As David's Dad I have been blessed to receive almost weekly phone calls from him while he has been in basic. I am so very proud of who he is and what he is accomplishing. There are some things he has shared with me that I am sure will show up in future Journal entries, but I couldn't resist letting everyone know a little early. In his final physical training test he scored the highest of anyone in his platoon of over 250 soldiers (mostly 18 year olds). In two minutes he did 84 push-ups; 69 sit ups in two minutes; and ran two miles in 13:30. (You may remember that in the last one mentioned in the journal he was hurting from the day before and his time was over 15 minutes in the two mile). He was only 10 points short of a perfect score.
His drill sergeant called him in and told him that in the peer review that was conducted in the platoon 90% related a positive opinion of David.
Last week they had a platoon competition and David's platoon took first place in the company. They started out with a tug a war and David's platoon was disqualified because they had too many in their team. They didn't do well in the jug carry and after two events were sitting in last place. Then they took second place in the litter carry, had two members of their platoon that were really fast in breaking down and re-assembling a weapon and took first place. David contributed in the General knowledge test answering 100% of his questions correctly and they excelled in Drill and Ceremony. In the end being named the Best Platoon in the Company.
Next week they will spend four days camping and competing in laser and paintball wars, having CS grenades thrown at them and all kinds of other adventures. I am looking forward to seeing his coming journal entries.
More important David has continued to work with the members of his platoon setting an example of a great positive attitude, encouraging some of them to attend Church with him, encouraging them to live moral lives, and offering them good reasons why it is worth the effort.
David's graduation from Basic Training will be in a few short days on September 17. The next day he will be off to Fort Benning in Columbus, Georgia for Officer Training. Near Halloween he will learn where he is going after OCS. Please join your prayers with ours that he will get his first choice of Intellegence. That will take him to Ft. Huachuca in southeastern Arizona for training in his speciality.
Where ever he ends up after OCS Mandy and the children will be joining him in December; a time they are all looking forward to.
Run through the finish, David. Our hopes and prayers are with you.
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