Monday, October 4th
Hi Everybody,
It’s going pretty well here. We got shots today, SIX needles.
A blood test, a TB test, three shots in the arm and one giant one is the butt: it really
hurt. We were assigned a drill sergeant. She has proven to be hard to please.
Uniform and boot issue tomorrow, and haircuts, too. It’s kinda boring around
here especially on the weekend. No talking, but nothing to do. The Army is
definitely hurry up and wait. We don’t know yet what day we’re leaving for
Chemical Operations, anywhere from this Thursday to as late as November 15th,
but I’m hoping early. We haven’t seen any of the base except for the drive
in, and most of the reception battalion. The food is really good, but no Diet Dr.
Pepper, or any other kind of soda. If you’re caught drinking anything but water
it’s a $260 fine. There are girls here but you can’t talk to them at all.
If you do talk to them, you will be punished by the UCMJ (Uniform Code of Military
Justice). All in all it’s been fun so far, but you have to get up kind of early
(4:30). Anyway I gotta go. No return address until basic training starts.
I’ll write you again soon. Love, Chris.
October 8, 1999
Hi, Mom,
Not a whole lot of time to write. I’m going to the rifle range and the
bayonet range Saturday and going to the gas chamber next Tuesday -- can’t wait.
Food is good, drill sergeants aren’t that mean and I’ve only been dropped
once. Other than that, things are going very well. Gotta take a shower now,
but will write again soon. I love you. Chris
October ?, 1999
(week of Oct. 18)
Hi, Dad,
How are you? I received five letters today and everyone seems confused about my
clothing issue and if I’m warm enough so here’s a list of everything I got.
Initial issue (clothing issue, all of which is yours forever).
Key terms: BDU = Battle Dress Uniform (fatigues). PT = Physical Training.
2 BDUs pants and jacket (summer)
2 BDUs pants and jacket (winter)
2 BDU field jackets (heavy coats)
2 BDU caps: 1 summer, 1 winter
2 PT sweatshirts and pants, gray with ARMY on front
3 PT shorts and shirts
2 pairs long john pants and shirts
7 brown undershirts
7 brown briefs
2 pairs black leather boots
6 pairs black wool socks
6 pairs black dress socks
1 pair black leather gloves. 2 wool liners.
3 towels
2 washcloths
I also received a bunch of stuff I have to return at the end of AIT. Some of
the more exciting items include:
M-16 rifle – semi-auto or 3 shot burst
M-40 series protective mask (gas mask)
Ruck sack
Load bearing equipment (LBE) like a harness and belt to hold canteens, ammo, and
flashlight
Wet weather gear and sleeping bag
Kevlar helmet and a bunch of other little stuff
I also have a military ID card and Dog Tags. My soldier number is easy to
remember because it is my social security number. I read your letters but I don’t
have time to answer all of them, but you asked about weather and training. They have a
saying here at Fort Leonard Wood: "If it ain’t raining, we ain’t
training," which means you train no matter what. FLW (Fort Leonard Wood) has a law,
though. You can’t train if the temperature (including wind chill) is -40° . If it’s -39° we’ll be out
until it turns to -40° .
Well, I’ve got to go now: lights out 15 minutes ago (not that I’m
doing anything wrong writing letters -- lights out is room lights, not flashlights), but I
have fire guard tonight 2:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m. and I have to get up at 4:30. Not much
sleep but I'm adjusting. 2100 to 0430 (9:00 p.m. to 4:30 a.m.) Like I said I’ve gotta
go but I’ll write again soon. Please keep sending pictures, I love them. Talk to you
soon. Love, Chris
Please copy this and send it to mom.
p.s. Army steaks aren’t that bad!
October 21, 1999
Hi, Mom,
Hope you are doing well. I went to the gas chamber yesterday. It
was terrible. I wouldn't wish that on anyone, not even Larry (yeah, right).
Things are going well here. Food is good, but the temperature dropped
significantly within the last few days and we are starting to wear our field coats (damn,
I look good in that!) and gloves. Two nights ago someone snuck food into the
barracks so we all got up at 12:00, excuse me, 2400 and did push-ups. One person
messes up and 208 privates do push-ups. That's Army math for you.
I don't know if I told you at reception battalion I had a female drill sergeant
but now in basic training I have three male drill sergeants. In our Company there are four
platoons and each platoon has three drill sergeants. My Senior Drill sergeant is
D.S. Robinson. He's pretty cool. And the other two are D.S. Warren and D.S. Story. D.S.
Story is funny until you mess up but as soon as you mess up he'll nail you to the wall.
I live in a 3-man room, but only two people live in it.
Sorry I didn't write back sooner but as you may expect, basic training is kinda
busy. Wake up 0400, go to Physical Training, then chow. Not breakfast, chow. Go to
some kind of training till chow, then resume training until nighttime chow. Morning
training is always different from afternoon training: like morning training is drill and
ceremony, then afternoon is basic rifle marksmanship or something like that. We also
learned how to kill people with bayonets last Saturday. I was informed that day that
what made green grass grow is Blood, Blood, Blood. Then after dinner we go to
briefings or classes until 19:00 if you drew weapons or 19:45 if you didn't. Then
free time from 2000 to 2100; 2100 is bedtime.
Well, running out of time, gotta go. I love you. See ya soon.
Love, Chris
November 1, 1999
Hi Kym,
Hope things are going well. I was extremely happy to hear how well you are
doing in school. Keep going because I know you and you don’t want to end up here,
trust me. It’s not that it’s hard, but you can’t wear makeup and you have 5
minutes to use the bathroom. 5 MINUTES! It takes that long to close the door. Just
kidding. Anyway, keep up the good work. I’m very proud. I’ll see you at
Christmas.
Love,
Chris
p.s. Say hi to Mr. K and go play with Freckles
November 1, 1999
Hi, Mom and Dave,
How are you? This past week was the first week of basic rifle marksmanship
(BRM). It’s really hectic. Up at 0330, and go to sleep at 2200, but it will be over
this coming Thursday (thank God). I am one of three people in the entire company (of 220)
to get 46/46 on the stationary range. The Drill Sergeant seems real happy, but that was
with me taking my time. We’ll see what happens with timed targets.
Yesterday we did pugil fighting. It was so much fun! The first match I won but
the second match I got my ass beat, but it was still fun. Like I said next week is pop-up
targets and Thursday is qualification. After B.R.M. we learn grenades, M60 machine gun,
AT4 Anti tank weapon (bazooka) and Claymore Anti personnel mine. I can’t wait.
Anyway, I will write again Thursday to tell you how the week went and how qualification
went. Bye for now.
Love,
Chris
November 7, 1999
Hi Mom and Dave,
What’s going on? Another Sunday has rolled around: basic
training is going really fast! All this week we were at the ranges practicing on our M-16s
and Thursday we qualified. I didn’t do as well as I thought I would, but the Drill
Sergeant told me not to worry about it. I’ll have another opportunity to get the
Sharpshooter badge when I get to my permanent duty station. There are three badges:
Marksman, Sharpshooter, and Expert. 23/40 to 29/40 is Marksman, 30/40 to 35/40 is
Sharpshooter; and 36/40 to 40/40 is Expert, and of course I got 29/40. One away, but
I’m happy I qualified. Friday I got my first class on U.S. Weapons. I’ve wanted
to take that class since I was 10 years old. I shot 50 rounds on a fully automatic M-60
machine gun, 3 rounds out of a M-203 grenade launcher, and 10 dummy rounds out of an AT4
(Bazooka). It was great. Yesterday (Saturday) we went to the bayonet assault course --
where I was again informed on how to fertilize my lawn -- and bayonet practice range. The
range wasn’t that special but the course was fun as hell, and it’s quite a
workout. Next week is Grenade range and Confidence/Obstacle Course. I can’t wait.
Gotta go for now, but will write this week if I have time. If not I will write again next
Sunday. See ya soon. Love, Chris
My badge! -->
November 10, 1999
Hi Mom and Dave,
What’s up? Today was so much fun. This morning we had a
class on communications. At 1000 we moved to the training area and began to learn hand to
hand combat. And this afternoon we ran the obstacle course. It was great. Tomorrow is hand
grenades – that should be a lot of fun. You may be wondering who that handsome guy is
in the photo, it’s me! Dad sent me a Polaroid camera so here is a picture of me. I
didn’t even think of what kind of trouble I would get myself in asking for that. Out
of 54 soldiers in 3rd Platoon, the 53 that don’t have a Polaroid have
already made "business propositions." I only took one guy up, though: he gave me
five dollars. Just so you know that’s me, in my room next to my wall locker in my
BDUs (Battle Dress Uniform) with an M-40 series protective mask. We didn’t draw
weapons today so I couldn’t show you my M-16. Maybe later. Anyway, just writing to
say hi and to send you this picture. Love ya lots. See ya soon. Chris
11/17/99
Hi Grandma,
How are you? Thanks for writing. It really means a lot to me. There have been
several occasions where I've seen something here on post that has reminded me of you in
some way. As you probably know, KP is kitchen detail. Six people out of a platoon pull
this duty one day out of a week (usually Saturday), and are there the entire day. All my
friends keep telling me how cool KP is. They said, "All the juice and soda you want
(if you are caught drinking soda while not on KP, that is technically a crime under UCMJ
[Uniform Code of Military Justice] (and you could be fined up to $250 and be given up to
14 days extra duty), and all the melon they can eat. One guy said he had three bowls full
of cantaloupe.
I think what you said about having a good attitude makes a lot of difference.
Up to this point I have had only one bad day, and I don't even remember why it was bad,
it's been so long. There are very few privates that have the same outlook on basis
training as I do. I feel I'm entirely fortunate to have the opportunity to experience
everything that I have. Like today: Today I threw a live hand grenade, and sat behind a
concrete barrier waiting for the earth to shake. I could easily name five people who have
never even seen a live hand grenade, much less thrown one--and where else could I have
done that but here? I guess people just don't realize that getting in trouble is part of
basic training.
By the way, I earned the Expert badge, the highest badge available for
grenades, today. That sure felt good. Little things like that really, really help to make
you feel like you've made the correct choice, even though you may miss your family and
friends. Also, I just wanted to throw in that someone mows the lawn and weeds the flower
beds every single day out of the week, even during the winter. Talk about uniformity--but
I must admit it really looks good.
Well, I think I have pushed my luck far enough, writing this letter on Fire
Guard. If I get caught, I'll get to do maybe 100-150 extra pushups tomorrow. Like my dad
says, I don't have to do them, I get to do them. Bye for now. If you write
back I will definitely respond ASAP. I love you.
Chris
P.S. I just got caught writing this letter, actually while I was addressing the
envelope, and the Drill Sergeant didn't care. He was glad I was doing something productive
to keep myself awake, since I tend to have a little trouble with that--staying awake, I
mean. So, bye again.
Love,
<--- Expert badge for hand grenades!