Friday, October 3, 2008

One month in the life of Daniel




So I thought I would tell about what my wonderful husband has been going through. He left on August 21st for processing into the Army and headed to Fort Sill, Oklahoma. There he had a series of lovely shots, doctor appts, dentist appts, and such. Which took him about a week to finish. He then got to spend the next 3 weeks cleaning and marching! Yep, that was pretty much it. Doesn't that sound fun. Ok, not so much. The End! Well, that was the end of Fort Sill. On to Sante Fe, New Mexico!!! Finally!

Daniel got to NM on Sept 19th which is when the real fun began. First of all, Sante fe is at 7000 ft elevation which would make any training difficult. When I lived in Washington I ran at 0 ft elevation, I was running 7 1/2 minute miles. I moved to Utah where its maybe 4000 ft elevation and I started out running 12 min miles. So I can imagine an additional 3000 ft would make it that much harder. He's superman, I swear it. Well that's what I tell my girls about him anyway! :)

Back to my story... Some of the courses he's done are... First, he learned how to use his M16 that he has to keep with him 24 hrs a day. And if they forget it, they get punished. For example, he went to pick up a postal package I sent him but he forgot his gun. The "padre"(worker) made him go get his gun then he had to stand in squatting position for 5 minutes while holding his gun out in front of him 1/2 cocked back. Poor Daniel. When he finally got to open his package, his body was shaking so bad he could barely use his new phone. But he remembers his gun now. He's gotten to do an obstacle course where he crawls under things and jumps through tires. That sort of thing. He had fun with it even though he was dog tired by the end of the day.

He had a course in reading and understanding using a compass and map to find your way home. Then they were taking to a location and told to find their way back. There was an 'interesting' course where he learned to tie his knife to the end of his gun and 'kill tires' with it. That wasn't really something I wanted to imagine in reality but it is reality. Among other things, he learns how to enter homes and handle hostile situations, a lot of classroom training to prepare them for war, and along with the courses they of course have physical training that is long and grueling.

He just left this morning for an 8 days 'camping trip' to White Sands, NM. All he knows is they will be sleeping in tents and there won't be any phone service that he is aware of. I can't wait to here of all he got to learn and explore in the life of the Army!

He is superman in my eyes. I love to here the strength in his voice of all he has gained while there. This is what he was meant to do at this point in his life. I love having the privilege to be there to love and support him. To be his cheerleader. I'm not always the strongest cheerleader out there but I give it my all. Another 2 1/2 months before I get to see him again. It's hard to imagine what else he will get to experience while in school. It's sometimes hard to remember what it feels like to hold him in my arms. I look forward to that day. To see the smile's on my girls' face when they see their dad again and to be able to hold and kiss him and tell him all their stories. I can't wait for that day!

2 comments:

April Greener said...

You are SOOO strong Cristy-I admire all you both have accomplished. What a great reunion you all will have in 2 and 1/2 months!

Tiffany Jones said...

Hang in there!