The MQU, Pt. 2

This is a continuation of my previous post, The MQU, Pt. 1

After spending the night in ER, I was taken back to the MQU. When they started to issue medication in the morning I found out alittle fact about my cough syrup: The whole purpose was to MAKE you cough, that way you can get the stuff in your throat out of your system, well, seeing as how I was already coughing day and night, I decided to stop taking said "Medicine". That day someone else from my unit (C co, 3/47th IN) came in, for reasons I wont state right now I can't list his name, so we'll call him Private Smith. Smith wasn't in my platoon, but we still knew eachother, we had been bunk mates back at 30th A.G. and we got shipped to the same training Company (a Company usually has around 160-200 soldiers, broken down by platoons, usually 4, with about about 40-50 people in each one.) We also spent alot of time together at our Company Staff desk (Also called the CQ desk) back when I was on crutches for that 1st week afer the german wall because he sprained his wrist that day also, and if you can't train, they stick you with extra duties.

So anyways, he came in around my second or third day in the MQU, he caught the FLU. Smith was a cool guy, he was from a small town, he played DND, listened to heavy metal, liked guns alittle too much, and we even shared a passion about Zombies. We spent alot of time together and talked, he reminded me of my friends back home. He almost always had a smile on his face, but sometimes his eyes would gloss over and he would just stare into dead space for a few minutes, I could tell he was fighting a war in his head. Regarding what, I didn't know, I figured he would tell me if he wanted me to.

After 5 days in the MQU my temp went down to 100.7, and they discharged me and Smith. It was near the end of week 3, when I went on sick call for my ankle they gave me crutches, but no medical profile. Without a profile to state otherwise, to the Drill Sergeants I was completely able to train. So for that week I participated in mile long battle rattle marches out to the range and got some trigger time, plus, the drill sergeants kept hinting that there might be a chance that they wouldn't restart me if I could keep up with the pace. Every step hurt like hell, and I had an obvious limp, but I never gave up. At the end of that week, we spent two nights in the woods and on the next day we marched back to the barracks, polished our rifles, and qualified.. I'm not gonna lie, I've been around weapons my whole life, for me, qualifying was easy, I got a 39/40, expert rifleman. The last target, a 300 Meter one, was so far out I didn't notice it till it went back down.

We spent one last night in the woods as punishment since close to 20 people in our company failed to qualify. That evening, two Privates went out in the woods to take a leak, the rule was you had to go 20 meters outside the camp's perimiter. Let me tell you alittle about georgia wildlife: The Mosquitoes are so big they can carry away small children, and they have 18 gauge needles for noses. The Spiders are the size of small tangerines, and if you get bit, expect that area to be liquified within the hour. The Snakes blend right into the ground, and have a habit of getting really pissed when you step on them. There are more cockroaches then people, if you look away from your MRE even for a second, expect to have a new battle buddy swimming in your BBQ ribs. And lastly, the Boars... These things are f-ing nasty, they're not stupid either. The two privates went about 20 meters into the woodline, and while they were pissing, a Boar flanked them from the direction of the camp, it knew that would be the direction they would run, so it cut them off before they even knew it.

I should point out that these privates made two very big mistakes:
1) They forgot their emergence ammo, ten blank rounds which could have been used to call for help or scare the boar.
2) They forgot their bayonets and their E-tools (Small folding metal shovel).

So, they turn around to go back to the camp, and the Boar charges them, this thing was huge, like 400 pounds and 6 feet long. They turn around and go screaming into the woods, exactly what it wanted. They kept running and screaming, and the Boar kept chasing them, eventually they started to run out of breath, and they decided to turn around and fight it. Well... The m16A2 is a rather light weapon, made primarily of polymers, its great for long range encounters, but in hand to hand combat its about as usefull as a wiffle ball bat. They started rifle butting it in the face and head, and the boar goared one of them really bad in the leg, but the other was able to hurt it enough that it ran away. They limped back into camp, and the private who got goared had to not only go to the hospital, but get rabies shots, which really, really, REALLY suck.

Lesson of the story: NEVER GO INTO THE WOODS UNPREPARED.