Family Weekend Update & Photos

Thank you all for your patience. Here is the latest update from Family Weekend, and our recent (today) phone call from Patrick. Patrick says the 36-hour pass he was granted during Family Weekend was exactly what he needed to refresh him spirits and keep going for the next month until graduation. This past week Pat was finishing up on live convoy fire. They have been practicing firing with both blanks and live rounds. Patrick hopes to retest sometime on his M16 riffle shooting as he thinks he will be able to make Expert level. So he is looking into retesting on that. The last PT test he took he was able to take 30 seconds off of his run time, which was great because of all of the problems he has been having with his knee. Patrick is averaging a 9 minute mile. On base there is a new kitchen so he is no longer eating MREs all of the time. They now serve roasted chicken, turkey, fruit and vegetables. Patrick is entering Black Phase, which is the most difficult phase. Black Phase begins the day after Thanksgiving, and the first week is nicknamed “Hell Week.” On Friday Patrick and his platoon will march out ten miles into the woods carrying all of their gear, build tents and spend the week out there. Temperatures at night are very close to freezing. After this Patrick enters Recovery Week, which will be his last week in basic (technically Patrick is now in Advanced Basic). During this time things will start to wind down and they will be doing a lot of cleaning. It will be important to have some happy and upbeat funny letters waiting for Patrick after he gets back from Hell Week in the woods. We are going to need to lift his spirits again for his final week on base. I will post a date when Patrick is expected home once we know. We do expect the first two nights he is home he will sleep around 12-14 hours (just as he did during Family Weekend). I will also update you when we know where Patrick will be stationed for sure following his Holiday Exodus. Don’t forget to check out the attached pictures!

Army Family Weekend