From Civilian to Sailor

Wednesday 12 Sep 07

Now that boot camp has really started things are picking up a bit. Unlike P-Days, we actually do things other than make our beds and sit in lines that lead to different lines. On Monday we practiced our marching drill. We're definitely improving. After chow we did some PT to see where we stood athleticism wise. We did our warm ups and then sit ups and push ups. I pushed out about 35 sit ups and 27 push ups and could not manage any more. The mile and a half jog was just that, a jog, it was way slower than my normal pace, and I was beat. We left the gym with me feeling disappointed and worried because the baseline PFA (Physical Fitness Assessment) was only two days away. If I failed it then I would not get my automatic E-2 advancement. To pass I would have to do 47 push ups and about 50 sit ups plus the mile and a half in under 13:30. I was pretty upset because before boot camp I had no problem hitting those marks. I guess that's what one whole week of doing nothing but eating and sitting around will do for you.

When we returned to the compartment the RDC ripped me a new one for signing the deck log wrong and getting us a compartment hit from the surprise inspection while we were gone. So, for my mistake he took 5 more minutes on our phone call home. It started at 60 minutes and is down to 25 now =( it was my fault though, I listened to the division idiot on how to sign off on it. So needless to say I felt like complete crap Monday. I apologized to the rest of the division later that day, but I still felt like crap.

On Tuesday we had our swim qualifications early in the morning. I stepped off the ten foot platform and hit the water harder than I anticipated. I ended up sucking in a bunch and panicking. I got to the surface and tried to breast stroke all the way down the 50 yard pool, but probably made it about 10 yards before I wore myself out and they made me turn over and do the back stroke which was much easier, but much slower. My shipmates were running me over. I had about 10 yards left and someone swam over me and pushed me under making me inhale a bunch of water, so my immediate reaction was to surface, and quick. My feet hit the bottom of the pool and instantly I knew my mistake. Standing up in the shallow end meant failure. However on my second try with the rest of the failures, the loser’s bracket if you will, I passed no problem. No one was pushing me under. So, I went on to the 5 minute prone float. I probably made it 3 minutes but my legs we already so tired I could barely walk. We had to lay face down getting air only when necessary. Again though, the space was too crowded and I was being pushed down. After going under a few times I just gave up. I was mad at myself later, that meant I had to go back and try again another day. All in all I was pretty bummed. Add to that the fact that mail has been coming in since last Tuesday and I have yet to receive any, I was ready to go AWOL and jump the fence.

This morning, I had the retest for swim quals at about 0700 but we got there and we didn’t have our IDs on us so we had to double-time back across the base and now, again, will have to go back there to take the test. So today got off to a piss-poor start as well. After all the marching and double-time in those boots I wore blisters on my feet. So I was worried about my ability to run. However, when it came time I did 68 sit ups, 60 push ups and ran the mile and a half in 12:56, I passed! As long as I passed the academic test I’m an E-2!

Well that’s enough for now, 3 pages worth. I’m gonna hit the bead and get some rest, I think I have watch tonight, around 0400.

-Adam

P.S. Write me… Mail is like crack around here and I need my fix!