Update from Jason...

Jason wrote again and I wanted to include some pieces from his letter:
"...we played a little game our DS (Drill Sgts) like to play. They give us a time period, usually between 1 1/2 to 3 minutes for us to run up stairs, change our uniform to a designated uniform, then be back downstairs in formation before time is up. It can actually be pretty fun if you just relax & do it. But everytime we change uniform, someone or two or ten (guys) mess something up. Sometimes they take too long, forget part of their uniform, wear the wrong socks, etc. So until we get it right they keep giving us a different uniform and time alotment to make. Then after we do, one DS lectures us while another goes through out bay & checks for any open wall lockers, if he finds one, it soon becomes empty with the contents thrown everywhere. They also look for improperly made beds and if they find one (usually about 85% of the beds) they rip the matress off and throw it. So after a lecture from the DS downstairs, we go upstairs thinking we are done, only to find our stuff thrown everywhere. My stuff usually doesn't get touched except when they find bunks made up wrong they rip everyone's matress off. So after we get upstairs & find a mess, they give us another time alotment & uniform to be in, and we have to have the bay cleaned up, swept, mopped, & all the bunks have to be made. So the game continues on until the DS' get bored, we played that game for 3 hours earlier this week. So thats why I didn't get to call home..."
"This past week we did combatives. It was fun yet painful getting back on the mats & doing Jiu Jitsu again. At the end of the week we had a competition between the different platoons. Each platoon elected 4 guys to fight each weigh class. My platoon voted me to fight but there was another guy who wanted to fight so I gave him my spot. And he ended up winning the heavy weights. We also did Pugel Sticks, the sticks with the two padded ends. I ended up winning my match & was the only one who drew blood. I felt bad though b/c the guy I went against is really cool. After I hit him & his mouth was bleeding everywhere he had a look on his face like "What just happened?" But they were fun & extremely tiring....the other part of combatives was the chance for us to become level 1 combative certified. To do that we had to be able to teach all the moves they taught us & then do the clench drill. Out of above 130 there were only 30 of us that were able to successfully teach the moves & do the drill. The clench drill consists of a solider & a DS. The DS has a pair of boxing gloves on and his goal is to punch the solider as much as he can before the soldier, who is not allowed to punch or kick, is able to get him into the clench hold. We had to do this 4 times & I was able to get in & tie them pretty quick, only had a fe good punches land. But there were some (guys) that got pounded repeatedly...there were a few black eyes, some broken noses, one bloody nose, a concussion, & a couple of kids almost knocked out. The majority of the guys left with their faces looking all beat up..."
"This week we have been shooting guns. We shot 2 smaller machine guns, an automatic grenade launcher, & a .50 caliber machine gun. The caliber is truly incredible. The bullets are gigantic & you are able to dump a tom of rounds very quickly. But the most impressive part is what the bullets can do when they hit their target. We were shooting old tanks & trucks from about 800 to 1000 meters away & you could actually hear the bullets ripping through the metal. It was crazy. Today we are doing hand grenades..."