5 letters in ONE day!! YAY!!

Seems like the Army has a funny way of getting the mail out. The must collect it all and then send it. Hadn't heard anything in over a week and today I got three letters! I was so excited to hear from him! Sounds like a lot has happened. First off as of March 6th he still hadn't gotten anything I sent. I was so disappointed to hear that. I was told one address but that doesn't seem to be the right one. I put his new address up here. I have been using it for several letters now so I hope it is the right one. It is so hard to think that he has been gone for 24 days now and hasn't gotten a single letter I sent. Oh well...maybe soon! I sent one priority to the address he had on all his letters and even got tracking on it. It was received in SC on the 6th so hopefully he has it by now. I don't want him to think I don't care....
So here is some of what he has been doing:

March 3rd letter: Currently on CQ Duty. Basically cleaning the DS's office. He had to sweep the outside bay area for about an hour and a half. I guess it was pretty cold down there. He said it had been snowing earlier. They did Land Navigation later that day. Their team got 4/5 which was the best platoon so the DS's were happy. Also they got their scores back from their Medical test had to get a 70 to pass and Jordan got a 77. I guess 31/54 people failed the test...yikes!! So in that they were the worst platoon. They got a “special” smoking for that. They went to the “beach” or the “pit”. It is a large area filled with sand. They had to sprint, high crawl and bear crawl and jump through some things for about an hour. Said his pockets were filled with sand! One girl refused to participate so she was given extra duties. I guess they might not get to move onto White Phase if people don't shape up. Jordan said he was really tired of people not acting right and just doing what they were told! If they don't move on, he won't graduate on time and that will mess up OCS. He has started studying John each night. Said he misses home but he is enjoying what he is doing.

March 5th letter: Got another hair cut and was able to get some supplies at the PX. He has been pretty sick but he was finally able to get some cough drops which he said were really helping. Not sick enough for the doctor though so that is good! The day before they had their Fit to Win and Gas chamber!! The fit to win is a ¼ mile obstacle course. Things they climb over and through and a cargo net...etc...He said it was a lot of fun. Their platoon won in the “super squad” challenge so they got the “winner's flag” That made the drill sergeants happy! Gas chamber was next. Jordan had been dreading this more than anything. If you google it you can see videos....doesn't look pretty! You get your mask, then you have to enter the chamber, take off the mask, say your name, rank and social security number (so much for privacy I guess....) then put your mask back on. The problem is that some gas is in the mask so you have to keep breathing it while everyone else goes. Once everyone has gone you have to take it off again and say 15 seconds of the Soldier's creed. Then you get to leave. He said it was the worst experience of his life. I guess it feels like your throat and lungs are on fire. He said it still felt like they were on fire about 2 hours later. Bet he won't want to repeat that ever again!
Later, after lunch, they had their first “shake down”. They go bay by bay looking for contraband. They have to do intense PT while the search is taking place. In one bay they found four cell phones, another had food. In the girl's bay they found a “love letter” from another soldier...BIG no no!! They were also caught holding hands. He was worried guys in his bay might have stuff but I guess they were good. That made the DS's happy again! Unfortunately the Commander was not happy with their overall performance and they aren't going on to White Phase on time. I don't know what that means but I sure hope it doesn't interfere with Graduation.
Later they were told to sit in the bleachers. They sat there until dinner (about 2 hours in the cold in only tshirts and shorts) After dinner they were told to go back and sit again in the bleachers. Apparently they were inspecting again. I guess they found some Gatorade and cigarettes. Also they were told there were 2 cell phones that people had and that they would smoke them until someone turned them over. So they were smoked. One whistle means run in place with knees up, 2 blows means push ups, 3 times it's sit ups.....pretty intense work out! I guess some guy finally turned it over....45 minutes later...
Jordan said the physical stuff isn't so bad anymore....getting used to it. Just as long as he passes his last PT test, the other stuff doesn't actually count toward points. They started basic rifleman marksmanship. He things he did well on the first test.

March 6th letter: Did his PT test; 42 push ups, 55 sit ups, and 15:30 2 mile. I guess those are pretty good scores he said. Plenty enough to graduate. They did more marksmanship. Had to fire blanks (guess real bullets don't start yet...), disassemble and reassemble, clear the magazine, and demonstrate various stances. He enjoyed that. Then he said on Monday they would go into the field and march back Tuesday. Back again on Wednesday at the range. Hopefully they will have gotten into White phase by then so they will be back on track. If so they start to get phone privileges again at some point on Sundays (so I will be glued to my phone!) I guess a lot of people are messing up a lot. Several people have gotten Article 15's and a lot of people have gotten extra duties or written up. 5 write ups and you are out!

March 7th letter: Would have gotten a full night's sleep but the DS's came in at 3am and smoked them. I guess the night guards left their posts to do laundry (umm...dumb reason to leave I would think....) So they got smoked for 12 minutes (not sure why Jordan knew the exact amount of time...but it must be pretty bad so even 12 minutes seems long!) then they had to do Uniform drill. I guess you have 5 minutes to change into whatever uniform they say and get downstairs into formation. Then they send you up to do it again. They did this like 4 or 5 times. If left for church shortly after that. He said he hoped it was better that week. I guess the last week was flacky (his words....) Before he left he cleaned and sorted his locker and helped his bunk mate cuz I guess his was pretty bad. Got back from church...said it was ok. Parable of the sower, some hymns, and testimony. He had fire guard later that night (from 12am to 1am) and then they were leaving for their field training at 3:30am so not much sleep that night!


Well I was pretty excited to get three letters at once (there were actually 3 envelopes with 5 letters total). Seems like he is doing well. I know it must be hard but I think he enjoys it too. We can't wait to see him...hope they all stay on track so Graduation happens on time!!