The night before I ship. I'm more fearful getting down there and not having something that was on the packing list than I am of the actual BCT itself. I'm lucky in the sense that, because of my training schedule, I'll have a two week break right in the middle of my training cycle to rest up and see friends and stuff. I'll let you know how that goes. I think the hardest things about that will be worrying about the cost of flying back and forth and actually having to go back to Hell...I mean Benning.
I'm almost positive that I'm going to end up in "Fat Camp" for my run time but I'm trying to stay optomistic about it. I've made up my mind that during the initial PT Assessment I'll just run as hard as I can until I die or they tell me to stop. The first one seems more likely. I used to run just about everyday but around the time that I started my MEPS journey I cut out the running totally. I probably havn't ran in over a month so the two months or so of progress that I made on my run time are probably wasted by now.
My hopes and dreams in the Army? A secondary goal of mine is to be in a Sniper unit but my main focus is on the Special Forces. Some of the coolest people I've known are or were SF Operators. I'm sure you're thinking "Great, get in line kid." but for me this is the one thing that nobody can ever convince me to quit on. The second I get my GT score in shape (currently 101, 110 required for 18B which is what I want) and my body in shape, I'm going for it.
Hopefully I don't get to post on here until Christmas. If I was able to, it would mean that I either quit (not happening) or am injured severely enough that I've been placed in an area with computers. This would be a bad thing.
Anyways, I suppose I'm off to do things like go over my packing list for a third time. Hopefully the Drill Sergeants square me away nicely and I'll graduate with a blue cord and my silver wings if the dice fall in my favor. And the real journey begins. Hooah!
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Monday, October 22, 2007
Waiting game
So here I sit, counting the days, hours, seconds off on the caldender until my ass is grass. Unfortunately the days seem to go by faster and faster, there's never enough time to do everything I want to. Maybe that's a good thing. Maybe basic will go by quickly. Somehow I doubt it. I got everything on my pre-basic task list finished except for the PT section. Me and my recruiter are supposed to do that the day before I leave, which is tomorrow I guess. I can't wait to fail.
Me and my recruiter we're talking while he was over here and he said something along the lines of "Dont worry about it man youll have fun at basic" and I responded with a "I hope so." Not a sad "I hope so" but more of a realistic one. Of course he took it as a sign of me wishing I hadn't signed up which isnt the case. At this point all of the excitement (or nervous energy) is being replaced with more of a "Lets just get this over with" additude. I don't know if there's a word for that or not.
One thing I am dreading about basic is the tendonitis in my knees and ankles which will, without a doubt, hit me during the first two or three weeks. I remember how much of a hell middle and high school football was during the first few weeks of every season trying to cope with a pain you have no control over and no idea when/if it will end. That was always the hardest thing about football for me. Not the pushups, situps, butterfly kicks none of that stuff. That was easy compared to having to pop pills 24/7 so it didn't feel like your knees and ankles were exploding. I don't think I'll quit but I know there will be plenty of whining. I continued football practice with a broken leg (which was mistaken for tendonitis by 3 doctors) for several weeks before throwing in the towel so maybe I'll be Army Strong enough to suck it up. Heh.
Me and my recruiter we're talking while he was over here and he said something along the lines of "Dont worry about it man youll have fun at basic" and I responded with a "I hope so." Not a sad "I hope so" but more of a realistic one. Of course he took it as a sign of me wishing I hadn't signed up which isnt the case. At this point all of the excitement (or nervous energy) is being replaced with more of a "Lets just get this over with" additude. I don't know if there's a word for that or not.
One thing I am dreading about basic is the tendonitis in my knees and ankles which will, without a doubt, hit me during the first two or three weeks. I remember how much of a hell middle and high school football was during the first few weeks of every season trying to cope with a pain you have no control over and no idea when/if it will end. That was always the hardest thing about football for me. Not the pushups, situps, butterfly kicks none of that stuff. That was easy compared to having to pop pills 24/7 so it didn't feel like your knees and ankles were exploding. I don't think I'll quit but I know there will be plenty of whining. I continued football practice with a broken leg (which was mistaken for tendonitis by 3 doctors) for several weeks before throwing in the towel so maybe I'll be Army Strong enough to suck it up. Heh.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
The DEP Process
The "DEP" is the Delayed Entry Program. It's basically the time between when you sign the contract, and when you ship off to basic and during this time you're supposed to keep in touch with your recruiter and stay out of trouble. Not too hard for me since my DEP time will only be about 1 week. But for some reason my recruiter is hell bent on getting me promoted during this 1 week period. Why? I dont even care about the promotion really. I'm not in this for the money so the only point in me getting a promotion is to just say that I am an E2 instead of an E1.
Of course I havn't told my recruiter yet, but if I were in his shoes I wouldn't be trying to go through all of the shit to get somebody promoted unless they asked me first. Not only that but in my current state I'm not confident in my ability to run 1 mile in 8 minutes and 30 seconds, much less the 2 miles in some other bullshit amount of time that is required to pass the running portion of this "little PT test" as he calls. I know, for so many people it's pathetically easy, but I SUCK at running. I will do push ups and sit ups until the sun goes down, but when someone says "Run", I say "Why?" I'm prepared to go to "Fat Camp" at basic if I have to, but I don't see a reason to injure myself beforehand just because my recruiter wants to tell his 1SG that he shipped off an E2 instead of an E1. Welcome to the Army I guess.
Of course I havn't told my recruiter yet, but if I were in his shoes I wouldn't be trying to go through all of the shit to get somebody promoted unless they asked me first. Not only that but in my current state I'm not confident in my ability to run 1 mile in 8 minutes and 30 seconds, much less the 2 miles in some other bullshit amount of time that is required to pass the running portion of this "little PT test" as he calls. I know, for so many people it's pathetically easy, but I SUCK at running. I will do push ups and sit ups until the sun goes down, but when someone says "Run", I say "Why?" I'm prepared to go to "Fat Camp" at basic if I have to, but I don't see a reason to injure myself beforehand just because my recruiter wants to tell his 1SG that he shipped off an E2 instead of an E1. Welcome to the Army I guess.
To the MEPS pt. 2
Despite injesting my sleep aids, I wake up at about midnight and just decide to get up and tough it out for the next 15 hours or so. Bad idea. So 4 a.m. rolls around and it's raining like hell outside. I run out to my recruiters car and attempt to get in and the door is locked. I knock on the window and he looks at me like I'm retard. He lets me in after about 10 seconds. Thanks buddy!
We arrive at the MEPS and everyone lines up at the front door. Same old shit and I go in and start the process of selling my skin sack to the government...again. I don't have to do the physical this time around so I'm pretty optimistic that I'll get out of there within just a few hours. I get my packet and the lady at the control desk tells me to head up to medical. What? I was told I dont need to do my physical again. "Right, but you need to get your waiver signed by the doctor upstairs."
I head up to medical and the lady that fucked me over on my first trip tells me to "Head down the hall, hook a left, have a seat in the chairs at the last door on the left." So I head down the hall, hook a left, and have a seat in the chairs at the last door on the left. After a few minutes an old guy who looks like he's about to die walks into the door that I'm waiting in front of, puts a headset on and starts watching some TV.
I'm not really sure if this is the doctor im supposed to wait for so I continue waiting like an idiot. Eventually another lady comes around and tells me to go ahead and go in. The doctor pretends to be embarrased and signs off on my shit and tells me not to eat so much salt. Thanks for the tip!
I go back downstairs and sit in with the Army liason. "What do you want to be in the Army?" "Infantry." He snickers. "Fuck you" I think to myself. I'm unreasonably tired at this point and really just want to go home. So I get through all of the paper work and get my 11x contract for 4 years and 19 weeks. Yay. Just before I sign on the dotted line I remember that I wanted to go FUCKING Airborne. SHIT! "Uhm...sorry but I forgot to mention that I wanted to go Airborne as well."
Without batting an eye this dweeb looks me right in the eye and says "You cant.". The conversation goes a little something like this.
Me: "Why not?"
Him: "Because it isn't showing up on the computer."
Me: "Can you call the ROC?"
Him: "Who have you been talking to?"
Me: "Can you call the ROC?"
Him: "Siiiiiiigggggghhhhhhh"
He calls the ROC which as I understand it is the place that handles all the paperwork for Army recruites. Im not really sure I just know that everyone says to tell them to call the ROC if something isnt on the computer. The ROC says they're at double capacity this quarter and there are no more slots, period. Fuck!
The liason calls the MEPS Commander for some reason and asks him if theres anything that can be done. Nope. So the liason is going through my contract.
"Alright so you've got 11X Infantry Recruit, Ft. Benning is your OSUT location and your enlistment time is 4 years and 19 weeks. You've got a 30,000 dollar enlistment bonus and you qualify for the Montgomery GI Bill. Any questions?"
I wake up and tell him no. We shake hands and I thank him for assisting me in selling my soul and head out to the front desk to have my interview and to swear in and go home. At this point it's about 7 a.m. I should be out of here in another hour or two. The lady at the desk tells me that it's going to be awhile and I take a seat. The seat looks like somebody snuck in at night and jizzed all over it but whatever.
A few minutes later my recruiter swings by and I show him my contract. He's more excited than I am over the bonus. I don't really care because I can think of a few dozen ways to blow $30,000 in one day, but I guess its alright. Now begins the longest wait of my life. I wait, and wait, and wait. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to go to sleep so I fight it. Eventually I'm to the point where I'm falling asleep with my eyes open. Fucking sleeping aids, fuck off! At around noon or so I get called in to be interviewed.
My interviewer looks like New York from that show "Flavor of Love". This is a bad thing. So we get to work on the same questions I have been asked about 20 times. It takes about 5 minutes and I retire to the same jizz covered seat. All that's left now is to be sworn in. I wait about another hour and my name is called to go into the briefing room. We sit down and that same cool lady that did my fingerprints the last time is there and proves, once again, that she is the only cool person at the Nashville MEPS.
She then leaves us to wait for the MEPS Commander, a Marine Captain, to come swear us in. At this point I am terrified. Not of the Captain who is about to come in and give us the evil eye for a few minutes, but just of the fact that "it" is actually happening now. I'm about to swear in to 4 years and 19 weeks of pure shit. For no real reason other than I feel like I have to. I'm not having second thoughts, but I'm definately freaking out.
Eventually the Captain comes in and at first I thought he had chew in his mouth or something, but as he turned to face us I saw it was just him smerking. This is going to be fun. He starts going around the room and asking everyone what branch of service they're joining, what job and for how long. He gets to me and I make a fool out of myself. "I'm joining the Army as an Infantry recruit for four years and 19 days, I mean months, I mean weeks."
Anyway we head into the ceremony room and I've calmed down by now and actually feel kind of proud of myself for being physically, morally and mentally qualified to join the United States Armed Forces, although I disagree with the last one after my fuck up in the briefing room. Anyway as we're standing at attention and reading the oath, my legs begin shaking. Nobody noticed it, or didn't find it funny enough to laugh and I made it through without making an ass of myself anymore.
So there you have it. I am now enlisted into the Army Reserves, and on the 25th of October I will report to the MEPS Station for active duty where I will be transported to Fort Benning, Georgia to begin my One Station Unit Training for the U.S. Army Infantry. Is this the part where I say Hooah? Well, fuck it. Hooah!
We arrive at the MEPS and everyone lines up at the front door. Same old shit and I go in and start the process of selling my skin sack to the government...again. I don't have to do the physical this time around so I'm pretty optimistic that I'll get out of there within just a few hours. I get my packet and the lady at the control desk tells me to head up to medical. What? I was told I dont need to do my physical again. "Right, but you need to get your waiver signed by the doctor upstairs."
I head up to medical and the lady that fucked me over on my first trip tells me to "Head down the hall, hook a left, have a seat in the chairs at the last door on the left." So I head down the hall, hook a left, and have a seat in the chairs at the last door on the left. After a few minutes an old guy who looks like he's about to die walks into the door that I'm waiting in front of, puts a headset on and starts watching some TV.
I'm not really sure if this is the doctor im supposed to wait for so I continue waiting like an idiot. Eventually another lady comes around and tells me to go ahead and go in. The doctor pretends to be embarrased and signs off on my shit and tells me not to eat so much salt. Thanks for the tip!
I go back downstairs and sit in with the Army liason. "What do you want to be in the Army?" "Infantry." He snickers. "Fuck you" I think to myself. I'm unreasonably tired at this point and really just want to go home. So I get through all of the paper work and get my 11x contract for 4 years and 19 weeks. Yay. Just before I sign on the dotted line I remember that I wanted to go FUCKING Airborne. SHIT! "Uhm...sorry but I forgot to mention that I wanted to go Airborne as well."
Without batting an eye this dweeb looks me right in the eye and says "You cant.". The conversation goes a little something like this.
Me: "Why not?"
Him: "Because it isn't showing up on the computer."
Me: "Can you call the ROC?"
Him: "Who have you been talking to?"
Me: "Can you call the ROC?"
Him: "Siiiiiiigggggghhhhhhh"
He calls the ROC which as I understand it is the place that handles all the paperwork for Army recruites. Im not really sure I just know that everyone says to tell them to call the ROC if something isnt on the computer. The ROC says they're at double capacity this quarter and there are no more slots, period. Fuck!
The liason calls the MEPS Commander for some reason and asks him if theres anything that can be done. Nope. So the liason is going through my contract.
"Alright so you've got 11X Infantry Recruit, Ft. Benning is your OSUT location and your enlistment time is 4 years and 19 weeks. You've got a 30,000 dollar enlistment bonus and you qualify for the Montgomery GI Bill. Any questions?"
I wake up and tell him no. We shake hands and I thank him for assisting me in selling my soul and head out to the front desk to have my interview and to swear in and go home. At this point it's about 7 a.m. I should be out of here in another hour or two. The lady at the desk tells me that it's going to be awhile and I take a seat. The seat looks like somebody snuck in at night and jizzed all over it but whatever.
A few minutes later my recruiter swings by and I show him my contract. He's more excited than I am over the bonus. I don't really care because I can think of a few dozen ways to blow $30,000 in one day, but I guess its alright. Now begins the longest wait of my life. I wait, and wait, and wait. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to go to sleep so I fight it. Eventually I'm to the point where I'm falling asleep with my eyes open. Fucking sleeping aids, fuck off! At around noon or so I get called in to be interviewed.
My interviewer looks like New York from that show "Flavor of Love". This is a bad thing. So we get to work on the same questions I have been asked about 20 times. It takes about 5 minutes and I retire to the same jizz covered seat. All that's left now is to be sworn in. I wait about another hour and my name is called to go into the briefing room. We sit down and that same cool lady that did my fingerprints the last time is there and proves, once again, that she is the only cool person at the Nashville MEPS.
She then leaves us to wait for the MEPS Commander, a Marine Captain, to come swear us in. At this point I am terrified. Not of the Captain who is about to come in and give us the evil eye for a few minutes, but just of the fact that "it" is actually happening now. I'm about to swear in to 4 years and 19 weeks of pure shit. For no real reason other than I feel like I have to. I'm not having second thoughts, but I'm definately freaking out.
Eventually the Captain comes in and at first I thought he had chew in his mouth or something, but as he turned to face us I saw it was just him smerking. This is going to be fun. He starts going around the room and asking everyone what branch of service they're joining, what job and for how long. He gets to me and I make a fool out of myself. "I'm joining the Army as an Infantry recruit for four years and 19 days, I mean months, I mean weeks."
Anyway we head into the ceremony room and I've calmed down by now and actually feel kind of proud of myself for being physically, morally and mentally qualified to join the United States Armed Forces, although I disagree with the last one after my fuck up in the briefing room. Anyway as we're standing at attention and reading the oath, my legs begin shaking. Nobody noticed it, or didn't find it funny enough to laugh and I made it through without making an ass of myself anymore.
So there you have it. I am now enlisted into the Army Reserves, and on the 25th of October I will report to the MEPS Station for active duty where I will be transported to Fort Benning, Georgia to begin my One Station Unit Training for the U.S. Army Infantry. Is this the part where I say Hooah? Well, fuck it. Hooah!
The Doctors Office pt. 3
So my recruiter stops by and informs me that the waiver was denied. Apparently I actually do need 3 good blood pressures over 3 different days. Bummer. So I get another appointment for the doctors.
Third times a charm right?
So I arose for another day of great fun. I'll skip all of the "fun" parts and just cut to the chase. 140 over 68...141 over 65...143 over 61 and so on. YAAAAAY! So I can't remember whether or not the disqualification point is 140 over 90 or 139 over 89. I just have the doctor write down the BP reading and the good BPs that I got from the other times I had been there just to be safe.
I take the note to my recruiter and he looks at the readings. I ask him if those meet the standards and he looks at the note and his eyes kind of go distant and he gives me a "uhhh....yeah". He has no clue. I go home and start to wonder what it would be like to just say fuck it and go apply for a civilian job.
Later that evening at about 8 my recruiter calls and tells me to just hang out by my phone the next day incase it goes through so that he can take me down to MEPS as a walk in. "Blah blah blah, yeah alright I'll talk to ya later."
30 minutes later my mom comes home and apparently right after my recruiter hung up with me he called my mom and my waiver has been accepted. I'm to be ready at 4 a.m. Something weird happened. I wasn't happy at all, or sad or anything really. No emotions. Nothing. It was actually happening. I took my sleep aids and passed out.
Third times a charm right?
So I arose for another day of great fun. I'll skip all of the "fun" parts and just cut to the chase. 140 over 68...141 over 65...143 over 61 and so on. YAAAAAY! So I can't remember whether or not the disqualification point is 140 over 90 or 139 over 89. I just have the doctor write down the BP reading and the good BPs that I got from the other times I had been there just to be safe.
I take the note to my recruiter and he looks at the readings. I ask him if those meet the standards and he looks at the note and his eyes kind of go distant and he gives me a "uhhh....yeah". He has no clue. I go home and start to wonder what it would be like to just say fuck it and go apply for a civilian job.
Later that evening at about 8 my recruiter calls and tells me to just hang out by my phone the next day incase it goes through so that he can take me down to MEPS as a walk in. "Blah blah blah, yeah alright I'll talk to ya later."
30 minutes later my mom comes home and apparently right after my recruiter hung up with me he called my mom and my waiver has been accepted. I'm to be ready at 4 a.m. Something weird happened. I wasn't happy at all, or sad or anything really. No emotions. Nothing. It was actually happening. I took my sleep aids and passed out.
Monday, October 1, 2007
The Doctors Office pt. 2
Important day today. Today decides whether or not I get to go to the MEPS in a few days, apply for my waiver, talk to a counselor and enlist. As opposed to waiting around for several months trying to get my blood pressure to a reasonable level before starting the entire MEPS process all over again.
So I woke up this morning and took my BP. 12670 Woot! Anyway, I get ready and head off to the doctors feeling pretty confident. Blah blah blah I get into the doctors office and the nurse takes my BP. 14076. Wow, 1 point away from glory. So the nurse leaves the room and the doctor (whom I've known since birth) comes in. He's very excited that I'm joining the military (his son and step son are both in the Army) and he cuts me a break. He looks back through my recent medical history and pulls 3 standards meeting BPs from there. GOOD TO FUCKING GO! Thank you Doctor Badass.
Now the next thing I have to worry about is my PULHES Physical Profile from MEPS. Currently it's 311111. The 3 being the category for things such as high blood pressure. Go figure. Anyway my recruiter said that once we get back down to MEPS and I get my waiver through it should change that 3 to a 1 meaning that, medically speaking, I would be qualified for every job the US military has to offer. Woohoo!
So I woke up this morning and took my BP. 12670 Woot! Anyway, I get ready and head off to the doctors feeling pretty confident. Blah blah blah I get into the doctors office and the nurse takes my BP. 14076. Wow, 1 point away from glory. So the nurse leaves the room and the doctor (whom I've known since birth) comes in. He's very excited that I'm joining the military (his son and step son are both in the Army) and he cuts me a break. He looks back through my recent medical history and pulls 3 standards meeting BPs from there. GOOD TO FUCKING GO! Thank you Doctor Badass.
Now the next thing I have to worry about is my PULHES Physical Profile from MEPS. Currently it's 311111. The 3 being the category for things such as high blood pressure. Go figure. Anyway my recruiter said that once we get back down to MEPS and I get my waiver through it should change that 3 to a 1 meaning that, medically speaking, I would be qualified for every job the US military has to offer. Woohoo!
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