Bouncing OFF the walls!

Today was a super day! Even though I still didn't get a phone call from Billy (which means we won't hear from him again until we see him next week probably) we still had a great day! This morning we woke up and went swimming first thing. Then we went to the dentist and everyone got a wonderful report ~ no cavities!! Even William sat in the chair and let the lady scrape and polish his teeth! Such a Big Boy!! He was so excited about the whole thing! I'm just so proud of my children and their healthy mouths! Then it was off to get about 3 days worth of groceries. And came home to a long afternoon nap.
Now I am spiked up full of coffee and going about a hundred miles a minute. I was just talking to my mother on the phone and I'm sure giving her whiplash from my non-stop chatter. She had to stop me mid-sentence to say, "Becky, before you do anything else... go pour out that coffee!" HAHA! It was hilarious considering it was soooo true. She knows me too well!
So we are leaving to go see Billy in four days. I am excited beyond words!!! I have about 6 things knocked off my list of 76 things to do before we go. If I clean too much today, I'll just have to re-clean Friday. So, I might as well let it all pile up and do it all at once rather than wear myself out. I think that makes perfect sense. Kinda the same sense as eating oatmeal cookies for breakfast. It's oatmeal - a breakfast food. So, why not eat oatmeal cookies for breakfast?!?

So I don't think I ever posted what Billy will be doing the last couple weeks of training... now that he's done. But I was just looking at it and thought it looked interesting. I decided to share.
Weeks 6-9: Blue Phase


The culminating phase of BCT, Soldiers combine the skills they learned in earlier phases of training to complete advanced combat tasks.

Advanced Rifle Marksmanship (close combat and use of aiming tools such as lasers)


Patrol and attack as a squad


Maneuver and engage targets as part of a team


Employ "crew-served" and more powerful weapons


M240B Machine Gun


AT4 Anti-Tank Rocket Launcher


M203 40mm Grenade Launcher


Military Operations in Urban Terrain (MOUT - Fighting in a city)


Convoy Defense


Improvised Explosive Device (IED) Defeat


Long-distance Road Marching with combat load


Foward Operating Base (FOB) operations


Control Point operations
 
 
And here is a little thing I found on what Victory Forge is
It's a 72 hour tatcial exercise that combines everything they've learned during basic training.
 
Victory Forge


The Army took the Crucible and changed it in ways to suit their needs. At Fort Jackson, Victory Forge was the result. "All Army basic training sites have a culminating event like Victory Forge," said Army Maj. Gen. John A. Van Alstyne, commander of Fort Jackson.

Basic at Jackson once climaxed with a classic field training exercise. "I got here in July 1997 and I took a look at the FTX. It became clear to me we needed to do a lot of work," he said. "The recruits were bused out to a point, there was a short road march and then they went into an area and established positions. Drill sergeants referred to it as a 'Dig-X.' In other words, they did more digging than anything else."


Van Alstyne and his planners visited Parris Island's Crucible. He said they changed it to fit their situation. Victory Forge starts with a 10-kilometer march out and lasts 72 hours in a tactical environment. Though Marine recruits carry weapons during the Crucible, their environment is one of training.

The general gathered his brigade and battalion commanders and drill sergeants and charged them: Implement Victory Forge and make it the high point of basic combat training.

The result is a combination of team-building events and tactical lanes. "We wanted to finish with a night infiltration course and a long road march on the way home," Van Alstyne said. The final march started at 12 kilometers, but now averages 15.

"Soldiers now feel like they are pushed both physically and mentally, and they are proud of what they have done," he said. Training companies, he added, routinely come out of Victory Forge looking like rifle platoons that just finished two days of combat operations.

Victory Forge ends at night, and the soldiers gather around a forge. Flames spew from the top as the battalion commander puts the soldiers' experiences into perspective. He holds up a rod of iron and likens it to them when they arrived at Fort Jackson -- metal with a lot of potential but unshaped. But then, he says, they went through the fires of Victory Forge. And as he speaks, he reaches into the forge and pulls out a sword.

Then the drill sergeants go down the line and congratulate the soldiers. "When the drill sergeants walk down the line and tell [the soldiers] they've 'done good,' many of them break down," Van Alstyne said. "They are being told this by someone they really respect. It means a lot to them."


I can't wait to hear how this goes for Billy!! And I'm going to get to hear all about it in about one week!!