The Commander's Letter

I got a letter from Private Spyder's Commander today. It's a letter telling me more about what Basic Training will be like for him, so I thought you all would be interested, too.
The letter says that to become a soldier he must complete 9 weeks of extremely rigorous training. The training is so demanding physically, mentally, and emotionally that there will be times he wants to quit. So, he will need letters of encouragement (but no food or bulky items, apparently). When he's done he will have: walked over 100 total miles with full combat gear and pack, had Physical Training 6 times a week, learned about all kinds of weapons, spend over 25 hours of training in hand-to-hand fighting techniques, and hundreds of hours learning other skills. He will also go on a 5 day Field Training Exercise where he will use all of his training. It says that though he is physically away from our family that he is now with a large Army family that is supporting him. He'll have a battle buddy and at least 55 soldiers in his platoon that he'll get to know. His drill sergeants will be there to help him, too. (Trust me, it's not like the movies. This isn't Full Metal Jacket or Forest Gump. Though they do yell.) The drill sergeants have had a lot of training and been in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other combat operations so they really know what they're talking about. They won't ever ask Spyder to do anything they haven't done themselves. He will have a Family Day on November 12th (out there) and on the 13th will be his graduation. I'm going to try to save enough money to go. I checked my school schedules and I'll have two tests on those days, but I'll talk to my professors as soon as I can to see if I would be able to take them another day. My math one I could take on Monday. I could take my Chemistry test on Tuesday and leave later that day, maybe... it will all make more sense as it gets closer. I don't know how much plane tickets cost, so I'll have to see. A couple of his army buddies want to go out there for it, so I guess I would just go with them. One of them had basic at the same place, so he'd know the layout of the place and everything. The letter also sent me Spyder's mailing address, which I will email to as many of you as I can find addresses for.
I know it's really tough for him right now. The letter also said he'll have very limited phone time, so I don't know how much he'll be able to call. I know he'll try to write as much as he can. If anyone can do this, it's him. He's the strongest person I've known. He does his best at everything he does. And it shows.
I'll be writing a lot of letters. I'm sure he'd enjoy hearing from you guys, too, if you want. :)