Hello, Lisa again. Here is the 3rd letter I received from Keith. It's short because it was inserted into an Anniversary card. We celebrated our two year Anniversary on May 2.
Reception Day7
For some reason everyone woke up dog-tired, but we moved quickly. However, my bay was squared away, but the other one was ate up horribly in terms of beds. I tried to help, but there were too many for me to try and help. In fact, some weren't even made yet.
We formed up and the ISG (First Sergeant) had us recite the Soldiers Creed, Army song, and General Orders a few times. Of course, she said it sounded "ate up."
DS Prick then asked for 20 people to come and clean up and move two offices around. The floors ended up needing to be mopped. I got that task and was able to shine. DS Prick actually told the group that how I was mopping is how you should do it. Thanks Giovanni.
We then went to chow, and back to the reception loading to get our last haircut for BCT. For recruits, it costs $4.80 and came off of a pay card they issued us.
We got back and on DS had us busy cleaning. This included raking the clay dirt. I took this as it was kind of relaxing muck like a real zen garden with sand. After that, we went to chow. After chow they took us to the PX for the last time prior to BCT. A group of us had to go back and get our pay cards because of cleaning detail prior to chow. DS Short wasn't happy, but took us back. We then wanted 20 minutes in the A/C at classroom for the line at the PX to go down, so it worked out. At the PX, I bought a new ACU wallet, baby powder, dog tag silencers, some better pens, boot inserts, a card for my wife for our Anniversary, and a big Army brand travel duffel bag. I have to throw out my suitcase because I have to limit all of my stuff to my duffel and laundry bag. Thank you SSG WTF for the advice. I should have stuck with my back pack. Oh well, I really like this bag.
My group got back to the classroom and was told to watch TV or a movie. We tried to finish We Were Soldiers, but DS Prick came in and had a cow! He called and formation and bitched about the TV and the barracks. . He then had us fall in our barracks for an inspection. Of course it wasn't clean enough.
We did more formulations and went to chow. We had some new people in our group and we were warning them of things, I mentioned DS Prick to the newbies. We got back and finalized the processing and shipping procedures. The DS's were just cranky and were just yelling at us left and right.
We finally got released for the night. I got to call my lovely wife and my parents. I packed some things up, did laundry and now I am going to bed. I ready for tomorrow and what it hold. Hooah!!
Monday, May 16, 2011
2nd Letter
4/29/11 Reception Day 3
I figured out, I think, why reception is longer and/or shorted for people. I was put into Aplha Co. Here at the 30th AG Battalion. I got in on Tuesday. There were guys who got in the save company on Monday, Wednesday,Thursday and Friday. It seems we we'll ship on this coming Tuesday or Wednesday to "Down range," the basic everyone thinks of when they hear "basic training."
This morning we woke up at 0400 for a formation at 0430. I was up about 10 mins early to shave and brush my teeth before other people. We were then taken for any required additional shots as well as evaluate the TB shot site for a reaction. Turns out our Company has our own version of PFC McGuire's PVT Home school. He is an obviously underweight, pale, bad postured kid who seems like he was home schooled. PVT Home school passed out or was close to for some reason in the shots room. I also got one additional shot that I have no idea was for in the least. All I know is it hurt like hell for 20 minutes in my shoulder and then it mellowed me out for about 40 minutes. Also, i thought it was funny when our DS, DS Rhythm, saw PVT Home school passing out, he said "ah shit, we got a funky chicken."
We then went to the DFAC for breakfast. Again eggs were the main entree. I'm betting that is always the entree because it's probably about 40% eggs and 60% other crap. I guess PVT Home school threw up in the chow line and caused some issues. Luckily, he was behind me.
After breakfast, our DS that I call DS Rhythm because he's good with cadences, loud, and black. I always keep in step and have fun when he's marching us. I feel like I have gotten the marching thing down pretty well in the last couple of days. After that, DS Rhythm had us clean our barracks,. He told us that he wants to be able to set a cheeseburger on the urinal, piss, and then pick it back up to eat. I took charge on toilets. My time with Giovanni's cleaning came in handy. I was showing people little tidbits everywhere. I also took the time to finally organize all of my crap. after that DS Clean (looks like Mr. Clean) took us into our classroom and played a BCT DVD showing us what to expect. After that, he put in Troy. I was a little thrown off. He paused it, took us to lunch and brought us back to finish Troy, but then they put in We Were Soldiers. I twas good till DS Tall Prick and DS small Prick saw some people not wearing their camel backs, which is a big no-no. They then turned the movie off and proceeded to yell at us. Because of PVT whiny pants, they said there had to be six people on fire watch at each hour. GREAT! That meant 30 people instead of 12, AND ME!. Oh well I got from 2200-2300.
We then had to clean the barracks again. Oh well, its more bonding experience in my eyes. And DS Clean gave us from 1930-2100 for personal time. I got to talk to my wife before her performance. I miss her so much. Anyways, I got my shift now.
4/30/2011 Reception Day 4
The morning was beautiful! The last two days have had great weather in the morning. I wish it could last, but I know the Georgia summer will start soon. Went to chow with no events. After that, we had a class run by a BCT DS from down range. He spoke about a lot of things. The 25 series Moss (my job is one) is the one mentioned most. He mentioned that my MOS is the one where people make a boat load of money once they get out. He then sobered us up on the Afghanistan fighting. It was crazy to explain how guys with no tactical training at all can challenge a superior army like ours. Also, I guess the Taliban have been working on floating IED's on balloons to get helicopters. Wow. Hurt Locker is a tough movie. It was tough to watch because it was real and it went on to say that FT. Benning will be training about 50% of all income FS's.
On a funnier note, there are people falling asleep all the time, and we have to wake them. Someone nudged me to wake one such fellow. I'm just so happy to have my boot off with my insert out. The first thought was to slap him in the back of the head with my insert. It made everyone lose it around me. Luckily the DS was not in the room.
On a side not, I feel like I need to rename DS Tall Prick to DS Terminatior. This guys looks like he is Arnold walking through and scanning the room for anyone up. I just picture his site as an infrared screen with a grid deciding who to destroy. He was actually cool today for a while. He has been a DS for 12yrs. I think he treats us like the Army from the 1990s when things were tougher.
We went to chow, I figured out that one line has crap for food like cheese burgers while another has healthier stuff like baked chicken and fish. I tried veal today for the first time. We then headed back. The DS then ordered us to make a bunk, what to do about heat injuries, and the uniform. We then had DS Terminator go over our items and stick things we don't need for the next few days in our duffel bag and lock it up. He then went over any issues people have with their processing; clothes, equipment, and finance, etc. This is where the dumb asses came out. Some people kept doing the dumbest things to DS Terminator. One kid would mention his problem and the DS would ask him why and he would respond like a zombie. Later the kid was talking to DS Pinter (he constantly points when he talks) and when Ds Pointer asked him a question he hesitated and said "No" in a condescending tone, with no DS on the end of the statement. I thought he was gonna get punched.
We finally got released to personal time, I made a call to my wife and left a voicemail because she was doing a performance. Tomorrow is church. We also get to wear our ACUs for the first time. Hooah! I think everyone has been waiting for that. We also don't have to wake up till 0600. Never thought I would think of 6am as late wake up. I am in good spirits right now and apparently we will ship down range on Wednesday. I am looking forward to exercise. Goodnight!
05/01/2011 Reception Day 5
Wake up was supposed to be at 0600, but DS Clean decided that 0540 was when we should wake up. We then went to chow. Hard boiled eggs! Sweet! After chow, we signed up for our selected service. I signed up for confession and mass, 1200 & 1500 respectively. We were released to our barracks to clean and wait for our service. About 1030hrs, DS Clean called us into the classroom thinking he was mad. We then find out he wanted us to watch Rambo?!?! One of the goriest and violent movies I have seen in a while. The at 1115, 15 minutes before I was gonna go to confession, DS Clean lined us up for chow. I asked him about me and confession with chow and he said "either you go to chow or church, your choice." I thought that was a little crappy. I went to chow. During chow, some people saw a mouse running across the floor in the DFAC into the kitchen area. DS Easy said, "don't worry guys, it's still alive, they ain't cooking it." wow! After chow, we started watching Terminater Salvation. I didn't care, I read my Initial Entry Training (IET) Book. DS Easy released us about 1930 to the barracks. I got the chance to call my wife. I really miss her, but its not eating me up. I know the quickest way for me to see he will be to finish BCT. There are guys at the reception center who are waiting 1 to 2 months to discharge from the Army.
I had fireguard duty at 2100 to 2200 tonight. I'll take that all week. Best shift! I also just finished my BS 250 word Essay on guide lines. Now I'm going to bed.
05/02/2011 Reception Day 6
This morning, I think that my bay had a case of the Mondays, The DS small prick (now known as DS Prick), came in about 0430 when wakeup was still at 0400, and people were still sleeping. Oh shit! He then had DS Rhythm come in and toss our bay for cleaning that had not been finished. All of the Ds's were yelling at us this morning when we got into formation. I then got yelled at for doing road guard duty wrong by DS Prick's standards. I had no idea what I was doing, I just did it because no one else was at the time. No more volunteering for me I guess. Problem is, it's in my nature to volunteer rather than sit back and hide.
They had us clean for the next two hours. During that time, we came across a letter to someone from his girlfriend. The letter was pretty off the wall. The girlfriend said because she knew he would be lonely, he was allowed Bj's and Hj's...Oh man people lost it. We got back to the classroom with a senior Ds, DS Short. He asked who knew the soldiers creed, general orders,and a few other things. I raised my hand and he then had us sit down and wait for something, but none of us knew what we thought we were getting tested. Turns out, the company commander sat down and surveyed us and let us ask questions about BCT. It was actually really relaxing while everyone else was cleaning. A benefit of standing out for once.
After that, we worked on some drill and ceremony (DNC) with DS Terminator, who was being pretty cool. We then went to chow uneventful except that my spirits were fairly low because I didn't speak to my wife today, given it was our 2 yrs Anniversary, because phone privileges were revoked in the morning. We got back to the classroom and waited for them to take us to the Tricare and Ranger class while waiting, I asked SGT Crazy Eyes if I could call my wife seeing it was our anniversary. He said he would make it happen. I said thank you and sat back down. He called me back up and asked if I was ok because I was in tears. I said yes, I was just worried about her. He told me not ti feel like a sissy, and that I'm feeling normal, because he knows I'm a "hard ass" and to go to the latrine and let it out. I DID. I felt better thinking about what we would do when I get some freedom.
They then marched us to the Tricare class. It didn't help that it made me think of my wife more, but Tricare sounds like a great program though. After Tricare, DS Alright tried to sell us on the rangers and joining. It was tempting, but my wife would kill me. After every sentence by the ranger was "Alright?" I wish I counted.
We then went to chow and came back. DS Short told us we will be shipping Wednesday at 1000 hrs. to Alpha 245. I don't know what that means, but it was motivating for a shitty day. What was funny was that DS Short first told us, "Correction, Alpha. My fault right, but your bad Hooah!?!" Like say I'm wrong, but so are you because I said so. We then had our dog tags pitched at our faces. We were then released at 1930 hrs and they forgot about the phone freedom. I got to speak to my wife for a bit. Being here has made me appreciate her more that I ever, though I could and thank God for her everyday here. I did get a free ACD (Army Camo Design) Bible today from the Chaplain's table. I even read a little bit sitting here while waiting for my laundry to finish. I found that Deuteronomy ch 30 verse 6 will be a good verse for me to live by for BCT when it starts. "Be strong and good courage, fear not nor be afraid of them; for the lord thy God, he it is that cloth so with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee." Good night.
I figured out, I think, why reception is longer and/or shorted for people. I was put into Aplha Co. Here at the 30th AG Battalion. I got in on Tuesday. There were guys who got in the save company on Monday, Wednesday,Thursday and Friday. It seems we we'll ship on this coming Tuesday or Wednesday to "Down range," the basic everyone thinks of when they hear "basic training."
This morning we woke up at 0400 for a formation at 0430. I was up about 10 mins early to shave and brush my teeth before other people. We were then taken for any required additional shots as well as evaluate the TB shot site for a reaction. Turns out our Company has our own version of PFC McGuire's PVT Home school. He is an obviously underweight, pale, bad postured kid who seems like he was home schooled. PVT Home school passed out or was close to for some reason in the shots room. I also got one additional shot that I have no idea was for in the least. All I know is it hurt like hell for 20 minutes in my shoulder and then it mellowed me out for about 40 minutes. Also, i thought it was funny when our DS, DS Rhythm, saw PVT Home school passing out, he said "ah shit, we got a funky chicken."
We then went to the DFAC for breakfast. Again eggs were the main entree. I'm betting that is always the entree because it's probably about 40% eggs and 60% other crap. I guess PVT Home school threw up in the chow line and caused some issues. Luckily, he was behind me.
After breakfast, our DS that I call DS Rhythm because he's good with cadences, loud, and black. I always keep in step and have fun when he's marching us. I feel like I have gotten the marching thing down pretty well in the last couple of days. After that, DS Rhythm had us clean our barracks,. He told us that he wants to be able to set a cheeseburger on the urinal, piss, and then pick it back up to eat. I took charge on toilets. My time with Giovanni's cleaning came in handy. I was showing people little tidbits everywhere. I also took the time to finally organize all of my crap. after that DS Clean (looks like Mr. Clean) took us into our classroom and played a BCT DVD showing us what to expect. After that, he put in Troy. I was a little thrown off. He paused it, took us to lunch and brought us back to finish Troy, but then they put in We Were Soldiers. I twas good till DS Tall Prick and DS small Prick saw some people not wearing their camel backs, which is a big no-no. They then turned the movie off and proceeded to yell at us. Because of PVT whiny pants, they said there had to be six people on fire watch at each hour. GREAT! That meant 30 people instead of 12, AND ME!. Oh well I got from 2200-2300.
We then had to clean the barracks again. Oh well, its more bonding experience in my eyes. And DS Clean gave us from 1930-2100 for personal time. I got to talk to my wife before her performance. I miss her so much. Anyways, I got my shift now.
4/30/2011 Reception Day 4
The morning was beautiful! The last two days have had great weather in the morning. I wish it could last, but I know the Georgia summer will start soon. Went to chow with no events. After that, we had a class run by a BCT DS from down range. He spoke about a lot of things. The 25 series Moss (my job is one) is the one mentioned most. He mentioned that my MOS is the one where people make a boat load of money once they get out. He then sobered us up on the Afghanistan fighting. It was crazy to explain how guys with no tactical training at all can challenge a superior army like ours. Also, I guess the Taliban have been working on floating IED's on balloons to get helicopters. Wow. Hurt Locker is a tough movie. It was tough to watch because it was real and it went on to say that FT. Benning will be training about 50% of all income FS's.
On a funnier note, there are people falling asleep all the time, and we have to wake them. Someone nudged me to wake one such fellow. I'm just so happy to have my boot off with my insert out. The first thought was to slap him in the back of the head with my insert. It made everyone lose it around me. Luckily the DS was not in the room.
On a side not, I feel like I need to rename DS Tall Prick to DS Terminatior. This guys looks like he is Arnold walking through and scanning the room for anyone up. I just picture his site as an infrared screen with a grid deciding who to destroy. He was actually cool today for a while. He has been a DS for 12yrs. I think he treats us like the Army from the 1990s when things were tougher.
We went to chow, I figured out that one line has crap for food like cheese burgers while another has healthier stuff like baked chicken and fish. I tried veal today for the first time. We then headed back. The DS then ordered us to make a bunk, what to do about heat injuries, and the uniform. We then had DS Terminator go over our items and stick things we don't need for the next few days in our duffel bag and lock it up. He then went over any issues people have with their processing; clothes, equipment, and finance, etc. This is where the dumb asses came out. Some people kept doing the dumbest things to DS Terminator. One kid would mention his problem and the DS would ask him why and he would respond like a zombie. Later the kid was talking to DS Pinter (he constantly points when he talks) and when Ds Pointer asked him a question he hesitated and said "No" in a condescending tone, with no DS on the end of the statement. I thought he was gonna get punched.
We finally got released to personal time, I made a call to my wife and left a voicemail because she was doing a performance. Tomorrow is church. We also get to wear our ACUs for the first time. Hooah! I think everyone has been waiting for that. We also don't have to wake up till 0600. Never thought I would think of 6am as late wake up. I am in good spirits right now and apparently we will ship down range on Wednesday. I am looking forward to exercise. Goodnight!
05/01/2011 Reception Day 5
Wake up was supposed to be at 0600, but DS Clean decided that 0540 was when we should wake up. We then went to chow. Hard boiled eggs! Sweet! After chow, we signed up for our selected service. I signed up for confession and mass, 1200 & 1500 respectively. We were released to our barracks to clean and wait for our service. About 1030hrs, DS Clean called us into the classroom thinking he was mad. We then find out he wanted us to watch Rambo?!?! One of the goriest and violent movies I have seen in a while. The at 1115, 15 minutes before I was gonna go to confession, DS Clean lined us up for chow. I asked him about me and confession with chow and he said "either you go to chow or church, your choice." I thought that was a little crappy. I went to chow. During chow, some people saw a mouse running across the floor in the DFAC into the kitchen area. DS Easy said, "don't worry guys, it's still alive, they ain't cooking it." wow! After chow, we started watching Terminater Salvation. I didn't care, I read my Initial Entry Training (IET) Book. DS Easy released us about 1930 to the barracks. I got the chance to call my wife. I really miss her, but its not eating me up. I know the quickest way for me to see he will be to finish BCT. There are guys at the reception center who are waiting 1 to 2 months to discharge from the Army.
I had fireguard duty at 2100 to 2200 tonight. I'll take that all week. Best shift! I also just finished my BS 250 word Essay on guide lines. Now I'm going to bed.
05/02/2011 Reception Day 6
This morning, I think that my bay had a case of the Mondays, The DS small prick (now known as DS Prick), came in about 0430 when wakeup was still at 0400, and people were still sleeping. Oh shit! He then had DS Rhythm come in and toss our bay for cleaning that had not been finished. All of the Ds's were yelling at us this morning when we got into formation. I then got yelled at for doing road guard duty wrong by DS Prick's standards. I had no idea what I was doing, I just did it because no one else was at the time. No more volunteering for me I guess. Problem is, it's in my nature to volunteer rather than sit back and hide.
They had us clean for the next two hours. During that time, we came across a letter to someone from his girlfriend. The letter was pretty off the wall. The girlfriend said because she knew he would be lonely, he was allowed Bj's and Hj's...Oh man people lost it. We got back to the classroom with a senior Ds, DS Short. He asked who knew the soldiers creed, general orders,and a few other things. I raised my hand and he then had us sit down and wait for something, but none of us knew what we thought we were getting tested. Turns out, the company commander sat down and surveyed us and let us ask questions about BCT. It was actually really relaxing while everyone else was cleaning. A benefit of standing out for once.
After that, we worked on some drill and ceremony (DNC) with DS Terminator, who was being pretty cool. We then went to chow uneventful except that my spirits were fairly low because I didn't speak to my wife today, given it was our 2 yrs Anniversary, because phone privileges were revoked in the morning. We got back to the classroom and waited for them to take us to the Tricare and Ranger class while waiting, I asked SGT Crazy Eyes if I could call my wife seeing it was our anniversary. He said he would make it happen. I said thank you and sat back down. He called me back up and asked if I was ok because I was in tears. I said yes, I was just worried about her. He told me not ti feel like a sissy, and that I'm feeling normal, because he knows I'm a "hard ass" and to go to the latrine and let it out. I DID. I felt better thinking about what we would do when I get some freedom.
They then marched us to the Tricare class. It didn't help that it made me think of my wife more, but Tricare sounds like a great program though. After Tricare, DS Alright tried to sell us on the rangers and joining. It was tempting, but my wife would kill me. After every sentence by the ranger was "Alright?" I wish I counted.
We then went to chow and came back. DS Short told us we will be shipping Wednesday at 1000 hrs. to Alpha 245. I don't know what that means, but it was motivating for a shitty day. What was funny was that DS Short first told us, "Correction, Alpha. My fault right, but your bad Hooah!?!" Like say I'm wrong, but so are you because I said so. We then had our dog tags pitched at our faces. We were then released at 1930 hrs and they forgot about the phone freedom. I got to speak to my wife for a bit. Being here has made me appreciate her more that I ever, though I could and thank God for her everyday here. I did get a free ACD (Army Camo Design) Bible today from the Chaplain's table. I even read a little bit sitting here while waiting for my laundry to finish. I found that Deuteronomy ch 30 verse 6 will be a good verse for me to live by for BCT when it starts. "Be strong and good courage, fear not nor be afraid of them; for the lord thy God, he it is that cloth so with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee." Good night.
Monday, May 9, 2011
1st Letter
This is Lisa, Keith's wife. I will be updating his posts every time I receive a new letter from him in Basic.
Bus Ride to Tampa- 4/25 Monday
I had the pleasure of eating breakfast with my wife this morning. Up until this point, I have not gotten emotional or teary eyed. However, after my mom sent me a text with a prayer, combined with watching my wife, my emotions started to take over. My wife then dropped me off at the recruiter's office for me to wait for the shuttle to take me down to Tampa.
I'm riding in the van to Tampa right now. Luckily the van is full and I don't think we will be picking anyone else up on the way down. On a side note, the guy behind me is driving me crazy. He is constantly making this sniffing noise as if he has to blow his nose! I usually don't get annoyed like this, but I can compare this to water boarding torture but for the ears. I am passing the time by practicing and reciting the soldiers creed, the general orders, the Army Song, and other material I will need the know at Basic.
About to head off to bed for the evening. We stopped in Lakeland on the way and picked up a few more people and then went to the hotel by MEPS. We waited for about 15 mins before I got my first of what I'm sure will be the first of many briefings. Basically get rid of any knives, don't knock-up any females, and get back to the hotel by 10pm. After being let free, my wife came by and picked me up. We went to the hotel she's staying at and enjoyed each other's company and went out for dinner. After she dropped me off, I ran a little on the the treadmill and took a shower. Now I sleep till about 0445 and get ready to got to MEPS. Hopefully, all goes well!
4/26- MEPS
The morning started off at around 0430. I probably fell asleep around midnight and slept on and off through the night. I guess I kept worrying about waking up late. I drank a little water to aid my anticipated urine fest. After getting my stuff together, I made my way over to the dining room at the hotel. I only ate a very small portion considering I worried about my weight. After breakfast, we all waited for the bus to take us to the MEPS building. What I found annoying was that there were a number of people that could not help but break out, light, and puff away a cigarette in record time.
I got situated painlessly at MEPS upon arriving there were no issues with my files or records. Then they had all of the shippers (people like me) into the examination room to see us in our underwear. First, they took height and weight measurements. Then the people that passed were asked to perform a few movements and questioned about traffic tickets and Dr. visits. However, people that did not pass the height and weight standards had to be measured for Body Fat Indext (BFI). Evidently, I was one pound over! After measureing me, they found that I was around about a 21% BFI, the limit for entering the Army is 26%, so I was fine. On a side note, it was unfortunate to see one guy who was suppose to be shipping to Ft. Benning as an officer candidate school recruit get held back. Evidently, he had his appendix taken out and there is a 6 month wait before shipping. Today marked 4 days prior to the 6 month mark and the Dr. said he was disqualified for another week. Problem for him is that OCS ship dates are very scattered and random and he already quit his job. His recruiters thought that a fews days difference would not be a problem.
My wife was able to make it to the building to see me before she left Tampa to got to work. She was able to sit with me between me going to see various people process my paperwork. After getting my contract finalized, I waited for another swearing ceremony. Luckily my wife was able to be in the ceremony room and could take as much video and as many pictures she wanted. It was very surreal to have finally swear in and to know that I would be starting a new chapter for my wife and I's life. She had to take off promptly. I did not get very emotional like I thought I would when she left. This was around 11:40, I then had my free lunch and waited till about 1430 before getting in a van to leave. I'm already running into guys I do not want in my platoon. Mainly the smokers who kept crying about not being able to go outside to smoke a cigarette. I would have expected that they would have to quit by now as to limit their jonesing at basic. It was so bad that in the two minutes of us leaving the building and getting into the van, the guys had to light up a cigarette! They then got threatened with not shipping for not listening. We made a couple of stops before getting to Ft. Benning.
As we pulled up to reception, I started feeling nervous for the first time. I wasn't sure if something I brought was considered a weapon. Turns out my van missed the training video that explained a lot. Oh well. They then yelled at us, called us out for forms, made fun of people's names, and walked us out to another part of this huge building to get our duffel bags and first bit of clothing to start. They then had us back to the first room and had us stuff our personal bag from home into our duffel bag. This is where I needed to call SSG WTF back in orlando for telling me that my carry-on roll on would not be a problem for me. I had to stuff that thing in my duffel somehow walk to our barracks.
It's 0350, I have not gotten any sleep. I have to wake up at 0400 and what's worse is that there was a group getting in after us.
For my first jerk in my group award, I would like to issue it to private Blondie. He is a 25U-signal guy who is lazy, whiny, and annoying as hell! I almost told him off but bit my tongue and decided to let him hang himself. Hopefully, not at any inconvenience to me. He was actually laying down when we were issued our clothes.
Anyways, it's 0400 and I am gonna S.S. (shower and shave). I usually do 3 S's, but you can guess the 3rd, My friends know what I am talking about.
Wednesday, 27 April 2011- 1st Day Reception
The 40 hr. first day
As I said before I did not get the chance to go and sleep the night before. Wow. I'm in such a horrible mood right now. It's about 10:15pm. My morning started off with a chaotic 5 min. breakfast at 5am. I am a little disappointed because I thought the Army was going to start changing the food standards and dropping the fried foods and using whole grain. Hah NOPE!
The morning started out with us doing some drilling with a Sgt. that helps the Drill Sergeants. We will call him Sgt. Crazy Eye. He was the most entertaining yet scare stare. He also is kind of funny. His voice broke during cadence and laster he said if anyone made fun of him and his voice he would f*ck then up. BTW, there's a rumor the DS's can't curse at you...Big Lie!! Stupid goes hand in hand with the 4 letter words too.
Later, I did my eye exam. I have 20/20 vision so no BCGS! Then our shots, not fun. Then, we got issued our uniforms. And our stuff is getting heavier and heavier to carry. We have had to move our things multiple times. Each time it gets heavier.
Holy shit, we finally got time around 1930 to go to our bunks for free time and cell phone time until 2100. Yay...it would have been fine except there was a tornado in the area and we had to evacuate from our barracks upstairs with all of our stuff and move to another packed barracks across the street. FML baby. Then, it gets better. While I was sitting in what I thought was an empty bunk. I tried calling my wife one last time because I hung up on her during the tornado scare. And then I text her "tornado" like an idiot. We then had to drag all of our crap downstairs to another barracks. I had a bed but when I tried to call my wife back, no answer. We could hear tornado sirens! Afterward, I finally went to take a shower and went to sleep promptly after writing a little.
Reception Day 2- 4/28/2011
I slept like a rock, no tossing or dreaming. I did however wake up at 0330, rather 0400 and could not get back to sleep. Oh well. We then did breakfast...nothing exciting. You are not allowed to look around or talk. I did wake up to my butt hurting from the penicillin shot. We did a hearing test and I'm not deaf thank God. We saw the dentist, I have good teeth evidently. Pretty neat Star Trek-esque X-ray. We went and did DEERS (insurance for family) my wife has insurance again!!
After seeing DEERs, the unit took individual pictures in our ACUs, but with just the top. Later, we went to dinner. I clocked my self at 5:57 for chow time. After dinner, we listened to SGT crazy eyes about how we have been doing a good job and that we need to stay motivated. He explained that somehow he has stayed motivated for his daughter even though his wife killed herself. He's a strange character, he said "If she wants to kill herself fine! There's another Mrs. Crazy Eyes out there." I like talking with him though. I feel like I am slowly feeling the Army mindset and having fun a little even though the new boots are a little sore and the duffel bag is killing my back.
After getting back from our dinner, we formed up in our chair less classroom. One DS informed me and 4 buddies of mine that out of 45 people we only had our forms from the night before. I replied back, "What..." He said " You know I love those civilian answers. I love them so much that you are to do CQ duty tonight from 2100 to 2200." Oops. He later explained to me that they are just trying to get the civilian out of us. He was actually pretty cool about it. I could have gotten 0000 til 0100.
They then told us where to move our bunks for the last time, hopefully. I think it was planned into a team exercise because he told 70 people to fill in a 68 bunk bay. Total cluster-fornication! But we got it. As for CQ duty, I ended up riding with the main DS in a van to get ice for the ice stations for heat injuries. After that he had my battle buddy and I go and fill up these huge camel back filling stations called water buffaloes. It was not bad even though it went into my sleep time. The weather here at night is amazing. I also got to make a new friend with a "Kennedy" accent. PVT Chowder. We talked about our families. He has 3 kids, and he is 33. Nice guy.
Well off to sleep
P.S. I'm loving our names right now. Everyone is "Hey guy, hero, or retard."
Bus Ride to Tampa- 4/25 Monday
I had the pleasure of eating breakfast with my wife this morning. Up until this point, I have not gotten emotional or teary eyed. However, after my mom sent me a text with a prayer, combined with watching my wife, my emotions started to take over. My wife then dropped me off at the recruiter's office for me to wait for the shuttle to take me down to Tampa.
I'm riding in the van to Tampa right now. Luckily the van is full and I don't think we will be picking anyone else up on the way down. On a side note, the guy behind me is driving me crazy. He is constantly making this sniffing noise as if he has to blow his nose! I usually don't get annoyed like this, but I can compare this to water boarding torture but for the ears. I am passing the time by practicing and reciting the soldiers creed, the general orders, the Army Song, and other material I will need the know at Basic.
About to head off to bed for the evening. We stopped in Lakeland on the way and picked up a few more people and then went to the hotel by MEPS. We waited for about 15 mins before I got my first of what I'm sure will be the first of many briefings. Basically get rid of any knives, don't knock-up any females, and get back to the hotel by 10pm. After being let free, my wife came by and picked me up. We went to the hotel she's staying at and enjoyed each other's company and went out for dinner. After she dropped me off, I ran a little on the the treadmill and took a shower. Now I sleep till about 0445 and get ready to got to MEPS. Hopefully, all goes well!
4/26- MEPS
The morning started off at around 0430. I probably fell asleep around midnight and slept on and off through the night. I guess I kept worrying about waking up late. I drank a little water to aid my anticipated urine fest. After getting my stuff together, I made my way over to the dining room at the hotel. I only ate a very small portion considering I worried about my weight. After breakfast, we all waited for the bus to take us to the MEPS building. What I found annoying was that there were a number of people that could not help but break out, light, and puff away a cigarette in record time.
I got situated painlessly at MEPS upon arriving there were no issues with my files or records. Then they had all of the shippers (people like me) into the examination room to see us in our underwear. First, they took height and weight measurements. Then the people that passed were asked to perform a few movements and questioned about traffic tickets and Dr. visits. However, people that did not pass the height and weight standards had to be measured for Body Fat Indext (BFI). Evidently, I was one pound over! After measureing me, they found that I was around about a 21% BFI, the limit for entering the Army is 26%, so I was fine. On a side note, it was unfortunate to see one guy who was suppose to be shipping to Ft. Benning as an officer candidate school recruit get held back. Evidently, he had his appendix taken out and there is a 6 month wait before shipping. Today marked 4 days prior to the 6 month mark and the Dr. said he was disqualified for another week. Problem for him is that OCS ship dates are very scattered and random and he already quit his job. His recruiters thought that a fews days difference would not be a problem.
My wife was able to make it to the building to see me before she left Tampa to got to work. She was able to sit with me between me going to see various people process my paperwork. After getting my contract finalized, I waited for another swearing ceremony. Luckily my wife was able to be in the ceremony room and could take as much video and as many pictures she wanted. It was very surreal to have finally swear in and to know that I would be starting a new chapter for my wife and I's life. She had to take off promptly. I did not get very emotional like I thought I would when she left. This was around 11:40, I then had my free lunch and waited till about 1430 before getting in a van to leave. I'm already running into guys I do not want in my platoon. Mainly the smokers who kept crying about not being able to go outside to smoke a cigarette. I would have expected that they would have to quit by now as to limit their jonesing at basic. It was so bad that in the two minutes of us leaving the building and getting into the van, the guys had to light up a cigarette! They then got threatened with not shipping for not listening. We made a couple of stops before getting to Ft. Benning.
As we pulled up to reception, I started feeling nervous for the first time. I wasn't sure if something I brought was considered a weapon. Turns out my van missed the training video that explained a lot. Oh well. They then yelled at us, called us out for forms, made fun of people's names, and walked us out to another part of this huge building to get our duffel bags and first bit of clothing to start. They then had us back to the first room and had us stuff our personal bag from home into our duffel bag. This is where I needed to call SSG WTF back in orlando for telling me that my carry-on roll on would not be a problem for me. I had to stuff that thing in my duffel somehow walk to our barracks.
It's 0350, I have not gotten any sleep. I have to wake up at 0400 and what's worse is that there was a group getting in after us.
For my first jerk in my group award, I would like to issue it to private Blondie. He is a 25U-signal guy who is lazy, whiny, and annoying as hell! I almost told him off but bit my tongue and decided to let him hang himself. Hopefully, not at any inconvenience to me. He was actually laying down when we were issued our clothes.
Anyways, it's 0400 and I am gonna S.S. (shower and shave). I usually do 3 S's, but you can guess the 3rd, My friends know what I am talking about.
Wednesday, 27 April 2011- 1st Day Reception
The 40 hr. first day
As I said before I did not get the chance to go and sleep the night before. Wow. I'm in such a horrible mood right now. It's about 10:15pm. My morning started off with a chaotic 5 min. breakfast at 5am. I am a little disappointed because I thought the Army was going to start changing the food standards and dropping the fried foods and using whole grain. Hah NOPE!
The morning started out with us doing some drilling with a Sgt. that helps the Drill Sergeants. We will call him Sgt. Crazy Eye. He was the most entertaining yet scare stare. He also is kind of funny. His voice broke during cadence and laster he said if anyone made fun of him and his voice he would f*ck then up. BTW, there's a rumor the DS's can't curse at you...Big Lie!! Stupid goes hand in hand with the 4 letter words too.
Later, I did my eye exam. I have 20/20 vision so no BCGS! Then our shots, not fun. Then, we got issued our uniforms. And our stuff is getting heavier and heavier to carry. We have had to move our things multiple times. Each time it gets heavier.
Holy shit, we finally got time around 1930 to go to our bunks for free time and cell phone time until 2100. Yay...it would have been fine except there was a tornado in the area and we had to evacuate from our barracks upstairs with all of our stuff and move to another packed barracks across the street. FML baby. Then, it gets better. While I was sitting in what I thought was an empty bunk. I tried calling my wife one last time because I hung up on her during the tornado scare. And then I text her "tornado" like an idiot. We then had to drag all of our crap downstairs to another barracks. I had a bed but when I tried to call my wife back, no answer. We could hear tornado sirens! Afterward, I finally went to take a shower and went to sleep promptly after writing a little.
Reception Day 2- 4/28/2011
I slept like a rock, no tossing or dreaming. I did however wake up at 0330, rather 0400 and could not get back to sleep. Oh well. We then did breakfast...nothing exciting. You are not allowed to look around or talk. I did wake up to my butt hurting from the penicillin shot. We did a hearing test and I'm not deaf thank God. We saw the dentist, I have good teeth evidently. Pretty neat Star Trek-esque X-ray. We went and did DEERS (insurance for family) my wife has insurance again!!
After seeing DEERs, the unit took individual pictures in our ACUs, but with just the top. Later, we went to dinner. I clocked my self at 5:57 for chow time. After dinner, we listened to SGT crazy eyes about how we have been doing a good job and that we need to stay motivated. He explained that somehow he has stayed motivated for his daughter even though his wife killed herself. He's a strange character, he said "If she wants to kill herself fine! There's another Mrs. Crazy Eyes out there." I like talking with him though. I feel like I am slowly feeling the Army mindset and having fun a little even though the new boots are a little sore and the duffel bag is killing my back.
After getting back from our dinner, we formed up in our chair less classroom. One DS informed me and 4 buddies of mine that out of 45 people we only had our forms from the night before. I replied back, "What..." He said " You know I love those civilian answers. I love them so much that you are to do CQ duty tonight from 2100 to 2200." Oops. He later explained to me that they are just trying to get the civilian out of us. He was actually pretty cool about it. I could have gotten 0000 til 0100.
They then told us where to move our bunks for the last time, hopefully. I think it was planned into a team exercise because he told 70 people to fill in a 68 bunk bay. Total cluster-fornication! But we got it. As for CQ duty, I ended up riding with the main DS in a van to get ice for the ice stations for heat injuries. After that he had my battle buddy and I go and fill up these huge camel back filling stations called water buffaloes. It was not bad even though it went into my sleep time. The weather here at night is amazing. I also got to make a new friend with a "Kennedy" accent. PVT Chowder. We talked about our families. He has 3 kids, and he is 33. Nice guy.
Well off to sleep
P.S. I'm loving our names right now. Everyone is "Hey guy, hero, or retard."
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Oh CRAP!
This will be my last entry that will be uploaded by me till after basic training. My wife will be uploading them for the duration of my basic training until I have access to to the Internet again. I can not say exactly when my next entry will be and the frequency of the any thereafter. It all depends on when my wife receives my first letter home, how often I get to write, and when she is able to transcribe my letters on here.
Monday: I basically did more packing; mostly clothes. I had the pleasure of going through all of the clothes I own deciding if there were any pieces that I could live without. I threw out a lot more clothes because I still have a lot of clothes that are too big for me after losing 45 pounds. After washing and folding everything that made the cut, I set aside everything that I was going to wear for the next week. Everything else I piled into a space bag made my own "AS SEEN ON TV" commercial presentation. See below:
Later in the day, I went for a 2 mile jog around my neighborhood. It's a somewhat challenging trip because the first mile is mostly uphill, while the second mile is up and down. Upon getting home, I did 3 sets of push ups, 25 each.
Tuesday: The day started off with me starting my my personal training session at 0700 like usual. My trainer started the session with me doing 3 sets of step-ups on a bench, per leg. Basically you put one foot on the bench and step up and raise that leg as high as you can. After that, she had me do three sets on a leg press machine with 200 lbs., with me doing stationary suicides in between each set. He is an example:
The day basically consisted of me doing more packing and loading my car up with more stuff before driving to FS PT. We had SGT Woody take us out again to Blue Jacket Park. He had us first do what some people call an Indian Run or Last Man Sprint. It is basically two rows of people jogging lightly with 5 yards between each other. As you are jogging, the last two people sprint up to the front and in place, and repeat. We did that for right around a mile. After that, SGT Woody had us do some team exercises; this involved the Fireman's Carry and a Sprint and Karaoke. My team won both times. The loser than had to do push-ups. I decided to do them with the losers anyways, just because I needed them. He then had us do various core exercises. All in all, I was sweating up a storm by then end.
I finished the day off making a run to Brevard to drop some more items off at the storage unit.
Wednesday: Fun Day Wednesday! I had the pleasure of doing more packing in the morning. After that, I was reminded that when a service manager tells you that it will take a couple of hours to replace two new tires, they actually mean nearly 4 hours. This did allow me to walk next door to attend Noon Mass. I missed church the previous weekend and figured I needed to do a little praying and self-reflection. On a more personal note, I have discovered my faith that I really never had in the past. I think that it will only get stronger in basic as I begin to discover more about myself and church and God will probably be one of my few escapes from the yelling and DSs.
Moving on, after finally getting my car back with a surprise alignment and $300 less in the bank account, I was barely able to make it to FS PT on time. We got moving a little late, but we were able to stretch out with some guidance from SGT Woody. He has been critiquing my commands and the way people have been stretching for the last week and I have found it all to be very useful. SSG Capcom took us out to the park to have us do what I think he called "up and down the mountain" drill with push-ups. He asked us to pick a magical number between 1 and 20 with 15 being chosen. He then had start with one push-up, take a break. Then do 3 push-ups, take a break. This was followed with 5 push-ups with a break. This continued with 7, 9, 11, 13, and 15. After a 1 minute break and some funny stories from SSG Capcom experience in the Army, had us then do the same amount but reversed. After it was all said and done and you crunch the numbers, you just did 128 push-ups.
What made my day was that the chosen recruiter to ensure that FSs are to be prepped and sent to MEPS for basic, we will call him SSG WTF, informed me that he will finish the necessary paperwork together for me to leave Friday because he will not be here at all on Thursday. GREAT! Why this annoys me is that I showed up early on Tuesday to get these kinds of things done with him in the office, and not have to make an unnecessary drive to the recruiter's office. He said "oh no, you're an easy shipper, I don't need to do any of your paperwork till last minute". I guess I should get used to this kind of experience with things of this nature.
I then went home to do some cleaning of the apartment and settle in for the third installment of Dirty Harry Series on AMC. I never watched all of them so I figure what a better movie series about a bad-ass before before becoming one!
I also came across this seemingly funny Army spoof training video. I thought it was funny, but I sure the "trainee" was not as much.
After off-loading more of our stuff, I made it over to my last session of FS PT at the recruiter's office. We had a pretty god turn out. We had a few new faces show up as well as most of the usual crowd. I also helped decide who will take on the PG role after I leave. The replacement is good guy who needs to get a louder, but will do well. It was between him or the Vietnamese FS who we call Jackie Chan, but he leaving soon and we told him no one would understand him calling cadence.
After receiving a comment from one of the other FSs that we should start doing warm up exercises instead of just stretching, I decided it was not a bad idea. Luckily, we had two soldiers in the office who just got done with BCT and AIT. I asked them to come out and run the group through these new warm up exercises. They also answered questions for group. After the warm ups, SSG Capcom took out to work on our core. I can not even remember most of the exercises, but the magic number was 17.
Later in the evening, my parents stopped by and rode with me to UCF for the Jefferson Awards. This is a regional version of a national award that is given out to people who are passionate about giving back to the community and volunteering. I just happened to be nominated for an award! I was not worried about winning so much (even though it would be nice) because it was just humbling to just be nominated and recognized for my efforts and time with the organization and community.
Friday: I had my last personal training session with my trainer at 0700. She did a number on my upper body with various free weights and other strength exercises. She even had me doing some switch squat jumps from the P90X Plyometrics in between sets. After my time with her, I did 20 minutes on the treadmill. I did try to go crazy, but I did sweat a ton.
So I took the time the rest of the day to do more packing and cleaning. Later that night, I made my way to the First United Methodist Church of Winter Park, to see my wife perform some a solo and other roles in The Seven Last Words of Christ. She did an amazing job! I wish I had the video ready to post here. She has been singing with this church for awhile on a scholarship program and has done great things. They have a very professional program to boast.
The rest of the day was me spending time with my family and friends at my wife's parents' house. I felt a little weird with everyone giving me praise for my choice to join the Army. They make it sound like I am leaving and may not come back for a long time or something of that nature. One person thanked me for future service. I told her that she did not have to thank me, because I will take every advantage the Army will throw my way. That includes getting my Master's degree. She thanked me again later, and my response was not to thank me, but to thank my recruiter. I got a few laughs out of it. I think the water works will start with me the last time I will see my before I leave.
Monday: I basically did more packing; mostly clothes. I had the pleasure of going through all of the clothes I own deciding if there were any pieces that I could live without. I threw out a lot more clothes because I still have a lot of clothes that are too big for me after losing 45 pounds. After washing and folding everything that made the cut, I set aside everything that I was going to wear for the next week. Everything else I piled into a space bag made my own "AS SEEN ON TV" commercial presentation. See below:
 |
| Before |
 |
| After |
Later in the day, I went for a 2 mile jog around my neighborhood. It's a somewhat challenging trip because the first mile is mostly uphill, while the second mile is up and down. Upon getting home, I did 3 sets of push ups, 25 each.
Tuesday: The day started off with me starting my my personal training session at 0700 like usual. My trainer started the session with me doing 3 sets of step-ups on a bench, per leg. Basically you put one foot on the bench and step up and raise that leg as high as you can. After that, she had me do three sets on a leg press machine with 200 lbs., with me doing stationary suicides in between each set. He is an example:
After that she had me do some leg raises similar to this video below. I just did not bring my legs up as high as this lady:
In between the leg raises, she had me do squat jumps with a 25lb weight. It reminded me of how difficult it was to do these exercises with an extra 25lbs again. After that I spent 20 minutes on the elliptical.
The day basically consisted of me doing more packing and loading my car up with more stuff before driving to FS PT. We had SGT Woody take us out again to Blue Jacket Park. He had us first do what some people call an Indian Run or Last Man Sprint. It is basically two rows of people jogging lightly with 5 yards between each other. As you are jogging, the last two people sprint up to the front and in place, and repeat. We did that for right around a mile. After that, SGT Woody had us do some team exercises; this involved the Fireman's Carry and a Sprint and Karaoke. My team won both times. The loser than had to do push-ups. I decided to do them with the losers anyways, just because I needed them. He then had us do various core exercises. All in all, I was sweating up a storm by then end.
I finished the day off making a run to Brevard to drop some more items off at the storage unit.
Wednesday: Fun Day Wednesday! I had the pleasure of doing more packing in the morning. After that, I was reminded that when a service manager tells you that it will take a couple of hours to replace two new tires, they actually mean nearly 4 hours. This did allow me to walk next door to attend Noon Mass. I missed church the previous weekend and figured I needed to do a little praying and self-reflection. On a more personal note, I have discovered my faith that I really never had in the past. I think that it will only get stronger in basic as I begin to discover more about myself and church and God will probably be one of my few escapes from the yelling and DSs.
Moving on, after finally getting my car back with a surprise alignment and $300 less in the bank account, I was barely able to make it to FS PT on time. We got moving a little late, but we were able to stretch out with some guidance from SGT Woody. He has been critiquing my commands and the way people have been stretching for the last week and I have found it all to be very useful. SSG Capcom took us out to the park to have us do what I think he called "up and down the mountain" drill with push-ups. He asked us to pick a magical number between 1 and 20 with 15 being chosen. He then had start with one push-up, take a break. Then do 3 push-ups, take a break. This was followed with 5 push-ups with a break. This continued with 7, 9, 11, 13, and 15. After a 1 minute break and some funny stories from SSG Capcom experience in the Army, had us then do the same amount but reversed. After it was all said and done and you crunch the numbers, you just did 128 push-ups.
What made my day was that the chosen recruiter to ensure that FSs are to be prepped and sent to MEPS for basic, we will call him SSG WTF, informed me that he will finish the necessary paperwork together for me to leave Friday because he will not be here at all on Thursday. GREAT! Why this annoys me is that I showed up early on Tuesday to get these kinds of things done with him in the office, and not have to make an unnecessary drive to the recruiter's office. He said "oh no, you're an easy shipper, I don't need to do any of your paperwork till last minute". I guess I should get used to this kind of experience with things of this nature.
I then went home to do some cleaning of the apartment and settle in for the third installment of Dirty Harry Series on AMC. I never watched all of them so I figure what a better movie series about a bad-ass before before becoming one!
I also came across this seemingly funny Army spoof training video. I thought it was funny, but I sure the "trainee" was not as much.
Thursday: Yet again, I made a trip over to Brevard to bring some more of our belongings to our storage unit. I have realized how right George Carlin was about your stuff, holy crap he was right!
After off-loading more of our stuff, I made it over to my last session of FS PT at the recruiter's office. We had a pretty god turn out. We had a few new faces show up as well as most of the usual crowd. I also helped decide who will take on the PG role after I leave. The replacement is good guy who needs to get a louder, but will do well. It was between him or the Vietnamese FS who we call Jackie Chan, but he leaving soon and we told him no one would understand him calling cadence.
After receiving a comment from one of the other FSs that we should start doing warm up exercises instead of just stretching, I decided it was not a bad idea. Luckily, we had two soldiers in the office who just got done with BCT and AIT. I asked them to come out and run the group through these new warm up exercises. They also answered questions for group. After the warm ups, SSG Capcom took out to work on our core. I can not even remember most of the exercises, but the magic number was 17.
Later in the evening, my parents stopped by and rode with me to UCF for the Jefferson Awards. This is a regional version of a national award that is given out to people who are passionate about giving back to the community and volunteering. I just happened to be nominated for an award! I was not worried about winning so much (even though it would be nice) because it was just humbling to just be nominated and recognized for my efforts and time with the organization and community.
 |
| Me with the Chapter Director of One Brick Orlando (Whom is also UCF Alumni) |
After the gym, I stopped off at the mechanics place where I had some car work done on Tuesday to double check the work becasue of the these new warning lights. Turned out to be nothing so I went home to do some more packing and make my wife breakfast. I also made a call to SSG WTF to see if he was even at the office yet before I made the trip down to see him about my paperwork. He just happened to be out of a meeting. He named off a bunch of personal documents and asked if I had them and I confirmed each one(I have had each one of these documents in a folder waiting since November as not to screw this up!). He says "well ok, I guess we are good." I asked him "...so does that mean I even need to come in?" "Ah, no, just make sure you have all the crap on Monday." Great!
So I took the time the rest of the day to do more packing and cleaning. Later that night, I made my way to the First United Methodist Church of Winter Park, to see my wife perform some a solo and other roles in The Seven Last Words of Christ. She did an amazing job! I wish I had the video ready to post here. She has been singing with this church for awhile on a scholarship program and has done great things. They have a very professional program to boast.
Saturday: Woke up and spoke to my wife about a lot of things with our life and all of the changes. I think we have a very strong relationship and could not ask for a better person to call my wife. I basically went over all of the bills and due dates, as well as any passwords to my accounts (including this blog) that she would need access to while I unreachable. I am really hoping that I did not make a bad choice in never getting a chance to have a power of attorney made for her on my behalf. I have read and heard that I may want to do that. However, we do not have any kids, mortgages, ex-spouses, car loans, or any other major financial situations of that nature that may require a POA.
I ended up driving over to Brevard for another drop off of our "stuff" at the storage unit. I also stopped by my in-laws house to help set up for what was suppose to be a surprise going away party for me on Sunday. Becasue of some family stressors, my wife informed me that she had been planning a decent party for me. From what I understand, she even got orange and white streamers because those are the colors of the signal corps, my future MOS field! I felt so bad that she felt her surprise was ruined. But, I told her I was surprised she was able to keep it from me this whole time.
Later in the evening, I got to see my wife perform in another show she had been working on with Valencia Community College called Everything Taboo, an Opera-Theater Workshop performance. My wife again did an amazing job in various roles. This included Hello Dolly, Paquette in Candide and Glinda in Wicked. This show was actually amusing this year.
Sunday: My wife and I moved the last of of my items out of our apartment this morning and over to Brevard to finish pretty much the last bit of our moving, with the exception of the bare minimum for her to stay at the apartment. I can only imagine what the security cameras at my storage facility must look like with me trying to stuff the very last bits of our belongings that I could into the unit because there was basically no room left.I ended up driving over to Brevard for another drop off of our "stuff" at the storage unit. I also stopped by my in-laws house to help set up for what was suppose to be a surprise going away party for me on Sunday. Becasue of some family stressors, my wife informed me that she had been planning a decent party for me. From what I understand, she even got orange and white streamers because those are the colors of the signal corps, my future MOS field! I felt so bad that she felt her surprise was ruined. But, I told her I was surprised she was able to keep it from me this whole time.
Later in the evening, I got to see my wife perform in another show she had been working on with Valencia Community College called Everything Taboo, an Opera-Theater Workshop performance. My wife again did an amazing job in various roles. This included Hello Dolly, Paquette in Candide and Glinda in Wicked. This show was actually amusing this year.
The rest of the day was me spending time with my family and friends at my wife's parents' house. I felt a little weird with everyone giving me praise for my choice to join the Army. They make it sound like I am leaving and may not come back for a long time or something of that nature. One person thanked me for future service. I told her that she did not have to thank me, because I will take every advantage the Army will throw my way. That includes getting my Master's degree. She thanked me again later, and my response was not to thank me, but to thank my recruiter. I got a few laughs out of it. I think the water works will start with me the last time I will see my before I leave.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Sleeping on the air mattress
Monday: I took about a 1.5 mile run in my neighborhood. The actual distance was 2 miles, but I ran the first mile and then sprinted and and walked the other mile back. The running is getting easier slowly. I also came across some videos of the new Army PT and combat readiness tests that will replace the current PT test. Check it out:
Tuesday: Had my usual 0700 personal training session. She had me do some pretty good exercises that worked out the lower body. I then spent 25 minutes on a bike. I used this time to read the Soldier's Guide Book I mention previously.
Tuesday's PT was headed up by a new recruiter that just got transferred from Hawaii. He seems like a decent NCO. The best way to describe him is to think of Woody Harrelson. So we will just call him SGT Woody, not to be funny though. SGT Woody took us out to the track and planned on us doing 30:60s. This means that you sprint for 30 seconds, and jog 60 seconds for a set of reps. However, he was lacking a whistle, so we ended up just sprinting around the outer edges of track and jogging down the straightaways. He had us do it for 2 miles. It got me sweating pretty good. After that, he had us a fireman's carry relay between two teams. I wish that I could have taken some pictures of the race because it was fairly amusing. He then had us do some circular formation exercises that focused on the core. Overall it was fairly good workout.
Wednesday: The day seemed like it was going to be promising in terms of PT. We were planning on going out to the park and play some ultimate football. However, as SGT Woody was about to take his group of FSs to the park, the station commander told him that they needed to take the station van that had a flat tire for over a week, and that the tire needed to be fixed right then and there. That task turned out to be fairly time consuming and did not even get finished. We ended up just calling it day. However, a group of us decided to to go to the gym that I happen to still carry a membership. I took 6 other FSs into the gym and had them sign up for a 1 day pass. This caused some problems with the management for some reason and they wanted to charge them for using the gym for a day. This caused me to go into jerk mode. I asked why would they give me some many problems when I bring friends when they are always posting to bring our friends and family in to the gym. At this the manager decided to shut up and take my friends information. We ended playing basketball with some 3 on 3 action. It was fun to say the least. I have not played any team basketball since probably high school.
Thursday: I filmed my last episode of the Weekend Update with Maximum Cheese productions this week. We filmed on location this week at the East Orlando Sun. Check it out:
PT was better on Thursday. We got to play the ultimate football that we were suppose the prior day. Once the confusion as to how to play cleared up, the game was quite fun! The game is basically played like ultimate frisbee but with a football. This probably so football players do not feel sissy. Here is a video to describe the scene:
After PT I stopped by and did a little shopping for my packing list at reception and basic training. Here is a list of the items I will need:
Friday: Turned out to be a fun packed day. I attended what will probably be my Friday morning networking meeting. It has been a lot of fun meeting all of the new friends I have made at this group. After the meeting, I went out Wedgfield Golf Club with a friend of mine. We were not really doing well at all, but we did not seem to care. The highlight of my day would probably be the chip in I made on the first hole.
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After an afternoon of golf, I headed out to a nice hole in the wall bar where some of my friends decided to have a going away party for me. It was pretty fun considering there was karaoke. If you give me free drinks and good people, I will sing a few songs for you.
View Larger Map
Saturday: Was the day that I was able to get some help from my father and a family friend to come over and load up all of the big items at my apartment to bring to our storage unit. This included the bed (mattress, box spring, and frame), coffee table, two couches, 35" TV, entertainment center, three side tables, two night stands, two dressers, a dining table, and six dining chairs. We were able to pack all of these items into the back of a trailer and then pack it into my 5'X10' storage unit!
This will make it very easy for my wife to deal with things while I am gone as she will be spending a lot of her time with parents while I am training. The only problem is that during my last week of staying in Orlando, my wife and I will be sleeping on an air mattress. Oh well! Better than what I will be sleeping on in the near future.
Tuesday: Had my usual 0700 personal training session. She had me do some pretty good exercises that worked out the lower body. I then spent 25 minutes on a bike. I used this time to read the Soldier's Guide Book I mention previously.
Tuesday's PT was headed up by a new recruiter that just got transferred from Hawaii. He seems like a decent NCO. The best way to describe him is to think of Woody Harrelson. So we will just call him SGT Woody, not to be funny though. SGT Woody took us out to the track and planned on us doing 30:60s. This means that you sprint for 30 seconds, and jog 60 seconds for a set of reps. However, he was lacking a whistle, so we ended up just sprinting around the outer edges of track and jogging down the straightaways. He had us do it for 2 miles. It got me sweating pretty good. After that, he had us a fireman's carry relay between two teams. I wish that I could have taken some pictures of the race because it was fairly amusing. He then had us do some circular formation exercises that focused on the core. Overall it was fairly good workout.
Wednesday: The day seemed like it was going to be promising in terms of PT. We were planning on going out to the park and play some ultimate football. However, as SGT Woody was about to take his group of FSs to the park, the station commander told him that they needed to take the station van that had a flat tire for over a week, and that the tire needed to be fixed right then and there. That task turned out to be fairly time consuming and did not even get finished. We ended up just calling it day. However, a group of us decided to to go to the gym that I happen to still carry a membership. I took 6 other FSs into the gym and had them sign up for a 1 day pass. This caused some problems with the management for some reason and they wanted to charge them for using the gym for a day. This caused me to go into jerk mode. I asked why would they give me some many problems when I bring friends when they are always posting to bring our friends and family in to the gym. At this the manager decided to shut up and take my friends information. We ended playing basketball with some 3 on 3 action. It was fun to say the least. I have not played any team basketball since probably high school.
Thursday: I filmed my last episode of the Weekend Update with Maximum Cheese productions this week. We filmed on location this week at the East Orlando Sun. Check it out:
PT was better on Thursday. We got to play the ultimate football that we were suppose the prior day. Once the confusion as to how to play cleared up, the game was quite fun! The game is basically played like ultimate frisbee but with a football. This probably so football players do not feel sissy. Here is a video to describe the scene:
After PT I stopped by and did a little shopping for my packing list at reception and basic training. Here is a list of the items I will need:
Clothing
| Toiletries
| Money
|
Friday: Turned out to be a fun packed day. I attended what will probably be my Friday morning networking meeting. It has been a lot of fun meeting all of the new friends I have made at this group. After the meeting, I went out Wedgfield Golf Club with a friend of mine. We were not really doing well at all, but we did not seem to care. The highlight of my day would probably be the chip in I made on the first hole.
View Larger Map
After an afternoon of golf, I headed out to a nice hole in the wall bar where some of my friends decided to have a going away party for me. It was pretty fun considering there was karaoke. If you give me free drinks and good people, I will sing a few songs for you.
View Larger Map
Monday, April 11, 2011
Good luck SSG Lime
Tuesday: Was a bit of a wash in terms of FS training. For those of you that live or know Florida, you know that the weather can be fairly unpredictable. Seeing that the temperature has been steadily rising combined with the 50% chance of rain, I figured there was a good chance that there would be no FS training. I was correct. Having figured this, I did some time on the elliptical after my personal training in the morning. I have noticed that since my personal trainer has realized that I will be leaving soon for BCT, she has been stepping up the intensity of my workouts. She has been increasing the weight load as well as including some cardio exercises like suicides in between sets. She has also been stepping up the core exercises. I am liking it becasue a lot of these exercises she is having me do were the same ones I was struggling with right after starting with her. I can see and feel the progress I have made in the last six months.
Wednesday: Due to the fact that my wife will be moving in with her parents until she leaves for grad school, we will be storing our stuff at a storage unit by her parents' house. So I had the pleasure of driving and finding a decent place to trust my property with while I am gone training. During the prior weekend, my wife and I had begun packing our belongings. We are quite accustomed with the process due to the college life. I just wish I could go a year with out moving for once.
Due to some lack of communication on some of the recruiters part, another day of FS training was wasted. SSG Capcom was not able to make it into the office in time for the training. The sad part is that two or three of the other recruiters in the office were too busy to facilitate FS PT. Whats worse is that we had a good number of FSs on hand ready to go. However, the good part of the whole situation is that a good portion of the FSs decided to group up and go to the YMCA and workout together. I decided not to take part because the gym I have a membership just happened to be in the same plaza as the recruiter office. I was motivated enough to hop on the treadmill and spend about 30 minutes on the treadmill and run a 5k! It felt good. I then did some upper body work.
Thursday: Like clockwork, I met with my networking friend to film another episode of Rick and John's Weekend Update. Here is this week's video:
Was a productive day at the FS PT. Before we left for PT, the station had a Captain and First Sergeant come by to be a part of SSG Lime's going-away ceremony. After this, SSG Lime will be going back to his normal duties as a Combat Engineer. He received a commendation for his hard work during his 3 years as a recruiter. Evidently he has done a lot for the station. I believe he was an awesome recruiter and could not ask for a more honest representative of the Army.
SSG Capcom was in good form to get us to experience "temporary muscle failure". SSG Capcom turns out to be a fan of the P90X and Insanity workouts. He decided to to do a circular group workout session with plyometric exercises. It turned out to be a very challenging session. Combined with the sun, everyone must of dropped a pound of sweat each.
Friday: Had my usual 0700 personal training session. My trainer again kept up with the stepped up intensity in my workout session. I plan on having her step it up even more next week. I came home and did some more packing to get ready for another trip to the storage unit. I actually like the process because I get to purge things from my life that I no longer need. It only makes the feeling of me starting the next chapter in my life even more apparent.
Saturday: The day started early with me getting to the recruiter's office to carpool down the local reserve center in Orlando for a FS Training event. This happens periodically by former and current drill sergeants in the reserves. However, upon arrival to the center, we were informed that the whole place was shut down due to the whole budget fiasco in Washington.
However, there was one DS that decided to do some training after seeing how many FSs showed up to learn. These are the kinds of things I like to see by good NCOs in the Army; even though he was not getting paid, he made sure our trip to the training was not in vain. He was able to get the EST 2000 up and running for us to train on during the day. The EST 2000 is simulator used at all BCT locations that recruits and soldiers train on with realistic replicas of various rifles, including the M-16. I really enjoyed the training and did fairly well. Here is a session of FSs shooting 3 rounds.
The only problem with the training was that there was only DS to train everyone. This led to the recruiters to stepping up and hanging around to facilitate in training different lessons; map reading and grenade & claymore training.
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| Some instruction prior to using the EST 2000 |
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| You can't see it but a FS decided to throw his mock grenade a little too far into the mock foxhole. SSG Capcom made him get it. |
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| FSs trying to help out the FS who threw the grenade too far. |
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| SSG Capcom made the FS do push ups becasue he had the same MOS as him. |
This video is me doing a claymore drill. I took it easy as not to get my shorts stained.
The event was overall very useful and I feel much more comfortable with the rifle. I think that I will have a much easier time getting used to the M-16 at BCT.
Monday, April 4, 2011
NTM...
As the subject says, not to much to report this week. No crazy parties, no out-of-town family, or extreme training.
Tuesday: Went to FS PT Tuesday. It was the last time I got to hang out with SSG Lime before leaves the recruiting business and goes back to doing his regular Army work. Him and SSG Capcom made it memorable. To start off the fun assembled in the parking lot in front of Target. They then had us do a series of shuttle run type exercises. This included sprints, high leg, lunges and others. What was a lot of fun was that we then did some firemen and chair carries. What was amusing was that the two heaviest guys, including me, got to carry probably one of the skinniest and smallest guy, and then he helped carry us. I really wish I could have taken a picture. SSG Capcom the had us do some level 1 or 2 drills to finish off the day.
After FS PT, I raced home to shower and change and get my wife and I down to the Hard Rock Live at Universal Orlando for the Video Games Live. If you have never heard of this it is a gaming nerd's dream. It is a full orchestra and choir that played the music to video games. The night was great with the exception of the loud mouth screaming girl behind us. When intermission, or pause happened, we promptly moved back and away! We were there more for my wife than me. Most people assumed it was the other way around.
Wednesday: The rain basically ruined the rest of the week, starting with Wednesday. SSG Capcom told me to stretch the group out. I go outside and it's raining. I go back inside and ask SSG Capcom what is the protocol for rain is in this situation. He then tells me to go bring everyone back inside the office. When I go back outside, the rain stops and everyone was motivated enough to stretch anyways. So I stretch them, and SSG Capcom came out and started informing us that he was going to have us doing 2-3 minute explosive exercises. He got to a point where he said that "2 minutes is a long time". My reply was "my wife does not think so". I could not help myself! SSG Capcom tried his best not to smile or laugh and pointed to the ground and told me to find out how long 2 minutes was with push ups. Shortly thereafter, the rain started coming down, and come down hard. He then had us go back inside and assemble around him where he put together an impromptu class on first aid. I had give SSG Capcom kudos on doing some productive training on the fly and making it interesting.
Thursday: Thursday was basically ruined due to the rain. It rained all day! Obviously there was no FS PT that day. I did some research on the new PT and soldier test that the Army will be implementing later and replacing the current 2-2-2 Army Personal Fitness Test. Here is a video of what to expect:
Friday: April Fools! Both the Army and myself got into the action. First I read that the Army was going to be going to changing the hats that soldiers would be wearing to the Stetsons hat. I have to admit that I read and believed it for a second and assumed it had something to do with it being April 1st. Click here to see the link. I also helped film this week's Rick and John's Weekend Update:
But that was the jist of this not so crazy week!
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