Basic 7 David's Journal July 14

The reception process is finally over. After lunch we met our drill sergeants (DS). This was the first impression our DS’s had of us, so I wanted to be perfect. With a DS it is impossible to be perfect. After screaming at the top of our lungs who we were they stuffed us onto a bus like a can of tuna. Once we arrived at our barracks they began screaming at us and commanded us to lift our camo duffle bag above our heads. I made the mistake when packing my bags to put most of my stuff into my camo bag. I had a strong impression not to fill that bag too much, but I ignored it.

Well, I am still holding that camo bag above my head. It is super heavy, probably about 50 lbs. As we struggled to keep it above our heads the different DS would go around yelling at us and telling us to quit. They had us keep it in the air until the strongest person there could not do it any more and then for another 5 to 10 minutes. I was proud of myself to never let it go past my shoulders. We probably went for about 15 to 20 minutes total doing that. Then they got all nice and let us drink water, and then got mean again and had us get in the push up position. I forget the amount we did. I think it was 100. Then we did the overhead arm clap to 100 reps, and then we had to hold our arms out. Then it was back to push ups. Then back to overhead arm claps. Then the military press, and later the jumping jacks. We then did more push ups. The DS then had us arch our back and lower it. When arching we needed to say, “Attention to Detail.” When lowering we said, “Teamwork is the key.” Then finally he had us do the flutter kick. This was the hardest for me. I am looking forward to working out my stomach so that will be easier. We were finally done with our first “smoking” (extreme physical training). There will be many more smokings these next nine weeks.