November 17, Day 62

First let me offer a sincere apology for my long absence. Somehow I got in my mind that I had posted everything from Basic and was now waiting to resume posts during OCS. Fortunately, one reader sent me a message that made me aware of my error.

So now I will pick back up with Day 62 - The 16k Ruck March

Everyone in the bay woke up pumped. It was time for us to complete our graduation requirements with the final event: our 16k ruck march.
We started the day by returning to the FTX site to police more brass and trash so that the site was ready for the next group. Once we finished with the cleanup, it was time to have some lunch (MREs) and get on the road. As we ate our MREs, the Drill Sergeants decided to let us have a little fun. We were told that we have now earned the right to impersonate them and they would like to hear the best we had. There were many great skits, hard to describe any here though. Let's just say it was a great way to recap the good times and relieve a little stress.
One thing we did during the skits though was debut the 3rd platoon song. We actually did it twice. The first time, everyone tried to sing it together. The second time, DSO asked me to sing it so that they could understand the words. It was definitely a hit. I was even asked later at the DFAC to sing it to some Drill Sergeants in another company.
It actually wasn't too bad. The Drill Sergeants talked it up, telling us that had picked a route with many challenging hills, etc. And they did! But, knowing graduation was on the other end made it seem to go by even faster than the 12k.
As we arrived back to the main campus, where our barracks, DFAC, etc were, our cadre had us take an unexpected detour. We were formed up outside of a PT bubble, not our bubble. Music was playing loudly, so we knew something was going on. Our Drill Sergeants came by and talked to us about how proud we should be of our accomplishments. Talked to us about how we were now soldiers and gave us more advice about being in the military.
We marched into the bubble with a song playing over the speakers called "American Soldier" by Toby Keith. I am certain I have heard the song before in passing, but I never really paid attention to it before then. That day though, all of us now rough and tough soldiers were having to fight back some emotion.
The ceremony included some great, motivating speeches from the cadre and handing out of challenge coins. But the thing that will stick with me the most was when the 3rd platoon Drill Sergeants came each one of us and shook our hands, congratulating us on completing Basic Training.
Now it is time for what the Drill Sergeants have warned us will be the toughest part of training, preparing for equipment turn-in.