Gear = $4800 on Mastercard. Soft Serve Ice Cream = Priceless!

In the last three days we have received two letters, and a phone call from Pat. He has completed white phase, and has begun blue phase. This is the phase I spoke about briefly in the last posting, where he is working on Advanced Rifle Marksmanship. This is where he is shooting at moving targets, using night vision goggles, buddy team live fire, convoy live fire and fire team exercises. He also expects they will also train on room clearing procedures. He has gotten his CCO (Closed Combat Optics – or red optics) for his rifle. This device alone is $800. He has also been issued an Infrared Laser (which is around $1000), and his NOD (Night Optical Device – or night vision) (around $3000). These new “toys” are something the base is really sensitive about, and if one item is missing all of Sand Hill goes on lock down until it is located and locked up at the end of training. Patrick says that on Saturdays they are starting a short order menu for dinner, and he got a soft serve ice cream cone and said “it was heaven.” Patrick’s knee is still acting up from time to time, and he tries to do a lot of stretching for it. In his letter home he wrote, “I’m still having a good time here. I usually find myself wanting a couple more hours of sleep, but I really enjoy getting out in the morning for work. I think it’s awesome that this is a profession: play with the guys, guns, and explosives, sleep and eat clothed and get paid for it. It’s magnificent.” Patrick has been going to church still every Sunday, and loves it. He says from time to time he will open the Bible and read a few scriptures before bed. He has been having a lot of hard workouts, and after one particularly hard PT session he says, “I was pretty close to complete muscle failure doing push ups, plus we did other stuff that hurt like hell but after a solid workout, a shower, and milk and cookies (shelf stable milk and a Nutrigrain bar), at final formation I feel like a million bucks!”

Patrick has been receiving a lot of letters, and thanks everyone. He is trying his best to write back to people, he just wants everyone to know how much it pumps him up to receive the letters. And after you send a letter, it will take him about 3 weeks to write back. Most nights Patrick is writing under the covers with a flash light after lights outs.