I GOT MY BERET!

Blogger Peoples- 05 Aug 2010

Oh my gosh. I have so much to write about. I haven't written to y'all in awhile cuz I have been sick so I go to bed really early. But I am feeling better. I quit throwing up and I no longer have a fever. Didn't have to go to sick call either. (thank God)

Ok, so we got our Class A's! The pants, skirt, and jacket are being taylored right now. But we should be getting them back next week sometime. We got our ugly a**, shiny, black, dress shoes and we got our Berets!! It was an exciting moment. ;o) Gilchrist(m) (our recycle) showed me how to shave my Beret. It took me 30 min. and I'm still not done with it. I gotta do it 2 more times. Blah. We did U.S. weapons today. That was so much fun and we have COC tomorrow and phase change into blue on Saturday!

We are almost done. 21 more days till graduation...If I make it that far =/ We have our last PT test next Wednesday. I have been working out every night cuz our morning PT is a joke. I only need to cut off 28 seconds off of my run, 3 more push ups, and IDK how many more sit ups. Not very many though. PT tests are horrible. Especially when you get smoked for two hours the night before. Gah. I'm kinda nervous for it. But it's all good. I'm confident.

The FAB is starting on Thursday, that should be interesting. We are spending the night out in the field Thursday night and then we come back Friday evening. Drill and ceremony competition on Saturday, church on Sunday, FAB again Sunday afternoon until Tuesday. We have our 12k to the FAB and then 16k on the way back. It should be horrible.

I wish we were allowed to listen to music or at least sing cadence or something. All we do is march and yell "vehicle from the front/rear!!!" and drink water...it sucks like a Popsicle. Lol. Speaking of popsicle's...I might be eating a ice cream sandwich and Taco Bell on Sunday. We get a 5hr on base pass since we are phasing. :o)
But I don't know if I'm gonna eat Taco Bell cuz I have a PT test on Wednesday...=/ I dunno. I'll think about it.

Oh My Gosh!!!
16 days till my B-day!!

I'm excited. And I got my chapstick from my momma today. :o) That pretty much made my day. I can't believe basic is almost over. The next two weeks are gonna go by so fast cuz we have a frick ton of stuff to do. Our last week is going to be out processing and family day/graduation ceremony and drill practice. Pretty laid back. I'm pretty chill right now...'cept for my PT test. Not to excited about that. But, it will be chill. No worries. I am going to drink my Gatorade and go to bed...crap. I have to make my bed. We had linens today (we do every Thursday). Blah. I'll just do it in the morning. Ha ha. I haven't changed as much as I thought. I miss you all like crazy. I love you all and can't wait until family day when I get to see my Momma and my Daddy and get Chinese food and have a BBQ. Oh yeah. Lol. Love and kisses.

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Can We pretend that Air planes in the Night Sky are Like Shooting Stars...

Dear Blog Readers,
I gotta make this short and sweet cuz we gotta go to bed an hour early cuz we got a PT test tomorrow.

I cut off all of my hair. I mean all of it. I will send a picture of it to my madre when I get my phone and she (with the help of the kids) can put it on here for y'all to see. It's super cute" Ha ha. We actually had fun today at the salon with DS Thigpen. She is pretty chill when she is not angry. Lol.

Night fire again tomorrow! I'm excited! Maybe I will get to see fire flies again! I am in love with them. They make me happy. Ha ha. Lights out. I'm going to bed. Miss you all like crazy.

Love, Victoria

WHITE PHASE baby.

Oh yeah, I could get used to this...

Love, Victoria

BRM Today!!

BRM = Basic Rifle Marksmanship 13 July 10

BRM WAS AWESOME today! I was one of the first people to qualify (and I was also the first female soldier). Hehe. I'm so proud of myself. :o) We had to qualify in groupings before we could do anything else for BRM. It was fun. Things are pretty crazy here. It's hot. Like 110 degrees outside today. We had two people pass out from heat exhaustion. Me and Aston(m) took care of them though. We had to wrap them in ice sheets and keep an ice pack on their necks and wrists. I felt like a doctor. Lol.

We had some crazy drama going on in our bay tonight. Brew(f) and Dailey(f) (f stands for female and m stands for male) cuz when I'm telling stories it's hard to tell if they are male or female based on their last name. But anyways, they pretty much hate each other so they are always talking s*** to each other. So Dailey(f) decides to "confront" Brew(f). "Confront" in Dailey's language means "kick some a**". It was lovely. DS Vaughn came in screaming and broke the fight up. Oh the things that go on in the female bay.

But other than that, It's been a pretty good day. I started my laundry today. I hate doing laundry. Especially here. Imagine 200 dirty stinky privates fighting over 8 washing machines and 10 dryers. Yeah it's scary. OK I have now fallen asleep 4 times now while writing this. So I'm going to bed. I love you all and miss you like crazy.

Love,
Victoria

From the Mom

Just so you know the last three posts were one letter. I had to break it up because it was so long. You need to start with the one that says Ice Cream Sandwiches part one. Then Ice cream sandwiches continued. And lastly, Ice cream sandwiches the end. Also, Victoria does not have internet access! She sends me the letters and posts them. She wants you all to be able to know what she is doing while there.
:o) RaGayla

Ice Cream Sandwiches the End

I MISS MY SWEEDISH FISH!
Everyone thinks that I am addicted to them (I told them that I was and they said that I have a serious problem). My DS said that it is very likely that I am addicted to the Red40 in them. I think I'm just addicted cuz they taste good.

I MISS MY LATE NIGHT ADVENTURES!

This portion of my blog letter is dedicated to my late night adventure friends, including but not limited to:
Kelsi (Dear Lovely)
Chelsea
John
matt
Keith
and whoever else had late night adventures with us.

This, here at basic, is an adventure, but it's not as fun cuz y'all aren't here with me. :o(

I miss everyone like crazy. I love getting letters and our DS doesn't make us do push ups for them cuz they don't like to sit there and wait while we do them. SO SEND ME LOTS OF LETTERS! I love getting them. It always puts me in such a good mood. When I got my three part letter from my Dear Lovely I was in a super good mood so my DS gave me a nick name. Can anyone possibly guess what that nick name was? That's right. She called me BUBBLES! I could have hugged her right then and there. But my life and health are too important to me. Lol. But anyways, like I said, write me letters. And send me pictures. I feel like I am missing out on a lot of stuff. So send me some pictures and it will make me feel less out of the loop. :o)

I know some of y'all already have my address but for those of you who don't:

PVT Arbogast, Victoria
G 1/19 FA 1st PLT
5970 S. Boundary Rd.
Ft. Sill, Ok 73503

My DS kindly asks that we inform everyone that I am to receive NO:
Naked pictures
Edible items
Bombs/weapons
Reading materials/books
otherwise I get in trouble do a frick ton of push ups and get a counseling statement. Which by the way I am starting a "counseling statement collection" with all the ones I have so far. It's stupid. I get them for dumb stuff. Like my hair was too stylish and my shirt wasn't tucked in. It's Ruh-tarted, but whatever.

I really am going to bed now. I am tired. We had an 8k Ruck march to the gas chamber today, then we took a little trip through the chamber and back. Pretty laid back day but I'm still exhausted.

But I love y'all and miss you like crazy. Don't miss me too much K?

XOXOXOXOXO
Victoria

GOOD NIGHT :O)

Ice Cream Sandwiches Continued

I FREAKIN' MISS YOU ALL!!! But I'm having fun. I am going to church tomorrow. It is so awesome. It's like our youth group but triple the size. We sing all the songs we do at home and the Pastor is awesome. It's awesome. I've been saying awesome a lot. You know why? Because here at basic the only words you are allowed to use are:
"yes/no DS"
"at ease!"
"permission to pass formation DS"
"In cadence!"
"Ah-ooh ah-ooh. SPARTANS prepare for glory!"
(and my personal favorite)
DS: "Arbogast, what the h*** are you doing?"
Me: "Standing at attention DS"
DS: "Oh really?"
Me: "Yes DS"
DS: "that's funny because to me it looks like your'e just being a dumb a**."
Me: "That's because I am a dumb a** DS"
DS: "Good job Arbogast. I'm proud to know that the dumb a** is at least smart enough to know it is a dumb a**."
Me: "Thank you DS."
DS: "That was not a compliment and quit thanking your DS Privates! Hey dumb a**?"
Me: "yes DS?"
DS: "Front leaning rest position, MOVE. In cadence."
Me: "In cadence."
DS: "Exercise. 1-2-3-..."
And that's all the talking that we are allowed to do. So with the lack of talking that I am doing my vocabulary is diminishing. So now the only word that I have left to us is "awesome". Lol. Well I'm gonna go to sleep now. Fire guard just came by and got mad cuz I'm still awake. But what ever. I don't like her any way. She is one of those hypocritical drill privates that talk their little booty's off in formation but then the second anyone else starts talking, turns around and tells you to "lock it up". I want to punch her. But whatever. DS doesn't like her either. She is rude. But Jesus loves her. So maybe I'll be nice to her. Maybe. Lol. But for reals, I got to go to bed. I have fire guard for the last shift which means I will be up an hour before everyone else. Blah. =/ To be continued tomorrow...

Ice Cream Sandwiches Part One

Holy Freakin' ice cream sandwiches. Why, you ask, am I saying "holy freakin' ice cream sandwiches?"
Two reasons: 1. I really want an ice cream sandwich.
2. We went to the gas chamber today.
It was exactly how everyone said it would be but exactly opposite of how I thought it would be when I pictured it when they were explaining it.
There is nothing that could prepare you for it. In our line was Brew, Cowan, Achilli, Braden, me, then Bodensteiner (all from first PLT). We were all yelling and I yelled "holy french toast" (Love ya Chelsea) and my DS started laughing hysterically. It was horrible while I was in there but afterwards I felt awesome. Snot and drool running down my face and everything. I didn't puke though. I even ate a huge breakfast. I figured if I had food in my stomach I wouldn't dry heave so much (a bit of advice from some attractive boys that were talking ot me at the PX. Lol.). After that we went and sat in meal formation and ate our MRES. I had a "cheese and veggie omelet". It was like a sponge. I didn't eat it. But I ate most of the rest of the stuff in the MRE and some Twizzlers that Antivo my BB (Battle buddy) gave me. They was yummy. And I stole half of Bradens M&M cookie. That was yummy too. I eat so much food. Like A LOt. More than I would eat at home and in about 1/10 of the time. We have 4 minutes for chow, and I can stuff a frick load of food in my belly in 4 minutes. I always have a food baby after though. But not for long. We usually get smoked after every meal because we have slow people in our PLT. But even though I eat a lot, I have lost a ton of weight. I hav ebeen gon 25 days and I have lost 19 pounds. That's a lot. Good thing these ACU's have drawstrings in them.

I Got To Use Matthew Rodriguez Today

10 July 10

I got to use my phone for an hour today. I haven't been that excited since I got here. DS Peschel made us toe the line and didn't tell us why. So we are all toeing the line and he comes out and says that we are getting our phones for an hour. We were all grinning ear to ear. DS Peschel started laughing and said that if we didn't wipe those stupid looks off our faces he was gonna change his mind. It was like a light switch. I have never seen smiles jump off of every ones faces so fast.

After we got our phones, it was a mad scramble to fish them out of the chest and then race to the plug ins so we could charge our phones as we used them. I called my mommas cell and she didn't answer. I was pretty bummed out. So I called the house and talked to my little/big brother for awhile. Then my momma called me back. So I got to talk to her and she was at church so I got to talk to Jimi and Aubrey and Troy and my Princess! I was so happy. I talked to my little stud muffin brother David for a little bit too. : o) Then I called my daddy and I could pretty much hear him smiling through the phone. I miss that crazy, old dude. :o)

I tried to call my Dear Lovely, I'm pretty sure I tried like 8 times. I didn't get to talk to her though. I was pretty sad. But, if you are reading this, I love you and I miss you my Dear Lovely.

I miss you all. :o) It's been a good day, now it's time for bed. So I love you all and miss you like crazy. Don't miss me too much k?

Love, Victoria

P.S.- BRM tomorrow. So freaking excited! :o)

Letter #2

Hey Guys,
It's day 4 at BCT and I feel like I have been here for weeks. It doesn't help that reception dragged on forever. That was pretty much hell on earth. The food was good though...kinda.
I miss my phone. My poor little Matthew Rodriguez is laying in the bottom of a chest with the rest of the first platoon's cell phones. It's really frustrating not to be able to just text or call y'all whenever I want.
I would have written another letter sooner but we weren't allowed to because we had a biography to write and because they said we hadn't earned mail privileges yet. I'm supposed to be writing an essay on time management for Drill SGT Thigpen because the shower group in front of us went 4 min. over their 2 min. time limit. But I'm writing this letter to y'all instead. I'll write my essay during fire guard. Me and my battle buddy, Antivo, have fire guard from 2-3am ugh. Somebody pull out their "ACE" card cuz I'm about to shoot myself.
We get to sleep in till 0600 tomorrow. :o) We have Sundays off from breakfast chow till 1300. Most of the girls are going to church in the morning but I'm not going to go. I currently have no clean clothes and need to do laundry extremely badly. I bought a Bible at the PX today though so me and Carpenter are going to do a bible study together in the morning while we wait for our laundry.
Most of the people here are pretty chill. My Platoon, "The Spartans," is all the people I went to reception with. One dude did about 1500 push ups today. DS doesn't like him very much.
We got our M16A2's today! :o) They aren't that heavy, but when you are marching about 3 miles in formation, they weigh down on you. We are learning all kinds of fancy tricks to do with them. DS said that they are our baby. We must protect them with our lives. If we drop them, we drop, and we don't get back up till we knock out 25, 4-counts. I haven't dropped mine yet (knock on wood) but a lot of my battle buddies have...and when your battle buddies beat face... you go right down with em. It pisses the DS off but we're battle buddies. What can you do?
I did so many push ups today. I had my PT test this morning so we didn't do PT, but they made up for it with all the smokings we got. We have 3 Drill SGTS; DS Sheets, DS Peschel, and DS Thigpen (male, male, female) and they all tag team. Even the other PLT's DS' smoke us.
It sucks here, but not as bad as everyone said it would. So far at least. We had our first cryer today during one of our many smoking's. He is now the cry baby of the group.
I got some crazy girls in my bay. They're black, from the south, and dramatic as hell. Haha. I'm having fun. It sucks. It really, really does, but it has its moments. Like when you school all the boys (and girls but they're girls so they don't count) on the deconstruction of your M16A2. Haha. I was proud of myself. Or like when you get your DS to call themselves stupid. Hahaha. I'm clever like that. :o) I got smoked for it but it was frickin funny.
I miss you all like crazy. I miss my mommas cooking and arguing with my siblings. I miss the frantic rush to get out of the house in order to make it to church on time and peach red bulls. I miss sweedish fish and face book and music and Boomer and ramen noodles and my 6 pillows on my bed and sleeping in till whenever. I miss asking my daddy how his trip was when he gets home and watching those stupid history documentaries with him till he falls asleep and I could steal the remote.I miss hula. I miss Bridgepoint. I miss my Saturday night girls. I miss the nasty smell of the sugar beet factory and the crappy weather. I miss Idaho. I love you guys a lot. Y'all better write me letters. IDK if they put up my address yet but I'll put here too just in case:

PVT Arbogast, Victoria
G 1/19 FA 1st PLT
5970 S. Boundary Rd.
FT. Sill, OK 73503

I love you and miss you all. I'm gonna go write my essay now since it's like 2300. LOL Don't miss me too much K?

XOXO
Love, Victoria

P.S.-Since my M16A2 is my first baby, I named it what I planned on naming my first son ( cuz after seeing some of the ruh-tards here, there is no way I am having children). His name is Vincent Michael. Sexy name for a weapon don'tcha think? ;o)

Letter # 1

We received this letter after we posted her address.


Dear Family & Friends,
I'm not sure what my address is yet but I had some free time so I figured I would write to you all.

It's so hot here you don't even know. Even if you have been to Oklahoma, you haven't been here in freakin ACUS & Boots.It's insane

We all have nick names for each other. Like there's a girl from Hawaii that looks exactly Lilo, so that's her nick name. Lol. And there's "Dr. Augustine" cuz she looks like the doctor from "Avatar." We have fun.

So far reception is everything everyone has said it would be. It freakin sucks.

We are getting our "Peanut butter shots" on Monday along with all our vaccines. Not looking forward to that.

Our drill sergeants are pretty chill. They can be real jerks at times, but they definitely are looking out for us.

I wish I had the magic book with me. Our drill sergeants have said some funny stuff. Like Barnes said one day "I really just wanna choke my privates." Haha. We all laughed so hard.

Even though a lot of it sucks, I am having fun. I'm meeting new people, doing new things all in a new place. It is definitely an adventure.
I am never hungry. Ever. by the time my stomach starts growling. it's time to eat again. The food is good (I have been eating the food through the healthy line and staying away from biscuits and gravy). I have been drinking so much water, from the canteen that it is attached to my hip, that I have been peeing like a race horse.

There are four of us going to AIT together and three of us have the same MOS. It's pretty awesome.

We are all starting to talk army. It's pretty funny. And I already have a freakin farmer's tan.

Dude, these army dudes are FINE...completely off limits, but still fine. Haha.

I miss you all so much and I hope y'all will write me lotsa letters. Once I find out what my address is. I miss you guys. MUAH!

XOXO
-Victoria

Victoria's Address

Victoria made it through processing and is at boot camp now. Please send her words of encouragement. I know she would love any letters from friends and family. We will be updating her blog periodically.

PVT Arbogast, Victoria
G1/19 fA, 1st PLT
5970 S. Boundry Rd.
FT. Sill, OK 73503

Oklahoma City

Two hours of sleep and two plane rides later, I am in Oklahoma City. We are at a YMCA center and will be here till 6pm tonight when the bus comes to pick us up. There is so much food here and they keep encouraging us to eat. One of the guys says "It's like they are fattening us up for the kill". Haha. I think he is right.

There are absolutely no mountains...not even little hills. The only elevation is caused by the massive amounts of rain that they have been having...which is also lovely. It's is so frickin hot and humid here. We got out of the airport and it felt like a sauna. My hair is currently an afro and my clothes are sticking to my body. Its a lovely taste of what is to come.

I still don't think this is real. It feels like an out of body experience, like I am watching myself. I know reality is gonna hit me in the face within the next couple days and I'm not really looking forward to it...but owell. It's only 9 weeks right?

Once I get my address I will send it to my parents and have them post it on here.

I love you all and miss you like crazy.

MEPs Tomorrow...

Holy frickin cheez-nips. I am leaving in less than 2 days. I went and saw SSG Bennet this morning and he took my weight and I had to go back in a little while ago and they took my measurements. I am at 170lbs so I make weight, and my BMI is 29% so I make tape. As of right now, the only thing that could possibly hinder me from leaving for basic is if I die or if I don't pass the pregnancy test tomorrow morning. But don't worry, I've been studying for that test for weeks. Hahaha. Just kidding!

I am going to the recruiters at 1430 and they will take me over and get me checked into the hotel. I can swim and chill out with friends and family tonight. In the morning, we get a wake up call at 0430...bleh. =/ I wake up, check out of my hotel room, and then go to MEPs. They will take my height, weight, measurements, and check to see if I'm prego or not (daddy, I'm not so don't worry). If everything goes according to plan, I will be swearing in sometime that morning. After I swear in, I go back to the hotel and stuff my face. Haha. I will spend one more night in the hotel and then fly out to Oklahoma Wednesday sometime.

I'm really nervous but also super excited. Thanks to John, and his words of wisdom last night, I am feeling a lot less nervous. I know it's probably gonna suck...I mean it's basic...its not supposed to be peaches and cream, but I'm going. There's no stopping me. Daddy asked me if I was sure I didn't want to stay home. Of course I want to stay home. I love everyone here so much, but this is the next chapter in my life.

I'm not sure if I will be able to post anything before I leave for basic, so this could be the last time you all hear from me till the end of August. If so, I shall miss you all so very much. I love you guys. Please keep me in your prayers.

P.S.- I am getting so good at army time now! Hahaha. =]

Why on earth is Vic Blogging???

I am starting this blog so I can keep everybody updated on me and my life as I venture through the military world. I can't promise to update it regularly especially while I'm in basic cuz I won't have a computer or internet access. But, I will try and keep it as up to date as possible.

On February 25 I enlisted in the US Army as a UH-60 (Blackhawk) Helicopter Repairer. I am leaving for basic training at Ft. Sill, OK, on June 15, 2010 and then continue on to AIT at Ft. Eustis, VA. Basic training is 9 weeks and AIT is 15 weeks. I will be back for Christmas for about 2 weeks. Don't miss me too much. K guys?