So it's been a while since my last post. A lot has happened since then, so lets get the official record up to speed.
Talked with the detailer on the phone to confirm my orders, so it looks pretty certain that I'm going to Japan and the GW for my first duty station. Still amazed I'm getting the opportunity of a lifetime.
Secured dental test 2 with a perfect score, obviously happy with that, and a great way to kick off the holiday exodus.
Fly into National Airport on Dec 17, touching down around 10:30. This was almost 6 hours sooner than I planned to be home, thanks to the good folks at United Airlines (and my sharp dress blues). Since then I have...
Been home for the first time in over 6 months,
Attended a December birthday party in Arlington, my first chance to see a lot of my friends again,
Visited Baltimore for more time with friends, eaten an Elk burger and tasted Natty Bo again,
Returned to DC, saw a comedy show with the family and dined in Gallery Place,
Spent Christmas with my Uncle's family in Virginia.
It's great to be back, but so surreal as well. Walking around the house, part of me feels like I never left, and part of me feels like I'm out of place here. Not that I feel like I don't belong here, there's nothing but great feelings, but rather that I now belong out there. It's not just the house, its this whole life in general. For the last 6 months I've been in a somewhat isolated training environment, a whole new lifestyle. Now I'm suddenly back to the old one, so its quite the clash of new training vs. years of the way things used to be. Nothing serious, no bad feelings, just odd at times. I think I'm starting to learn that this is the great dichotomy of life, when you love two things that can't exist at the same time. While I'm at home, I miss the Navy. While I'm in the Navy, I miss home. This I imagine will be unavoidable the rest of my time in the service. The important thing is that I am thoroughly enjoying each while I have the time.
In summary, I'm grateful to be home, and love seeing my friends and family again. I'm going to miss it all when the time comes to return, but I wouldn't trade being in the Navy for anything in the world right now. Here's to a great end to 2010, and see you in 2011!
27.12.10
9.12.10
the best is yet to come
So while I'm exhausted and excited and still in disbelief, and despite having told most of my friends and family asap, here's the official update.
Today, out of seemingly nowhere, we finally got to pick orders. Having the highest GPA, I was awarded first pick. Nervous but anxious, I sat down and looked at the list. Going in, I was hoping for a decent ship billet or some exotic FMF orders, but expecting nothing but boring shore stations. Much to my amazement, the possibilities were unbelievably good: Multiple 3rd Dental Co. Okinawa, 11th Dental Co with Marine Air Wing Iwakuni, the USS Stennis Aircraft Carrier out of Bremerton Washington, USS Pearl Harbor Dock Landing Ship out of San Diego, USS George Washington Aircraft Carrier out of Yokosuka, Japan, etc. There were a few other stateside FMF, South Carolina, Florida, Rhode Island, etc. Admittedly the first thing that caught my eye was the Gdub. Never in a million years did I expect to have the option of an aircraft carrier, let alone TWO! I had never heard of anyone in corps school getting on a CVN. Still, I asked first about the Okinawa and Iwakuni FMF billets. Yes, I had been telling myself I wanted to go FMF. The hard work with the marines was always a goal of mine... but something just wasn't sitting right. Okinawa is a small tropical island, not much to do, and then I'd be in Iraq or Afghanistan (which is something I had been planning on). One day I still hope to go with the marines and earn their respect, but the George Washington is a ONCE in a lifetime adventure. Stationed right outside of Tokyo, she makes tours all over the Pacific. Singapore, the Philippines, Korea, Australia... I could see it all. Not to mention she's on the front lines with our current conflict with North Korea. And as far as my career goes.. the Gdubs was far and away the best choice. For an HM straight out of corps school to get on a ship is rare enough as it is, but a carrier like the George Washington! Better yet, I'll be able to earn both my Surface Warfare and Air Warfare devices. The experience will be unbeatable, I'll get to see the world, when I'm not at sea I'll be able to visit Tokyo all the time... I took the Gdubs, and I could not be happier!!
In my heart of heart's I've always been an explorer more than anything, and that's why I've always been attracted to the Navy. Now I worked my ass off, got first pick, and am stationed on an amazing ship in an exotic far away land. I feel like I'm about to realize a dream.
In other less exciting news, as of today I am no longer EPO. I was anticipating to continue my duties as EPO in dental, but our instructor had other plans for me. I am now the Adjutant of Dental... aka the guy in charge. Never thought I'd be in this position, not really much to do except keep everyone in line and probably get yelled at by Chief, but that's ok. It seems like a good way to go out of Corps School.
Reason #3 today rocked, dinner was served personally by 2 chefs from the Food Network! Gorilla and some other guy who makes pizza in California...I forget. Homemade pizza with bacon, ham and sausage, and dry rub ribs. Holy shit, it was REALLY good. And I probably won't eat for the next 24 hours, but was totally worth it. It was awesome of those guys to come down and cook us sailors some quality food. They thanked us for our service, and I thanked them for the extra hours I'm gonna have to work out tomorrow.
It's past taps, so time for bed. Today was awesome, but the best is yet to come!
Today, out of seemingly nowhere, we finally got to pick orders. Having the highest GPA, I was awarded first pick. Nervous but anxious, I sat down and looked at the list. Going in, I was hoping for a decent ship billet or some exotic FMF orders, but expecting nothing but boring shore stations. Much to my amazement, the possibilities were unbelievably good: Multiple 3rd Dental Co. Okinawa, 11th Dental Co with Marine Air Wing Iwakuni, the USS Stennis Aircraft Carrier out of Bremerton Washington, USS Pearl Harbor Dock Landing Ship out of San Diego, USS George Washington Aircraft Carrier out of Yokosuka, Japan, etc. There were a few other stateside FMF, South Carolina, Florida, Rhode Island, etc. Admittedly the first thing that caught my eye was the Gdub. Never in a million years did I expect to have the option of an aircraft carrier, let alone TWO! I had never heard of anyone in corps school getting on a CVN. Still, I asked first about the Okinawa and Iwakuni FMF billets. Yes, I had been telling myself I wanted to go FMF. The hard work with the marines was always a goal of mine... but something just wasn't sitting right. Okinawa is a small tropical island, not much to do, and then I'd be in Iraq or Afghanistan (which is something I had been planning on). One day I still hope to go with the marines and earn their respect, but the George Washington is a ONCE in a lifetime adventure. Stationed right outside of Tokyo, she makes tours all over the Pacific. Singapore, the Philippines, Korea, Australia... I could see it all. Not to mention she's on the front lines with our current conflict with North Korea. And as far as my career goes.. the Gdubs was far and away the best choice. For an HM straight out of corps school to get on a ship is rare enough as it is, but a carrier like the George Washington! Better yet, I'll be able to earn both my Surface Warfare and Air Warfare devices. The experience will be unbeatable, I'll get to see the world, when I'm not at sea I'll be able to visit Tokyo all the time... I took the Gdubs, and I could not be happier!!
In my heart of heart's I've always been an explorer more than anything, and that's why I've always been attracted to the Navy. Now I worked my ass off, got first pick, and am stationed on an amazing ship in an exotic far away land. I feel like I'm about to realize a dream.
In other less exciting news, as of today I am no longer EPO. I was anticipating to continue my duties as EPO in dental, but our instructor had other plans for me. I am now the Adjutant of Dental... aka the guy in charge. Never thought I'd be in this position, not really much to do except keep everyone in line and probably get yelled at by Chief, but that's ok. It seems like a good way to go out of Corps School.
Reason #3 today rocked, dinner was served personally by 2 chefs from the Food Network! Gorilla and some other guy who makes pizza in California...I forget. Homemade pizza with bacon, ham and sausage, and dry rub ribs. Holy shit, it was REALLY good. And I probably won't eat for the next 24 hours, but was totally worth it. It was awesome of those guys to come down and cook us sailors some quality food. They thanked us for our service, and I thanked them for the extra hours I'm gonna have to work out tomorrow.
It's past taps, so time for bed. Today was awesome, but the best is yet to come!
2.12.10
220-2
Clinicals secured! Dental begun! Class 220 graduating! It's a turbulent and freezing time in Great Lakes.
First off, we finished Clinicals. The last week was slightly discombobulated. I spent Monday in 200H taking a SOAP notes class (don't ask), Tuesday in 200H in the dental department, and Wednesday somehow back at the VA on the gen med floor. Working in dental was actually pretty awesome. I got to observe up close some routine but fascinating dental procedures, and learned how to file medical records (not glamorous but SO very important to know).
While the rest of 220 spent today in the outbrief and picking up plane tickets home, the HMDA's finally split off to form 220-2, dental strand! And we're all going to be in amazing shape, because dental classes are on the 12th floor of 200H. We spent the morning being briefed by two Chiefs, both giving us great advice and FINALLY shedding some light on this mystery that is dental training. I'm feeling a lot better about getting the dental training, as it sounds really interesting, and will only enhance our repertoire in the field (and help us get promoted faster!). As for orders, our friendly lady in charge of contacting the detailer said we will have them before the holiday exodus, and that we COULD even have them as soon as tomorrow. I'm doubtful, so expect something more in lines with next week. Wednesday or Thursday is my guess. Test 1 is already on Wednesday, and Test 2 is the day before we leave on exodus, so it's going to be a busy couple of weeks before shore leave. Graduation is set for the 25th of January, after which I will go straight to my first duty station, or be put on hold like a few shipmates from 220.
Speaking of 220, bravo zulu shipmates for making it to the very end of Corps School, and good luck to all at your first duty station! I'm going to definitely miss some of you, but its a small navy, so I hope to see you out in the fleet one day.
First off, we finished Clinicals. The last week was slightly discombobulated. I spent Monday in 200H taking a SOAP notes class (don't ask), Tuesday in 200H in the dental department, and Wednesday somehow back at the VA on the gen med floor. Working in dental was actually pretty awesome. I got to observe up close some routine but fascinating dental procedures, and learned how to file medical records (not glamorous but SO very important to know).
While the rest of 220 spent today in the outbrief and picking up plane tickets home, the HMDA's finally split off to form 220-2, dental strand! And we're all going to be in amazing shape, because dental classes are on the 12th floor of 200H. We spent the morning being briefed by two Chiefs, both giving us great advice and FINALLY shedding some light on this mystery that is dental training. I'm feeling a lot better about getting the dental training, as it sounds really interesting, and will only enhance our repertoire in the field (and help us get promoted faster!). As for orders, our friendly lady in charge of contacting the detailer said we will have them before the holiday exodus, and that we COULD even have them as soon as tomorrow. I'm doubtful, so expect something more in lines with next week. Wednesday or Thursday is my guess. Test 1 is already on Wednesday, and Test 2 is the day before we leave on exodus, so it's going to be a busy couple of weeks before shore leave. Graduation is set for the 25th of January, after which I will go straight to my first duty station, or be put on hold like a few shipmates from 220.
Speaking of 220, bravo zulu shipmates for making it to the very end of Corps School, and good luck to all at your first duty station! I'm going to definitely miss some of you, but its a small navy, so I hope to see you out in the fleet one day.
29.11.10
thanksgiving/last week of clinicals
Entering the last week of clinicals after a great 4 day Thanksgiving weekend. Sad I couldn't be home, but glad I had my navy family to spend it with. We spent Thanksgiving day at the "world famous" Brat Stop (www.bratstop.com), enjoying good food, great beer and of course football. Carbone's dad even won 2 lobsters from a crane drop game where you actually catch the lobsters. Yeah, it was kind of awesome. The rest of the weekend was spent eating and drinking around Chicago, including picking up the new TR book (yessss!). Only through the prologue, which details Roosevelt's African Safari, but so far its amazing. Today we were re-assigned clinical destinations, so I've said goodbye to the VA and hello to 200H. It's really more a class than clinicals though. Oh well, it should only be until Thursday, which is when we are supposed to class up for dental. "Supposed to".
Special thanks to Mama Dehn and Christine Perez for sending me super sweet delicacies! The south east wing of 129 is about to plump up for winter. Speaking of which, I could really use some PT after that long weekend... hopefully my next update will be in the dental phase!
Special thanks to Mama Dehn and Christine Perez for sending me super sweet delicacies! The south east wing of 129 is about to plump up for winter. Speaking of which, I could really use some PT after that long weekend... hopefully my next update will be in the dental phase!
21.11.10
clinicals
So we're into clinicals now. I'm assigned to the VA, or rather the hospital complex formerly known as the VA. It's now the Lovell Federal Health Care Center, named after the famed Apollo 13 astronaut (and Navy captain!). He was actually in town to dedicate it a month or so ago, but sadly I could not catch a glimpse of the legend as I was in class. Anyway, right now I'm working on the general med ward, which isn't so bad. The Nurses are great and keep us busy, and they call us Corpsman which is awesome. Most of our work is pretty routine, such as linen changing, patient transport, hygiene etc., but sometimes we get to do cool things like draw blood samples. We muster at 0545 and don't get back to the barracks until around 1630, so the days are long, but it's good to finally be doing some hands on health care. It's going to be a short week of clinicals due to Thanksgiving break, and then next week we should only have 3 days at the most before graduation/dental begins.
Despite the Terps football heartbreak on Saturday night, I still would have given anything to be back at the game with my friends. It sounds like they had a good time though, which is great. Still not sure what I'll be doing for Thanksgiving or the rest of break, but rest assured it will include watching an entire game of football (which I haven't done since before joining) and purchasing Colonel Roosevelt, the final book in the TR trilogy. Talks of Milwaukee are also abound, so we'll see.
Looking forward to more time in the hospital and the upcoming break. And of course still missing everyone terribly! December 17th is less than a month away
Despite the Terps football heartbreak on Saturday night, I still would have given anything to be back at the game with my friends. It sounds like they had a good time though, which is great. Still not sure what I'll be doing for Thanksgiving or the rest of break, but rest assured it will include watching an entire game of football (which I haven't done since before joining) and purchasing Colonel Roosevelt, the final book in the TR trilogy. Talks of Milwaukee are also abound, so we'll see.
Looking forward to more time in the hospital and the upcoming break. And of course still missing everyone terribly! December 17th is less than a month away
17.11.10
Life rolls on
HM exams over. Finished with a 97.67% average from 12 tests. First place in my class, which is all good and dandy but really doesn't matter at all in the long run. Proud of all my other shipmates who finished with good GPAs. Tomorrow we finally start Clinicals, with dental to start at a still unknown time, possibly the 2nd of December. Don't expect any juicy updates from clinicals! It's called HIPAA and its kind of a big deal! Don't want to lose/never receive my caduceus. Shaved the stache today. It was fun growing one, and it might come in handy if I stick around long enough to make Chief, but its back to smooth lip sailor business.
14.11.10
wrigleyville weekend
Great weekend. Friday night most of our class ended up in Highwood, indulging in some Goose Island ales and karaoke at our favorite Irish pub. Saturday I finally visited the famed Wrigleyville with some shipmates. We had sushi and then saw Brian Posehn do standup comedy at the Cubby Bear, directly across from Wrigley Field. Hilarious show, I was literally laughing the entire time. After the show I got to meet him, and he told me that he likes Dream Theater, so all is well in my world. Today was a typical Sunday, filled with laundry, some studying, and "The Town" at Ross Theather. Great movie. Tomorrow is our LAST full day of class, and then its Test 12 on Tuesday and straight in to clinicals after that. Dental should be doing our clinicals with the rest of the class, but we'll see if they drop any last minute changes on us. I'm also planning on bringing some pizza to my last night of night study tomorrow, to celebrate all the good times we've had (pff). Our duties as EPO's don't end there though, as we are expected to come help the other classes on their night studies. If I can even remember what was on test 2!
So lets finish this exam and be that much closer to graduation!
So lets finish this exam and be that much closer to graduation!
9.11.10
good start to the week
Parenteral medication lab on monday, aka sticking people with needles! It was short but surprisingly satisfying. We got to inject normal saline into the deltoid (intra muscular) and the posterior upper arm (subcutaneous). I can't wait to do more of the hands on work once I finish Corps school. Speaking of finishing Corps school, today we secured Test 11, which means only one more test to go before HM clinicals (not thinking about dental training right now). Test 11 is feared throughout the school as the corpsman killer because so many people fail. The class before us had 13 or so failures, but our class rocked the hell out of it! I got my 4th 100% of school, and we had almost a 90% average as a class. Overrated test to say the least.
Good lab, perfect test, Cowboys at 1-7. Good start to the week! This Thursday we have off because of Veterans Day, which means we only have Wednesday, Friday and Monday to learn Test 12 material before we test on the 16th. So close to the end.. of the beginning. Anyway, I'm excited and pumped to be almost finish testing and start HM clinicals, hopefully I'll get assigned to Red Rover back at RTC and get to stick recruits all day. Obviously still no word on orders yet, that won't come until dental.
Good lab, perfect test, Cowboys at 1-7. Good start to the week! This Thursday we have off because of Veterans Day, which means we only have Wednesday, Friday and Monday to learn Test 12 material before we test on the 16th. So close to the end.. of the beginning. Anyway, I'm excited and pumped to be almost finish testing and start HM clinicals, hopefully I'll get assigned to Red Rover back at RTC and get to stick recruits all day. Obviously still no word on orders yet, that won't come until dental.
4.11.10
busy november ahead
Haven't updated in a while. Internet card decided to fail (are you kidding me Clear??), and I've also been busy as all hell as usual. Test 11 on Tuesday, going into it with a 98.3% average. It's supposed to be the hardest test in Corps school, but my entire class has duty weekend so I'll have no one to go out partying with, and thus hopefully more productive study time. We'll see about that! Didn't have much time to worry about the midterms, kind of pissed I didn't get my shit together and absentee ballot, but all Maryland decisions went the way I'd have voted anyway. Don't want to get political, all I hope is that Congress can get their act together and do SOMETHING productive for the country.
This time next month my class will have already have graduated and I'll be starting my dental phase. Looking forward to Thanksgiving break for some R and R, and even more looking forward to the holiday exodus! Thanksgiving I plan on frequenting the local watering holes and picking up the new Theodore Roosevelt book, which I will devour in my limited free time. Also in November I hope to attend an ITT sponsored trip to volunteer at a local animal shelter, and participate in Project White Hat at the downtown Children's Hospital. From what i hear, we all dress up in our blues and spend the day playing and chilling with the kids in need of some good company. I also started donating part of every paycheck to the United States Soccer Foundation, which ensures underserved communities have easy and affordable access to quality soccer programs that support their physical and personal development. I love that the Navy gives us the easy opportunity to give back to the community and country.
That's all for now!
This time next month my class will have already have graduated and I'll be starting my dental phase. Looking forward to Thanksgiving break for some R and R, and even more looking forward to the holiday exodus! Thanksgiving I plan on frequenting the local watering holes and picking up the new Theodore Roosevelt book, which I will devour in my limited free time. Also in November I hope to attend an ITT sponsored trip to volunteer at a local animal shelter, and participate in Project White Hat at the downtown Children's Hospital. From what i hear, we all dress up in our blues and spend the day playing and chilling with the kids in need of some good company. I also started donating part of every paycheck to the United States Soccer Foundation, which ensures underserved communities have easy and affordable access to quality soccer programs that support their physical and personal development. I love that the Navy gives us the easy opportunity to give back to the community and country.
That's all for now!
21.10.10
quick update
Corps school has been super busy, so there isn't a whole lot to report on. 99% on Test 7, 97% today on Test 8. Starting to feel a little burned out, more fatigued, but I'm sure the upcoming weekend will help a lot there. Our schedule between now and the end of didactic is going to be more non-stop studying and testing, but that also means we'll be done exams before Thanksgiving. Then it's on to clinicals, and dental, and dental exams and clinicals...
And with that, I think I'll get to bed early!
And with that, I think I'll get to bed early!
13.10.10
orders...
but not for me! So today my class picked orders. That is, those of us not HMDA. It was exciting to see where a lot of my fellow shipmates are going, but also disappointing that I have to wait another 2 months to find out for myself. I have shipmates going to the Japanese mainland, Okinawa, North Carolina, Florida, Bethesda, Hawaii, California, and a few lucky individuals going FMF. No ship billets, as expected. Good luck to everyone once they get to their new duty station, but we still have a lot of Corps School left to get through!
In other news, I had a great weekend. Started off with 100% on test 6 on Friday (98.7% average, #1), and then I immediately fled to downtown Chicago to meet up with my family who flew in for the weekend. Friday night we had dinner at a great Italian restaurant, followed up by The Second City comedy show at 11pm. Hilarious as expected, with some great topical jabs at the "tea party". Saturday we walked up Michigan Ave, taking in the sights and visiting the Nike Store to stock up on US Soccer jerseys. That evening was USA vs. Poland at Soldier Field. Very entertaining game, we should have won but a 2-2 draw in a friendly isn't so bad. Both teams played to win, which I liked, and the crowd was about 75% polish fans (chicago!). After the game we walked around Navy Pier for a bit before taking in some drinks and eats at this awesome Irish Pub, which I'm going to have to visit again. Sunday was back to base, where the rest of my shipmates were stuck during duty weekend.
Test 7 is this Friday, and since we had Monday off due to the holiday, we've been cramming new material like crazy. Probably going back downtown this weekend, and maybe to a Chicago Fire/DC United game?? We'll see!
In other news, I had a great weekend. Started off with 100% on test 6 on Friday (98.7% average, #1), and then I immediately fled to downtown Chicago to meet up with my family who flew in for the weekend. Friday night we had dinner at a great Italian restaurant, followed up by The Second City comedy show at 11pm. Hilarious as expected, with some great topical jabs at the "tea party". Saturday we walked up Michigan Ave, taking in the sights and visiting the Nike Store to stock up on US Soccer jerseys. That evening was USA vs. Poland at Soldier Field. Very entertaining game, we should have won but a 2-2 draw in a friendly isn't so bad. Both teams played to win, which I liked, and the crowd was about 75% polish fans (chicago!). After the game we walked around Navy Pier for a bit before taking in some drinks and eats at this awesome Irish Pub, which I'm going to have to visit again. Sunday was back to base, where the rest of my shipmates were stuck during duty weekend.
Test 7 is this Friday, and since we had Monday off due to the holiday, we've been cramming new material like crazy. Probably going back downtown this weekend, and maybe to a Chicago Fire/DC United game?? We'll see!
29.9.10
IV lab, true courage
Today we had our IV lab, and I must admit I really enjoyed it! I had no trouble hitting the vein or inserting the catheter with hardly any blood spill. A lot of the students were freaking out about sticking each other, and yes we practiced on each other, but it's really not that big a deal. Like so many things in life, confidence in your task will see you through! Studying all the material is great, but when we finally get to put it into practice and gain these valuable skills that could potentially save someone's life one day, THAT'S what I'm here for. Ok, IV's can be very routine and mundane in a hospital setting, but in the field they can be the difference between life and death. We also learned and practiced immobilizing head and spine injuries today, and got to hit up the gym during class hours, so really it was a great day. Later this week is musculo-skeletal injuries, including a splinting/immobilization lab, and then Test 5 on Monday. My average after 4 tests is 98.25%, which I'm obviously very happy with. Our class picks orders in 2 weeks, which of course I will NOT be doing because I'm dental. It should be interesting to see where most of our class ends up assigned to in the fleet. Hopefully good things come to those who wait, and my orders in (hopefully) December are awesome. And HOPEFULLY they announce the holiday exodus schedule soon so I can buy a plane ticket and figure out when I'm going home to Maryland!
On a serious note, I'd like to express the admiration I have for some of my fellow shipmates whom I now call friends. The Corps School curriculum is very demanding, and requires a lot out of us both mentally and physically. I can often devote my full attention to studies and life here in Great Lakes, but for some of those around me they are balancing this life with the one back home. Absent wife and kids, financial concerns, and personal tragedy are just a few of the major burdens that my friends here have to deal with while they work full time on becoming a Corpsman. Despite this, they still manage to carry on and move closer to entering the ranks of the most decorated rate in all of the armed services. I can not imagine the hardships they must endure, but I'm proud to serve along side of them, and I admire the courage they display every day just by being here and accomplishing the mission at hand.
"Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point."
-C.S. Lewis
On a serious note, I'd like to express the admiration I have for some of my fellow shipmates whom I now call friends. The Corps School curriculum is very demanding, and requires a lot out of us both mentally and physically. I can often devote my full attention to studies and life here in Great Lakes, but for some of those around me they are balancing this life with the one back home. Absent wife and kids, financial concerns, and personal tragedy are just a few of the major burdens that my friends here have to deal with while they work full time on becoming a Corpsman. Despite this, they still manage to carry on and move closer to entering the ranks of the most decorated rate in all of the armed services. I can not imagine the hardships they must endure, but I'm proud to serve along side of them, and I admire the courage they display every day just by being here and accomplishing the mission at hand.
"Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point."
-C.S. Lewis
22.9.10
A day in the life of a Corps student...
Killing some time before Taps, so i figured I'd give all of those who follow this blog (and thus my life) a glimpse into what it's like to be a Hospital Corps student. Assuming anyone does actually read this! So I hope you understand military time, because that's actually how I think now.
0520: Wake up
0520-0600: Shave, dress, clean room so it's inspection ready
0610-0700: Chow
0700: Muster in the classroom
0700-1030: Classroom didactic instruction (or the occasional lab)
1030-1200: Chow
1200-1530: Classroom didactic instruction (or the occasional PT session from HM1)
1600: Liberty call Liberty call! Free time begins, civilian clothing authorized
1600-1730: Run errands at the big Nex across base, PT, Study, or relax
1730-1900: Chow
1900-2100: Night Study. As EPO I have to help conduct this every other night
2100-2130: Hygiene
2200: Taps Taps, lights out
That's basically how most of the days during the week run. Now that we've got our phase 2, weekends involve a lot of eating, sleeping, and finding fun off base. This weekend will also involve a lot of studying, as Test 4 is on Monday. So there you have it. Today we spent the last half of class PTing and practicing our firefighter carry on the beach. For something we might be practicing in combat one day, it was way too much fun. I'm thinking about practicing it on my fellow shipmates in the barracks, although then we might end up practicing our first aid skills too.
0520: Wake up
0520-0600: Shave, dress, clean room so it's inspection ready
0610-0700: Chow
0700: Muster in the classroom
0700-1030: Classroom didactic instruction (or the occasional lab)
1030-1200: Chow
1200-1530: Classroom didactic instruction (or the occasional PT session from HM1)
1600: Liberty call Liberty call! Free time begins, civilian clothing authorized
1600-1730: Run errands at the big Nex across base, PT, Study, or relax
1730-1900: Chow
1900-2100: Night Study. As EPO I have to help conduct this every other night
2100-2130: Hygiene
2200: Taps Taps, lights out
That's basically how most of the days during the week run. Now that we've got our phase 2, weekends involve a lot of eating, sleeping, and finding fun off base. This weekend will also involve a lot of studying, as Test 4 is on Monday. So there you have it. Today we spent the last half of class PTing and practicing our firefighter carry on the beach. For something we might be practicing in combat one day, it was way too much fun. I'm thinking about practicing it on my fellow shipmates in the barracks, although then we might end up practicing our first aid skills too.
18.9.10
phase 2
Secured test 3 yesterday, which means we also got our phase 2 liberty cards. Phase 2 = no weekend curfew, and CIVILIAN clothes! Yes, we do look sharp in our NSUs, but it felt pretty good to put on a pair of jeans and walk around in a Who t-shirt. I got a 97% on test 3, missed 2 questions, even though at least 1 was a computer error that effected the whole class. Second test in a row this has happened. Is it crappy? yes. Do I really care about not having perfect scores anymore? no. Doesn't change the fact that I'm still going to do the best I can on every test and lab, and get those top of the class orders! It's good to not be type A :-)
Our focus is not shifting from the anatomy and physiology to the EMT related material, which is good because this is the section I don't know a lot about and am most eager to learn. I'll probably hit up the "Brady" book we got while I'm doing laundry, see what kind of good stuff we're getting in to.
HM1 (our active duty instructor) has been on leave all week, so we haven't PTd as a class in almost 2 weeks. I really enjoyed the beach workout he put us through, so unlike most of the class I can't wait for him to get back on Monday and start whipping us back into shape. Yeah, I've been PTing on my own, but not nearly as much as I'd like due to studying and EPO duties. Having an FMF instructor means you get the good PT workouts during class hours. Last time he worked us out, I had trouble walking down stairs for a week. Love it.
Our focus is not shifting from the anatomy and physiology to the EMT related material, which is good because this is the section I don't know a lot about and am most eager to learn. I'll probably hit up the "Brady" book we got while I'm doing laundry, see what kind of good stuff we're getting in to.
HM1 (our active duty instructor) has been on leave all week, so we haven't PTd as a class in almost 2 weeks. I really enjoyed the beach workout he put us through, so unlike most of the class I can't wait for him to get back on Monday and start whipping us back into shape. Yeah, I've been PTing on my own, but not nearly as much as I'd like due to studying and EPO duties. Having an FMF instructor means you get the good PT workouts during class hours. Last time he worked us out, I had trouble walking down stairs for a week. Love it.
11.9.10
EPO
This past week has been pretty busy. We had our first (of 12) exam on Monday. 70 questions, and I was one of four students in our nearly 70 strong class to get a perfect score, so I was pretty pumped about that. The 100%, combined with my participation in helping my shipmates out at night study, earned me the title of EPO (again!). EPO in "A" school is a much bigger deal, with a lot more responsibility. The class and teacher expect the EPO to always be on their game, and keep up the good grades. My responsibilities will include conducting night study 1900-2100 Sunday-Thursday night with the other EPOs (there are 4 of us total). The best part about being EPO is that I get out of duty. This means that this weekend is my last duty weekend, AND that when the rest of Bravo duty section has duty weekend again in a month, I'll get to actually see and spend time with my parents when they come visit Chicago. So yeah, pretty happy about that, since if I didn't make EPO I'd be stuck on the Corps compound all weekend when my parents were here and couldn't see them at all.
Having duty weekend isn't so bad now because we've got Test 2 on Monday, which mean nothing but study study study all weekend anyway. Test 3 is Friday, so we'll be cramming during the week too. A lot of the material now is Anatomy and Physiology, which is mostly review for me, but its still a LOT of information we learn in a very short amount of time. But I'm here to study and be the best Corpsman I can be, not party and let my grades slip. Thank god I did that already in college! ;-) I'm sure eventually we'll have some free time to enjoy ourselves again, but until then we hit the books and get PT in wherever we can. I'm hoping to get my long distance running back up to wear it used to be, but wearing boots and dress shoes all the time does a number on your knees. Hopefully by the end of October I'll be in good enough running shape to run a good 10 miler again. Not that I have any races coming up... yeah Corps school sucks your life away.
After sweepers are done tonight, I'm gonna hit up the elliptical or treadmill in the basement, PT/study, hygiene, and call it a night. Quarterdeck chow relief again tomorrow. The life of a Corpsman to be goes on!
Having duty weekend isn't so bad now because we've got Test 2 on Monday, which mean nothing but study study study all weekend anyway. Test 3 is Friday, so we'll be cramming during the week too. A lot of the material now is Anatomy and Physiology, which is mostly review for me, but its still a LOT of information we learn in a very short amount of time. But I'm here to study and be the best Corpsman I can be, not party and let my grades slip. Thank god I did that already in college! ;-) I'm sure eventually we'll have some free time to enjoy ourselves again, but until then we hit the books and get PT in wherever we can. I'm hoping to get my long distance running back up to wear it used to be, but wearing boots and dress shoes all the time does a number on your knees. Hopefully by the end of October I'll be in good enough running shape to run a good 10 miler again. Not that I have any races coming up... yeah Corps school sucks your life away.
After sweepers are done tonight, I'm gonna hit up the elliptical or treadmill in the basement, PT/study, hygiene, and call it a night. Quarterdeck chow relief again tomorrow. The life of a Corpsman to be goes on!
26.8.10
future options
Today we had an HM1 come in to give us future career options. Being an HMDA really seperates me from the normal HMs. The Navy is paying a lot of extra money to have me trained in dental as well as typical corpsman training, so they expect to get a lot out of me. As such, I won't be able to do SARC (Marine Recon Corpsman) or Dive Medical Technician. I had no plans of doing these specialties, but they are both super badass so it kind of sucks to know that I can't do them even if I wanted to. Of course, if I make E-5 I can try to drop my dental rating, but that would probably be a hassle to the Navy, and myself. I joined the Navy to push myself into these hard pursuits, so at first I was bummed that I couldn't push myself to do Recon if I eventually decided I wanted to try. However, there are plenty of awesome options for me still out there. As an HMDA I can still go to FMTB training (aka the Marines), and I can still serve with a Marine unit, although serving in a slightly different capacity than an HM. That's good to know, but the best part is that HMDA's will probably see Ship billets, unlike HMs who see virtually none coming out of Corps School. Serving on a ship straight out of school would be an amazing and rare opportunity, so I think that might move to the top of my wish list, along with FMTB. And even if I serve in a shore hospital, I can and probably will go on deployments. The future is full of exciting options, now I just have to study hard and finish high in my class.
Aside from earning ribbons, earning your "warfare device" is a huge deal in the Navy. It shows that you're an expert in that field, whatever it may be. As a Corpsman there are quite a few devices I can earn, which are a big part of what I want to accomplish during my time in the Navy. My goal is to receive the FMF (Marine) warfare device, and the surface warfare device, which you get serving on board a ship. To earn these, you have to know basically everything about that field (studying a lot!), and have served in that capacity for I think 9 months or so. If I can earn either of these devices it would be awesome, but to earn both would really set me apart from the rest, and label me a total badass!
Aside from earning ribbons, earning your "warfare device" is a huge deal in the Navy. It shows that you're an expert in that field, whatever it may be. As a Corpsman there are quite a few devices I can earn, which are a big part of what I want to accomplish during my time in the Navy. My goal is to receive the FMF (Marine) warfare device, and the surface warfare device, which you get serving on board a ship. To earn these, you have to know basically everything about that field (studying a lot!), and have served in that capacity for I think 9 months or so. If I can earn either of these devices it would be awesome, but to earn both would really set me apart from the rest, and label me a total badass!
24.8.10
new address
Finally, some good news. I get to class up on Wednesday! First test probably next Thursday. I'm so ready to go.
This also means I have a slightly altered address, in case you want to send me a letter or care package (coughdoitcough). :-)
SN Jackson Dehn
NHCS/10220
601 D St.
Great Lakes, IL 60088
This also means I have a slightly altered address, in case you want to send me a letter or care package (coughdoitcough). :-)
SN Jackson Dehn
NHCS/10220
601 D St.
Great Lakes, IL 60088
21.8.10
weekend update
Frustrating weekend thus far. Turns out my laptop doesn't recognize my bluray drive, at all. Chatted online with an HP guru, he eventually told me I have to remove the drive from the laptop and reinstall it to reset the drive. This requires screwdrivers I do not have, and following a semi-complicated user manual pdf. Hopefully the NEX has the tools I need. Also turns out that I can't burn cd's from rhapsody unless I already have the music downloaded, which costs money. So i still have no way to get songs on my ipod shuffle from rhapsody. Total disaster on the technology front. To make matters worse, I'm dealing with a super nasty post-bootcamp cough and fever. I'm gonna nyquil/dayquil nuke my body today and tomorrow, hopefully feel better.
Monday is a big day. I get to find out whether I class up or not. If I class up, I can start classes on Wednesday. If not, I have to wait until next Wednesday, and continue cleaning barracks all day until then. So you can imagine I'm really hoping to class up! Only 60 or so people get to class up this week, out of a lot more than that. Usually they do it alphabetically, so that gives me an edge, but we'll see.
Combat operations have ended in Iraq, but don't forget we still need troops there, and there's still a lot of fighting left to do in Afghanistan. Corpsman are needed everywhere!
Monday is a big day. I get to find out whether I class up or not. If I class up, I can start classes on Wednesday. If not, I have to wait until next Wednesday, and continue cleaning barracks all day until then. So you can imagine I'm really hoping to class up! Only 60 or so people get to class up this week, out of a lot more than that. Usually they do it alphabetically, so that gives me an edge, but we'll see.
Combat operations have ended in Iraq, but don't forget we still need troops there, and there's still a lot of fighting left to do in Afghanistan. Corpsman are needed everywhere!
15.8.10
Parcheezi's
Here in Parcheezi's, updating from my lapman on the bowling alley. I just bowled a 156 and 141, not too bad considering I haven't bowled in forever, but definitely leaves room for improvement. My corpsman buddies and I spend a lot of time here, since we haven't classed up yet. We are in the "SDCA" phase, which means during the week we go to classes on financial management and liberty protocol from 0700-1600, and then we have liberty until 2145. Weekends we don't have anything to do, so we usually trek over to the NEX, chill in the few different "clubs" on base, and eat a lot. Once we class up in a week or so, we'll have duty, real corpsman classes, tests every week, etc. So for now we enjoy the limited responsibility before the real work begins. Hooyah A school.
14.8.10
temporary address
Jackson sent an email with his temporary address should be good for 2 weeks Aug.11 - 25 probably.
SN Jackson Dehn
NHCS/SDCA 10224
601 D St.
Great Lakes, IL 60088
Keep those cards and letters coming.
added by KC Dehn 8/14/10 1527
SN Jackson Dehn
NHCS/SDCA 10224
601 D St.
Great Lakes, IL 60088
Keep those cards and letters coming.
added by KC Dehn 8/14/10 1527
13.8.10
12.8.10
A school
First post after boot camp! And this time I can actually write it myself.
So I've moved out of RTC, across the street to Naval Service Training Command. This base is a lot bigger and houses a lot of the A schools, including the Naval Hospital Corps School (NHCS). The corpsman get their own section of base, with our own galley and gym, so its pretty awesome. This is only my second day, so I've only seen the "school house", my barracks, the NEX, the hospital and galley, and Parcheezis, the bowling alley/massive arcade/bar. Yes, Corpsman get to drink in phase 1 of A school. I'm about to head over there and grab a beer and watch preseason NFL. We're in class 0700-1600, then we have liberty until 2145. On the weekends we can leave base on friday after class and all day saturday. Phase 2 we get to have overnight liberty on the weekends and can wear civilian clothes again. Right now im waiting to "class up" which means i wait 2 weeks until i actually start corpsman classes. Until then its other general navy classes, and exploring base and enjoying limited freedom! Hopefully I'll buy a laptop soon so i can surf the net more often, and hopefully my PHONE gets here soon! Mom, post those graduation pics! Love you guys,
Jackson
So I've moved out of RTC, across the street to Naval Service Training Command. This base is a lot bigger and houses a lot of the A schools, including the Naval Hospital Corps School (NHCS). The corpsman get their own section of base, with our own galley and gym, so its pretty awesome. This is only my second day, so I've only seen the "school house", my barracks, the NEX, the hospital and galley, and Parcheezis, the bowling alley/massive arcade/bar. Yes, Corpsman get to drink in phase 1 of A school. I'm about to head over there and grab a beer and watch preseason NFL. We're in class 0700-1600, then we have liberty until 2145. On the weekends we can leave base on friday after class and all day saturday. Phase 2 we get to have overnight liberty on the weekends and can wear civilian clothes again. Right now im waiting to "class up" which means i wait 2 weeks until i actually start corpsman classes. Until then its other general navy classes, and exploring base and enjoying limited freedom! Hopefully I'll buy a laptop soon so i can surf the net more often, and hopefully my PHONE gets here soon! Mom, post those graduation pics! Love you guys,
Jackson
3.8.10
Final Report (maybe)
29 Jul 10, 5-5 Day
Mom and Dad,
By the time you get this letter, I’ll (hopefully) have seen you in person at Pass in Review (PIR) [Editor’s note: no chance; we got this on Tuesday, August 03]. We officially have one week to graduation, and only 5 days until battle stations. It’s looking to be a stressful finish.
Today we had Firefighting 1, aka learning about CBR (Chemical, Biological and Radiological) protection and culminating in the “confidence” chamber, aka the gas chamber. This was the highlight of my day! We learned how to operate our gas masks, and then it was into the chamber. We formed up in rows, with about 12 people per row. Since we were in with another division, it was about 120 people crammed in there. We donned our masks; then they set the tear gas burning.
The front row had to take off their masks, then one at a time state their rank, name and division. Once this was completed, they could exit the chamber, the next row would step up and the process would repeat. Lucky SOB that I am, I was in the very last row, and thus in the chamber the longest. But, I did a good job sealing my gas mask, so I didn’t feel the effects until I removed it in the front row. I did a great job resisting the effects until we were leaving, then it hit me. Yeah, it sucked for a couple of minutes but really it wasn’t so bad. A lot of my shipmates were dying from the get go. Oh, and they make you catch all the snot running out of your nose in your hand, AND there is a big glass window where the RDCs literally point and laugh hysterically at you as you choke and die. Overall, pretty fun.
Then we practiced for out PI/DMI (Personal Inspection/Department Material Inspection) which is tomorrow (Friday). We’ve practiced it to death, but we sucked hardcore today, so we got beat twice during our practice run. The floors ran with sweat. We had PT (Physical Training) at Freedom Hall after that, so I’m exhausted now. Gonna sleep like a baby. I’m confident going into the inspection tomorrow but I’m worried our division will falter and suffer the consequences.
I probably won’t write again, as it’s almost over and I’ll be seeing you soon (with some luck). Here I go, wish me luck!
Love, Jackson
Mom and Dad,
By the time you get this letter, I’ll (hopefully) have seen you in person at Pass in Review (PIR) [Editor’s note: no chance; we got this on Tuesday, August 03]. We officially have one week to graduation, and only 5 days until battle stations. It’s looking to be a stressful finish.
Today we had Firefighting 1, aka learning about CBR (Chemical, Biological and Radiological) protection and culminating in the “confidence” chamber, aka the gas chamber. This was the highlight of my day! We learned how to operate our gas masks, and then it was into the chamber. We formed up in rows, with about 12 people per row. Since we were in with another division, it was about 120 people crammed in there. We donned our masks; then they set the tear gas burning.
The front row had to take off their masks, then one at a time state their rank, name and division. Once this was completed, they could exit the chamber, the next row would step up and the process would repeat. Lucky SOB that I am, I was in the very last row, and thus in the chamber the longest. But, I did a good job sealing my gas mask, so I didn’t feel the effects until I removed it in the front row. I did a great job resisting the effects until we were leaving, then it hit me. Yeah, it sucked for a couple of minutes but really it wasn’t so bad. A lot of my shipmates were dying from the get go. Oh, and they make you catch all the snot running out of your nose in your hand, AND there is a big glass window where the RDCs literally point and laugh hysterically at you as you choke and die. Overall, pretty fun.
Then we practiced for out PI/DMI (Personal Inspection/Department Material Inspection) which is tomorrow (Friday). We’ve practiced it to death, but we sucked hardcore today, so we got beat twice during our practice run. The floors ran with sweat. We had PT (Physical Training) at Freedom Hall after that, so I’m exhausted now. Gonna sleep like a baby. I’m confident going into the inspection tomorrow but I’m worried our division will falter and suffer the consequences.
I probably won’t write again, as it’s almost over and I’ll be seeing you soon (with some luck). Here I go, wish me luck!
Love, Jackson
The Lull before the Storm
27 Jul 10 5-3 Day
Mom and Dad,
Apparently last night I was talking in my sleep. To the Officer on Deck! They come in to our compartment at various times of the night to intimidate the watch and check the deck log. Apparently he came in and asked the watch how many Sick in Quarters we had (SIQ). Since my bunk is near the watch, I must have heard it in my sleep and apparently responded “one or two”. I had no recollection of this, but when I woke up everyone thought it was pretty funny. Yeah, boot camp haunts our dreams.
We are doing better though, thus I’m really enjoying my time. Today we had Basic Damage Control and our last “long” run. Long for them is 25 minutes, which I scoff at (secretly). Wow, I just got 6 letters! I’m seriously thrilled that my friends keep in touch with me. Even if it’s just a card, it helps to make me feel connected.
Later this week we have a ton more DC and basic firefighting training, but I don’t think we work on live fires until next Monday. Oh, and I’m looking forward to the “confidence” chamber later this week! They stick us in a room and gas us with military/riot grade tear gas. In the words of James T. Kirk, “sounds like fun”!
Only 1 week until battle stations! I’m pumped to be on that last lap of boot camp. We’re finally becoming a confident division, so hopefully we can finish strong. Saturday is the Captain’s Cup, an athletic competition between the battle group divisions, and the last flag we can earn. I’m signed up for the seabag relay, where apparently you have to run around with a full seabag on. Yeah, we’ll see how that goes. My bunkmate now has pneumonia and bronchitis, but I’m feeling healthy and happy knowing my trials here are almost over. With the hardest part yet to come! Bring it!
Love, Jackson
Mom and Dad,
Apparently last night I was talking in my sleep. To the Officer on Deck! They come in to our compartment at various times of the night to intimidate the watch and check the deck log. Apparently he came in and asked the watch how many Sick in Quarters we had (SIQ). Since my bunk is near the watch, I must have heard it in my sleep and apparently responded “one or two”. I had no recollection of this, but when I woke up everyone thought it was pretty funny. Yeah, boot camp haunts our dreams.
We are doing better though, thus I’m really enjoying my time. Today we had Basic Damage Control and our last “long” run. Long for them is 25 minutes, which I scoff at (secretly). Wow, I just got 6 letters! I’m seriously thrilled that my friends keep in touch with me. Even if it’s just a card, it helps to make me feel connected.
Later this week we have a ton more DC and basic firefighting training, but I don’t think we work on live fires until next Monday. Oh, and I’m looking forward to the “confidence” chamber later this week! They stick us in a room and gas us with military/riot grade tear gas. In the words of James T. Kirk, “sounds like fun”!
Only 1 week until battle stations! I’m pumped to be on that last lap of boot camp. We’re finally becoming a confident division, so hopefully we can finish strong. Saturday is the Captain’s Cup, an athletic competition between the battle group divisions, and the last flag we can earn. I’m signed up for the seabag relay, where apparently you have to run around with a full seabag on. Yeah, we’ll see how that goes. My bunkmate now has pneumonia and bronchitis, but I’m feeling healthy and happy knowing my trials here are almost over. With the hardest part yet to come! Bring it!
Love, Jackson
29.7.10
Home Stretch
25 Jul 10, 5-1 Hold Day
Mom and Dad,
I got a chance to read your letters today, and see the pics of the kittens. I can’t believe how much they’ve grown! They’ll be full grown tigers by the time I have leave.
We’ve started studying Damage Control (aka fire-fighting, etc), and Anti-terrorism. These are the big sections for the final test. We also had our PFA weigh in on Friday. I’m 155 pounds, same as always but I think my body composition is better, because I’m much stronger and “defined”. Some of my shipmates lost 20+ pounds.
This coming week we have our firefighting labs with live fire, which should be fun. Yesterday was Saturday, a day which I used to enjoy but now I dread. Since it’s a “hold” day, we don’t learn anything new, which means we have more time to screw up and get beat. Going to Freedom Hall for PT we really screwed up our marching, so right before bed we got beat for almost an hour, so we had to sleep all cold and sweaty. Hopefully people will pull it together for this final stretch.
This week we’ll also have our last personnel inspection (PI), this time in our dress uniforms (dress blues/whites and NSUs). I have become an expert at folding my dress uni’s and I’m getting pretty good at the square knot for my neckerchief.
We received our National Defense Medals and ribbons, and tomorrow we get our collar devices and patches (E-3 for me) for our dress uniforms. It’s for inspection only though; I’m still nothing (as the RDCs reminded us). I’m hoping this week breezes by, we are so close!
Next Tuesday is test 3 and Battle Stations, after which it’s smooth sailing until graduation on the 6th.
Everyone around me is dying of the flu or some “ricky crud” (or “AIDS” as the RDCs like to call it), but I am feeling healthy as an ox.
Time for my Hollywood shower, dress shoe shining and study sessions. Hopefully I’ll have exciting fire fighting updates this week!
Love Jackson
…. Bonus Letter ….
So we had lunch at 1110, which means I still have an hour of holiday routine left. My dress shoes look sharp, I disinfected my locker, and I held a study session on anti-terrorism and Force Protection. Everyone here is totally focused on graduating. Wearing our dress uniforms for PI is such a tease, but it’ll be good when I can finally wear that and call myself a United States Sailor.
Despite “beatings” and being treated like poo in general, I’m happy I made this decision and proud of how I’ve handled boot camp. So far I’ve accomplished the challenge, and it’s exciting to think that the journey is just beginning. Rumors are already starting to whirl about A-School. Word on the street is that HMDA school doesn’t start until the 23rd. The RDCs have us until Aug 10, then those of us who have to wait for A-school move to ship 5 in the meantime. Sort of like a transition between Hell and Heaven.
I’ve heard they let you watch movies and relax a little bit over there; after all we’ll be sailors by then. But the idea of 2 weeks of nothing to learn (and probably lots of cleaning) does not appeal to me. This would put my graduation at January 23rd, 2011. Probably a very frigid graduation. Hopefully I’ll know more for certain in the coming weeks.
In other news, my bunkmate has a respiratory tract infection, and this past week we had a shipmate get ASMO’d 2 weeks [Editor’s note: ASMO == Assignment Orders, where you get “sent back” in boot camp]. The shipmate was caught passing notes to a girl at medical, so they sent him back in training to week 2 and obviously to another division. Yes, if you break the rules they WILL ruin your life. He was a good shipmate too, but we know not to interact at all with females, so he made a really pointless mistake. Also, the females have just as much time to shower as us, so any recruit dumb enough to want to hook up with one is asking for it.
While I have the time, I’ll tell you more about my division. Chief Alex is a Gunner’s Mate (GM) who’s served mainly on destroyers. GM == bad ass with guns, from pistols to ship turrets. Next is petty officer Carlyle, who is an Air Rescue swimmer. He’s bald, in intimidating shape, and is scary when he’s angry (often). But he’s cool and committed to making us good sailors. Then there’s AC1 Neifer, who’s an air traffic controlman, and AO1 McCormack, and aviation ordanceman. A diverse group of good role models, but when pissed they can all bring the hurt.
Being the EPO (Educational Petty Officer) I’ve become familiar with every single person in the division. 90% of them try their best and work hard, but the bad seeds really bring us down sometimes. Most of the guys I hang out with are Nukes, aka the “smart” guys. There are a LOT of corpsmen, like 20 or so here, with 4 or 5 of us being HMDA.
RDC nicknames have stuck since P-days. We have Dirty, Creepy, K-Fed, Stretch, No-Neck, Nancy, Slowpez, etc. Luckily I didn’t screw up enough in P-days to get a nickname. Now I’m usually just referred to as EOP, or “Dehn you douche bag” or some other expletive. We’re so used to it that it’s funny, but laugh too much and you’ll be doing 8 count body builders.
I’ve become so accustomed to boot camp life, I seriously won’t know what to do what I can once again control my day. It’ll be like a Borg being separated from the collective!
More to come later. Also, I’m gonna want some deep dish Chicago pizza, and an milkshake! Start researching awesome places to eat in Chicago!
Love again, Jackson
Mom and Dad,
I got a chance to read your letters today, and see the pics of the kittens. I can’t believe how much they’ve grown! They’ll be full grown tigers by the time I have leave.
We’ve started studying Damage Control (aka fire-fighting, etc), and Anti-terrorism. These are the big sections for the final test. We also had our PFA weigh in on Friday. I’m 155 pounds, same as always but I think my body composition is better, because I’m much stronger and “defined”. Some of my shipmates lost 20+ pounds.
This coming week we have our firefighting labs with live fire, which should be fun. Yesterday was Saturday, a day which I used to enjoy but now I dread. Since it’s a “hold” day, we don’t learn anything new, which means we have more time to screw up and get beat. Going to Freedom Hall for PT we really screwed up our marching, so right before bed we got beat for almost an hour, so we had to sleep all cold and sweaty. Hopefully people will pull it together for this final stretch.
This week we’ll also have our last personnel inspection (PI), this time in our dress uniforms (dress blues/whites and NSUs). I have become an expert at folding my dress uni’s and I’m getting pretty good at the square knot for my neckerchief.
We received our National Defense Medals and ribbons, and tomorrow we get our collar devices and patches (E-3 for me) for our dress uniforms. It’s for inspection only though; I’m still nothing (as the RDCs reminded us). I’m hoping this week breezes by, we are so close!
Next Tuesday is test 3 and Battle Stations, after which it’s smooth sailing until graduation on the 6th.
Everyone around me is dying of the flu or some “ricky crud” (or “AIDS” as the RDCs like to call it), but I am feeling healthy as an ox.
Time for my Hollywood shower, dress shoe shining and study sessions. Hopefully I’ll have exciting fire fighting updates this week!
Love Jackson
…. Bonus Letter ….
So we had lunch at 1110, which means I still have an hour of holiday routine left. My dress shoes look sharp, I disinfected my locker, and I held a study session on anti-terrorism and Force Protection. Everyone here is totally focused on graduating. Wearing our dress uniforms for PI is such a tease, but it’ll be good when I can finally wear that and call myself a United States Sailor.
Despite “beatings” and being treated like poo in general, I’m happy I made this decision and proud of how I’ve handled boot camp. So far I’ve accomplished the challenge, and it’s exciting to think that the journey is just beginning. Rumors are already starting to whirl about A-School. Word on the street is that HMDA school doesn’t start until the 23rd. The RDCs have us until Aug 10, then those of us who have to wait for A-school move to ship 5 in the meantime. Sort of like a transition between Hell and Heaven.
I’ve heard they let you watch movies and relax a little bit over there; after all we’ll be sailors by then. But the idea of 2 weeks of nothing to learn (and probably lots of cleaning) does not appeal to me. This would put my graduation at January 23rd, 2011. Probably a very frigid graduation. Hopefully I’ll know more for certain in the coming weeks.
In other news, my bunkmate has a respiratory tract infection, and this past week we had a shipmate get ASMO’d 2 weeks [Editor’s note: ASMO == Assignment Orders, where you get “sent back” in boot camp]. The shipmate was caught passing notes to a girl at medical, so they sent him back in training to week 2 and obviously to another division. Yes, if you break the rules they WILL ruin your life. He was a good shipmate too, but we know not to interact at all with females, so he made a really pointless mistake. Also, the females have just as much time to shower as us, so any recruit dumb enough to want to hook up with one is asking for it.
While I have the time, I’ll tell you more about my division. Chief Alex is a Gunner’s Mate (GM) who’s served mainly on destroyers. GM == bad ass with guns, from pistols to ship turrets. Next is petty officer Carlyle, who is an Air Rescue swimmer. He’s bald, in intimidating shape, and is scary when he’s angry (often). But he’s cool and committed to making us good sailors. Then there’s AC1 Neifer, who’s an air traffic controlman, and AO1 McCormack, and aviation ordanceman. A diverse group of good role models, but when pissed they can all bring the hurt.
Being the EPO (Educational Petty Officer) I’ve become familiar with every single person in the division. 90% of them try their best and work hard, but the bad seeds really bring us down sometimes. Most of the guys I hang out with are Nukes, aka the “smart” guys. There are a LOT of corpsmen, like 20 or so here, with 4 or 5 of us being HMDA.
RDC nicknames have stuck since P-days. We have Dirty, Creepy, K-Fed, Stretch, No-Neck, Nancy, Slowpez, etc. Luckily I didn’t screw up enough in P-days to get a nickname. Now I’m usually just referred to as EOP, or “Dehn you douche bag” or some other expletive. We’re so used to it that it’s funny, but laugh too much and you’ll be doing 8 count body builders.
I’ve become so accustomed to boot camp life, I seriously won’t know what to do what I can once again control my day. It’ll be like a Borg being separated from the collective!
More to come later. Also, I’m gonna want some deep dish Chicago pizza, and an milkshake! Start researching awesome places to eat in Chicago!
Love again, Jackson
27.7.10
End of Hell Week
22 Jul 10, 4-5 Day
Mom and Dad,
Hell week is officially over!
Right now it’s evening routine, 2100, and tomorrow is 5-1 day, the final stretch. It’s hard to believe that finally it’s only 2 weeks to go. Drill inspection and test 2 today went great for me, but less than stellar for the division. I was the only stick to not get chewed out by Chief after drill. Overall we did good, with only 2 “unsats”, but it wasn’t the best in the battle group, so the RDCs were pissed we can’t “Hall of Fame” anymore. To HOF, a division has to be #1 in their battle group on EVERY test and inspection in boot camp. It happens maybe once a year, and just think about how many divisions come through here.
Despite nailing all my drill moves (which you’ll see at Pass-in-Review [graduation] because it’s the same routine as drill inspection), the sticks were promised a group beating. One team, one fight! We haven’t got the beating yet, but the RDCs don’t forget. Test 2 was today, which I got a 4.92 on (59/60 questions right). Sadly, our division scored only a 4.17 average, which was good enough to flag again but not even close to the best. So HOF is out, but we can still fight for first in our battle group and get CNO Gold (a really high division award).
The weekend promises to be boring, with next week bringing firefighting. I’m enjoying your letters, it sounds like you are doing a great job keeping busy. My update on Sunday should be uneventful, but you never know. The mind games are kicking up, but we’re surviving!
Love, Jackson
Mom and Dad,
Hell week is officially over!
Right now it’s evening routine, 2100, and tomorrow is 5-1 day, the final stretch. It’s hard to believe that finally it’s only 2 weeks to go. Drill inspection and test 2 today went great for me, but less than stellar for the division. I was the only stick to not get chewed out by Chief after drill. Overall we did good, with only 2 “unsats”, but it wasn’t the best in the battle group, so the RDCs were pissed we can’t “Hall of Fame” anymore. To HOF, a division has to be #1 in their battle group on EVERY test and inspection in boot camp. It happens maybe once a year, and just think about how many divisions come through here.
Despite nailing all my drill moves (which you’ll see at Pass-in-Review [graduation] because it’s the same routine as drill inspection), the sticks were promised a group beating. One team, one fight! We haven’t got the beating yet, but the RDCs don’t forget. Test 2 was today, which I got a 4.92 on (59/60 questions right). Sadly, our division scored only a 4.17 average, which was good enough to flag again but not even close to the best. So HOF is out, but we can still fight for first in our battle group and get CNO Gold (a really high division award).
The weekend promises to be boring, with next week bringing firefighting. I’m enjoying your letters, it sounds like you are doing a great job keeping busy. My update on Sunday should be uneventful, but you never know. The mind games are kicking up, but we’re surviving!
Love, Jackson
24.7.10
Quick Draw McGraw
20 Jul 10, 4-3 Day
Mom and Dad,
I’ve been waking up at 0400 Monday and Tuesday this week, but it wasn’t so bad because we went to simulated fire yesterday and live fire today. Monday was also Zone Inspection, just another step in hell week. Luckily we re-did everything in our racks the night before, so I S.O.’d my zone, and we scored the highest compartment score in the battle group. So far I’m perfect for hell week, but drill and test 2 loom ahead.
For simulated fire on Monday we spent hours learning everything we need to know to fire the 9mm Beretta and 12 gauge shotgun. This included practicing with air and laser models. Safety was a big concern, but I got pretty comfortable handling and shooting the weapons. This morning we had the real deal, at the USS Wisconsin. Probably the most fun I’ve had in boot camp. We took 48 rounds with the 9mm, from the standing isosceles stance and kneeling position, shooting at 3, 7 and 15 yards. This was actually the real Navy marksmanship test for the 9mm, where you can earn the marksmanship ribbon. You get 0-5 points based on where you hit the target. We had to fire 2 rounds in 4 seconds, 4 rounds in 8 seconds with a reload in the middle, strong and weak hand, etc. So it was pretty intense.
A score of 180 or higher gets you the marksmanship ribbon, and I got a 193! Which means I graduate with 2 ribbons, which is awesome. And I can say I’m now a marksman with a 9 mm. We also got to fire 5 founds with the 12 gauge, which was intense.
Anyway, tomorrow is the drill, which we have sucking at hardcore. If the sticks blow it, I think I’m gonna get beat until graduation. We’ll see. Boot camp is all about the highs and then the lows. At least I got that ribbon! Later in the fleet I can try for sharpshooter or expert rating.
Love, Jackson
Mom and Dad,
I’ve been waking up at 0400 Monday and Tuesday this week, but it wasn’t so bad because we went to simulated fire yesterday and live fire today. Monday was also Zone Inspection, just another step in hell week. Luckily we re-did everything in our racks the night before, so I S.O.’d my zone, and we scored the highest compartment score in the battle group. So far I’m perfect for hell week, but drill and test 2 loom ahead.
For simulated fire on Monday we spent hours learning everything we need to know to fire the 9mm Beretta and 12 gauge shotgun. This included practicing with air and laser models. Safety was a big concern, but I got pretty comfortable handling and shooting the weapons. This morning we had the real deal, at the USS Wisconsin. Probably the most fun I’ve had in boot camp. We took 48 rounds with the 9mm, from the standing isosceles stance and kneeling position, shooting at 3, 7 and 15 yards. This was actually the real Navy marksmanship test for the 9mm, where you can earn the marksmanship ribbon. You get 0-5 points based on where you hit the target. We had to fire 2 rounds in 4 seconds, 4 rounds in 8 seconds with a reload in the middle, strong and weak hand, etc. So it was pretty intense.
A score of 180 or higher gets you the marksmanship ribbon, and I got a 193! Which means I graduate with 2 ribbons, which is awesome. And I can say I’m now a marksman with a 9 mm. We also got to fire 5 founds with the 12 gauge, which was intense.
Anyway, tomorrow is the drill, which we have sucking at hardcore. If the sticks blow it, I think I’m gonna get beat until graduation. We’ll see. Boot camp is all about the highs and then the lows. At least I got that ribbon! Later in the fleet I can try for sharpshooter or expert rating.
Love, Jackson
22.7.10
End of week 4
18 Jul 10
Mom and Dad,
It was great finally talking with you on the phone yesterday. Like I said, we were rewarded for our performances on the PFA, PI and WIT. I ran a 9:48 for my mile and a half, or something like that, not sure of the official time yet. I also SO’d by Personnel Inspection and Weapons Turnover Inspection, getting my hellweek off to a good start. But, as always happens, the good is followed by the bad. Our marching was off after the phone call and my fellow sticks (8 of us total) had trouble executing our moves perfectly. So Chief threw our flags across the drill hall and beat us while the rest of the division hydrated. Sometimes “one team, one fight” sucks, but oh well.
I’m taking charge of the sticks and having us practice in the compartment so we don’t look like a “hot bag of ass”. Honestly I don’t think we were as bad as the RDCs think, people just need to concentrate more and anticipate. If we don’t crush our drill inspection on Wed, boot camp is gonna be hellweek every day. But I’ll be in amazing shape!
After our drill beat down, we returned to our compartment to find our racks destroyed. The RDCs threw everything around so we could rearrange it perfectly for our Zone inspection tomorrow. And we have to wake up at 0400 again, which sucks. On the bright side, we’ve got less than 3 weeks to go. I can almost taste the Gino’s deep dish pizza. And despite the constant put-downs, they revealed that we are actually first in our battle group, which includes all the divisions of the USS Triton and a few in the next ship over. Clearly they don’t want us to get complacent.
Alright, time for my Hollywood shower (longer than 60 seconds). I’ll be spending the rest of holiday routine helping people study seamanship. Then we clean the compartment spotless for an hour, and then who knows. I want some pics of Luke and Leia [Editors note: Luke and Leia are the two kittens Jackson’s parents just got).
Love Jackson
Mom and Dad,
It was great finally talking with you on the phone yesterday. Like I said, we were rewarded for our performances on the PFA, PI and WIT. I ran a 9:48 for my mile and a half, or something like that, not sure of the official time yet. I also SO’d by Personnel Inspection and Weapons Turnover Inspection, getting my hellweek off to a good start. But, as always happens, the good is followed by the bad. Our marching was off after the phone call and my fellow sticks (8 of us total) had trouble executing our moves perfectly. So Chief threw our flags across the drill hall and beat us while the rest of the division hydrated. Sometimes “one team, one fight” sucks, but oh well.
I’m taking charge of the sticks and having us practice in the compartment so we don’t look like a “hot bag of ass”. Honestly I don’t think we were as bad as the RDCs think, people just need to concentrate more and anticipate. If we don’t crush our drill inspection on Wed, boot camp is gonna be hellweek every day. But I’ll be in amazing shape!
After our drill beat down, we returned to our compartment to find our racks destroyed. The RDCs threw everything around so we could rearrange it perfectly for our Zone inspection tomorrow. And we have to wake up at 0400 again, which sucks. On the bright side, we’ve got less than 3 weeks to go. I can almost taste the Gino’s deep dish pizza. And despite the constant put-downs, they revealed that we are actually first in our battle group, which includes all the divisions of the USS Triton and a few in the next ship over. Clearly they don’t want us to get complacent.
Alright, time for my Hollywood shower (longer than 60 seconds). I’ll be spending the rest of holiday routine helping people study seamanship. Then we clean the compartment spotless for an hour, and then who knows. I want some pics of Luke and Leia [Editors note: Luke and Leia are the two kittens Jackson’s parents just got).
Love Jackson
17.7.10
A Rare Mid-week Letter
13 Jul 10
Mom and Dad,
Hoorah! I’m writing this letter on Tuesday night. We got 25 minutes of evening routine to relax a bit and write. So far this week we’ve been doing good, or better at least. Today was a full but easy day. We had study time after morning chow, then a class on Sexual Assault and Rape (who knew these were bad things?). The Navy is really strict about this, and pretty much everything, which I love. It keeps good sailors in and weeds out the bad seeds. Then after that we had Chief talk with us about good decision making. Sounds like I shouldn’t get married and buy a BMW out of boot camp. Then was lunch, and after that a long time in the computer lab taking an online course on the 9mm pistol. I’m obviously not too familiar with firearms, but I’ve been rocking the practice Weapons Turnover Inspections, and I’m eager to learn all I can about the firearms I could potentially use, for my own and others safety.
Of course I always love learning new things. We’re also studying naval history now too which is old news to a salty history nerd like me. We had a great PT session today led by Chief. He played us some of his favorite metal, which I approved. In house PT is the only time we hear music.
Yesterday we had “classifications”, which we thought was going to be a chance to learn more about our jobs. Turns out it was boring, all they did was review our contracts with us for about 5 seconds. However I did get some important info. I will not be allowed to take leave until after “A” school, so aside from weekend liberty after graduation I’ll stay on base forever. I also learned that because I’m an HMDA (dental corpsman), my A school is 20 weeks (for the extra dental training), rather than the 14 weeks a regular corpsman gets. Not a big deal. I’ll get more training and have a better chance of making petty officer than the regular HMs. They also said I can still go to train with the marines as an HMDA, which is a good option. I’m not worried about what specialty the Navy ultimately assigns me, I’m just eager to serve as best I can. And a station in Japan wouldn’t be so bad either!
Tonight I have the 00-02 watch, which means I’m attempting to sleep from 2100-2315 and then from 0200-0445. Two big naps and then defending my shipmates from the terrorist ninjas in between. I hope my division can keep up our good streak but we’ll see!
Love, Jackson
Mom and Dad,
Hoorah! I’m writing this letter on Tuesday night. We got 25 minutes of evening routine to relax a bit and write. So far this week we’ve been doing good, or better at least. Today was a full but easy day. We had study time after morning chow, then a class on Sexual Assault and Rape (who knew these were bad things?). The Navy is really strict about this, and pretty much everything, which I love. It keeps good sailors in and weeds out the bad seeds. Then after that we had Chief talk with us about good decision making. Sounds like I shouldn’t get married and buy a BMW out of boot camp. Then was lunch, and after that a long time in the computer lab taking an online course on the 9mm pistol. I’m obviously not too familiar with firearms, but I’ve been rocking the practice Weapons Turnover Inspections, and I’m eager to learn all I can about the firearms I could potentially use, for my own and others safety.
Of course I always love learning new things. We’re also studying naval history now too which is old news to a salty history nerd like me. We had a great PT session today led by Chief. He played us some of his favorite metal, which I approved. In house PT is the only time we hear music.
Yesterday we had “classifications”, which we thought was going to be a chance to learn more about our jobs. Turns out it was boring, all they did was review our contracts with us for about 5 seconds. However I did get some important info. I will not be allowed to take leave until after “A” school, so aside from weekend liberty after graduation I’ll stay on base forever. I also learned that because I’m an HMDA (dental corpsman), my A school is 20 weeks (for the extra dental training), rather than the 14 weeks a regular corpsman gets. Not a big deal. I’ll get more training and have a better chance of making petty officer than the regular HMs. They also said I can still go to train with the marines as an HMDA, which is a good option. I’m not worried about what specialty the Navy ultimately assigns me, I’m just eager to serve as best I can. And a station in Japan wouldn’t be so bad either!
Tonight I have the 00-02 watch, which means I’m attempting to sleep from 2100-2315 and then from 0200-0445. Two big naps and then defending my shipmates from the terrorist ninjas in between. I hope my division can keep up our good streak but we’ll see!
Love, Jackson
14.7.10
End of week 3
11 Jul 10
Mom and Dad,
Greetings from week 3 of boot camp. Friday was 3-1 day, and the weekends don’t count. So tomorrow will be 3-2. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to get a hold of you on the phone the other day. [Editor’s note: this is because Mom left her cell phone in the wrong place!]. I was looking forward to talking with you, but hopefully we can get our act together and earn another call in a week or two. Our division scored the highest on our first academic test out of our entire battle group (thanks to the awesome EPO of course). That night I got to unfurl the academic flag in front of the entire division, which was a rare moment of triumph. As “stick 6” I’m the one who gets to carry it now wherever we march, which is cool. Hopefully this is the first of many flags we earn. We can get honors flags for drill, comportment, inspection, etc.
This coming week we have marlinspike (finally) [Editor’s note: this is knot tying and rope work in general]. I’m looking forward to something other than bunk making and clothes folding. The RDCs are also stepping up their game, and we got beat a LOT for screwing up our marching of getting a street hit. If we don’t get out of bed fast enough, now we get beat first thing in the morning. We are either going to be smart sailors or strong sailors. Personally I’d like to be both.
Friday starts 4-1 day, which is the beginning of “hell week”. We have weapons turnover inspection, zone inspection, drill inspection and second academic test. And our next PFA test, but I’m stronger now anyway.
Last night they re-arranged the bunks to put trouble kids with smart ones, so the “fantastic 4” of friends in my area was sadly disbanded. Hopefully it will result in less beatings though. Our RDCs know their stuff, so I trust them.
Life here continues to go on and fly by. Hopefully next letter I will have more exciting updates. They are supposed to let us write during the week now, so hopefully I can keep in contact more. Keep those letters coming!
Love, Jackson
Mom and Dad,
Greetings from week 3 of boot camp. Friday was 3-1 day, and the weekends don’t count. So tomorrow will be 3-2. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to get a hold of you on the phone the other day. [Editor’s note: this is because Mom left her cell phone in the wrong place!]. I was looking forward to talking with you, but hopefully we can get our act together and earn another call in a week or two. Our division scored the highest on our first academic test out of our entire battle group (thanks to the awesome EPO of course). That night I got to unfurl the academic flag in front of the entire division, which was a rare moment of triumph. As “stick 6” I’m the one who gets to carry it now wherever we march, which is cool. Hopefully this is the first of many flags we earn. We can get honors flags for drill, comportment, inspection, etc.
This coming week we have marlinspike (finally) [Editor’s note: this is knot tying and rope work in general]. I’m looking forward to something other than bunk making and clothes folding. The RDCs are also stepping up their game, and we got beat a LOT for screwing up our marching of getting a street hit. If we don’t get out of bed fast enough, now we get beat first thing in the morning. We are either going to be smart sailors or strong sailors. Personally I’d like to be both.
Friday starts 4-1 day, which is the beginning of “hell week”. We have weapons turnover inspection, zone inspection, drill inspection and second academic test. And our next PFA test, but I’m stronger now anyway.
Last night they re-arranged the bunks to put trouble kids with smart ones, so the “fantastic 4” of friends in my area was sadly disbanded. Hopefully it will result in less beatings though. Our RDCs know their stuff, so I trust them.
Life here continues to go on and fly by. Hopefully next letter I will have more exciting updates. They are supposed to let us write during the week now, so hopefully I can keep in contact more. Keep those letters coming!
Love, Jackson
8.7.10
End of Week 2
Dear Mom and Dad,
I finally started getting all of your letters last week! They are really helping me get through boot camp, so keep them coming. I can only write on Sunday, so I’m sure it’ll be forever before you get mine. I also got letters from Grandfather, the Mendoncas and my friends Mel, Kate Cassalla and Kate & Nick. The rest of my friends are dead to me! Just kidding.
Boot camp is slowly getting better. I’ve met some good guys in my division, and we stick together and make sure we are all one team. The PT (physical training) is getting better, but still not hard enough for my tastes. The beatings [see previous blog post] continue, which is frustrating, but you get used to it. If we are lucky we might get a phone call next Sunday.
I happened to get placed into a “push” division, which means we have to learn everything in one less week, hence the earlier graduation date. However, Chief says if we keep screwing up and getting compartment hits, he’ll send us back a week. If he’s serious, which I think he is, graduation could very well be on the 13th, so stay tuned. I’d rather not be here that long, but in boot camp you roll with the punches.
I’ve been teaching the division in my role as Educational Petty Officer, and our first test is on Tuesday, so we’ll see how much got through. We have to know rank and recognition, first aid, uniforms and grooming, ships and aircraft and the dreaded UCMJ (Uniform Code of Military Justice). I’m not worried about that, but Tuesday is also our zone inspection, aka the fold and stow test. Everything has to be folded and ironed perfectly, no room for error. It’s a pain in the butt, but everything here is about attention to detail. We have to think about it as if our skivvies are multi-million dollar pieces of F/A-18 equipment. One wrinkle and KABOOM.
One area I’m really good at is standing watch at night and making entries into the deck log. Every few nights I stand watch from 0000-0200, to make sure terrorists or ninjas don’t come in and kill my sleeping shipmates. I don’t mind it; I like the responsibility. RDCs will often come in the middle of the night and grill you on chain of command or the deck log. I’m also one of 6 sticks for our drill formation, which means I get to stand in front carrying a flag for pass-in-review. It also means I have to learn a crap load of extra drill moves, and am under extra scrutiny. But I like it.
I’m glad the U.S. made the elimination round, but it sounds like a total heartbreak against Ghana :-(. Keep the updates coming! And throw in some news too. What’s going on with the oil spill? I’m still missing you guys a lot, but I’m almost enjoying my home here, and the letters help sooo much!
Love, Jackson
I finally started getting all of your letters last week! They are really helping me get through boot camp, so keep them coming. I can only write on Sunday, so I’m sure it’ll be forever before you get mine. I also got letters from Grandfather, the Mendoncas and my friends Mel, Kate Cassalla and Kate & Nick. The rest of my friends are dead to me! Just kidding.
Boot camp is slowly getting better. I’ve met some good guys in my division, and we stick together and make sure we are all one team. The PT (physical training) is getting better, but still not hard enough for my tastes. The beatings [see previous blog post] continue, which is frustrating, but you get used to it. If we are lucky we might get a phone call next Sunday.
I happened to get placed into a “push” division, which means we have to learn everything in one less week, hence the earlier graduation date. However, Chief says if we keep screwing up and getting compartment hits, he’ll send us back a week. If he’s serious, which I think he is, graduation could very well be on the 13th, so stay tuned. I’d rather not be here that long, but in boot camp you roll with the punches.
I’ve been teaching the division in my role as Educational Petty Officer, and our first test is on Tuesday, so we’ll see how much got through. We have to know rank and recognition, first aid, uniforms and grooming, ships and aircraft and the dreaded UCMJ (Uniform Code of Military Justice). I’m not worried about that, but Tuesday is also our zone inspection, aka the fold and stow test. Everything has to be folded and ironed perfectly, no room for error. It’s a pain in the butt, but everything here is about attention to detail. We have to think about it as if our skivvies are multi-million dollar pieces of F/A-18 equipment. One wrinkle and KABOOM.
One area I’m really good at is standing watch at night and making entries into the deck log. Every few nights I stand watch from 0000-0200, to make sure terrorists or ninjas don’t come in and kill my sleeping shipmates. I don’t mind it; I like the responsibility. RDCs will often come in the middle of the night and grill you on chain of command or the deck log. I’m also one of 6 sticks for our drill formation, which means I get to stand in front carrying a flag for pass-in-review. It also means I have to learn a crap load of extra drill moves, and am under extra scrutiny. But I like it.
I’m glad the U.S. made the elimination round, but it sounds like a total heartbreak against Ghana :-(. Keep the updates coming! And throw in some news too. What’s going on with the oil spill? I’m still missing you guys a lot, but I’m almost enjoying my home here, and the letters help sooo much!
Love, Jackson
1.7.10
First Week Report
27 Jun 10
Dear Mom and Dad,
It’s finally good to get a chance to write you. I’ve been here almost 2 weeks, but we only get to write letters on Sunday, and the first Sunday didn’t count. Where do I even start to describe Navy Bootcamp. I arrived 13 or so days ago, a Monday night around 8 or 9 pm; don’t remember. From the second we stepped off the bus, I stayed awake for 40 hours. Seriously. There was a lot of processing, a lot of hurry up and wait, and a LOT of yelling and swearing. All that nonsense about no cursing in bootcamp is so not true, but I really don’t mind. It give it that salty boot camp feel. I’m in division 267, with Chief Alex and 3 first class petty officers as my RDCs. The first week we stayed in the temporary berthing compartments at the USS Pearl Harbor while we had “P week”. That week sucked. We had to wear full sweats everywhere all the time, even marching outside. We couldn’t do any exercise because we all had to be declared fit for full duty. And everywhere you go, everyone (the instructors and staff) treat you like shit. After being awake for 40 hours and being constantly crapped on, I was definitely having second thoughts. But that’s how its supposed to be. I also had night security watch the first night of sleep, so I was a zombie until the 3rd or 4th day.
Things are slightly better now. After P week we marched across base to Camp John Paul Jones, where we moved into our permanent home, the USS Triton. It’s named after a sub from WW2 I’m pretty sure. The “ship” is actually a huge, state of the art building/barracks. I would have preferred the USS Enterprise or the USS Theodore Roosevelt, but the Triton is still pretty cool. Once we moved in we also got to stop wearing our stinky hot never washed sweats and got our blue digital camo working uniforms (super cool), which we wear all the time except for PT (physical training). We also wear black combat boots about 15 hours a day, which really starts to kill your feet.
So far we really haven’t learned or done anything interesting except how to do things at warp speed. I can strip my rack in 2 minutes, make my rack in 10 minutes, and fold and store all my clothes EXACTLY the way they want. Everything we do is under high stress situations and even the slightest error can earn you a “beating”. They can’t actually hurt you physically, but they have 4 cards of varying difficulty which contain exercises to beat you into the ground. One recruit was sent to the hospital (we think). When the RDCs want to be mean and teach you a lesson, it is not pretty. But you’ll never make that mistake again. They also like making you hold in the pushup position for 5, 10 minutes at a time. The whole division (72 people) has been beat a handful of times, sometimes our fault, sometimes not. I don’t mind; it’s all designed to make us sharper and stronger.
The RDCs can be cool when they want to, but my division has a tendency to be slow and unreceptive, so we don’t see the nice side a lot. It’s definitely toughening me up and giving me a thick skin. You just can’t take it all too personally, and focus on graduation. Graduation will be the happiest day of my life by far. Boot camp isn’t that “hard”, but it can be demoralizing. So keep letters coming! So far I haven’t gotten any, because I think it takes a while to get here. In good news, I passed my 3rd class swim test and my PFA. I did 100 crunches in 2 minutes, 71 pushups and easily passed the 1.5 mile sprint. We’ve been marching more now too. Which is also fun (comparatively).
The other guys in my division are a mixed bag of everything. We’ve got some shipmates who don’t take it as seriously and hold us back, but a good portion are good people who want to succeed. This past week we were assigned positions. I was made educational petty officer (EPO) because I got a 99 on my ASVAB, and I was made athletic petty officer (APO) because I was a personal trainer. However, after a couple of days they realized that I couldn’t be both, so they made me just EPO. Which means I’m in charge of studying and preparing everyone for the tests. With this group, it could be a formidable task, but one which I’m going to give my all. Also, Chief said that however lower our test averages are below passing, that’s how bad I’M going to get “beat”. That’s how it works here. Our first test is next week, hopefully I can get these guys to pass. We have to know rank and recognition, the UCMJ, ships and aircraft, first aid, uniforms and grooming, and watchstanding procedures. It’s not too hard, but it’s a lot of information and some of it (like memorizing articles of the UCMJ) can be tricky.
The best part of boot camp is the food. We eat 3 squares a day, big healthy portions. I think the food here is pretty good. You have to eat fast, but not so fast you feel sick. I’m eating salad a fruit 2-3 times a day, keeping it pretty healthy. Now that we’re doing PT, my body feels a lot better than the first week. I hear that the first 2-3 weeks suck the most; then it gets better. So far I’m keeping my spirits high and keeping my eye on the prize. I really do miss you, home, my friends and the world cup! So please keep writing, you have no idea how big a difference a letter from loved ones makes. I’ll write again in a week.
Seaman Recruit Dehn
Dear Mom and Dad,
It’s finally good to get a chance to write you. I’ve been here almost 2 weeks, but we only get to write letters on Sunday, and the first Sunday didn’t count. Where do I even start to describe Navy Bootcamp. I arrived 13 or so days ago, a Monday night around 8 or 9 pm; don’t remember. From the second we stepped off the bus, I stayed awake for 40 hours. Seriously. There was a lot of processing, a lot of hurry up and wait, and a LOT of yelling and swearing. All that nonsense about no cursing in bootcamp is so not true, but I really don’t mind. It give it that salty boot camp feel. I’m in division 267, with Chief Alex and 3 first class petty officers as my RDCs. The first week we stayed in the temporary berthing compartments at the USS Pearl Harbor while we had “P week”. That week sucked. We had to wear full sweats everywhere all the time, even marching outside. We couldn’t do any exercise because we all had to be declared fit for full duty. And everywhere you go, everyone (the instructors and staff) treat you like shit. After being awake for 40 hours and being constantly crapped on, I was definitely having second thoughts. But that’s how its supposed to be. I also had night security watch the first night of sleep, so I was a zombie until the 3rd or 4th day.
Things are slightly better now. After P week we marched across base to Camp John Paul Jones, where we moved into our permanent home, the USS Triton. It’s named after a sub from WW2 I’m pretty sure. The “ship” is actually a huge, state of the art building/barracks. I would have preferred the USS Enterprise or the USS Theodore Roosevelt, but the Triton is still pretty cool. Once we moved in we also got to stop wearing our stinky hot never washed sweats and got our blue digital camo working uniforms (super cool), which we wear all the time except for PT (physical training). We also wear black combat boots about 15 hours a day, which really starts to kill your feet.
So far we really haven’t learned or done anything interesting except how to do things at warp speed. I can strip my rack in 2 minutes, make my rack in 10 minutes, and fold and store all my clothes EXACTLY the way they want. Everything we do is under high stress situations and even the slightest error can earn you a “beating”. They can’t actually hurt you physically, but they have 4 cards of varying difficulty which contain exercises to beat you into the ground. One recruit was sent to the hospital (we think). When the RDCs want to be mean and teach you a lesson, it is not pretty. But you’ll never make that mistake again. They also like making you hold in the pushup position for 5, 10 minutes at a time. The whole division (72 people) has been beat a handful of times, sometimes our fault, sometimes not. I don’t mind; it’s all designed to make us sharper and stronger.
The RDCs can be cool when they want to, but my division has a tendency to be slow and unreceptive, so we don’t see the nice side a lot. It’s definitely toughening me up and giving me a thick skin. You just can’t take it all too personally, and focus on graduation. Graduation will be the happiest day of my life by far. Boot camp isn’t that “hard”, but it can be demoralizing. So keep letters coming! So far I haven’t gotten any, because I think it takes a while to get here. In good news, I passed my 3rd class swim test and my PFA. I did 100 crunches in 2 minutes, 71 pushups and easily passed the 1.5 mile sprint. We’ve been marching more now too. Which is also fun (comparatively).
The other guys in my division are a mixed bag of everything. We’ve got some shipmates who don’t take it as seriously and hold us back, but a good portion are good people who want to succeed. This past week we were assigned positions. I was made educational petty officer (EPO) because I got a 99 on my ASVAB, and I was made athletic petty officer (APO) because I was a personal trainer. However, after a couple of days they realized that I couldn’t be both, so they made me just EPO. Which means I’m in charge of studying and preparing everyone for the tests. With this group, it could be a formidable task, but one which I’m going to give my all. Also, Chief said that however lower our test averages are below passing, that’s how bad I’M going to get “beat”. That’s how it works here. Our first test is next week, hopefully I can get these guys to pass. We have to know rank and recognition, the UCMJ, ships and aircraft, first aid, uniforms and grooming, and watchstanding procedures. It’s not too hard, but it’s a lot of information and some of it (like memorizing articles of the UCMJ) can be tricky.
The best part of boot camp is the food. We eat 3 squares a day, big healthy portions. I think the food here is pretty good. You have to eat fast, but not so fast you feel sick. I’m eating salad a fruit 2-3 times a day, keeping it pretty healthy. Now that we’re doing PT, my body feels a lot better than the first week. I hear that the first 2-3 weeks suck the most; then it gets better. So far I’m keeping my spirits high and keeping my eye on the prize. I really do miss you, home, my friends and the world cup! So please keep writing, you have no idea how big a difference a letter from loved ones makes. I’ll write again in a week.
Seaman Recruit Dehn
21.6.10
First Contact (by snail mail)
21-6-2010 First letter from Jackson is a basic form letter with 4 personal lines at end stating he is alive and surviving though not getting much sleep. He has not had any PT yet but is looking forward to that.
Important feature is the address:
SR Dehn, Jackson, E.
Ship 12 Div 267
Recruit Training Command
3515 Sailor Drive
Great Lakes, IL 60088-3515
The letter also gives the graduation date of 06 Aug 10.
KCDehn
Important feature is the address:
SR Dehn, Jackson, E.
Ship 12 Div 267
Recruit Training Command
3515 Sailor Drive
Great Lakes, IL 60088-3515
The letter also gives the graduation date of 06 Aug 10.
KCDehn
17.6.10
15.6.10
15.6.2010 It is always something. Jackson called me yesterday at 0821 from Ft. Meade to say the Navy needed his HS transcripts by 0900 or there would be a delay shipping out. So I called the school the person in charge of transcripts was in a meeting until 0915 but they would call me back. Then I searched through our home records and came up with the official transcript from the end of his jr yr and the final report card from sr yr drove into town to 7-11 to fax what I had to the Navy. Jackson had said he would call me back around 0900 but he never did so I assumed what I faxed was acceptable. I was on high alert though expecting some other problem to come up. He called me again using a phone card from BWI about 1630 saying his flight out was delayed and there was no definite time of departure. There was bad weather out west that may have been the problem with departure. I told him I didn't care what time he got in to Great Lakes Recruit Training Command I want to get the next call. I honestly wasn't going to sleep until he called anyway. He called at 2330 so I slept like a baby. Next contact should be in 1 - 2 weeks when they ship his civilian clothing home and send a letter with his address. Can't wait. Will post address or any other info ASAP. KCDehn
9.6.10
Ship Out
So, after a fun but long year of waiting, the time has finally come. This Sunday, around 4pm, I'll be meeting up with my recruiter in DC to travel to Fort Meade, MD, staying the night, and then proceeding to BWI Airport on Monday, June 14, arriving in Great Lakes, IL later that day. I've got some great festivities planned for Friday and Saturday to enjoy these last moments with my friends, but I'm still ready and willing to get started on the journey. Not much else to say really. I've enjoy the past year with friends and family, but after some final partying I'm ready to get to work!
If you'd like to write me while I'm in Basic (which I hope you will!), I'll be providing that information here on the blog. Or rather, I'll write home to my parents, and they'll be in charge of uploading that info. Hopefully they can also post some of my letters here so everybody knows whats going on even if you're too shy to write a lonely sailor!
If you'd like to write me while I'm in Basic (which I hope you will!), I'll be providing that information here on the blog. Or rather, I'll write home to my parents, and they'll be in charge of uploading that info. Hopefully they can also post some of my letters here so everybody knows whats going on even if you're too shy to write a lonely sailor!
5.1.10
Courage
Here's to a productive and meaningful 2010.
I recently finished reading John F. Kennedy's "Profiles in Courage", the book he wrote while he was still a freshman Senator, and which also happened to win the Pulitzer Prize. After reading it I can see why. It's mainly an analysis of political courage, highlighting 10 Senators in particular. JFK profiles subjects from both sides of the political aisle, which is part of what makes this book so good and relevant. Aside from political courage, the end of the book features a section on "The Meaning of Courage", with some great quotes that I found particularly meaningful. Here are a few from JFK that I'd like to remember...
"It is when his regard for himself is so high that his own self-respect demands he follow the path of courage and conscience that all benefit."
"Must men conscientiously risk their careers only for principles which hindsight declares to be correct, in order for posterity to honor them for their valor? I think not."
"The courage of life is often a less dramatic spectacle than the courage of a final moment; but it is no less a magnificent mixture of triumph and tragedy. A man does what he must - in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers and pressures - and that is the basis of all human morality."
"To be courageous requires no exceptional qualifications, no magic formula, no special combination of time, place and circumstance. It is an opportunity that sooner or later is presented to us all."
"In whatever arena of life one may meet the challenge of courage, whatever may be the sacrifices he faces if he follows his conscience - the loss of his friends, his fortune, his contentment, even the esteem of his fellow men - each man must decide for himself the course he will follow."
"The stories of past courage can help define that ingredient - they can teach, they can offer hope, they can provide inspiration. But they cannot supply courage itself. For this each man must look into his own soul."
The last quote is how JFK ends the book, and one of my personal favorite. An inspirational read, and especially interesting to any history/political junkies out there. While we're on the subject of inspiration, and great presidents, I'll end this post with another of my favorite quotes and one which has held sway over me since before I enlisted.
"I can imagine no more rewarding a career. And any man who may be asked in this century what he did to make his life worthwhile, I think can respond with a good deal of pride and satisfaction: 'I served in the United States Navy." -President John F. Kennedy, 1 August, 1963
I recently finished reading John F. Kennedy's "Profiles in Courage", the book he wrote while he was still a freshman Senator, and which also happened to win the Pulitzer Prize. After reading it I can see why. It's mainly an analysis of political courage, highlighting 10 Senators in particular. JFK profiles subjects from both sides of the political aisle, which is part of what makes this book so good and relevant. Aside from political courage, the end of the book features a section on "The Meaning of Courage", with some great quotes that I found particularly meaningful. Here are a few from JFK that I'd like to remember...
"It is when his regard for himself is so high that his own self-respect demands he follow the path of courage and conscience that all benefit."
"Must men conscientiously risk their careers only for principles which hindsight declares to be correct, in order for posterity to honor them for their valor? I think not."
"The courage of life is often a less dramatic spectacle than the courage of a final moment; but it is no less a magnificent mixture of triumph and tragedy. A man does what he must - in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers and pressures - and that is the basis of all human morality."
"To be courageous requires no exceptional qualifications, no magic formula, no special combination of time, place and circumstance. It is an opportunity that sooner or later is presented to us all."
"In whatever arena of life one may meet the challenge of courage, whatever may be the sacrifices he faces if he follows his conscience - the loss of his friends, his fortune, his contentment, even the esteem of his fellow men - each man must decide for himself the course he will follow."
"The stories of past courage can help define that ingredient - they can teach, they can offer hope, they can provide inspiration. But they cannot supply courage itself. For this each man must look into his own soul."
The last quote is how JFK ends the book, and one of my personal favorite. An inspirational read, and especially interesting to any history/political junkies out there. While we're on the subject of inspiration, and great presidents, I'll end this post with another of my favorite quotes and one which has held sway over me since before I enlisted.
"I can imagine no more rewarding a career. And any man who may be asked in this century what he did to make his life worthwhile, I think can respond with a good deal of pride and satisfaction: 'I served in the United States Navy." -President John F. Kennedy, 1 August, 1963
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