Combat Drills and PT Tests and Shooting, Oh My!

Seems as though mail coming out of Ft. Jackson was behind, I only got 1 letter last week, then today I got 3 letters and a postcard! And best of all last night I received a phone call :)

He is doing so great and said that this past week they had an excellent week as a platoon. He said everyone is really starting to work together and they've been "weeding out" all the troublemakers and sending them to other platoons. I guess that kinda sucks for the platoons that are getting them, but I guess different Drill Sergeants (DS's) have "certain" techniques for "certain" people :) That's why they've had some guys added in to their platoon as well. He did say that the DS's are easing up a bit :)

Over the past week and a half they have done combat drills, martial arts, and fighting techniques with their weapons. They also had shooting qualifications and had to qualify at least as a marksman in order to graduate and he qualified!

He also told me that the whole D Company was held back from the next phase, which is White Phase. They still get to progress with their training, but don't get as many privileges as they would if they had moved on to White Phase. And just to give you some perspective on how big a Company is, there is first of all an Infantry Regiment (his is the 2-39th), and in each regiment there are 6 Companies, A-F (he is D Co.) then each Company has 4 Platoons, 1-4 (he is 4th platoon). There are about 52 soldiers in each platoon. SO, in D Company there are approximately 208 soldiers. So of the 52 soldiers in his platoon, 26 of them did not pass the Physical Fitness Test, which includes sit ups, push ups and a 2 mile run. Also a graduation requirement. And he passed! He said the people who didn't pass have been "counseled" to improve and be able to pass by the next PT test this week or else they will get "recycled" and will be delayed in their graduation. See the "old guy" is doing better than them youngins' :) So proud of him!

He's been going to church every Sunday and this past week he went to one of the Hispanic Church services and said it was AWESOME! One of the best parts for him was that they sang "Revelation Song" in Spanish. So glad the Army allows them this time :) Also he said one of the guys in his platoon accepted Christ this past Sunday so they were all excited about that too. I'm so thankful for all these opportunities had to experience. It just proves to me once again God's faithfulness, that we are right where he wants us to be.

He is so excited to finish and to graduate (as am I!!) We're exactly half way through...5 weeks down, 5 to go!

Thanks to a great friend for a great idea, Karina and I made what I like to call "The Daddy Chain". It's a countdown for the days left till we get to see Daddy! We're at 37 today :)

"May the Lord bless you and protect you.
May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you.
May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace."
Numbers 6:24-26

Have a great day everyone!!