August 14, 1969 Vietnam
I arrived a few hours ago, met some of my squad mates as well. Nopony goes by their name; just some nickname somepony gives you. People just call me “new pony”. Only one of my squad mates is actually friendly. They call him Hollywood. He’s a real charmer. He’s got a flowing mane that looks like something out of a movie. His cutie mark is a pair of black sunglasses. He has a pair to match that he never takes off. I’ve never seen him once without his dark aviators he loves so much.
Another who I met that wasn’t so friendly is Gut buster a big burly pony from Manehattan. Both are my age. My room or section of a room I should say is small. My bed is even smaller; my hooves hang off the edge when I lay down. Boot camp starts tomorrow. I heard the instructor is a real hard flank.
August 17, 1969
Boot camp is awful. I have never had to trot so hard in my entire life, and its only day one. I was right about the instructor. He is the scariest pony I've ever seen. He has a scar over his eye and is missing part of his ear. I sneezed while we were in formation and he made everypony run 3 extra miles. My squad mates have taken to calling me dipshit as my nickname which isn't helping. I hope it doesn't stick.
August 20, 1969
We stared fire arms training today. Thank god granddad taught me how to shoot when I was little. I was always a good shot as a kid and my granddad taught me how to levitate small guns and shoot them well. I was the best shot when it came to using smaller weapons, but then we moved on to battle saddles I had no idea what I was doing.
A battle saddle is a modified saddle that is used to carry larger weapons like m-60s. To fire them it has a mouth bit and a special sight that can be very effective in combat. I had never used one before and was surprised when I did ok. By the end of the day I was the best shot in our squad. Our drill instructor said I can be our squad sniper if I want. I think I might just take him up on that.
August 23, 1969
I started my special sniper training today. I was pulled off from the rest of our squad and was given lessons in sniping. When to shoot, where to shoot, the whole 9 yards. They taught me how to load and properly use a sniper rifle. It’s just small enough that I can levitate it and not have to use a battle saddle. I got paired up with Hollywood as my spotter. Since he’s a Pegasus he can do aerial recon and spot targets for me. I’m just glad it wasn't some other pony I don’t even know. Command says they’re shipping us out soon. I’m not sure I’m ready.