So much going on at once..

This has been a crazy hell day. In a good way though. We got to shine our dress shoes which turned out great. Then I had to help Petty Officer with Latin translations, and it was announced for Olympics that there is volleyball... which had little interest until I was made caption and now 19 people vying for 6 spots!

I found out I have to take my firefighting classes a week earlier than the rest of my division. There are 6 of us doing this and I am element leader. The bullshit is that I will not be with my division this week and then when they go to firefight next week I stay back for preparation for our last major inspection. Talk about a huge responsibility.

Sharp shooter..

It has been a crazy two days. I did awesome at live fire. Scored a 208 out of 240 which makes me a sharp shooter. Funny how it was my first time using a gun/pistol and I do well. There were 7 other sharpshooters and I expert.

Today we had our drill inspection. Overall we did great. We earned another flag and morale is pretty high overall.

Beautifully chilled rain..

Up at 4am and greeted by some beautifully chilled rain. So by 4:45am we were on the other side of the base, cold, wet and tired in a huge room that for some odd reason had 4 air conditioners going. We did our 9mm Beretta simulations. It was cool as I have never shot a sidearm before. Only rifles. I shot a perfect 48 for 48, but I'm not excited yet. The real thing is tomorrow and I am sure it will be much harder.

A great day!

Was up by 1:45am. I ended up ironing 4 sets of clothes for people in inspection. Then while polishing boots recruit after recruit kept asking me for help. So 4:00am rolls by and I have done 12 pairs of boots and its time to get up. Needless to say I was EXHAUSTED! So at 4:45am we were at the gym stretching for the PFA. I kicked ass! 96 sit-ups, 70 push-ups and my run was 12:04. So we come immediately back, eat chow, and have 50 minutes to prepare for our 2nd major inspection.

We got our summer whites tonight. They are awful! Milkman at best.

All over the place..

I think what I hate the most about this place are the extreme highs and lows we have to endure.

Last night we were really falling apart as a team. Screaming and yelling and although I won my battles a really bad side of me was seen by my fellow recruits. oh well.

Today we went to a fake ship. It really was a ship. Pretty cool. Being section leader I was in charge of getting the back end of the boat under way. So many new commands, so much new terminology, and shit I had no clue about I faltered a lot. I was not happy.

We spent all day getting ready for tomorrows inspection. So it was my turn for watch duty and sure as shit the OOD (Officer on Duty) came in for spot inspection. No clue what happened, but I nailed everyone dead on! Needless to say he actually went to chief to tell him what a hell of a job I was doing. We were the second to last compartment to be inspected and we were the only one in perfect condition!

Holiday Routine

It's Sunday! Holiday routine. Not sure what kind of day it's going to be though. We went to breakfast a little late and they were already out of my blueberry pancakes! It looks to be another beautiful day out. I can't wait to walk to church and enjoy much of it. Time to shower and shine boots.

Good day

Today was decent overall. It was beautiful outside too. Too bad we were marching in clothes and wasting away to nothing.


So today we had a practice inspection. It's the best I have ever done. Got my questions right and even made the petty officer's laugh. Then we did exercises and my knee held up really well.

I have watch on Monday and then our second Physical Fitness Assessment takes place. The REALLY awful thing is it is at 4:45am. How are we supposed to do well that early?!

Doing well

Everything seems to be going fine. We had a zone inspection and I seem to have done well. I rewrote all of chiefs reports and they received perfect scores. Lets see how that affects our relations. Knowing him it won't change much. But its all good. I am doing what I need to do and doing it well. I am not here to take away from any of these young guys looking to go far.

Stretching..

I did end up heading to medical for my knee today. As a result they just gave me stretches. So we'll see how much that helps.

New look..

Well, after yesterday my knee is feeling it today. They were pretty cool about it and let me get ice without a medical chit.

I got a haircut today as well. Unlike the Army where they just shaved us every time. Here they gave us a high and tight.

Another long day..

Someone messed up in the store today and was kicked out. Then marching back two recruits were busted talking and got street hits. We got the silent treatment from chief the whole way back. We stood at attention for a few minutes and he came out of his office, slammed our front door shut and yelled, 'strip to PT gear!' We got wasted for an hour and a half straight. Needles to say, my knee was devastated! Only four more weeks to go!

Sundays are great..

I am beginning to really like holiday routine on Sundays. We are the first to eat at 6am. Then when we come back its our only free time given to us for the week. Breakfast is usually blueberry pancakes, yogurt, fruit, muffins and juice. Knowing I don't have to PT, I gorge myself.

Sundays are also the only days we get to take our time in the shower. Instead of the 10 minute shower and shave, we get a 'hollywood shower'.

I have mastered shining my boots. It has taken me three weeks, but I have finally found a great method. It takes four layers and 15 minutes in between each layer, but they come out really nice! Ok, off for my hollywood shower and then to Buddhist temple.

Beautiful day..

Finally have some nice weather here. We aren't outside that much and we are sick of the snow. The only drawback is the fact that its a beautiful day and we are stuck marching and getting yelled at.

We are PT'ing a lot and my knee is holding up.

Looking good..

So boot camp has been going ok. It's weird being with 86 other guys. I have made some really close friends, as expected.

As another recruit said today, 'Murph, you are pretty damned cool for an old guy!' LOL. I realized I have a JCrew sweater that is older than some of these kids. Been more places than almost all of them. And yet, here I am like all of them just trying to survive.

We got issued our dress blues and dinner dress uniforms today. Looking good! =)

So close..

Totally bummed. We took our first written test and if we scored a perfect 50 we got a 30 minute phone call. Of course I got 49/50 ... stupid C-2C greyhound planes!

More pain..

I finally got that tooth extracted. So I spent all morning at the dentist, and then all day in bed bleeding again.. I am saving my pain pills for the hard running day. So I have added some torture to myself.. but in the long run will be better off..

Another good day..

We had our first major (we have a total of 3) and I scored 4.7 out of 5. Anything over 4.6 is considered an A. Then to top it off we had In-house PT... and something clicked in my knee. I mean literally no pain.. it is finally getting stronger!

The life of a division leader..

While I was leading a study group my section got rowdy today and wouldn't shut up. When they realized which section it was, my heart sank. Sure as shit I got wasted for 45 minutes. The whole time she lectured everyone on what she expects from the division leaders. Every time someone did anything wrong I had to start over. Then of course some tried to come to my defense to say I was teaching. So she changes tactics and calls everyone I was with. Mind you, they are not the brightest. Every question they got wrong I had to start over.. which made them more nervous and get more wrong. Thank god she went around the whole group and they did great. A few wrong, but in the end they made me proud.

So, needless to say, I was pissed when it was done. But the coolest thing happened. One of the other leaders came up to me and said 'hang in there Murph. You are the heart of this division.' Holy shit, that floored me.

Dentist again

I spent all day at the dentist today. Yes you heard me, the dentist yet again. It seems I became a bit of a case study for them. In the end nothing major happened. One of my teeth in the front is failing, so Tuesday I go back for a root canal. I also got my mouth casted for a tooth.

Laundry again. As section leader I have to go through and fix all folds. 40 recruits times 6 pairs of underwear. Holy Shit Batman!

Long day..

Today was long. A word fight broke out at 4:45am not even 10 feet from me. By the time it was quiet I couldn't fall back asleep. So, I got up and had an early shave, made my rack and started to study. Here I was proud I was so ahead of the game. Of course they come in early and we have to strip everything for surprise inspection. What a waste!

Then, we had our first PFA (physical fitness assessment). For the most part I kicked ass, 65 push-ups, 91 sit-ups and a 13:20 1.5 mile run.

So much in so little time..

I am getting pretty tired. We seriously train for about 16 hours straight. There is so much they want us to learn in so little time.


Good news is I passed my swim qualifications with highest marks! One down!

A Decent Day

So overall it was a decent day. Chief made me division leader. Sounds really cool, but in the end I am nothing more than a glorified babysitter. BUT, it's cool nonetheless.


Chief more than made up for it though. Just after dinner he told everyone to get out our phone cards and started handing out phone chits. Then, he dropped a bomb. 'Recruits, here is how to fill out the slip in front of you. In the date put April Fools! Now, don't say I don't have a sense of humor..'


It's my turn to iron. Yeah, you heard it correctly. We iron EVERYTHING.. even underwear! Later.