Feb 18 and 20 2016

Thursday February 18, 2016

Dear Mom and Dad,
It's been a loooonnnnng week.  We had Monday off, Tuesday we went and re-qualified at the range and I finally broke 30!  Officially a sharpshooter!  Cool, huh?  Wednesday we did our 'Combat Confidence Course" and that sucked because our Platoon sucks wind 24/7.  We just suck at working together.  Too many chiefs, not enough Indians.  We're having a hard time fining a PG (Platoon Guide) that is assertive, knows how to keep step and know what is going on.  It's a process.  Today we've done nothing but run, land NAV, and go to the PX (Post exchange) to get stuff.  The week has dragged.
I really want to go ice skating.  It's getting too hot here in Oklahoma.  VA is going to be a scenic change.
We saw an all male Battery this morning and some Private in 1st Platoon was saying how much better the Military would be without females.  I almost flipped out on him.  But this isn't the place for that so I kept my cool.
Your letters make me so happy.  I'm happy to hear about ya'lls health.  Mom, when I get back, we can go running every morning at like 6.  And do PT.  It burns after awhile when you do it right/long enough.  Dad, do they make carb-free Mexican food?  If so, we can eat that.  Not that the food we get is bad (besides the MRE's)...but I miss real Mexican food.
Hopefully I get my phone again on Sunday!  It's a privilege for good behavior.  So if you get a call, please answer.  35 days until I'm out here!
Thank you for all the NHL updates.  They give me life!  Any world/local/hockey/US news is hughly appreciated because I know nothing that goes on outside of Bravo Battery.
Thank you for everything!  Love ya'll!  See ya soon!
Love, Chloe

My Sharpshooter!  (I don't know if this is her, but she loves this)

Saturday 20, Feb 2016
Mom and Dad!
Thank goodness it's Saturday...We've been out in the field for the past couple of days. So we packed everything up and went to the range to practice RM (rifle Marksmanship) and were there forever.  I got to lay down 90 rounds of amo.  So I'm cool with it.
But then we hiked out, set up our tents, and got ambushed like 2 min after

getting in bed.  Blanks going off, smoke bombs, flash-bangs, other loud crap and Drill Sgts. running everywhere yelling.  I put my head down and knocked out.  lol.  I slept through a "Fire fight".  But the tent had to fit me, my weapon, all of my gear, and the extra sleeping stuff.  It wasn't too comfortable.  But I slept and then we worked on tactical crap the next day.
Part of the tactical training was clearing a room/building.  My squad was on point with that the first run!  BUT I was the only one who actually killed the Drill Sgts.  I'm so proud of beating an Infantry man to the shot. Because he did shoot me~  I just pulled the trigger first.
But coming back and showering felt amazing.  I've considered changing my MOS to a combat MOS but then I remember that I need to finish school and then go active if I want then.
My next Pt test is next week and my run time is better and so are my push ups.  I haven't worked on my sit ups though I should keep working on those even though I'm passing with those.
Some days are rougher than others.  But 34 days left!
Love y'all!  Stay strong and healthy!  See ya soon!

Love, Chloe

Hand Granade throwing!

Monday 15 Feb 2016

Mother and Father,
Happy Monday!  Well more like happy Presidents Day!  Since it's a holiday, pretty much the whole post has the day off.  So we have like 3/13 Drill Sergeants here playing Military movies for the whole Battery.  It's comfortable  and somewhat entertaining.  I mean I'm getting paid for it, right?  The movies have a lot of blood and violence, which doesn't phase me but I look around and some soldiers (both male and female) are having a hard time with it.  Like you joined the Army... This is something that happens.  We don't learn to shoot M-16's for Merit Badges.
Yesterday, being Valentines day, 2nd Sunday, and the first Sunday of white phase, was a good day.  All of the females in by bay love you mom and say thank you so much for the little Valentines.  It made them feel loved and supported.  Since it was the 2nd Sunday at church, we got refreshments , heart shaped, homemade sugar cookies and brownies.  Real sugar never tasted so good.  They don't give us any real sugar in the chow hall.  And last, but not least, since it was the first Sunday of white phase, we got our phones for like 5-10 minutes.  Like the idiot I am, I started getting all teary eyed when I talked to dad.  I've really missed hearing your voices.  I tried calling Erin, but she didn't answer.  I'll have to try again next time.  I sent out a few texts to people who I wish I had time to call.  I hope it surprised them.  It was weird holding my phone though...
We start learning land navigation on Wednesday.  So if I get lost in the "woods" I blame it on the lack of mountains.  That's the only sense of direction I have.
Hopefully we get to go to the store soon because I'm running low on Shampoo and conditioner.  Maybe I'll buzz my hair to 1/4 inch like some of the females .  Less trouble.
That's pretty much everything so far.  Keep me updated on everything.  I love hearing news.
Love, Chloe
p.s. I got called to be a greeter on Sundays, not a big calling but I'm excited for it.

Friday-12-Feb-2016

I miss your food and your kind words and you listening to me.  

Thank you for the T.P.  My butt appreciates it.  Thank you for the stamps.  Everyone will appreciate that.  Thank you for the Valentines.  They make me so happy.  The Drill Sgts. gave me crap about them and laughed but let me keep them!  They made me feel so loved.  

Ashlyn had some friends from Logan write me Valentines and I loved them so much.  It made me so excited to go back to Logan!  Logan really is where I want to be.  I've made up my mind.  I love the environment there.  I need it.  Funny Coincidence:  One of the males in my Platoon is from a small town in Idaho (no clue what it was) and goes to USU!  Crazy huh?  he goes to church with me so I'm going to talk to him about it but it tripped me out. 

This week has been rough.  We;ve been preparing for marksmanship qualifications (shooting), so working with our weapons 24/7.  Also we've been in charge of all prep, management, and take down.  It's tiring.  But it's almost over and we moved into White Phase!  No more red phase~  So wee get more privileges and leadership opportunities.  It'll be nice.  After White is Blue.  One Step closer.  41 days left!  

We did our 8 K rock march on Thursday so my feet are pretty much dead and blistered.  But it wasn't that bad.

The ratio of males to females in the Battery is a new and unheard of number.  80:120.  But it's usually like 170;30.  So the sexist leadership (only one D.S.) has a hard time with it.  There's 201 in our Battery and 50 in our Platoon.  But one girl in our Platoon had bad back problems and went home.  Another female found out she was 6 weeks preggo.  A male has crones.  Another one has a hernia.  So we now have 46? I think.  What Battery is your friend's son in?

I finally shaved my legs and it feels awesome.  Like a dolphin.  Made me so happy.  Our showers are no longer monitored and they're warm now.   

Sundays are still my favourite.  Church keeps me in the green.  It keeps things in perspective and helps me remember the light and the end of the tunnel.  So do your letters.

I love everyone who's been sending me mail and am thankful for those who support me.  Miss you so much.  Hope you and dad have a great week. :) 

lot's of love your way, Chloe  

05 Feb and 07 Feb! Two letters!

Mom and Dad,
     So today (@04:15 am) I took my first PT test.  I didn't do horrible but I am by no means where I want to be.  6 more weeks to improve.  My run time was passingn but I want to drop at least another minute.  My sit-ups were good, I should've kept going but I got lazy.  And considering I've never actually done push-ups, let alone be taught how to do them.  I did well!  But I'm glad the first test is over and I have a point to progress from.
      For the past few days, we've been down on the range grouping our sight pictures.  I'm not Infantry but I did my best and wasn't bad at all.  I just have to watch my breathing.  It's been really nice to learn everything there is to know.  I'm hoping for sharpshooter (32/40-36/40) because lets be realistic, I won't get expert.
     Currently my hands are covered in black crap from my weapon.  Whoever had it last didn't clean it before turning it in.  We spent a solid 4 hours cleaning and re-cleaning our M-16's.  It sucks and is dirty but the difference it makes is well worth it.
     There has been so much built up tension within the female living quarters (bay areas) and finally about 6 females snapped.  There was so much screaming and cursing and yelling. It was intense.  Larkin and I kinda stayed out of it.  She told everyone that she would call the Drill Sgt. on duty if things didn't calm down because someone was seriously going to get hurt.  Cat fights are annoying. And pointless.  But it made people bond, grow-up and break apart.  It's part of living with 59 other females.  On well.  Story time:  So at the range, there is porta-johns and latrines (Baño) within a 10 x 5 feet shack.  Larkin and I decided that the shack would probably be more sanitary than the porta-johns.  It was absolutely not.  Females decided that standing squats over the toilet made more sense than a sitting spat over the actual toilet.  So there was mud, dirt, shoe marks, and urine all over the seats, the ground, and the surrounding toilet areas.  Oh and there were no stalls!  two holes, two seats, one giant dirty, smelly sticky bench seat.  We had just eaten lunch and in our MRE's there is moist towelettes and tissues.  We wiped and sanitized the crap out of those seats.  It took a solid 5 minutes to do it though.  lol, all of the females are super comfortable with each other because of the showering.
     My Drill Sgts. are awesome.  They really know how to work with us and help us.  I'm so grateful for that.  Our Platoon is supper "high speed".  We get the things we need done.
     I love getting mail from people.  It means a lot to me.  It's my favourite part of the day.  It's the thought that counts.  Love y'all!  6 weeks and 5 days left!
xoxo-Chloe Kendrick


Sunday, Feb 07, 2016
Mom and Dad,
Happy Sunday!  I was happy to be able to sleep in until 0600 today.  lol, it's funny how that's considered sleeping in for me now.  I even go to bed at 2100 (9:00).  But Sundays are always nice because of church!  It's so peaceful there.  But the drill sgts. forgot to pick us up after church ended...So the 7 of us Mormon's in  Bravo//31 stood outside of the building that has the room that we meet in for 2 hours about.  Meanwhile, our Battery was going to lunch chow so we ended up eating MRE's.  Yummy, huh?  We eat a lot of those.  But out of the 7, i'm the only female.  My luck, right?  The guys are nice though so I don't mind.  But there's just not a whole lot of females at church to begin with.
     It's Super Bowl Sunday and guess what I'm doing?  Writing y'all and watching the Super Bowl.  lol, it's called 'mandatory fun."  When the Marines commercial came on, we all got super excited, then we realized it's the marines, so we all went back to talking about the game.  Same with the Jeep commercial.  We thought it was Army until they showed the Jeep.  Lame.  I'd rather be watching hockey honestly.  But I'll take what I can get.  So I'm actually watching the game.  Shocking, huh?
But thank you for all of the scriptures that you sent me.  I love them!
Love y'all!  I hope you have a great week!  Keep me updated.  Be home soon!
BTW: I have really tan hands now!
XOXO - Chloe

February 2, 2016

Mom and Dad,
So I have no clue what I've told y'all, so I'll start from the top.  I got an M-16!  His name is Goose and Larkin named hers Maverick.  Cool, huh?  I can take him apart and put him back together pretty quickly.  I'm proud of myself.  We start at the range next week and I'm pumped to see how my shot is!  I want to keep a good shot.  Our (my Platoon's) rifle movements are the best in the Battery.  We have all of the other Platoons hating on us.  We do well working together but not on a social level.  Girls will be girls.  Apparently the cycle of soldiers has the most females ever.  Just our Battery has a 80:120 male to female ratio.  So Girl Power.
I went through the gas chambers the other day.  It was bad but not 100% horrible.  It was like tons of pepper in my lungs and sinuses.  Sadly, I didn't throw up.  But my Drill Sgt. was dancing around w/glow sticks, his gas mask, music blasting, and beat boxing.  We love laughing so hard but he made it less tense.
I almost shaved my head..then I chickened out even though my hair is annoying.
All of the mail I get has made me smile.  I love it.  And I'm thankful for everyone who has written me.
Larkin and I went to the Wiccan Service on Sunday and I am so grateful that I'm LDS. lol I missed church,  But she'll come with me next week, so that will be fun.  The Church actually sent me a thank you letter for my decision to serve in the Military.  It made me feel special.
We've slowly realized that life keeps on going even though we're here.  One female found out that her dad died so she was given 10 days leave.  Another male found out his wife is expecting.  Life keeps  on going.  It's crazy.
I love you guys so much.  You're in my prayers all of the time.  (If you've been praying for me to have good weather, it worked)  Thank you for everything.
xoxo Love, Chloe

I think we found her on Facebook!  Not  on the wall, but that was one of the things that she has had to do, so I put that picture.  (Love, her Mom)

Wednesday 27 January 2016

Mom and Dad,
First off, thank you for the care package!  The hair products work great and the inserts came just in time for my first 4 K march.  Unfortunately though, I couldn't have any of the candy/food.  It's considered "contraband."  So no more of that...The pictures made me way too happy.  My Drill Sgt even got mad at me for smiling so much. lol, and thank you for putting my address up!  I've loved hearing from people.  Mail call is my favourite part of the night.
So we got our M16's yesterday!  D.S. said we had to name them since we would have them 24/7 for the next 9 weeks.  Larkin named hers Maverick and I named mine Goose.  We're a good pair, It's just nice to have someone to talk to here.
I've been pretty sick for the past week but apparently the gas chambers clear it up? So that's tomorrow and we take our masks off for half of it.  Larkin and I are going to eat all dairy to ensure that we do throw up.  It's just a goal of ours.  She also said that if we went to one Wiccan church service, she would go with me to Mormon church on a regular basis and I need another female there so it's a deal!  Should be interesting.
But I love you guys and miss everyone!  But the food is good and I'm where I'm supposed to be right now!  Keep me posted on everything!  love y'all!
xoxo PVT Chloe Kendrick