As some of you know, JB's little brother Matt, is currently in Missouri in Basic Training for the Army. This is something Matt has wanted to do his whole life, and he is in the reserves which means he will be getting an education in exchange for serving in the military.
Anyways, Matt has now been in Missouri since the end of January. He graduates in the middle of May so he still has a ways to go.
We got a letter from Matt on the 6th of March, and many of you have asked me via phone or letter, how Matt is doing. So today I thought I would share a few excerpts of Matt's letter with my blog readers.
Well, hello John and Wendi. I have had a rough 5 weeks. The first 3 were the toughest, hands down, the hardest things I have ever done. We would have 4-5 hours of sleep a night, P.T. in the mornings, wake up at 4:00. By the way, whenever they feel like waking us up, they can. We are required 4 hours of sleep at least. After PT, we have to clean the barracks, bathrooms have to be spotless, floors have to be swept and mopped, walls have to be scrubbed, picture frames have to be cleaned perfect, no streaks, and everything that can collect dust has to be dusted. All our bunks have to be tight enough to bounce a quarter on it. They really bounce quarters! All this usually has to be completed in 15 minutes or less or we get "smoked" (extreme physical corrective training) lasting anywhere between 15 minutes to the longest, 3 hours. It took us a few days to get it down pat.
I think I have lost 20 pounds already. We've done a lot of really cool obstacle courses, we repelled a 55 foot wall, ziplines 250 feet, 40 feet off the ground, repelled down 75 feet at a 30 degree angle head first and lot of other little things in between.
All 164 privates have 20 minutes to eat each meal. They break it down to each table between 2-5 minutes. Kinda crazy. The 2nd platoon is only allowed to use our fingers and a spoon to eat. If a lot of us qualify BRM (basic rifle marksmanship) then we get to use a fork.
The weather here sucks in the morings. It's in the low 30's, then in the afternoon it's 80, next day morning is 65 and afternoon is 30. It's crazy. It has hailed hard, snowed, and rain. Anyways, I know it's nowhere near how cold you are, but it's still stinking cold.
So that's a few insights into the life of Matt. We are hoping we will be able to make it to his graduation in May, however, it will depend on our IVF schedule. I am scheduled to have my 2nd procedure on May 8th which would give us time to go. However, if I go late, which is quite possible, then we can't go. So we will see.
