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