Ranger School Begins

Well, the starving, no sleep, extreme physical and mental exertion training we call Ranger School has begun. Actually, it's Pre-Ranger School (PRC) for the next two weeks, but don't let the "pre" fool you, it won't be easy!

Saying goodbye on Friday was as miserable as one could imagine. Neither one of us had much of an appetite that morning at breakfast and Johnny was still trying to get a hold of correct orders from his Batallion, which he should've already had in his hands. Hopefully by now he has them! He had to report Friday morning from 0930 to 1100 and it took us about 30 minutes to actually find the Ranger training area on the massive base that Ft. Benning is. We made our goodbye quick and I headed back to the hotel to wait until 2. We had heard some rumors that they've been letting the guys have the weekend free after they report in on Friday, so I waited, partly hoping I'd get 2 more days with my Johnny and the other half terrified I was going to have to do that goodbye all over again. He called at 1:45 to get numbers out of his cell phone so he could try to get his orders and said they weren't letting them go for the weekend. I was surprised to even get a call from him because they are not allowed any phone or computer access. So, I made my journey back down to Savannah with swollen eyes and a lonely front seat.

I'm hoping to get a letter in the mail from him soon with his mailing address. I'll be sure to get it to those who want it to send him letters over the next few months. We heard they receive letters often, but will only receive packages in between phases (so about once a month). Johnny will also have to consume everything in the packages at that time (candy, food, etc.) and can't carry anything extra, so instead of having a lot of wasted things, let me know if you would like to contribute to one big package. I'm going to try to send him a package as close to the end of each phase as I can, so let me know!

I'll use this blog to post updates (with the information I'm allowed to share online) that I get from his letters. The letters may be few and far between as they don't have much down time, and the down time they do have is spent sleeping! I'll also be posting non-Ranger Johnny entries from time to time about the random happenings in my life. So don't be surprised if you see a favorite recipe of mine pop up from time to time!

Please keep Johnny in your prayers, specifically for his safety and strength to endure this intense training. While it is tough not having him around, I know he is getting some of the BEST TRAINING possible and this will make him a better solider and better prepared for the upcoming deployment in October.

Let me know if you have any questions, about where he is, what he is doing, or anything at all, and I'll do my best to answer them!

Thank you all for your continued love and support!