I received our first phone call from Alex on the train last night. "Hi Dad". My response, "Jack?" (I thought it was Jack using a friend's phone). "No, this is your other son, Alex". As I only have two, I was slightly ahead of him.
He said he really is doing just fine. Bootcamp is going by very fast and it is hard to believe that he really only has 4 weeks to go. He actually graduates after Battle Stations, which occurs a week before his Pass-in-Review on September 2. Battle Stations is a nightlong final evolution that brings all of his training together on a 1/5 scale actual ship. As "Leuitenant Dan", one of the guys with whom I work, says Battle Stations is really cool. After passing Battle Stations, they are no longer addressed as "recruit", but addressed as "sailor".
He likes his role as Education Petty Officer (EPO). He said he is not sure if having the RDC's know him by name is good or bad. He said some of the RDC's come up to him and harass him quietly and then walk away and laugh.
As EPO, he is responsible for coordinating the testing schedules of his division and scheduling retests if a recruit misses a test due to a medical appointment or illness. The division test score is a reflection on him. As such he has to "remediate" the low scores of other recruits. That involves tutoring. He said he had to stay up very late one night tutoring several recruits.
He does have a case of "ricky crud". Crud is a cough or upper respiratory illness that eventually gets almost every recruit. It comes from putting 90 recruits together in one barracks, or ship as it is referred to in the Navy (go figure). He said it is getting better.
He only had ten minutes, as he was able to talk with Christine for 10 minutes also. You could hear the Petty Officer in the background yelling "5 minutes" halfway through the call. When I heard in the background "TIME'S UP", Alex said "Gotta go Dad, Bye" very quickly and the call ended.
Keep the letters coming to him. He said to say thanks to everyone who has been writing him. It helps alot.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Letter No. 4
Sunday, July 25
Dear Everyone,
Thanks for all the letters. I had a really bad day this last Tuesday (things just built up) and I got six letters that night. My rackmate said that, with all the ripped envelope paper and the grin on my face, I looked like a four year old at Christmas.
In other news, I am no longer then Head (bathroom) Petty Officer. My friend Montaro who was the Recruit Petty Officer (RPOC) got fired for messing up drill. Unlike the Marines and Army, we DO NOT have Drill Instructors. Our RPOC leads drill and marching completely. You can be a good leader but still mess up drill. So, Montaro got moved back to Head PO and I was able to move to Education PO (EPO) which means I lead study, teach classes and do all the paperwork for when we take tests. A few days ago, Petty Officer Maudsely wanted me to be EPO but couldn’t since we had nobody to fill in as Head PO. So when Montaro got fired it ended up working out. I guess I have a reputation for knowing our stuff really well.
Dad, its great your bike ride goes by the base, though the odds of actually seeing me are slim. There is a tunnel that runs under Route 137 between the south and north base. We are on the North side permanently now. We occasionally go to the South side for classes and every morning at 0430 for Spec Warfare PT which is at the pool on the other side. Church is on the south side too, which by the way I probably won’t see for awhile here. It takes 1-1/2 hours to get there and back. Church is during our four hour break on Sunday morning where we have to fold our stuff, get ready for inspections and write letters. Church means not being able to write letters. I might go later once our stuff gets together better.
Sleeping: I am OUT when my head hits the pillow but still not getting a lot of sleep. Everyone has to share six (6) irons for 90 recruits. You have a 30 minute block in the middle of the night in which you can use the iron. EVERY NIGHT. Taps is at 2200 and weekdays we get up at 0430. Weeekends, we get up between 0500 and 0600 and same for days we do not have Spec Warfare PT. Normal divisions get up between 0530 and 0600.
Friends: I have been making friends. My buddy, Butts, got moved to be my rackmate which is cool. We shifted around since Division leaders have to be in certain areas – RPOC is closest to the door. Butts was going to Air Rescue/Combat SAR but lost his contract due to a color deficiency in his eyesight. Now, he going to be a corpsman to support the Marines.
Watch: I did stand watch during the first night after that first 48 hour long day. So, I went to bed, got up an hour later then went to sleep for three more hours before waking up again. We were all zombies during processing.
Inspections: A perfect inspection is 5.0. I received a 5.0 on personal inspection (uniform and some basic questions they ask as they inspect you) and a 5.0 on DMI (15 minutes to strip and remake our racks). Our zone inspection (checking our lockers for proper folding and check the compartment for cleanliness) is this Monday. I am happy for myself but our division was “jacked up”. A lot failed badly. A hit is 1.0 off, so 3 hits is a failed inspection. We had guys take 8 hits or not even finish making their racks.
Times up and I gotta turn this in now.
Bye,
Al
Dear Everyone,
Thanks for all the letters. I had a really bad day this last Tuesday (things just built up) and I got six letters that night. My rackmate said that, with all the ripped envelope paper and the grin on my face, I looked like a four year old at Christmas.
In other news, I am no longer then Head (bathroom) Petty Officer. My friend Montaro who was the Recruit Petty Officer (RPOC) got fired for messing up drill. Unlike the Marines and Army, we DO NOT have Drill Instructors. Our RPOC leads drill and marching completely. You can be a good leader but still mess up drill. So, Montaro got moved back to Head PO and I was able to move to Education PO (EPO) which means I lead study, teach classes and do all the paperwork for when we take tests. A few days ago, Petty Officer Maudsely wanted me to be EPO but couldn’t since we had nobody to fill in as Head PO. So when Montaro got fired it ended up working out. I guess I have a reputation for knowing our stuff really well.
Dad, its great your bike ride goes by the base, though the odds of actually seeing me are slim. There is a tunnel that runs under Route 137 between the south and north base. We are on the North side permanently now. We occasionally go to the South side for classes and every morning at 0430 for Spec Warfare PT which is at the pool on the other side. Church is on the south side too, which by the way I probably won’t see for awhile here. It takes 1-1/2 hours to get there and back. Church is during our four hour break on Sunday morning where we have to fold our stuff, get ready for inspections and write letters. Church means not being able to write letters. I might go later once our stuff gets together better.
Sleeping: I am OUT when my head hits the pillow but still not getting a lot of sleep. Everyone has to share six (6) irons for 90 recruits. You have a 30 minute block in the middle of the night in which you can use the iron. EVERY NIGHT. Taps is at 2200 and weekdays we get up at 0430. Weeekends, we get up between 0500 and 0600 and same for days we do not have Spec Warfare PT. Normal divisions get up between 0530 and 0600.
Friends: I have been making friends. My buddy, Butts, got moved to be my rackmate which is cool. We shifted around since Division leaders have to be in certain areas – RPOC is closest to the door. Butts was going to Air Rescue/Combat SAR but lost his contract due to a color deficiency in his eyesight. Now, he going to be a corpsman to support the Marines.
Watch: I did stand watch during the first night after that first 48 hour long day. So, I went to bed, got up an hour later then went to sleep for three more hours before waking up again. We were all zombies during processing.
Inspections: A perfect inspection is 5.0. I received a 5.0 on personal inspection (uniform and some basic questions they ask as they inspect you) and a 5.0 on DMI (15 minutes to strip and remake our racks). Our zone inspection (checking our lockers for proper folding and check the compartment for cleanliness) is this Monday. I am happy for myself but our division was “jacked up”. A lot failed badly. A hit is 1.0 off, so 3 hits is a failed inspection. We had guys take 8 hits or not even finish making their racks.
Times up and I gotta turn this in now.
Bye,
Al
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Letter No. 3
Dear Everyone, 07/18/10
Crap, what a week. Yesterday was definitely a BAD day. Got IT’d hard for about 45 minutes and for an hour as a division. The second was mostly because of a recruit in a completely different division. FYI, the RDC’s in our division are apparently the “go to guys” for problem recruits in other divisions to get corrected.
This guy shoved another guy in their compartment. We were getting dropped already for one of our own guys messing up on watch. When Chief came in it was game on. The guy was a total dirtbag. Chief gave him the option of doing 200 pushups and the rest of the division would be able to stop and he said hell no. Weiss, one of our slower recruits was asked “what time is it?” and he answered “Butt kicking time”. Chief made us do 30 eight count bodybuilders (google that) in under 1 min 45 seconds. Chief stopped us because the guy only did four! We recovered but the guy was limping and hobbling and doing a poor job of faking it. Today he was on crutches. The kicker was that he was three weeks ahead of us in a normal division.
In other news, I am the new Head (bathroom) Petty Officer. Not too worried about that. The old Head PO, one of the guys I am getting to know, Montaro, is the new RPOC (Division Leader) and he chose me as his replacement. I was one of the workers there at first. It’s not too bad. Yeah, cleaning that stuff stinks but it is roughly 50% of our inspections so it is important. I also do not have to stand watch (meaning I don’t have to get up at night) and we generally don’t get messed with if our work is good. So now I’m in charge of that. Plus our group is real tight.
Montaro, Erik, Butts, Humphreys and I are a good friends but now ironically getting broken up. Humphreys is Master at Arms (RPOC's right hand man) and Erik and Butts got moved to guard duty since their stuff is squared away. Watch involves sounding off to the Chief and you must have good bearing to do it. A lot of guys have been messing it up.
I don’t mean to sound like it is all good. Yesterday the old RPOC and Master at Arms wrote down names of people who were talking when we were sitting down. Of course the Chief asks for the names of the ten weakest recruits and the old RPOC falls back on that list. There were several on the list, including me, that shouldn’t have been on the list. The Yeoman (in charge of paper work who works with the Chief a lot) is going to say something the Chief. Either way, I’m going to lay low and get my job done.
I hope you guys realize that writing letters is definitely a sacrifice. Any time we have to write it is on our own time and we basically have to sacrifice something to do this. Other than on Sunday, it is done at night and then I’m giving up sleep. Even on Sunday, there’s a lot of stuff to do. I’m only writing this now because I am waiting for an iron to open up so I can iron my clothes. Please write though. I was ecstatic to get letters from Mom last Thursday. I’ll do my best to answer questions in these communal letters.
Love, AL
P.S. By the way on PO Torrez. He’s just mean. He doesn’t yell. He isn’t physically imposing (5’-7” 150-160 lbs). He’s just mean. We were in crucifixes for 20 min. Crucifixes are when you lie flat on your back with arms to the side with your head, arms and legs off the deck. Hold there for 20 min.
RDC Quote of the Week: Chief (points to his head): “that was from an airplane falling on my head. Yeah, it hurt”
Crap, what a week. Yesterday was definitely a BAD day. Got IT’d hard for about 45 minutes and for an hour as a division. The second was mostly because of a recruit in a completely different division. FYI, the RDC’s in our division are apparently the “go to guys” for problem recruits in other divisions to get corrected.
This guy shoved another guy in their compartment. We were getting dropped already for one of our own guys messing up on watch. When Chief came in it was game on. The guy was a total dirtbag. Chief gave him the option of doing 200 pushups and the rest of the division would be able to stop and he said hell no. Weiss, one of our slower recruits was asked “what time is it?” and he answered “Butt kicking time”. Chief made us do 30 eight count bodybuilders (google that) in under 1 min 45 seconds. Chief stopped us because the guy only did four! We recovered but the guy was limping and hobbling and doing a poor job of faking it. Today he was on crutches. The kicker was that he was three weeks ahead of us in a normal division.
In other news, I am the new Head (bathroom) Petty Officer. Not too worried about that. The old Head PO, one of the guys I am getting to know, Montaro, is the new RPOC (Division Leader) and he chose me as his replacement. I was one of the workers there at first. It’s not too bad. Yeah, cleaning that stuff stinks but it is roughly 50% of our inspections so it is important. I also do not have to stand watch (meaning I don’t have to get up at night) and we generally don’t get messed with if our work is good. So now I’m in charge of that. Plus our group is real tight.
Montaro, Erik, Butts, Humphreys and I are a good friends but now ironically getting broken up. Humphreys is Master at Arms (RPOC's right hand man) and Erik and Butts got moved to guard duty since their stuff is squared away. Watch involves sounding off to the Chief and you must have good bearing to do it. A lot of guys have been messing it up.
I don’t mean to sound like it is all good. Yesterday the old RPOC and Master at Arms wrote down names of people who were talking when we were sitting down. Of course the Chief asks for the names of the ten weakest recruits and the old RPOC falls back on that list. There were several on the list, including me, that shouldn’t have been on the list. The Yeoman (in charge of paper work who works with the Chief a lot) is going to say something the Chief. Either way, I’m going to lay low and get my job done.
I hope you guys realize that writing letters is definitely a sacrifice. Any time we have to write it is on our own time and we basically have to sacrifice something to do this. Other than on Sunday, it is done at night and then I’m giving up sleep. Even on Sunday, there’s a lot of stuff to do. I’m only writing this now because I am waiting for an iron to open up so I can iron my clothes. Please write though. I was ecstatic to get letters from Mom last Thursday. I’ll do my best to answer questions in these communal letters.
Love, AL
P.S. By the way on PO Torrez. He’s just mean. He doesn’t yell. He isn’t physically imposing (5’-7” 150-160 lbs). He’s just mean. We were in crucifixes for 20 min. Crucifixes are when you lie flat on your back with arms to the side with your head, arms and legs off the deck. Hold there for 20 min.
RDC Quote of the Week: Chief (points to his head): “that was from an airplane falling on my head. Yeah, it hurt”
Letter No. 2
Dear Everyone, 07/10/10
Good News! We moved most of our stuff to the Burke today. We’re sleeping in the reception ship, USS Pearl Harbor, but we make the permanent move soon. Also two (2) RDC’s have half days on the weekends. Normally that means we’re alone with the beast that’s beginning to haunt our nightmares. That is PO (Petty Officer) Torrez. But for now we just got chaperoned by two other RDC’s that went real easy. No dropping (push-ups)and easy instruction on making racks (beds)/folding clothes that don’t evolve into slay sessions. All in all, it was a good day. We even got to wear our boots instead of tennis shoes. We were put to bed at 2100 and aren’t waking up until 0530. Tomorrow though will be more of the same. Our initial PT (physical training) test for Special Contracts (Seals, SWCC, Rescue, etc.) is either Monday or Tuesday and I get the feeling the other shoe is going to drop after that. I am actually looking forward to it.
Chief rides us hard, but everything is different with him. He’s an excellent instructor and the differences are apparent. We’re falling in and marching and getting our “stuff” squared away when every other division is still messing up standing at attention or mixing up Petty Officers and Chiefs (biggest mistake one can make here). “Demoting” a Chief is considered the most disrespectful thing you can do here short of spitting in the face. The Chief even said PT won’t be the same BS it ends up being with every other division. He said he will get in the pool with us (Chief: ”You’ll all try to beat me and you WILL fail”). Or, as he put it “we’ll get in here crank some heavy metal on the stereo and put out. But you guys will love it.”
FYI, PT is different from dropping us. PT makes us stronger. Dropping, slaying, IT-ing, trashing is for when we mess up and is solely for the pain (making us a little stronger or mentally taking that pain is a happy bonus). Good stuff is ahead.
I still don’t know when I can send these letters out but hopefully it is soon.
Met some great guys already: Hill, Eric (last name, first name), Gilligan (not real name but sounds like it), Butts (real name, but Chief calls him Seymour), Montaro , all great bunch of dudes. We have some turds and some guys who are too cocky for their own good, but that should smooth out as guys drop out of the program or get knocked down a few pegs. We will be the best here. Hell, this is a group that PT’d ourselves tonight after lights out
Love, Al
RDC quote of the Day: “Chief, I don’t know how the three of us got the nickname the ‘Trifecta of Hate’. We’re the “Trifecta of Love’.”
Good News! We moved most of our stuff to the Burke today. We’re sleeping in the reception ship, USS Pearl Harbor, but we make the permanent move soon. Also two (2) RDC’s have half days on the weekends. Normally that means we’re alone with the beast that’s beginning to haunt our nightmares. That is PO (Petty Officer) Torrez. But for now we just got chaperoned by two other RDC’s that went real easy. No dropping (push-ups)and easy instruction on making racks (beds)/folding clothes that don’t evolve into slay sessions. All in all, it was a good day. We even got to wear our boots instead of tennis shoes. We were put to bed at 2100 and aren’t waking up until 0530. Tomorrow though will be more of the same. Our initial PT (physical training) test for Special Contracts (Seals, SWCC, Rescue, etc.) is either Monday or Tuesday and I get the feeling the other shoe is going to drop after that. I am actually looking forward to it.
Chief rides us hard, but everything is different with him. He’s an excellent instructor and the differences are apparent. We’re falling in and marching and getting our “stuff” squared away when every other division is still messing up standing at attention or mixing up Petty Officers and Chiefs (biggest mistake one can make here). “Demoting” a Chief is considered the most disrespectful thing you can do here short of spitting in the face. The Chief even said PT won’t be the same BS it ends up being with every other division. He said he will get in the pool with us (Chief: ”You’ll all try to beat me and you WILL fail”). Or, as he put it “we’ll get in here crank some heavy metal on the stereo and put out. But you guys will love it.”
FYI, PT is different from dropping us. PT makes us stronger. Dropping, slaying, IT-ing, trashing is for when we mess up and is solely for the pain (making us a little stronger or mentally taking that pain is a happy bonus). Good stuff is ahead.
I still don’t know when I can send these letters out but hopefully it is soon.
Met some great guys already: Hill, Eric (last name, first name), Gilligan (not real name but sounds like it), Butts (real name, but Chief calls him Seymour), Montaro , all great bunch of dudes. We have some turds and some guys who are too cocky for their own good, but that should smooth out as guys drop out of the program or get knocked down a few pegs. We will be the best here. Hell, this is a group that PT’d ourselves tonight after lights out
Love, Al
RDC quote of the Day: “Chief, I don’t know how the three of us got the nickname the ‘Trifecta of Hate’. We’re the “Trifecta of Love’.”
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Letter No. 1
7/9/10
Dear everyone,
Holy crap, we got hammered today and yesterday. We’re technically in procession day 2since we got no sleep and pulled an all nighter Wednesday and Thursday which count as one super day. We also met our RDC's Chief Medina, an Air Rescue swimmer and “total guy in charge” as he would say. Makes the guy in Full Metal Jacket look easy. He’s dropped us (ie made us do PT till we’re drenched in sweat) about a dozen times, something no other division CAN do at P-days. Two recruit have quit their special contracts to go back to “normal” divisions. The Chief reduced one recruit to tears. The 2nd Petty Officer is PO1 Maudsley, a 5’6” 200 lb. solid muscle beast who looks to be 75% upper body. The other one, PO Torrez we haven’t even met because he’s with another division graduating this week. Torrez is the stuff of legend around here. As Chief said, “if Zeus and Thor had a kid and Hades and Poseidon had a kid AND those two kids mated, the result would be Torrez. He has gone to Sunday chapel (a no RDC zone) and dropped people. He straight up does not care.
I should mention thought that this team, which forms for the special contracts divisions, over the 10 or so times they’ve led divisions, Five (5) have been Hall of Fame divisions (meaning the division has outscored every other division in every evaluation, from day 1 to week 8). It is exceedingly rare for any division to EVER get Hall of Fame. Chief switches between beating our butts and mentoring WHY we got dropped. He gets real laid back and honest with us, then hammers the fear of God into us over anything less than absolute perfection. The last special division finished with around 70/90 though, so I got a feeling they’re just warming up. We move from reception “ship” (our name for barracks) to our permanent ship, The Arleigh Burke, this Monday hopefully. Then we start actually training and get to wear real uniforms instead of this PT gear and sweats that make us look like we’re the dorkiest idiots on the planet. But the move definitely promises more pain.
Still don’t regret my decision. I love and miss you all. Hopefully, mail will start up soon since this letter’s going to sit in my bunk awhile until I can mail it.
Dad and Christine, please don’t edit these letters. You want people to know what it’s like and so do i. This is literally going to pound us into successful spec-ops candidates like a chisel or break us.
RDC quote of the day:
“Petty officer Maudsley, Chief wants to know what you would do to me if hugged you.”
Answer: “I WILL ANNIHILATE YOUR SOUL!”
Love,
Al
Dear everyone,
Holy crap, we got hammered today and yesterday. We’re technically in procession day 2since we got no sleep and pulled an all nighter Wednesday and Thursday which count as one super day. We also met our RDC's Chief Medina, an Air Rescue swimmer and “total guy in charge” as he would say. Makes the guy in Full Metal Jacket look easy. He’s dropped us (ie made us do PT till we’re drenched in sweat) about a dozen times, something no other division CAN do at P-days. Two recruit have quit their special contracts to go back to “normal” divisions. The Chief reduced one recruit to tears. The 2nd Petty Officer is PO1 Maudsley, a 5’6” 200 lb. solid muscle beast who looks to be 75% upper body. The other one, PO Torrez we haven’t even met because he’s with another division graduating this week. Torrez is the stuff of legend around here. As Chief said, “if Zeus and Thor had a kid and Hades and Poseidon had a kid AND those two kids mated, the result would be Torrez. He has gone to Sunday chapel (a no RDC zone) and dropped people. He straight up does not care.
I should mention thought that this team, which forms for the special contracts divisions, over the 10 or so times they’ve led divisions, Five (5) have been Hall of Fame divisions (meaning the division has outscored every other division in every evaluation, from day 1 to week 8). It is exceedingly rare for any division to EVER get Hall of Fame. Chief switches between beating our butts and mentoring WHY we got dropped. He gets real laid back and honest with us, then hammers the fear of God into us over anything less than absolute perfection. The last special division finished with around 70/90 though, so I got a feeling they’re just warming up. We move from reception “ship” (our name for barracks) to our permanent ship, The Arleigh Burke, this Monday hopefully. Then we start actually training and get to wear real uniforms instead of this PT gear and sweats that make us look like we’re the dorkiest idiots on the planet. But the move definitely promises more pain.
Still don’t regret my decision. I love and miss you all. Hopefully, mail will start up soon since this letter’s going to sit in my bunk awhile until I can mail it.
Dad and Christine, please don’t edit these letters. You want people to know what it’s like and so do i. This is literally going to pound us into successful spec-ops candidates like a chisel or break us.
RDC quote of the day:
“Petty officer Maudsley, Chief wants to know what you would do to me if hugged you.”
Answer: “I WILL ANNIHILATE YOUR SOUL!”
Love,
Al
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
First Letter from Alex
Well it actually wasn't a letter but a form letter with his address and graduation date (September 2).
I'm doing fine.Very tired. Love you all. Dad, DO NOT find out how I'm doing through your
Navy guys. My RDC's were nicknamed the "trifects of pain" by their last division. Keep
writing.
-SR George
RDC's are the Recruit Division Commanders and they are the petty officers that are with the recruits 24 hours/day.
"the first thing they take from you in the Navy is not your hair. It is sleep. And then they take your hair."
Another good website to visit is http://www.bootcamp.navy.mil
I'm doing fine.Very tired. Love you all. Dad, DO NOT find out how I'm doing through your
Navy guys. My RDC's were nicknamed the "trifects of pain" by their last division. Keep
writing.
-SR George
RDC's are the Recruit Division Commanders and they are the petty officers that are with the recruits 24 hours/day.
"the first thing they take from you in the Navy is not your hair. It is sleep. And then they take your hair."
Another good website to visit is http://www.bootcamp.navy.mil
Monday, July 12, 2010
Address
Alex's address at Great Lakes is:
SR George, Alexander C. IV
Ship 04 Div 818
Recruit Training Commnad
3600 Ohio Street
Great Lakes, IL 60088-7103
Use the exact format above. Again, please send only cards and letters. NO FOOD. He will not receive any letters until about July 22-23. After that date he will get mail call every day. The recruits have no idea what is happening outside the base. Current events, sports scores, etc. are helpful. Please also keep in mind that Alex can only write back on Sundays and even then will only have limited time. The Navy officers I work with said that they keep them intentionally very busy the first couple of weeks and Sunday is the day they get to catch up and prepare for the next week. That includes polishing shoes, ironing uniforms, etc. He will likely write us and we will post what he is up to.
Alex is in a Special Warfare division comprised of Seals, Rescue Swimmers, Divers, EOD (Explosive Ordinance Division) and SWCC (Alex's Navy Occupation). Spec War is about 15% of all recruits. As a result he gets less time and sleep than the regular recruits. Right now he is getting into the routine of getting up at 4:30 a.m. for extra physical training and then training with the regular Navy later in the day. He will also still be required to rotate with other recruits standing watch in the middle of the night.
SR George, Alexander C. IV
Ship 04 Div 818
Recruit Training Commnad
3600 Ohio Street
Great Lakes, IL 60088-7103
Use the exact format above. Again, please send only cards and letters. NO FOOD. He will not receive any letters until about July 22-23. After that date he will get mail call every day. The recruits have no idea what is happening outside the base. Current events, sports scores, etc. are helpful. Please also keep in mind that Alex can only write back on Sundays and even then will only have limited time. The Navy officers I work with said that they keep them intentionally very busy the first couple of weeks and Sunday is the day they get to catch up and prepare for the next week. That includes polishing shoes, ironing uniforms, etc. He will likely write us and we will post what he is up to.
Alex is in a Special Warfare division comprised of Seals, Rescue Swimmers, Divers, EOD (Explosive Ordinance Division) and SWCC (Alex's Navy Occupation). Spec War is about 15% of all recruits. As a result he gets less time and sleep than the regular recruits. Right now he is getting into the routine of getting up at 4:30 a.m. for extra physical training and then training with the regular Navy later in the day. He will also still be required to rotate with other recruits standing watch in the middle of the night.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Alex will not receive any letters for two weeks. We will publish Alex's address to the blog once his division forms up later this week. He can only receive letters and postcards. No food.
We will get at least a ten second phone call tomorrow letting us know that he is there.
If you want information about Navy Boot Camp visit http://www.navy-info.com/.
We will get at least a ten second phone call tomorrow letting us know that he is there.
If you want information about Navy Boot Camp visit http://www.navy-info.com/.
Life In The Navy Rocks Even Harder Than The Commercial Implied
Ok, I lied about only my Dad and Christine updating this from now on. They actually have a computer at the hotel. Not much to report on the whole leaving for boot camp thing but I am at a hotel in Milwaukee and getting up at 4:30 a.m. to drive back to Great Lakes tomorrow (5 miles from home). Go figure?
And of course, this post wouldn't be complete without some over the top Navy commercials
SWCC Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWLIILpL3Aw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7Bctymq4bE
General Navy Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqkU3WSfw9Y&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MorDCtBPR8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DriBYQvG_4&feature=channel
See you in September,
Al
And of course, this post wouldn't be complete without some over the top Navy commercials
SWCC Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWLIILpL3Aw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7Bctymq4bE
General Navy Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqkU3WSfw9Y&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MorDCtBPR8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DriBYQvG_4&feature=channel
See you in September,
Al
Leaving
Welcome to my blog. Christine came up with the name.
If you want to write letters (please, they are like ice cream in the summer) then ask my parents next week and they should have my address. And check this thing out for how and what to send
http://navy-info.com/boot_camp_letters.html
the part about including newspaper clippings is smart btw.
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