part of a letter to his best friend and former CO in NJROTC.....

9-9
...Things are going well here. Time is flying by. Can't believe only 4 1/2 weeks left!!! Working on our drill for Final Drill, which is next Monday, and if we can tighten it all up, we are almost guaranteed to win! Biggest difference between "our" drill and drill here is the 4th squad thing, not to mention each squad is 18 or so long!!! There is a little "extra" trash thrown in, but mostly all the same as it was at home.
While on that subject, how are you liking being away from home? I'm liking it, except for all them Drill Instructors running around But when I get into the fleet, that problem will be solved
Anyways, doing lots of fun stuff, i.e. rifle range, assault courses, "hiking" , drill, but the best things would have to be food and sleep!!!
But I've got to go ... Out.

Howard, Caleb O
Executive Officer
Shelton High School NJROTC (fired)
aka Soon to be PFC Howard USMC

diggin' all that cool OohRah stuff...

9-6
Well howdy all and everybody and you, too ha ha ha and ho
Finally, 3rd Phase!!! Only 33 days left. Hard to believe that graduation is so close at hand, while at the same time, it's so far away?? But, oh well. One week at a time!!!
Anyways, since I last wrote, I've done Field Week, which included Table 2 of Rifle Range.
First we took off into the hills with our packs, had some classes on individual movements and hand signals and some fire team formations and a class on IEDs. Then we went and practiced those things. We also did land navigation, day and night, a couple assault courses, again day and night. Then we left from there early in the morning and went straight to the range for some classes on combat shooting for Table 2, which is just making quick shots at 25m, shooting at different parts of a full sized human torso. That was definitely one of the highlights of boot camp so far. I got 93 out of 100, which puts my total range score at 328 out of 350, which probably puts me in the top 5 of the company or so?
Health-wise, still doing okay. Still have slight pneumonia I think? But still going strong!
Looking forward to uniform issue this week!!!
Other than that not much going on, so, thanks for all the prayers.

a rare diversion and some chit-chat...

8-30
Things are still going pretty well here. I'm still sick, but not too awfully bad.
Yesterday evening all of India Company was taken to a little concert at the chapel here. There was also a couple speakers. The whole thing lasted about an hour and a half. It was put on by a ministry called The Armor of Light, which is part of one of the Calvary Chapels down this way. The band they had was called The Kry. They were purdy darned awesome. Apparently they have 10 albums out and the songs I heard were cool. They also played a slightly different version of Imagine, which sounded almost better than the original version!!
I keep forgetting to tell you all, but my contract PFC stuck!!! *
Apparently it's been really hot down here, but I haven't noticed it being all that hot out.
Currently our platoon is unbloused and buttoned up and to top that off, our guidon is rolled up* because we are too slow, too quiet, and too loud at the same time but that's what you get with a bunch of "young men".
Well, I think I just ran out of things to scribble down, so I'm just gonna say love you all and thanks for all the prayers.

* Caleb found out the day he left for boot camp that he might not get to keep his promotion because he did not have a high school diploma. The Marine Liaison Officer at the Seattle processing center let him keep it, but told him they might take it away during boot.

* These are all incorrect ways to wear their uniforms and their guidon is supposed to be unfurled. Some of the tools the Drill Instructors use to teach and motivate.

rifle qualifications, pneumonia, and food...

8-28
Well range is over no more "crazy" shooting but, oh well, still have Table 2*
Shot a 235*!! 2nd highest in the platoon, highest being 237. Got my Expert Badge on the spot by the PMI*!! and I was the 3rd highest Expert my coach had ever had!
Other than that my cold, or whatever I've got, is getting a little worse and I think my pneumonia is acting up a little; but I'm doing well.
Have an 8 mile hike tomorrow! That I've looking forward to and I'm definitely looking forward to field week!!
Food is still good, just wish they had better veggies Looking forward to eating more MREs!! hehe
Well, I think that's about all I've got for now. Thanks for all the prayers.

PS - I'm gonna have a "big" list of food for Family Day!!

* The "field fire" portion of rifle qualifications
* 250 is the maximum score for this portion of rifle qualifications
* PMI - Primary Marksmanship Instructor

no brag, just fact...... =)

8-23
Just got a class from SDI GySgt Booker on shaving!! All the weird things we do
But anyways, got back from church about an hour ago and I was working on my range book, but there was a song at church I really liked, so I'll pass it on. I hope its title and artist are correct? It's Joel Houston, "Inside Out" or something like that.
Our PMI* is really cool. He's not strict and "demanding" like a Drill Instructor, but he knows his stuff and teaches well. He's been doing this for 6 years. We had a little grouping exercise on Wednesday to get our BZOs*. I was one of about 15 or so in the platoon to make a "3 grouper", which is shooting 15 rounds at 3 targets, 36 meters away, with the targets scaled down to simulate 300 yards. A "group" for this is 3" apart for each group. Then we took a test Friday morning and those who passed (all but 10-12) got to go shoot at the ISMIT (a computer simulation with full scale rifles shooting lasers). In this case, we were shooting 10 rounds from the sitting position in 60 seconds or less at a simulated range of 200 meters. I had the best group of the platoon. It would have fallen in a vertical rectangle about 1 foot high and 5 inches wide. SO, I'm looking forward to range this week!!!
Thursday afternoon we ran the PFT*. I got 106 crunches, 17 pull-ups and a 3 mile run time of 17:38, that being the best time in the company (which has 550 some recruits). So all I need is 3 more pull-ups and I get a perfect PFT!!!
Well, I think the only thing I haven't told you all about is the platoon itself. We started out with 88, dropped to 86 because of asthma and lost another because he broke his ankle. Then before we left for Camp Pendleton, we dropped 9 due to failed PFTs and "sick calls", which I was close to being one of those. Then they dropped my rackmate for supposed "mental issues", which was stupid; but I guess that's the way things work. Then that day (the day before we left for Pendleton), we picked up 3 recruits, one of whom is now my new rackmate and he's pretty cool. He's about 6" shorter than me, but built like a small tank. He's got a good attitude and he's a Christian, which is sweet. He's good to go!! Other than him, I've got several other friends around the platoon. But we still have those ZooHeads who mess things up and, of course, you get those everywhere you go, so I just "roll with the punches".
Tell everyone I love them and thanks for the prayers.

(editor's note: lyrics to song he mentioned)
From The Inside Out
Joel Houston

A thousand times I've failed still your mercy remains
Should I stumble again still I'm caught in Your grace
Everlasting
Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending
Your glory goes beyond all fame

Your will above all else my purpose remains
The art of losing myself in bringing You praise
Everlasting
Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending
Your glory goes beyond all fame

In my heart and my soul I give You control
Consume me from the inside out Lord
Let justice and praise become my embrace
To love You from the inside out

Everlasting
Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending
Your glory goes beyond all fame
And the cry of my heart is to bring You praise
From the inside out, Lord my soul cries out “Lord”

* PMI - Primary Marksmanship Instructor
* BZO - Battle Sight Zero - sighting in their rifle
* PFT - Physical Fitness Test -- The test includes a timed three-mile run, pull-ups, and crunches timed for 2 minutes. 100 points max for each event totals to a perfect PFT of 300. To reach that goal, they need to have a run time of 18 minutes or less, 100 or more crunches within 2 minutes, and 20 or more pull-ups.

part of a letter to a friend...

8-23
Chow is good!! Of course I'm eating my veggies!
Our Drill Instructors are cool. There are times when they are mean and nasty like they are supposed to be, then there are times when they are the coolest people in the world just talking and answering questions.
Weather is nice and warm... my new rackmate is really cool. He got dropped from his original company 3 weeks to our company, cause of pneumonia, but he's sensible (meaning he's not stupid ) and he's a Christian!!
Well, so far PT hasn't been too bad, haven't been IT'd too much. I have the best run time in the company and the best shot groups in the platoon. So I'm doing well, looking forward to rifle range and definitely looking forward to graduation!!!

P.S. I highly recommend brownies/chocolate cake with peanut butter on top :) yum yum!!

and the verdict from medical is....

8-14
Hello Everyone!!!
I'm kinda in a hurry now, but I thought I'd write.
I went to medical and got bed rest (with bronchitis, so they said) and a follow-up the next day, which started getting me worried because if you are light-duty or bed rest you can't go up north*. After the follow-up I was put on light-duty and was feeling much better. Headache was gone, sore throat was much better, cough was better!! So, I went to medical today praying that I wouldn't stay on light-duty

cont. on 8-15
and wouldn't you know it, I got full duty!! Big answer to prayer there! I was also diagnosed with early stages of pneumonia; but even with that, here I am at Edson Range writing this letter.
It's fun to see some of the things I've seen here before, like the main gate I've driven through many times or the main part of Pendleton; but the best part is all the helicopters!!!*
One kinda odd thing about this place is between the sand, trees, and all the little scrub brushes, it's all very beautiful. At least to my eyes.
Here there is only one hatch to the chow hall, as opposed to four at MCRD. There is slightly less chow, but the lines move faster and the food is still good and they have apple-raspberry juice!! (That stuff is yummy)
Other than that, ain't much new here, so love you all and thanks for all the prayers.

* Training weeks 5, 6, and 7 they travel up north to Camp Pendleton for rifle/shooting training/qualifications and field maneuver training
* One of the Marine Corps' helicopter air stations is on Camp Pendlton. On any given day you can see AH-1W Super Cobras, UH-1N Hueys, CH-46E Sea Knights, and/or CH-53 Sea Stallions flying overhead.