Tough Little Solider

Basic Miltary Training

So they made it to Austin and into their training camp and Kristina was experiencing tons of emotions even though she was aware from every YouTube video she watches: excited, nervous, scared because it was the real deal. Josh looked at her and said.

"Kelly, baby watch over us I beg you!  Matt, keep an eye on Krissy as she goes through this."

Who was Kelly you asked? Kelly was Josh's wife when he first settled in Texas they met in school, fell in love and just like Matthew, at the same time as Kristina and Matt went through it, she was diagnosed and they got married. As they were all planning their wedding, Matt wanted Josh as best man and Josh wanted Matt as his best man but the timing wasn't good because the wedding was on the same day and that how Josh and Kristina kept in touch until graduation she lost his number.

Kristina said.

"Babe, if you can hear me up there as you said in your letter, let the insane adventure began!"

For 22 weeks, they did every single training nonstop and Kristina knew the routine from watching on YouTube.  Josh reads the schedule to Jess.

"A typical day in Basic Training generally follows this schedule.

Time    Activity    Description
4:30 a.m.    First Call    Wake up to perform personal morning tasks and conduct hygiene.
5:00 a.m.    Physical Training (PT)    Form up in the company area, perform morning physical training (calisthenics and running).
6:00 a.m.    Breakfast   
6:30 a.m.    Training    Begin the day's scheduled training exercises.
12:00 p.m.    Lunch   
12:30 p.m.    Training  Continue the day's scheduled training exercises.
5:00 p.m.    Dinner   
5:30 p.m.    Drill sergeant time    Time for drill sergeants to speak with the recruits about any subject they may think requires attention.
Mail call is also performed during this time.
8:00 p.m.    Personal time    Time for recruits to engage in personal activities, such as writing letters, laundry, showering, relaxation, or sleep.
Recruits may also catch up on platoon duties during this time, such as barracks cleaning or wall locker organization.
9:00 p.m.    Lights-out."

Kristina said while smiling.

"I knew! I YouTubed everything, bro."

Josh admitted.

"Are you feeling homesick?"

Kristina replied.

"Not yet surprisingly."

So after a long day of workout, presentations and meeting other recruits she couldn't wait to sleep and it was not until she hit the pillow, Kristina was stuck in her bedtime routine as she usually tell her parents, sisters goodnight then texted KJ goodnight or when KJ was home, they all said goodnight. Right then and there she got homesick, she forgotten about her bear that was in her bag until night 5 so she ended up sobbing quietly for the first four nights.

Night 5 Kristina was struggling to sleep and one of her roomates, Selena came over and sat with Kristina.

"Homesick?"

Kristina nodded.

"Yeah I just want the feeling to fade."

Selena spotted Kristina  bear.

"What this?"

Kristina, feeling relief and embarrassed thinking about the last four nights as she forgot her bear.

"My brother made it for Christmas last year. It has his voice!"

they went outside to not disturb the rest of the recruits sleep and she pressed each paw. Selena said.

"That is so sweet! Now you can rest peacefully."

so they both went to sleep.

The next day Kristina asked her Drill Sergent to take a photo of her with her bear to attach to her letter knowing the rules say no camera or no photography, but their Sergent had one and she explained the story behind it and what had happened the last 4 nights that she forgotten about her bear and how Selena helped her. The Drill Sargent was so moved by the story, he was so cool with it!  she wrote her brother a letter and attached her photo and off it went! 3 weeks later during Drill Sargent Time she was called. The Sergent knew the idea from KJ was to make her think she will get a letter back from her brother, but there was more. Now she had received her mail, he had to video her reaction to send to her family and friends.

"APA Johnson!"

It was Mail time during the sergeant time.

"Here!"

In came stacked and piles of letters from family and friends.

"What in the world? I write to KJ and 3 week later it come back to a pile stack of letters and packages!"

Drill sergeant smiled as he videoed as he said.

"Plenty of Personal Time huh Apa?"

Kristina said stunned.

"Yes SIR! It will take months to write them back. May I suggest longer hours of personal time?"

The troop agreed.

Then the Sergent asked.

"We are videoing this back to your friends and family any messages?"

Kristina smiled.

"Hi everyone! Thank you all for the mail. Big bro, were you on this and told Sergeant Matthew your plan? His smile and taking out the cam was a giveaway."

Everyone laughed.

"On a serious note, these will take weeks to answer y'all back bare with me! Josh get over here."

Josh came over.

"We are good and as you know Josh got a fresh cut! Looking sharp."

Josh said.

"We are taking good care of her, right everyone?"

The troops cheered. Josh added.

"She did 100 pushups yesterday and I was impressed and there were moments where I could see, she was feeling drained and I said to her yelling Imagine battling it out with T, A and K I know you will beat em come on you got this! I gave her that push to give her the motivation and she did it! Y'all I know you all would have been so proud."

The Sergeant agreed.

"Your sister, friend and daughter is an friend, motivator and a wonderful angel to us all!"

When the family and friends got the vid they all teared up and cheered.

Author Note: I googled the schedule for this lol