Inspection no sweat. 1st
platoon won. Colonel asked me a
few questions and I calmly and
assertively answered. So he left me
alone. 2 hours of pass. Talked
to [fiance] for 45 minutes. PX.
Got [fiance's] last letter.
This was the biggest inspection we had, with a full colonel reviewing us. Just in case I had brain lock, I had the base chain of command posted on the inside door of my open locker so I could glance at it. But I didn't need it.
We lined up by our bunks across from our lockers and stood at attention with our eyes straight ahead as the colonel came through and examined each of our lockers. Uniform sets were in the proper order and very evenly spaced from each other. The display drawer was open with the prop gear that we never touched in place, including t-shirts rolled in cardboard to make them look good and socks rolled just so.
Our bunks had their hospital corners at 45 degree angles and the blankets were taut enough to bounce a quarter on.
Our personal world was just so, and he had to defend our space when the colonel came by. I held my ground.
One of the funniest things about the inspection was that we had an after-action review where the drill sergeant went through each of us and how we did. I got "Dunn, you were all right." Which meant I didn't screw up. None of those who didn't do all right got in trouble at this point. Indeed, the drill sergeant just shook his head in amazement at one trainee who had been so nervous that he could barely utter gutteral responses to the questions.
Our platoon won the inspection. However that is scored. I assume the swim suit competition was where we earned decisive points.
We got 2 hours of free time that I used to call my fiance and hit the PX. There is only so much you can do with a 2-hour pass unless you are happy to be a barracks rat and just hang out in the barracks for two hours.
Hanging out in the barracks is always a mistake. Where do you think the sergeants go first when they need bodies for a work detail during your theoretical (you really are on duty 24/7 in the Army) time off?
