From Civilian to Sailor

Hello all of Wolfe's friends. I am Seaman Recruit Brown (Wolfe's bunk mate). He asked me to do a "guest writer" entry in his blog and to try and go over anything that he may have missed.

I guess I'll go ahead and start off my talking about the flag that Wolfe effed up. I helped Wolfe work on the flag, which looked totally sweet on paper, but turned out looking like some medieval, Christmas obsessed, homosexuals painted it. So as you can imagine, the whole "Christmas obsessed, homosexual" type paintings aren't a real crowd pleaser here in Chicago. So our painting was placed on the back side of the flag. But, fortunately for me, I worked on both sides so my work will still be showing.

Also, because I'm stupid and nobody wants to write me letters, I found this to be a great opportunity to spam Wolfe's blog and say that my myspace is http://www.myspace.com/dr_kuofficus . There might not be an underscore in that. After two months of not being on, it's hard to remember that sort of thing.

My name is Charlie Brown. Just though I would clear that up so you don't accidentally find a different losers profile, and lastly, there is a bunch of stuff in there where I put down stupid answers to stuff. I guess I thought I was being funny or something, but I do not have the body of a body builder, I don't make freakin $300,000.00 Annually, I'm not freaking Bi.

And actually I lied the real last thing is that, those are about the only bull crap answers on there, the rest should be true. and I used some profanity in my profile (I think) so if that isn't you bag baby, don't look at it.

Oh, I'm dumb, I forgot to mention the entire point of this is to write me letters after learning a little bit about me. My mailing address is the same as Wolfe's except that instead of "SR. Wolfe, L.A." it's "SR. Brown, C.D"

The end

It's coming, and soon. This Sunday, by the time this is posted, it will be over. Battle stations, in case I haven't explained it yet, is the big event at the end of boot camp where you utilise everything you learned through the process: firefighting, line handling, and who knows what else. Unfortunately for you I can't tell you about it afterwards, I have to sign papers saying I won't talk about it with anyone who hasn't been through it themselves.

Anyway, I kind of felt bad after last weeks rushed entry so I'm going to write this one as the week goes on. First though I'll touch on some things I may have left out in my haste.

While my flag drawing did win the contest something was lost in translation from sketch to painting. So after a second vote my drawing was moved to the other side of the flag, the side not seen at graduation. No big deal the other side turned out better no doubt. Also we had our second surprise inspection. SURPRISE! I failed. It wasn't really a surprise though, chief told us it was coming. That just makes it even worse. It was 3 stupid hits too, a button had fallen off of one of my shirts in my locker and my pen fell off my chain into my locker and I didn't know it. So I got a gear adrift hit. I can't remember the other hit though. You can only fail one graded event per phase of training. That was my one. Two failures and you get set back a week in training. So needless to say I'm a bit on edge for the rest of this week. Personnel inspection is Monday, final PFA on Wednesday, and test 3 on Friday... It's imperative I pass all of those. So let the week begin!


*5-5 Monday 15 Oct 07 *

Today was a pretty important day. We had our final Personnel inspection. Half of us had to get into our dress blues (what we'll wear at graduation) and the other half put on the working blues, or "Johnny Cash's". I was pretty nervous but I ended up getting a perfect score. So that was a major relief. I was also pleasantly surprised when I learned we would go to the gas chamber a day earlier than I thought. It was actually pretty cool though. They put us all in a room with gas masks on (about 150 - 160 of us) and stood us side by side in rows of 18 or so. The first row stepped up to a red line on the deck and then took off their masks and held them up with one hand while forming a cup with the other to catch anything that may be expelled from the face holes. Then you had to state you name "seaman recruit Wolfe" , and your division "Division 379" . For most, however, it came out something like "seaman recruit" *cough*cough* "Schmuckatellie" *cough*gag*"Div.." *gag* " Division" *snot* " 379" *cough*gasp*. Once the whole line had sounded off they would file out and the next line would move up. I was in the second to last line so by the time I got up there I had already been breathing in the fumes that the mask didn't filter. So I took off my mask and waited for my turn to sound off with my cup at the ready. I sounded off and coughed a couple times and that was it. I sneezed for about 5 minutes afterward but that was not too bad. Some people were pretty affected by it though. After it was all over I wanted to do it again.



*6-2 Wednesday 17 Oct 07*

Nothing much happened on Tuesday, so I skipped to Wednesday. Today was an important day though. The final Physical Fitness Assessment. The requirements for my age: Push ups 42, sit ups 50, 1-1/2 mile run time 13:15. My scores: Push ups 60, Sit up 93, 1-1/2 mile run time 11:23. all in all a good day! Now that the PFA is behind me I just have to worry about test 3 on Friday and battle stations on Monday! Oh and I shouldn't forget the drill (marching) assessment tomorrow, I wasn't concerned with it but chief told us if we do well on test 3 and drill he will take us to the nex (RTC wal mart basically. Featuring shopping, food, computers, arcade, phones, etc). So i hope we nail it!


*6-3 Thursday 18 Oct 07*

Alas, drill went poorly this morning. We made a safety violation while crossing the street. Chief was unhappy with that. He was also unhappy when he was called in this morning because no RDC (Recruit Division commander) showed up this morning to get us up and one of my shipmates alerted another chief of the situation and mentioned that it happens all the time, which is untrue. You know what they say, "crap rolls downhill" so we got an ear full.

We did the firefighting today, and man was that fun. We put on the gear, well most of it, and put out some fires. They were all controlled and pretty tame, but it was still a blast. So much that for a few minutes I wished I had picked that as my job. So Brandon, I think It's something you would enjoy. I need to go for the night though, test 3 is tomorrow, and study is required.


*6-3 Hold Saturday 20 Oct 07*

The past couple of days have been pretty relaxed, and it's a welcome change. On Monday is when it hits the fan, Battle Stations! It starts sometime on Monday and ends sometime late Tuesday night. It's time for me to sleep. I told my pal Charlie Brown to write an entry for the blog since I was feeling lazy. So the next post is out of my control...

The end is near! I can see a light at the end of the tunnel, I call it “Taco Bell”…No, wait I mean “Graduation” although Taco Bell is definitely on my list of places to go. I can’t write a whole lot today but I figured I should update my loyal reader.

This past week was kind of quiet. Took pictures filled out some paperwork went to some firefighting classes. Next week is gonna be packed full of excitement. Personnel inspection on Monday, gas chamber on Tuesday, PFA Wednesday, drill inspection Thursday, and test 3 on Friday. So, like I said busy busy. I’ve gotta go now though need to practice tying my neck tie for my Johnny Cashes.

P.S. Dad, since I know you are reading this could you get a hold of mom and let her know about graduation. Tell her I said sorry I haven’t written in a while, but I will be making phone calls next week.

Well we’re almost there now. Tuesday starts week 5 and battle stations, “The Main Event”, is all at the end of week 6, after that it’s all down hill. Last week we had a line handling lab, where we tied a huge fake ship to a huge fake pier. We also had our weapons training and qualifications. I scored a 186, which isn’t that great. It’s enough to get a marksman ribbon, but I’m going to take it again once I get out to earn my expert ribbon.

Next week we start firefighting that will make the week go fast. Also the “Confidence Chamber” is coming up. That’s where you take off your gas mask in the room filled with some gas that is no fun to inhale. But what I am looking forward to most is haircut #3, because I really need it … Not.

Alight I hate to cut this short but I have stuff I have to do before my free time is up. P.S. I told some people my next phone call was on the 13th but I was wrong, it’s on the 23rd

This Monday will begin week four. That's crazy! I'm over halfway out of here. This is a big week though. Monday at 0400 we have RDC assessment PFA, then another personal and locker inspection. Wednesday (I think) we have our drill (marching) inspection, if we do well we get another flag to carry at graduation. Friday is our second academic test, we already earned our scholastic flag, but we can earn a pennant to put at the top of it.

Speaking of flags... we had a competition to design a custom flag for our division and my design won. My rack mate, Charlie Brown, and I scaled it up and drew it on the flag we will spend probably all of our holiday routine tomorrow painting it. So, if you wrote me a letter, thanks, it means a lot to me but I'm probably not going to be able to write this week. I want to especially thank my aunt Kathy who wrote me an 8 page letter that started like this: "I really don't have anything to say..." classic.

All in all things are going well, I'm sick but most of us here are. 81 guys x 1 compartment = much sickness. There are some real tools here, but there are some cool people as well. Like Simons who plays FFXI, or Saunders, who plays WoW and Rainbow Six Vegas, and is also into graphic design. Plus he got it guaranteed in his contract that he will be stationed in Japan, lucky. Then there is Charlie Brown from Utah. He just cracks me up, he says some crazy stuff sometimes.

Well, I should get some sleep, I need to be up to iron in about 3 hours. So in closing I would like to say thanks for reading. Also, there has been some confusion with my address and all my mail took a little longer to arrive. My correct address is:

SR Wolfe, Larry A
Div: 379 Ship: 05
3610 Illinois Street
Great Lakes, IL 60088-3610

Hope to hear from you soon.

23 Sept 07

It's 2-5 Hold (week 2 Day 5, and we're on hold because it's the weekend). Things are really speeding up now. Monday starts week 3. We get our second haircuts this week, not that i need it or anything. We will also start learning line handling and how to tie up a ship. The week after we start weapons training I'm excited for that.

Let's recount the events of the past week...

Monday - Personnel inspection and dynamic material inspection (DMI), that's where we get dressed into our utilities and they inspect us. I got a 4.0 because there was too much excess material on my belt, and because my shave wasn't good enough. the DMI is where they check my bed making skills and grade my folding and stowing of all my gear. I got a 5.0 on my locker, who would have figured.

Wednesday - Zone inspections and academic test 1. Zone inspection is pretty much the same as the DMI but they inspect the whole compartment as well. 5.0 again, and I also passed my test.

Thursday - We did uniform 2ND issue, where we got measured and issued our dress uniforms. That was awesome. It actually reminded me why I'm here. I don't mean just for the cool uniform, but for the reward at the end of all this.

Well I need to get working on my submission for our division flag. I hope to hear from some people back home.

4 1/2 weeks to go. Graduation it Oct. 26Th

P.S. I passed my swim Qualifications.

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!