Letter dated 8-31-2006

Hey family,
How are things going there? Again, happy B-days to Mom and Rachel, and pretty soon Dad. Things are going pretty well here. Today was probably the hardest day yet. Our platoon doesn't seem to get it, we can't march, yell, or shut up when we're supposed to. So the DI's gave us a reminder. Not the most fun in the world. I'm sure people will be up for at least another two hours sorting our shoes. Most of our time here is focused on drill, marching and whatnot. Two days ago we actually got our rifles. We won't be able to shoot them for at least 4-5 weeks when we move to Camp Pendleton. We had our first few PT (phys training) sessions now and a session of MCMATS (Marine Corps Martial Arts Training). We just went over punching so far. Most of it was exercise. Our PT sessions are in a big field of sand and dirt. Real messy and not too great for allergies. I'm not sure if I just had a few bad days of allergies or if I had a cold, but for awhile it was pretty uncomfortable on top of everything else. I'm getting better, just a little leftover cough.

Everyday there are more and more people getting weeded out. Mostly its people who can't compete the PT. They get moved back to graduate on a later date. I worry the most about that. I'm keeping up physically so far, but I hope I can stay on the ball. Today a kid told the DI he didn't want to go on and he'd kill himself. But a quick trip to the psychologist and a day of sitting in front of a mirror changed his mind, so he's rejoining the platoon now. Two days ago a kid spit in the DI's face. He got arrested in front of the whole company. He'll just have to be pushed back too. I guess its not a cheerful thing to talk about, but its whats been going on.

Besides PT and drill, we take classes and eat. Thats about it. Tonight we had ribs. They were actually pretty good. One thing I'm relieved to find out is that the recruits don't have kitchen duty. There seems to be an assortment of people hired there. They kinda seem like people sentenced to community service, or somehow in trouble with the law but I really don't know.

Today was family day for the graduates, so a bunch of civilians were here. Made me really excited to graduate. FYI, I've asked the senior DI about travel and everything, and he says there will be a class on it in a bit. So I don't know much else, cept I'll probably be coming back to San Diego. But I don't know when either. In the meantime, write me. I need to get some sleep now. I'll write you again soon. Love, Jared