Hey everyone,
Well, only a few more weeks! :) This week (finals week, Final Drill, Final PFT, etc.), next week (gas chamber, CRUCIBLE) and the week after (Marine week and Graduation). Graduation can't come fast enough though, lol. But since the time is getting shorter PLEASE DO NOT WRITE ME AFTER AUGUST 24.
If you have written me in the past month and a half and asked some questions that I haven't answered it is because our SDI doesn't give us our mail, but training presses on. I guess when you're in a war zone you won't get mail much either. All well.
So what have I been up to? Well, last week we did the final CFT (Combat Fitness Test), 1800 m run, max ammo can lifts in 2 minutes, and a maneuver under fire course. I improved from my initial. I think I was only a few seconds off on the run from a total perfect score. I think I got between a 290 and a 295 out of 300. We drilled a lot last week prepping for final Drill or the DI's super bowl as we call it. And guess what today was. Yep, final drill. :) I don't think I can express how much drill means to the DI's through writing. Let's put it this way if we lost it would be a long 2 1/2 weeks. Well we went last and... we... did a good job. Not our best performance but still good enough to win. :)
So we go to the crucible next week. I can't wait!
Well time for me to go. Thanks for the letters and the prayers.
-Recruit Chipman
Friday, August 17, 2012
Thursday, August 9, 2012
20120805
Hey everyone,
Well another week down! I'm doing really good, we finally got mail. (Well some, we didn't get all of the mail.) Thanks for writing!
This past week was kinda slow. All we did was working parties and drill. It's a good thing I like drill. We drilled for about 8 hrs a day. So, for you marching band people it was basically a really intense 8-8 week.
So I go back to MCRD today. When we get back down there we should get our cami's with our names and U.S Marines on them. I can't wait for that!
Now my turn for questions, have they Olympics started yet? OK, I'm good. :) JK. What is everyone up to? Where is everyone going to school?
Well church is starting. I gtg. Thanks for the letters and the prayers!
-Recruit Chipman
Well another week down! I'm doing really good, we finally got mail. (Well some, we didn't get all of the mail.) Thanks for writing!
This past week was kinda slow. All we did was working parties and drill. It's a good thing I like drill. We drilled for about 8 hrs a day. So, for you marching band people it was basically a really intense 8-8 week.
So I go back to MCRD today. When we get back down there we should get our cami's with our names and U.S Marines on them. I can't wait for that!
Now my turn for questions, have they Olympics started yet? OK, I'm good. :) JK. What is everyone up to? Where is everyone going to school?
Well church is starting. I gtg. Thanks for the letters and the prayers!
-Recruit Chipman
20120801
Hey everyone,
Sorry I haven't responded to any questions lately, We haven't gotten mail in about 2 1/2 weeks. But life and training still goes on. One month from now I'll be down with boot camp. In 3 weeks plus about 10 hours I'll be a US Marine. This week has been going by kinda slow. All we do is get up, do our morning routine, go to chow, then get split up into working parties around the base. we are with Marines, not the DI's but we are still treated like crap. I can't wait to be treated like an individual again, lol. :) But it's all part of the recruit training experience.
Good news, I was sitting reading my BOM during square away time tonight and some came up and asked someone questions about the church. We talked for a little bit and I got him to commit to come to church on Sunday!
Well, gtg. Thanks for the letter and the prayers!
-Recruit Chipman
Sorry I haven't responded to any questions lately, We haven't gotten mail in about 2 1/2 weeks. But life and training still goes on. One month from now I'll be down with boot camp. In 3 weeks plus about 10 hours I'll be a US Marine. This week has been going by kinda slow. All we do is get up, do our morning routine, go to chow, then get split up into working parties around the base. we are with Marines, not the DI's but we are still treated like crap. I can't wait to be treated like an individual again, lol. :) But it's all part of the recruit training experience.
Good news, I was sitting reading my BOM during square away time tonight and some came up and asked someone questions about the church. We talked for a little bit and I got him to commit to come to church on Sunday!
Well, gtg. Thanks for the letter and the prayers!
-Recruit Chipman
Saturday, August 4, 2012
20120729
Hey everyone,
Well another week down.This past week was Field Week. Monday we hiked up to our campsite and had some classes on IED's (Improvised Explosive Device) and tactical formations. After that we did 3 Assault Courses. Those were CRAZY FUN. They were down in the dirt with a rifle. After we finished the courses, we had dirt everywhere. :) Tuesday we had classes on navigation and did a day land navigation course and a night land course. Wednesday we came back to the squad bay and learned about Table II, the second half of rifle qual. Thursday we shot Table II for practice and Friday was qual. for Table II. Perfect score is 100 I shot a 95. I'm a little frustrated because I couldn't hear one of the shooting drills we were suppose to do so I dropped a couple shots, but all well I still got a better score that like 95% of the platoon and probably the company. :) So over all on rifle I scored a 328, 233 Table I and 95 Table II. Expert (the best qual. you can get) is from 305 to 350, so I'm a rifle expert!! :)
On Friday night, we did a night assault course with flares, barbed wire, obstacles, walls, and bridges. That was the best part of the week! So funny story. On this course when a flare goes off you immediately get down with your weapon up and you don't move at all. You just scan your surroundings with your eyes. Well I was at the end of the course waiting to be cleared out and there was one other recruit ahead of me when a flare when off. So I get down and point my barrel to the left so I wouldn't flag the other recruit. Well this recruit forgot he was suppose to get down until a couple of DI's yelled at him to get down. Guess what he did. Fell down right on top of my barrel. Brilliant man, just brilliant. :) He got yelled at again. LOL.
Saturday we took weapons completely apart and cleaned them. This week was probably my favorite so far. And now I'm in the 3rd Phase! Almost done!
Well I gtg. Thanks for the letters and prayers! See you soon!
-Recruit Chipman
Well another week down.This past week was Field Week. Monday we hiked up to our campsite and had some classes on IED's (Improvised Explosive Device) and tactical formations. After that we did 3 Assault Courses. Those were CRAZY FUN. They were down in the dirt with a rifle. After we finished the courses, we had dirt everywhere. :) Tuesday we had classes on navigation and did a day land navigation course and a night land course. Wednesday we came back to the squad bay and learned about Table II, the second half of rifle qual. Thursday we shot Table II for practice and Friday was qual. for Table II. Perfect score is 100 I shot a 95. I'm a little frustrated because I couldn't hear one of the shooting drills we were suppose to do so I dropped a couple shots, but all well I still got a better score that like 95% of the platoon and probably the company. :) So over all on rifle I scored a 328, 233 Table I and 95 Table II. Expert (the best qual. you can get) is from 305 to 350, so I'm a rifle expert!! :)
On Friday night, we did a night assault course with flares, barbed wire, obstacles, walls, and bridges. That was the best part of the week! So funny story. On this course when a flare goes off you immediately get down with your weapon up and you don't move at all. You just scan your surroundings with your eyes. Well I was at the end of the course waiting to be cleared out and there was one other recruit ahead of me when a flare when off. So I get down and point my barrel to the left so I wouldn't flag the other recruit. Well this recruit forgot he was suppose to get down until a couple of DI's yelled at him to get down. Guess what he did. Fell down right on top of my barrel. Brilliant man, just brilliant. :) He got yelled at again. LOL.
Saturday we took weapons completely apart and cleaned them. This week was probably my favorite so far. And now I'm in the 3rd Phase! Almost done!
Well I gtg. Thanks for the letters and prayers! See you soon!
-Recruit Chipman
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
02120720
Hey everyone,
First off, thanks for all the letters! I wish I could write everyone back individually but I can't. We only have maybe an hour and a half a week to read and write letters or just chill. Every other time we are training. That's why I don't write very much. I wish I could write more to tell everyone what I'm doing. I guess I'll just have to have a party when I get back and I can tell stories and answer everyone's questions. So, funny story... :) This week is firing week, k. And so we go to the range everyday and shoot for half a day then come back and do other training. Well yesterday we came back to the squad bay and our DI found out we were locked out. So he called the smallest guy in our platoon over and put him through a wind so we could get in our squad bay. we literally had to break into our own squad bay. Our DI was looking around making sure no one was coming and while the buy was getting through the window, half the platoon was singing the mission impossible theme quietly.It was SOOOO funny!
So we qualified on our rifle today. The highest rank you can get is expert. It's based on a point scale. Marksman (lowest rank) is from 186-190, sharpshooter (middle) is 191-219, and Expert (highest rank) is from 220-250. You shoot from 200 meters. 5 rounds sitting, kneeling, and standing all in 20 minutes. Then also from 200 m 10 rounds sitting in 1 minute. From 300 m 5 rounds in 5 min and 10 rounds prone [laying down] in 1 minute. Then from 500 m 10 rounds in 10 minutes. Each shot is worth, at best, 5 points. The average for our platoon was 192. I got a ... 233! :) Surprising my favorite one to shoot was the 500 m.
Also, this week we've been getting up at 4 instead of 5 and I like it! A LOT! I wish we could get it like that but no. I like partially because we get to go to bed at 2000 instead of 2100.
The letters I'm getting are great. I can read everything fine. No, pencil doesn't smear. Write about whatever. If you could send the letters in smaller envelopes that would be nice.
Thanks for the letters and prayers. I'm feeling great. Can't wait to be a US Marine!
See everyone soon!- Rec. Chipman
P.S. Chhuth says hi to those who wrote him and tells Natalie good luck with her senior year. "It's the best year of school."
First off, thanks for all the letters! I wish I could write everyone back individually but I can't. We only have maybe an hour and a half a week to read and write letters or just chill. Every other time we are training. That's why I don't write very much. I wish I could write more to tell everyone what I'm doing. I guess I'll just have to have a party when I get back and I can tell stories and answer everyone's questions. So, funny story... :) This week is firing week, k. And so we go to the range everyday and shoot for half a day then come back and do other training. Well yesterday we came back to the squad bay and our DI found out we were locked out. So he called the smallest guy in our platoon over and put him through a wind so we could get in our squad bay. we literally had to break into our own squad bay. Our DI was looking around making sure no one was coming and while the buy was getting through the window, half the platoon was singing the mission impossible theme quietly.It was SOOOO funny!
So we qualified on our rifle today. The highest rank you can get is expert. It's based on a point scale. Marksman (lowest rank) is from 186-190, sharpshooter (middle) is 191-219, and Expert (highest rank) is from 220-250. You shoot from 200 meters. 5 rounds sitting, kneeling, and standing all in 20 minutes. Then also from 200 m 10 rounds sitting in 1 minute. From 300 m 5 rounds in 5 min and 10 rounds prone [laying down] in 1 minute. Then from 500 m 10 rounds in 10 minutes. Each shot is worth, at best, 5 points. The average for our platoon was 192. I got a ... 233! :) Surprising my favorite one to shoot was the 500 m.
Also, this week we've been getting up at 4 instead of 5 and I like it! A LOT! I wish we could get it like that but no. I like partially because we get to go to bed at 2000 instead of 2100.
The letters I'm getting are great. I can read everything fine. No, pencil doesn't smear. Write about whatever. If you could send the letters in smaller envelopes that would be nice.
Thanks for the letters and prayers. I'm feeling great. Can't wait to be a US Marine!
See everyone soon!- Rec. Chipman
P.S. Chhuth says hi to those who wrote him and tells Natalie good luck with her senior year. "It's the best year of school."
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
20120712
Hey Everyone!
Sorry for not writing, we haven't had square away time since the beginning of July. We have been really busy.
I'm feeling great and doing well. No problems with my body. :)
Well Phase 1 of training is OVER!!! This past Saturday we left MCRD and came up here to Edson Range, Champ Pendleton, CA. This whole week of training is called "grass week." All we do is dry fire our MIG A4 Service Rifle in different positions. It may sound boring but it really helps when you're shooting. I know that because we fired our weapons for the first time yesterday to zero in our RCO's (Rifle Combat Optic-A-Cog Scope). We were told the day before that we would take 15 shots to zero in our scopes. "Your first 15 rounds of the Marine Corps" is what they kept saying. Well it was my turn to shoot and I got up there, got into position, and took my first 5 shots. (We had 3 magazines of 5 rounds.) My RCO was off and my shooting coach fixed it. I took my 2nd mag and fired, all grouped and centered on the black. :) My shooting comes up, looks at it and says "Perfect, get out." So I only got to shoot 10 rounds. I feel good about my shooting but there is always something to improve on. Oh, we shot at a 12 in diameter target from 100 yrds. All 5 shots in the center :) Next week is firing week rifle qualification. We shoot from 500 yrds then. I'm excited for it.
Thanks for all the letters and prayers,
Bryson
Sorry for not writing, we haven't had square away time since the beginning of July. We have been really busy.
I'm feeling great and doing well. No problems with my body. :)
Well Phase 1 of training is OVER!!! This past Saturday we left MCRD and came up here to Edson Range, Champ Pendleton, CA. This whole week of training is called "grass week." All we do is dry fire our MIG A4 Service Rifle in different positions. It may sound boring but it really helps when you're shooting. I know that because we fired our weapons for the first time yesterday to zero in our RCO's (Rifle Combat Optic-A-Cog Scope). We were told the day before that we would take 15 shots to zero in our scopes. "Your first 15 rounds of the Marine Corps" is what they kept saying. Well it was my turn to shoot and I got up there, got into position, and took my first 5 shots. (We had 3 magazines of 5 rounds.) My RCO was off and my shooting coach fixed it. I took my 2nd mag and fired, all grouped and centered on the black. :) My shooting comes up, looks at it and says "Perfect, get out." So I only got to shoot 10 rounds. I feel good about my shooting but there is always something to improve on. Oh, we shot at a 12 in diameter target from 100 yrds. All 5 shots in the center :) Next week is firing week rifle qualification. We shoot from 500 yrds then. I'm excited for it.
Thanks for all the letters and prayers,
Bryson
Monday, July 9, 2012
20120702-03
Hey everyone,
Well things are going well. Well, as well as can be expected. :) One third of the way through!
I'm going to try to do better at letting you know what I'm doing. So I'll tell you what we do everyday. First, morning and evenings area almost always the same. Mornings we get up, use the head, get dressed in the attire for the day (normally desert cami's and boots), then we make our racks and go to chow. At night we come in, get undressed into our sleeping clothes (PT gear- green t-shirts and green shorts), to hygiene, have some square away time, then do some nightly lock checks on weapons and foot lockers, drink a full cantine then get into the rack.
So, on Monday July 2nd, after morning chow we went to the swim tank and did swim qualifications. You are dressed in boots, trousers, and a blouse. They are not yours so my trousers and blouse were a little big and my left boot sole was a little messed up. To pass swim qual you had to do 5 things. 1st swim 25 meters in the shallow end of the pool without touching the bottom. It was a little harder than I thought it would be but I made it. 2nd you had to jump off a 15 ft platform and swim 25 meters in the deep end. That was a little hard but again I made it. 3rd you had to float for 4 minutes. I was really nervous about this one in the beginning but after they showed us some techniques I felt a little better. When it was my turn, I got in and did really well. 4th you and to put on a flax (?) jacket, a helmet, and sling a rifle on your arm then jump in the pool and in 1 breath go under and take everything off in 10 seconds. It was really easy. 5th you had a pack that you threw in the water and had to swim 25 meters with it. It might sound hard but the pack floats.
After swim qual we went back to the squad bay and changed and for the rest of the day we worked on drill except for a short MCMAP (Marine Corps Martial Arts Program) that dealt with knife strikes, chokes, and counter to chokes.
Today, July 3rd, we got up did our morning thing, went to chow, came back and took 2 practice tests in the squad bay. I felt pretty good about both. After that we drilled until we lunch chow. After that we changed into woodland cami's and went to the confidence course. We had already done the low obstacles so today we did the high ones.
There were 3 high ones that we did . 1st was one that was basically a ladder going 30 ft in the air, but the further up you got, the further the rungs got. You had to go up one side and down the other. [Bryson drew a pic but I'm not sure how to show it. But it looks like there was a pad at the bottom.]
The next one you had to climb up a rope 20 ft until you could pull yourself onto logs that were in the air. You had to walk across then climb down some other logs that were at an angle then reach out and grab a rope and slide down 30 ft to the ground.
The last one you climbed a ladder onto a platform that was 30 ft up. Then you had to get on a rope and slide down on your chest, the half way through they told me to flip over. Then a little farther they told me to dead hang on the rope, then re-wrap your feet and continue. If you lost your grip you fell into a pool of water. That was considered disrespectful to your SDI. I didn't fall in.
After that we had chow and I got to go to church for the prayer leader training for the rest of the night. :) Church is great. We talked about Helaman.
After that I came back to the house and did the nightly routine.
Well hope you all have a good 4th of July! Thanks for the letters and prayers!
-Bryson
Well things are going well. Well, as well as can be expected. :) One third of the way through!
I'm going to try to do better at letting you know what I'm doing. So I'll tell you what we do everyday. First, morning and evenings area almost always the same. Mornings we get up, use the head, get dressed in the attire for the day (normally desert cami's and boots), then we make our racks and go to chow. At night we come in, get undressed into our sleeping clothes (PT gear- green t-shirts and green shorts), to hygiene, have some square away time, then do some nightly lock checks on weapons and foot lockers, drink a full cantine then get into the rack.
So, on Monday July 2nd, after morning chow we went to the swim tank and did swim qualifications. You are dressed in boots, trousers, and a blouse. They are not yours so my trousers and blouse were a little big and my left boot sole was a little messed up. To pass swim qual you had to do 5 things. 1st swim 25 meters in the shallow end of the pool without touching the bottom. It was a little harder than I thought it would be but I made it. 2nd you had to jump off a 15 ft platform and swim 25 meters in the deep end. That was a little hard but again I made it. 3rd you had to float for 4 minutes. I was really nervous about this one in the beginning but after they showed us some techniques I felt a little better. When it was my turn, I got in and did really well. 4th you and to put on a flax (?) jacket, a helmet, and sling a rifle on your arm then jump in the pool and in 1 breath go under and take everything off in 10 seconds. It was really easy. 5th you had a pack that you threw in the water and had to swim 25 meters with it. It might sound hard but the pack floats.
After swim qual we went back to the squad bay and changed and for the rest of the day we worked on drill except for a short MCMAP (Marine Corps Martial Arts Program) that dealt with knife strikes, chokes, and counter to chokes.
Today, July 3rd, we got up did our morning thing, went to chow, came back and took 2 practice tests in the squad bay. I felt pretty good about both. After that we drilled until we lunch chow. After that we changed into woodland cami's and went to the confidence course. We had already done the low obstacles so today we did the high ones.
There were 3 high ones that we did . 1st was one that was basically a ladder going 30 ft in the air, but the further up you got, the further the rungs got. You had to go up one side and down the other. [Bryson drew a pic but I'm not sure how to show it. But it looks like there was a pad at the bottom.]
The next one you had to climb up a rope 20 ft until you could pull yourself onto logs that were in the air. You had to walk across then climb down some other logs that were at an angle then reach out and grab a rope and slide down 30 ft to the ground.
The last one you climbed a ladder onto a platform that was 30 ft up. Then you had to get on a rope and slide down on your chest, the half way through they told me to flip over. Then a little farther they told me to dead hang on the rope, then re-wrap your feet and continue. If you lost your grip you fell into a pool of water. That was considered disrespectful to your SDI. I didn't fall in.
After that we had chow and I got to go to church for the prayer leader training for the rest of the night. :) Church is great. We talked about Helaman.
After that I came back to the house and did the nightly routine.
Well hope you all have a good 4th of July! Thanks for the letters and prayers!
-Bryson
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