What have they done to my beloved Army!
As many of you know I was sent to Ft Sam Houston in San Antonio TX to attend 68W school (Healthcare Specialist...which is just a fancy name for combat medic). So far I've kept a 92% GPA and just pulled a 271 on my last PT test (up from 235...not bad for an old fart that turns 40 in 3 days) and I reasonably sure I got my EMT-Basic certification (won't know until the national registry goes back to work Monday); so that means I'm doing well.
But...
...this place sucks.
At reception we literally stood in formation in 90+ degree heat for hours at a time just to have some NCO come out and say, "Go to chow and be back in an hour" at which time we'd stand around for another 3 or 4 hours in the 100+ degree heat. Those of us who are prior service are lumped in with the IET's and these paste-eating, window-licking morons refuse to do as they're told. We have to go everywhere with them when we're on-duty so any antics they get into get us smoked. I'm just an E-4 but it grates me to no-end watching an E-6 prior service getting smoked because some E-1 can't STFU.
We tried handling it off-line for a whicle but these kids are absolutely undisciplined and they mouth off to you to your face. Our choices are to beat the crap out of them or throw them to the cadre. We tried throwing them to the cadre and then the retards want to play gangland like they're back on the block with their "snitches get stitches" bullshit. That was enough to make me go over a table. For the first few weeks it seriously--SERIOUSLY--looked like prior service vs. IET gangs were going to form and some ugly shit was going to go down. Fortunately the kids were given some off-duty freedom and they immediately went about getting drunk and arrested all on their own.
The bay they stuck us in was a delapidated POS with no A/C. Electrical outlets were insufficient and it was just generally miserable. They moved us down the road to another company with an extra bay and that one is so damned cold you either stay outside in the heat or stay in your fart-sack on your bunk.
Let's not even discuss chow.
Oh...and internet is either $7/hour through MWR or you can put your name on a waiting list at the library...hence my on-going absence.
Did I mention this place sucks?
On the plus side I started a ruck-marching club. Membership is a scant 4 souls, myself included, but we increase our distance, weight and speed each week. Last week I rolled an ankle. I tried to throw myself around to land on the rucksack but I went down too fast. I landed arm-out on the road and my ruck came following right behind...with the sandbag I was carrying in it. I think I felt my should pop out and back in. I've been lamed-up and drugged out most of the week but I've been doing my PT regardless. I do my push-ups one-armed just to embarrass these brats and I run in the same group as our XO who is a ****ing gazelle on cyrstal meth (bitch!).
Anyway, that's my belly-achin' for now. I'll be on for a few more minutes but I don't know when I'll be back on.
Pieces, y'all.
