Rumor #4. The Striker teams will be deployed in January to Iraq.

Again, these are just rumors and we hope to dispel most of them soon. Keep Chris in your prayers please.

1 down... 1 to go...

2007-05-03T17:26:00.000-06:00

During AIT (Advanced Individual Training) Chris has to pass certain verbal and written tests, two PT (Physical Training) tests, and each section of his classes. He must pass all of these before he will get his station assignment and graduate from AIT. During boot camp the PT test required a 17:30 2 mile run... now the requirement is 16:45 for the two mile run.
Chris got 16:24 2 mile run, 50 pushups, and 54 situps! So now he only has to pass this once more before the end of his classes. 1 Down... 1 to go!

Some time during this week he should be able to test for Phase 5! He has already passed the locker inspection and the class a inspections, he just has to do a verbal test to receive the Phase 5 patch. :)

As I was looking at a cd of pictures taken by some of the Drill Sergents during Boot Camp I found some of Chris... I thought you might enjoy these.
The last two were taken as they were coming out of the Tear Gas Chamber. Poor Chris! He is the one in the middle being sick. :(

AIT Classes

2007-04-28T00:08:00.000-06:00

Chris got an 85% on his first section of his AIT Classes. They went through a large text book in a week and he was happy that he was able to absorb most of it. :)

Rumors

2007-04-23T19:53:00.000-06:00

Chris got to Fort Gordon, GA and immediately heard rumors that he wouldn't be starting classes for at least a month! That sucks! Another rumor was that once he was done training he might not get his first station for another month after he was done and he can't go home until he gets that assignment. Ugh. Well, you should be happy to hear (I know I am!) that he started classes today! Ha! Now if we can only get past this other rumor.

20 Seconds!

2007-03-20T20:23:00.000-06:00

He did it! He passed the PT test!!! He made the two mile run in 17 minutes and 10 seconds. He passed with 20 seconds to spare! I am so proud of him. He said thank you to all who sent him well wishes and all those who prayed for him. He said I know I couldn't have done it with out those. :)

Class A's

2007-03-14T23:20:00.000-06:00

Received 3/14/07

3-11-07
Ixchelle,
Hi! I got the picture you sent. I look at those pictures all the time. Your funny, you put those cooper pictures in there. I show people up here the pics too. It's cool a bunch of people said Sabrina is pretty. Some people were asking about Michaella. LOL, I told them she is all young and she has a boyfriend. Then I just tell them... NO! LOL, that's fun to do. :P I do love getting letters.
We got our Class A's last Wednesday. They make me look HOT... /eyeroll. It took the whole day to get the entire company fitted. We also did a low crawl for about 100 meters. A low crawl is where you are on your belly and you use your elbows and feet to move. It's pretty tough and tiring. Also, some of the drill sergents were shooting live rounds above our heads. They used tracer rounds, also pretty cool.
So it is Monday morning and we are going on our three day "camping" trip.

Love, Chris

Short letter

2007-03-12T22:33:00.000-06:00

From Chris

So we are supposed to be fitted for our class A's soon. They said it was supposed to be on Tuesday, but it got changed. I'll let you know.
Update on the PT test: 1st PT test: 41 push-ups, 22 sit-ups, and 22:10 two mile run.
2nd PT test: 50 push-ups, 41 sit-ups, 20:40 two mile run.
Latest one: 56 push-ups, 45 sit-ups, 18:17 two mile run. :)
To pass: 36 push-ups, 43 sit-ups, 17:30 two mile run.
I'm getting close, just need another 50 seconds to a minute off my run time. I will be pushing myself tons for the next two weeks to pass that thing. Anyway, more later.
Love,
Chris

Super Long letters

2007-03-12T21:35:00.000-06:00

Received 3/9/07

2/20/07

Ixchelle,

So you told me I got paid, but didn't tell me how much. It was comforting to hear though. Every letter I opened today (about 8) I was hoping for some pictures, though I figured you haven't recieved the other letter saying that. Ok don't go off the list on that site (goarmy.com). It doesn't have them in the right order. For our Battalion there are five companies: Alpha, BRAVO (aka cheer for this one), Charlie, Delta, and Foxtrot. All of them need to do all the same stuff. There isn't enough room for everyone to do the stuff at the same time. Aka we all do that stuff, but it is all mixed up, so no one is in the same place. Blah blah blah.
So yeah there's all kinds of problems with our platoon. People still screwing around/not doing what they are supposed to do. Ugh. So we are shooting riffles now. I'm doing really well. There are two things we do before we went to a pop-up target range; grouping and zeroing. For grouping we shoot a set of three bullets, then go down and look at the target to see if all three are within 4cm. Then get back down for three more bullets and again got to the targets to see if all six bullets are within 4cm. All of this is done anywhere on the target. Always aiming at the center of the siloette. Then you zero which all you do is take a grouping and adjust the two site posts and then group again and again until you can get at least 5 out of 6 within a 4cm circle from the center.
2/21/07
So today I went on what they call Detail. Since I grouped in only 12 shots and zeroed in only 6 shots the drill sergents figured I would be ok to miss 1 day of shooting to go do other work. So on my detail we went to the site that is going to be the new site for victory forge. (7 day camping trip) So we started off moving like 150 sand bags, 30 lbs each, across a street. Then we moved a guard shack. It took all 19 people to move and navigate it. Go figure I was navigating and not lifting. Perks of being the shortest? So after we moved the Guard shack we made a sand bag wall around the shack. Then we moved something called razor wire [he drew a picture], which is what they use for borders and crap. They put two rows next to each other and one stacked on top of the two in the middle of them. Anyways, it was a long day and I was sore. My back hurt all the next day too. What I missed from being on duty was a "videogame." They have a really big screen hooked up to 14 M16A2's. They practiced shooting 75, 175, and 300 meter targets. So already I was behind. :(
2/24/07
We moved to the range that we are going to gualify on to practice. I was in the first group to shoot. I did well enough to qualify (at least a 23 out of 40), so I didn't get to shoot the rest of the day. Aka I sat around for about 5 hours with nothing to do.
2/25/07
Sundays are really relaxed here. LDS service is at 0900 but I leave the company area at 0830. Then we go to a church building. Not a LDS chapel but that's ok. We only have sacrament and priesthood though. My guess is they aren't allowed to have all the soldiers gone for that long. In my company (4 platoons) there are 2 of us. In the battalion (5 companies) there are usually 15 that go. We get back from church around 1130. Then we go to lunch, then we either clean or we learn something that we will be doing during the week.
2/26/07
Went back to the qualification range to practice. Again I shot well enough to qualify. This time they told me I got 23. Just barely enough. Though I really wanted to shoot better that this. So again I wait around for 5 hours. The targets come up in a set pattern every time though it seems to be random. We shoot 20 bullets laying down with the rifle supported by sand bags. They stop us, have us move a sand bag, lay back down and shoot 10 more bullets. Again they stop us and we move to the kneeling position and shoot 10 more bullets. It's pretty fun, yet hard.
On a side note: We already did the bayonet training. It was kind of brutal, not on me, just the targets. Lots of stabbing and butstocks to the head and groin. We first learned all the movements then went through a running course with actual bayonets on the end. The drill sergents say they don't really use them anymore but they are supposed to train us how to anyway.
2/27/07
Actual day of qualifications. Once again I shoot first and to no shock at all I once again get a 23. Just enough to pass. They give us a metal for qualifying. Oh I didn't mention that there are 4 levels of shooting; Marksman 23-28 targets, Sharpshooter 29-35 targets, Expert 36-39 targets, and Hawkeye 40 out of 40 targets. I was really hoping to get Sharpshooter. I get pretty frustrated when I try so hard at something not to get any better. And then I sat the rest of the day. When we went back to the company we got camo covers for our helmets, now our head can blend in... WHEW!
2/28/07
We went to a confidence building course. We did 4 obstacle. First we had to split up into teams of 6. The First challenge: 5 walls- exactly as it is called. 5 different heights. Starting from 6ft, 8ft, 10ft, 14ft, and 18ft. They got interesting as they got higher. I was one that got on top with on other person and helped others get up and over the walls. 2nd challenge: You climb up a 45 degree angled ramp with a rope, then you jump down a 4ft drop, then climb down a 15ft wall like you are repelling. 3rd challenge: First climb a really spaced out rung ladder, then climb the rope down, feet first under the rope. Whoosh... It is tough. 4th challenge [he drew a picture] a group of 4 people climb up the tower (spaced out levels) using only side posts and then each other. No way one person could do it... well not me anyway. then climb down. All of the challenges were fun though.
3/2/07
Today we went to a new rifle range were we practiced reflexive fire. Refexive fire is were you are walking and as soon as an enemy "pops" out you raise your rifle and shoot 2 bullets at him. The part we were practicing though was to just stand and when the target pops we raised our rifles and fire. Harder than it looks for sure. Then we fired a rifle that had a laser scope. It wasn't one that put a dot on the enemy. It was a scope that had a screen in the middle that the dot was in the middle of. All you do is get the do in the middle of the scope an the dot on the target and then pull the trigger. Then we waited till it got dark and we put on a helmet with night vision on. We had a laser attached to the rifle. The really cool part about it is you can only see the laser with night vision. Also, you see the whole laser all the way down.
3/3/07
We went outside and did some UAC (unarmed combatives). I had to "fight" some guy that is much stronger and a good 4-6 inches taller than me. Yeah, I didn't win, but not everybody can win so oh well. Just means I have to practice in AIT and all that, and shooting, and... Anyway, I already told you about watching UFC.
Love you,
Chris

Phone call 3/4/07

2007-03-04T21:13:00.000-07:00

Hey I got a call from Chris today, right after church. He said he is doing well. He sounds so much better too. He is learning unarmed combat. Things like they do in the Ultimate Fighter Competetions, although not the punches. He said he shouldn't end up with a black eye or anything like that. He is learning sleeper holds, mounting moves, and self defence. He told me that he would teach me some moves when he gets home. LOL. :) On Saturday night they actually got to watch an old UFC match. Randy Couture vs. Chuck Liddell. Crazy, because on Saturday night my family watched the live show with Randy Couture vs. Tim Silvia.
I sent him more sets of garments, because he wasn't able to always get laundry done every week and was having to rewear them. Eww! I also sent him pictures but he hasn't received those yet.
He said that he actually got 3rd out of 13 in his squad, but those ranks are voted on by his peers and drill sergents. He likes his drill sergents. They keep teaching them stuff while they are cleaning "the bay" instead of just wasting that time. I don't know what "the bay" is. He has another physical fitness test on Monday or Tuesday and is going to try and push himself harder. He would like everyone to pray for him and wish him luck.
He said he misses everyone and for me to send you all his love.

Letter 3, 4, 5, & 6

2007-02-23T22:04:00.000-07:00

Received 2/23/07

11 Feb 07

Ixchelle,

First off -> I love you. 2nd -> Could you send me a bunch of pictures. I can put some up in my locker. 3rd -> We only got to choose one place in the US, which I choose CO. 3 outside of the US, I choose UK, Japan, & Germany.

13 Feb 07

Okay so I'm sorry I have not done so good in the letter business. Since I've been sick I've been trying to sleep it out, and since they don't give us a ton of time... aka I'm a slacker and I'm sorry. I love you tons & tons. Plus some. :P
So today we went to the tear gas chamber. SINGLE HANDEDLY THE WORST EXPERIENCE EVER!!! So we get trained how to use those gas masks that everybody uses in movies. Then we got in lines of 25 people, put them on, and went in. At first no problem, though it was kinda cloudy. Then slowly my neck and head that wasn't covered started to burn like crazy. We go up in private in turns a drill sergent. We would have to close our eyes and lift the chin part of our masks to just above the nose and say our full name, rank, social security number, and "Drill Sergent." I started choking and coughing before I finished saying my name. After everyone was done, five at a time they had us take off our masks all the way. Made us recite as much of the soldier's creed as we could with our eyes open. Not even two lines in (which is "I am an American Soldier, I am a warrior and a member of a team."), I was coughing like crazy and my eyes were burning. I couldn't keep myself standing up straight. One of the Drill Sergents "kindly" helped me out while screaming at me to stand up. The whole time I thought I would hurl. Then after only 15 seconds they started to let the five people out. While making sure we didn't run they pushed us to the next Drill Sergent to get us out of the chamber, as none of us had our eyes open, because they hurt so badly. This was the only way to do it. Once I got out, still coughing like crazy, I started to hurl while on the way down to the hurling position. It went pretty far... I think, my eyes were still pretty closed because it hurt so bad. Then everyone walked around in a big circle flapping our arms to get the gas out of our clothes. By this point everyone had snot running down their faces. We were told that if we wipe our face it would hurt longer and worse.
So for fear factor, how long did they stay in and how much clothes did they have on? Oh and did they have a gas mask?

14 Feb 07

Happy Valentine's Day! Love you tons. Sorry you didn't get this on the right day. :( I just wrote to say I love you. I know, I know... Cheesy, but oh well its true. I wish I could have called though. We still get smoked a lot.
Yes, I got my weapon... cool, kinda. We are only just starting to use them on Saturday, err, maybe Tuesday.
We usually have lights out at 2100 and wake up at 0500. Now in order to write you, I stay up past that. Just about every other night we pull fireguard duty. Which is where we get up for an hour during the night and clean and make sure no one goes in or out of the bay. It's a pain, but oh well, just one more other new thing I'm trying to learn to deal with.

15 Feb 07

So I am supposed to be graduating on April 6th. We shall see if I get my PT test scores to the correct numbers. The First test I got 41 pushups, 22 situps, and a 2 mile run in 22:10. The Second PT test scores (which happened this morning) 50 pushups, 41 situps, and 20:40 for the 2 mile run. Better, but not there yet. I need to get 40 pushups, 50 situps, and 17:30 for the 2 mile run in order to pass and graduate. All I can say is PRAY for me.
Sounds like you are keeping busy, good job; me too.
Love, love, love you mostest,
Chris

No News

2007-02-22T12:58:00.000-07:00

So it has been over two weeks since I have heard anything from Chris. I am thinking that no news is good news... at least it isn't bad news. I figure the army would let me know if anything had happened to Chris.

Keep sending him your good wishes and prayers! If you get a chance to write to him, I'm sure he would appreciate hearing from you all. Let me know if you need his address. Thanks!

Chris's Grad information

2007-02-11T09:04:00.000-07:00

Chris'
Graduation Papers

Here is a link to the papers I received about Chris's boot camp graduation. Also included is a paper on what not to send Chris during boot camp.
Thanks Jonathan for posting these!

Letter 2

2007-02-07T21:54:00.000-07:00

Received: February 7, 2007

1 Feb 07

Ixchelle (and all),

The good news --> I'm alive. The Bad news --> I'm sick from the stupid flu shot. Gets better too --> it has been raining all day and we march in it anyway. And the PT test is on Saturday. It will be too late for you to wish me luck on that, but that's okay. I know you would, so it still counts (only if you put it in your letters).
So next Thursday (approx.) we are going into a gas chamber --> Tear Gas. Apparently it makes most people throw up then some other stuff too. Exciting! YIKES!!! Supposed to get our weapons tomorrow. That's cool. Got a bunch of gear today though.
Got smoked around 4 times today. Getting smoked is doing something wrong and then having to do push ups, squats, or some other stuff that makes you hurt. Though it wasn't for something I did. I suppose I should say our platoon got smoked. Fun stuff. My legs hurt pretty good --> chest some too. I'm getting built.
Love you tons and bunches.
Love eternaly yours,
Chris

February 4th Phone Call

2007-02-04T22:19:00.000-07:00

I spoke with Chris today for about 10 minutes. He had to get a flu shot and now has the flu. He has been sick for about 5 days now. He took a physical assessment and didn't do as well as he was hoping (partly because he is sick). He was supposed to run two miles in 18 minutes and instead ran it in 22 minutes. He is working really hard though. It has been pretty rainy this week, so it has been kind of cold. He said they have about 5 minutes to eat meals and when he gets done he doesn't want any instant mashed potatoes. They eat those all the time. He really could go for some french fries though.

He got a return address, but said it was too long to give to me over the phone and said he sent me a letter with it. He misses everybody and hopes things are going good for you.

Letter 1

2007-02-04T22:03:00.000-07:00

Received: Thursday February 1, 2007

2007-01-25

Ixchelle (and all),

Hi! How you doin? All is well. I'm trying to journal my experiences, but I'm not done on our first day thus just a letter to you. I figure a journal format would make it easier for my side of the family, to put on the blog. I suppose you could say I'm doing good, but hey up to you. Today we got our camo and boots. SWEET! Though we haven't been able to wear them really. I'll let you know about it.
Sorry I haven't been able to call you yet :( They haven't let us. But as soon as I can I will. My feet are super sore. So are my legs (from standing mostly all day) and my shoulders, arms, and pectorals (from people in our squad who can't seem to call the Sergeant the right thing). So Pain!! The first "day" was really long and pretty bad. We got Zero hours of sleep on Tuesday night. I was able to get some sleep on the plane, but not enough to really help. More on that in my journal.
We got new running shoes too. We got a card with $250 on it, catch is it comes out of my first check. Awesome... /eyeroll. Oh and the running shoes I had to use the card to buy. I also got this pen & pad of paper, envelopes, and stamps. I'll let you know when I run out. Got to go now. Love you tons.
Love, Chris
PS. I don't have a return address yet. Won't get one until actual BT starts. Once I know I'll let you know.

Swearing In and Shipping Out

2007-01-23T21:54:00.000-07:00

3:00 am rolled around too early. Chris finished gathering the few odds and ends he remembered he needed to take with him, showered and got ready to leave. 4:30 am the car pulled up to take him downtown to the MEPS office one final time before he departed.
Sgt. Short (who wasn't short at all) told me that I should be at the MEPS office by 8:00am... well with all the stupid snow and crazy drivers that didn't exactly work out. My mom and I made it to the MEPS office around 8:30am, but that was okay because all we did was wait around until about 11:00am. Then Chris was sworn in and officially became a member of the US Army.
After the swear in Chris was given lunch and some more waiting. At about 12:30 pm Chris was ready to leave for the airport with approximately 30 others leaving for Basic Training for all the different branches of the millitary. He was grouped with three others that would be going to Fort Jackson, SC. Two guys and a girl (who was put in charge of them).
DIA really needs to rethink the parking situation. Parking in the furthest and only spot available, my mom and I ran to Terminal West to meet up with Chris and his group. Finally making it into the airport and finding Chris we spent a little time with him, before sending him through security and off to his first flight ever.

Chris's plane left for South Carolina with a layover in Tennesse at 3:35pm.

GOOD LUCK CHRIS!!! We are all so proud of you!