A novel

I got a 9-page novel from Allen in the mail yesterday. He told me the whole story of last Saturday, and why he was freaking out: They went to a track to do their 2-mile run after they did push-ups and sit-ups. His attending DS wouldn't tell him how many of those he did, and he got yelled at when he tried to sneak a peak. So they went to the track, and could take a battle buddy with them to help motivate. He took Villalobos, because, in Allen's words, "that little Mexican can really haul ass." Villa did a great job of motivating him and talking to him the whole time. What he DIDN'T do, was count Allen's laps. 8 laps for a 2 mile run. Allen ended up running 9, and so turned in a failing time. Ready, set, FREAK OUT! Villa went and talked to DS "Satan" (as Allen calls him) to explain the mistake, but he was told in not nice terms to 'go away.' Luckily, he must've checked into it, because Allen's name was never called for a councilor's certificate, which is what you get when you fail. So - yea! He also had to do a moving target range to be able to graduate. They had a laser sight on their M16's, which is supposed to help you aim better. He failed the first time. He failed the second time. By this time Allen was very frustrated and worried, because he knows he shoots better than that. He decided to take all of the high-tech stuff off and go back to regular sights. He completely dominated that round. I guess high-tech isn't always the best way to go. On that one, I'm thanking his dad for teaching him how to shoot. When he last wrote, he was down to 197lbs. They asked a DS if they could get a scale in their bay, and have been tracking their weight. After supper, fully dressed, he was 200lbs. Pretty good, I'd say. He wants to maintain at 205 or 210. I'm not sure I'm going to recognize him on Wednesday! He didn't think he'd make it all the way through, but he surprised himself, and I'm hoping he's realizing just how strong of a man he really is. I mean, we all knew it, but he needed to find out for himself. Don't you love it when we're right? :)