When I was in the Army, every Friday was a fun day. We would do our normal 1 hour of PT (Physical Training) followed by a five mile run. Then we would hit the Recondo Pit.

The Recondo pit consisted of a 20 foot diameter circle of sandbags, stacked about waist high. Inside the pit, was a mixture of sand and wood chips. This was at Fort Lewis in Washington State, where it rains all the time. So you can imagine the state of decay of the wood chips in the pit.

The company commander would then pick a squad (11 guys) to go against the squad that won last weeks contest. My squad was the reigning champs for as long as I can remember. At 5-10, 220lbs, I was the smallest guy in the squad.

The rules where simple for us grunts, you got 2 teams consisting of 11 men per team, and five minutes in the pit. The team with the most people in the pit after the five minutes, wins. That's it. Puching, biting, kicking, eye gouging, ear pulling, atomic wedgies, averything and anything was allowed. A great way to blow off steam.

In the old Straight Leg Infantry, that was a fun day.