Marc Lindemann

Marc has had very little time to write, so far. His first few letters consist of scribbles on whatever paper is available. I feel lucky that he takes those few available minutes to write to me.

Last week, Marc served his rotation as platoon leader (the week before he was squad leader). His duties kept him very busy; he functioned as the channel between the candidates in his platoon and the TAC instructors. As a result, he acquired extra demerits whenever anyone in the platoon made a mistake. Certain numbers of demerits earn him “tours of duty” (extra work details) or restrictions (periods during which he cannot leave the barracks). I am hoping he’ll be able to work these off before the picnic in February. Fortunately, the demerits do get reset each week.

Marc describes his physical training as “unrelenting, but not impossible.” He seems to be holding up well on the five-mile road marches. During the “very fun” Combat Swim Test, he was pushed off a high-dive, blindfolded, in full “battle rattle.” Then, he had to swim in full gear. OCS is also training him in Brazilian jujitsu. The company commander strongly believes in the idea of “every soldier a rifleman first.” In other words, no matter what your assignment, you are expected to be a competent and confident fighter. In the classroom, Marc is writing essays, deciphering combat maps, and learning the legal underpinnings of his work as a soldier.

Once again, Marc is enjoying his field exercises. They’ve already completed one Land Navigation exercise. Despite the chilly weather, Marc enjoys sleeping under the stars. They practiced day and night orienteering, locating markers amidst thorns and clumps of barbed wire. Marc’s hands got pretty cut up and he had to read a blood-splattered map. To make things a little more interesting, the TACs launched simulated artillery attacks on the OCs.

Mostly, the stress comes from the demerit system and from the psychological pressure. The OCs are allowed very little sleep, and they are kept busy constantly. Each day, they are quizzed on the day’s Operation Order (daily temperature, safety reminder of the day, quote of the day, end-evening-nautical-twilight time, etc.). This week, the student leadership had the clever idea to include news in the Operation Order; the men got news, but the TAC instructors ruthlessly quizzed them on the minutiae, doling out many demerits in the process.

Everything, from their non-standardized lockers to the way they fold laundry, must be exactly uniform. They even need to sleep synchronized. Every night during their lights-out procedures, they exercise, sing the alma mater, lie down on their beds, assume the position of attention, and then allegedly and miraculously fall asleep – all in unison.

Rest assured that this vigorous training has not sapped Marc’s sense of humor. Some background – at this stage of training, the candidates’ food intake is closely monitored and they are not allowed to consume “dessert.” When a fellow OC took some forbidden pudding, a sergeant asked Marc if pudding qualifies as dessert. Marc proceeded cautiously, offering that, as the pudding is in the salad bar, it is not dessert.

A captain jumped in, “But isn’t pudding sweet?”

Marc countered, “So is fruit, but we’re allowed to eat it.”

The TACs were bursting out in laughter. The captain continued, “In the Lindemann household growing up, did you think of pudding as a dessert?”

“We considered both pudding and fruit dessert but this is not my household; this is a mess hall with a salad bar.” Marc’s “defense of pudding” succeeded, or was at least sufficiently amusing, and his fellow OC was let off with a warning.

OCS is difficult enough that many of these soldiers are dropping out due to injury or by choice. When an officer candidate wants to quit OCS, he rings the bell in the company area. However, there are a lot of physically and mentally fit men there with Marc. He’s even met a man who served in Afghanistan, a Citadel graduate, and a Classical history major; true, the last fellow’s from Harvard, but I’m sure he’s squared away, nonetheless. I’m confident that those who eventually graduate OCS will be excellent leaders of our Army.

I heard from Marc today, despite the many obstacles that made me miss his phone calls three times! Once again, I cannot thank you enough for all of your supportive e-mails, gracious invitations, and letters to Marc. Your friendship has lent continuity and comfort to this challenging and exciting part of our lives.

Sorry for waiting so long and writing such a lengthy update! With a night class, writing daily letters for Marc, and prepping for teaching AP Art History, I have been very busy. I’m also happy to be a little nearer to my family. Basic Training is keeping Marc on his toes with demanding drill sergeants and new tasks.

Each time one of the soldiers does something against regulations, the entire platoon suffers. Several times Marc has been forced out of bed by screaming drill sergeants due to others making unauthorized phone calls, people falling asleep at fireguard, men trying to catch a catnap in their lockers, or missing property. Any offenses, real or imagined result in “skull-dragging” or “smoking,” harsh, corrective PT. One time Marc was on sick call and missed a speech by the Company Commander about inappropriate attire, including sleeves pulled down over hands. Standing outside in the cold, Marc was doing just that when the Company Commander came by. Even though Marc had no way of knowing about this invective, the Company Commander lit into him and even threatened him with all sorts of awful punishments, including discharge from the army, loss of pay, and family day privileges!

Several times the Drill Sergeants have insisted that the Officer Candidate School candidates should feel personally responsible for setting a good example for the rest of the men. With no real power, though, it is hard for anyone but the Drill Sergeants to keep the rest of the men in line.

Marc is more than meeting all of his new challenges. He is earning excellent PT scores, already scoring 95th percentile in sit-ups. Marc won the right to eat pie but he abstains to make sure he continues to make weight. Unfortunately these high scores meant that Marc won the “privilege” of serving as road guard. During a road march, the road guard blocks traffic at each intersection and then must hustle to overtake the entire 220-man company by the next intersection. Marc was very proud to have the entire company cheering him on as he passed them, but the result was some badly torn-up feet!

Marc has done very well with various combat related exercises. The men practice with American-gladiator type q-tip weapons. They also practice marksmanship, first with laser sights, then weaponeers (with built-in recoil), and now live ammunition. Marc qualified rather quickly, which meant he was a “Range B-tch” and had to hang out with the Drill Sergeants the rest of the day. The Drill Sergeants peppered him with questions about his education and unusual career choices. In the typical pattern with which I’m very familiar, they begin by saying they want to talk some sense into him and by the end are practically clapping him on the back for listing infantry as his number one preference. My husband is a very convincing man.

In addition to physical activities, Basic includes a number of classes. Marc’s Boy Scout training has proven useful during land navigation classes and subsequent orienteering exercises. Another class featured managing your finances (“This is a check”). They learned that a single bounced check can ruin your career in the army, and thus your life, and the life of your “gutter-slut wife.” [I object!]

Throughout all of the various exercises, the Drill Sergeants run little contests between platoons. Marc’s platoon’s morale is high as a result of excelling in many of these competitions, including practicing parade moves with their M16s.

One challenge was particularly meaningful- the entire Brigade was brought to a beautiful site for “gas day.” First they received training on decontaminating people and equipment. Then they ran a grenade simulator. On the first try, most of the platoon fell in the wrong position and “died” [shudder]. However, by the end they had the most survivors of any platoon and therefore would not have to clean the gas chamber, sans masks. During the gas chamber, they wore hoods into a chamber filled with gas. Clutching their guns they had to “break the seal” (close eyes and remove mask) and “remove masks” (remove their masks and recited their names, ranks, and roster numbers). Marc said the gas burned the back of his neck and he was gasping and tearing but was quite proud he did not throw-up.

The men have recently passed out of phase one, total control, and were rewarded with a half a slice of pizza and a movie night. Although the movie was interrupted by a Drill Sergeant from another platoon, who did not think the movie night was appropriate, and the rewards don’t seem that exciting for grown men, we have to remember that entertainment is very limited. As cards are forbidden, to pass the time, they read from their camouflage-covered bibles, watch streaks of lightning from a faulty bug zapper, and play chess with homemade paper chess pieces. So, keep those letters coming but don’t send any “contraband,” including clippings. Marc enjoys hearing about your lives and any news, especially sports news, is very welcome.

Should you know of anyone else who is interested in these updates, please feel free to direct them to www.marclindemann.com.

Thank you,

Candace

Hello, everyone,

Thank you for all of your e-mails, well-wishes and letters. Marc and I really appreciate how supportive everyone has been.

I’ve been keeping busy with my new AP Art History course (tons of fun!) and work in general. At back to school night, I received a lot of compliments from our very demanding parents. Marc sends a letter everyday and has been able to call me the last two Sundays for 10 minutes. Although he misses his friends and family, he seems very happy with his decision.

After being inoculated against various diseases at reception battalion, Marc was eventually shipped “down range” for basic training. He is currently in the stage called “total control.” This means that they can’t even walk across the middle of the barracks or sit on their beds during the day.

Every morning at 3:30, they rise to clean the barracks and then go for PT, which Marc describes as a “maelstrom” of 220 recruits jumping around. Immediately after wolfing down every meal, they also go for PT. In addition to scheduled PT, the drill sergeants will frequently give the order “beat your face” (do push-ups) for corrective PT. Throughout training, they take PT tests to make sure they qualify to graduate and, in some cases to go on to Officer Candidate School. Marc was in excellent shape before he left and was racking up ridiculously high numbers. However, being required to shout while doing push-ups greatly reduces your numbers. Despite the hurdles, Marc is still doing very well and getting stronger every day.

They are all very sleep deprived. What little time they are given to rest is often interrupted with “fire guard” duty in the middle of the night/early morning. Between the close quarters and lack of sleep, common viruses are spreading. Marc has suffered through pinkeye and various coughs and colds. One barracks mate fell ill with chest pains and began to go into convulsions, bleeding out of an ear. Marc, ever the eagle scout, treated him for shock. As they carried him off, the battalion thought he was out of training for good but it turns out he only had a bad ear infection.

Perhaps the only real privation for Marc is the lack of reading material. Even though he must do 25 push-ups per letter received, mail is his only permitted reading material besides his training manual and the Bible. After one trainee received 19 letters in one day, the men have worked out some sort of stock exchange of push-ups, so feel free to send mail. Just don’t put anything else in the envelope. One man’s girlfriend sent him a pink thong and the guy had to wear it on his head during mail call!

Marc’s battalion is quite the diverse crew. Eighteen year-olds who participated in high school junior ROTC, or “just want to blow things up,” work side by side with college and post-college graduates, men in their 30s who haven’t had much luck in their lives, and one poor guy whose wife convinced him to join the army and then immediately left him. This apparently makes for interesting conversation on topics like evolution.

Well, this is probably a long enough update for one day. I’ll send more information next week. In the meantime, feel free to check out marclindemann.com for the “highlights” of our Southeast Asia vacation from August. Also, please let me know if you are having any problems viewing the images (especially if you don’t have cable or DSL) and I’ll keep trying to reduce image sizes.

Best regards,

Candace

First Messages – Wednesday, September 15, 2003

Thank you to everyone who was able to send good wishes and see Marc off.

For those who are living further afield or otherwise were unable to see Marc before he left, a quick update… At the very end of August, we returned
from SE Asia. We had an amazing time visiting Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok, Danang (Vietnam), and Siem Reap (Cambodia). We even ran into a fellow Yale ’98er in Siem Reap due to a timely e-mail. I plan to post some pictures later this week and I’ll include the link when I e-mail Marc’s address.

On Sunday, September 7, I drove Marc to Massachusetts where he was escorted onto the base. The next day, he had to convince the medical board that a letter from his doctor was the equivalent of an Army Doctor’s examination as proof that his knee is copacetic (he had surgery for a torn ACL about half a year ago). If he was not successful, he would have to reapply- a process which would take at least two months and he probably would not have started OCS for another year. Of course, Marc was able to argue his case and they shipped him down to Georgia where they rushed him through reception battalion. He is now officially in basic training which, in true Marc fashion, he described as “a lot of work” but “fun.”

Since this is the Army, there is already a potential wrench in the works. Marc’s Officer Candidate School date may have been moved from November to January, leaving a lull in his training. On the upside, although this stretches out the training, Marc *may* be able to briefly visit New York at some point.

So, I’m sure you are all wondering what we can do for “our soldier” (in the gender-neutral parlance of the army). Well, the answer in the Army Website FAQ is that we should send our soldier mail.

[delete personal information… feel free to e-mail me if you need my phone number or Marc’s postal address]

September 15, 2003 (take two)

Sorry to bombard you twice in one day but when I got home I had an unexpected surprise! In probably the most “Joycean” piece of writing Marc
has ever created, he sent his address. Apparently doing push-ups in combat boots, on a waxed barracks floor, while shouting at the top of your lungs,
after only four hours of sleep, can toy with your ability to communicate clearly. He wants everyone to know that they keep him busy (so he may not be the best correspondent) but he will appreciate any letters you send:

[delete address]

At this time, you may only send letters (you’ll just have to wait until Marc graduates Basic to send him your salami, Steve). An odd note- decorative/decorated envelopes might get him singled out for extra push-ups or humiliation so keep the envelopes plain.

Thank you everyone for all of your support and best wishes!

Best,
Candace
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