Tidbits

- My Drill Sergeant is freaking hilarious. Not in a bad way. This guy could do stand up comedy. Seriously...

"You call that rain!? That is simply the wind blowing water off the clouds!"

Okay, you had to be there. But this guy will take an hour asking us questions about processing. Of that hour maybe 20 minutes of it is questions, the rest is like Bill Cosby. We were all laughing our faces off. I will try to not do that at Basic.

I have seen Grant Beaman a couple of times. He goes off to Basic on Monday (May 18). Wish us well!

- I supposedly go to Basic on Thursday (May 21).

- I recited the Soldier's Creed by memory in front of the Drill Sergeant. HOOAH!!

- Drill Sergeants are hilarious when they intimidate you. But I never laugh, however. I bite my tongue.

- My platoon and one other was told that we are half disciplined before, we went to basic! HOOAH!!

So... Processing is almost exactly like RSP (Recruit Sustainment Drill), just with a lot more standing and waiting. We had to buy some new running shoes, and it would normally take 2-3 days to break in my new shoes, oh not at processing, though. Try 2-3 hours. I believe between 4:00 A.M. and 8:00 P.M., I sat for maybe one hour, otherwise I stood, marched, or did push ups. My stamina has definitely increased. We haven't been running yet, so I am curious to see how fast I can run a mile. Last time was 7 minutes and 8 seconds.

Tomorrow (Sunday, May 17), I will get to sleep in until 4:45 A.M.!! And... no fireguard, so I will sleep for nearly 8 hours... supposedly. Anything can happen. Things are going well! Next week I will be starting basic - then I will send you all my address.

Peace & love!

Greetings friends,

Wednesday the 13th of May, we (8 soldiers from SD) boarded a plane to the Windy City. Of course our flight was delayed due to weather in Chicago, therefore missing our flight to Columbia, SC, but we boarded the 7:30 P.M. flight, which turned out to be almost 9:00. We probably arrived to the processing station at Ft. Jackson around midnight. Due to everything that needs to be done, we did not sleep at all. But we are all holding up fine. All I can say about processing is if you don't have patience coming in, you will.

We are all studying our Smartbooks while we wait. Every once in a while a song pops into my head, which is nice. So far, songs of choice are "Octopus's Garden", "Fine Line", "Final Countdown", and last but not least, "Imagine". As I write this, Ringo's "Liverpool 8" is in my mind.

The weather down here is very nice thus far. Hope all is well back home. More updates to come!

Peacce & Love,
Daniel D. Heier

My Summer 2009 Blog

Hi Friends!

I created this blog in order to keep you up to date with my summer adventures. As you know (or don't know) I am a member of the 147th Army Band based in Mitchell, SD. This summer I am going to basic training in Fort Jackson, South Carolina and then AIT training in Norfolk, Virginia.

With a little help from my friend Aubrey, I will be writing "blog" letters for them to posted on this very blog. This way I can do my best to keep you all up to date with whats going on in my life and my progress.

As soon as I find out what my address is, I will have it posted on my blog and if you would like to, write me! I will deeply appreciate it. I will most likely be my best/only way of communication. Besides, it is time to bring back snail mail. Honestly, what is better than receiving a hand written letter. I enjoy it!

Peace & Love,

Daniel