Letters

When David was little he did really well learning his letters by playing Starfall.  Matthew has also learned to love the website as well.  He mostly enjoys the colors and especially the numbers there.  Since the colors and numbers were a membership thing, I went ahead and purchase the membership so that he could do more than the color read and the numbers 1 and 100.  He loves it!  David loves it!  I still limit the time they can spend on the computer, usually 30 minutes each unless I really need to take a nap or get something done.  I am so happy that they enjoy learning and that there are many ways for them to learn new concepts.

This week has been a very exciting one for us.  We got letters from Dustin!  I expected one last week before we left for New Mexico but that didn't happen so we were happy to have a letter waiting for us when we got home.  I got another letter Monday and a third letter Friday.  By all accounts Dustin is doing well.  I think after this next week we will be caught up enough that we are not repeating the same information/questions to each other.  It takes about 4 days for each of us to get letters from the date they were mailed.

Letter #1:  Dustin let us know about transferring from Reception battalion to actual Basic Training.  They get personal time but for the first week or so it was really preparation time for the next day.  They began learning about different weapon systems and began with M-4 weapons emersion.  The M-4 is on them at all times during the day so they were learning how to properly enter buildings with it and will eventually begin using it the firing range.  The began learning combatives, which is hand to hand combat.  They prepared for the Gas Chamber which they did over the weekend (about February 23).  He let us know that he received his first letter from us and was really excited because it came in the first batch of mail his platoon received.  It also came the day before their big snow/winter storm that basically shut the post down.  They went on their first ruck march and began learning combat first aid.

Letter #2:  Dustin told us about going through the Gas Chamber.  He said it was one of the worst experiences of his life however he followed directions, stayed calm and didn't react too badly.  He was really exhausted at the end of the day even though they didn't really do anything physical and so chalked it up to the stresses of the gas chamber.  He let us know the results of his first APFT (Army Physical Fitness Test) which he did well on.  He did well enough that he passed for even the youngest age group.  They also did portions of the Physical Endurance Course (weather permitted only partial use of the equipment) and was proud to say that he was able to complete some of the more physically demanding obstacles like the climbing rope.  Apparently not many people could do them.  They did the next combatives course.  Dustin said that it's cool to learn but then there's the secondary thought of learning these skills to actually cause harm is a little disheartening

Letter #3:  This letter was fun because we have caught up enough that he was able to respond to our most recent letter that we had sent him.  Dustin told us that the combatives for the week had been wrestling - fun.  They learned hand grenade techniques and mechanics.  They also did practice throws with practice and live grenades.  He did well in his qualification of hand grenades.  Friday (3/1) they did a 4 mile ruck march, he said his pack was lighter than when we went back packing a couple of years ago.  They did field training on IMT (Individual Movement Techniques), a mock patrol (he's a team leader of 5 members of his squad) where they learned squad movement, hand signals, team work and intel collection.  It was a long day, it began at 3:30am.  The following day, Saturday, was also spent in the field learning LandNav which is use of maps and compasses.  There were day time and night time components and so it was also a long day.  They phased up to White phase so he's 1/3 of the way through.  Dustin was finally able to make it to church, well part of it anyway, on Sunday 3/3.

On Sunday, February 24, we were able to talk to Dustin for about 15 minutes.  It was so nice to talk to him especially since we hadn't received any letters from him.  My only information up until that point came from his Company's facebook page.
On Sunday, March 3, we were able to talk to Dustin for just a couple of minutes, we were able to say hellos, I love your and take care of a couple questions before saying our good byes.  Knowing that the boys and I would be traveling that day Dustin and I had arranged, the previous Sunday, that he would just call his Mom.  He was able to talk to his parents and let them know how he was doing.

Please, please, please write letters to Dustin.  They are always encouraging and especially for him to know that our family and friends are being supportive.  It has been very difficult for all of us to be seperated like this and for so long.  We are excited for the day that we are all together again.
Please email me or facebook message me for his address.