Coast Guard Recruit Company Charlie 186 weekly journal posted Jan 16, 2012

 Mon 09Jan12

The start of Week 05 was good. Our marching has really improved and pretty much everyone knows their required knowledge. Today we started out with a usual fire drill, followed by incentive training. It seems like we go to morning chow earlier by the week. After chow we rushed back to the house and for the next two and a half hours we cleaned. We stripped the decks all the way down and are going to wax them later on. After that we had a quick class on flags and pennants. We learned how to identify the different types of flags and pennants that can be flown on a vessel. Then we shot over to chow where we had very tasty riblet sandwiches, next we had a seamanship class where we learned about radio communications and different types of signaling. Sometime next week we will actually get to shoot off live flares to get a feel for how they actually work. Then we went to our last chow of the day, had a quick dinner and headed back to the house. We worked on our uniforms, shined our boots, and sent a letter home about graduation. Now we go to bed with hopes that we will receive our orders soon.

 Tues 10Jan12

The morning was fast, we had our fire drill, took morning muster, ran back topside to change and do hygiene routine. Breakfast is filled with French toast, eggs, and bacon. For the rest of the morning we were fitted for our dress uniforms. This took all morning because there are 74 of us. Straight from there we had noon chow then seamanship class. We were tested on our radio and communication skills, shot flares, and other signaling equipment. We also studied on our other lesson because tomorrow is our seamanship midterm. If our entire company does well we can receive a special pennant to fly with our Colors. The rest of the night was very nerve racking because we had a uniform inspection and required knowledge test and our Battalion Commander was the one who performed this. In the end he said we did outstanding and this pleased our company commanders so much that we received our nightly routine privilege. Where we get to spend the last two hours doing squad bay and uniform maintenance. We ended the night on a good note, but we have to keep it up from now on.

 Weds 11Jan12

No fire drill we were all shocked as well. We started the day out changing and hygiene routine. We stepped off for chow , had a magnificent breakfast then directly back home. For about an hour and a half we practiced our required knowledge, such as rates and ranks, plan of the week, and greeting military personnel. Next we went to a class where we learned about boat crews and how to qualify to get on one. This was a good class because these will be jobs that we actually do once we are in the fleet. Next was another gym class, and it was cycling. The instructor said it would be the hardest work out we would do at Cape May. We had to push it to the max, and the sweat was falling like rain and our muscles were on fire. We had silent competitions going on seeing who could go the farthest in miles. After a quick shower we had our seamanship mid-term, we had limited time to study so Charlie company was extremely nervous. In the end the company as a whole did pretty well. We are not sure yet but hopefully we will earn the seamanship pennant. Next was chow where we were served a mouth watering country fried steak. What made chow even better was having the privilege to choose different drinks such as PowerAid, Juices, and Tea. The rest of the night was filled with incentive training, manual of arms, and nightly routine. We hope tomorrow we will receive our orders.

 Thurs 12Jan12

Fire fire fire. The usual fire drill with incentive training followed by a quick breakfast then straight to the gym. We worked out on the machines today. We did 02 sets of 10 but you increased your weight on the second set. We could see the results from our incentive training and other workouts. Next was we had a class on risk management where we learned how to assess risks that we may come across in the fieldin doing so we learned how to determine the level of risk and compare it to the gain. Next was noon chow which was an Italian delight complete with cheesy lasagna, crispy garlic bread, and an Italian sausage sandwich. Next we had a class on financial management and reporting to our first duty station. After this class some of the company went to chow and others went to the blood drive. After this we were back at the house and we had to draw two of our company commanders and coast guard vessels and symbols. Those chosen for their drawing were responsible for constructing our companies art piece for shirts and ditty bags. We ended the night with hopes of receiving our orders tomorrow.

 Fri 13Jan12

Today was not Charlie's best day, from the beginning of the day to the end it seemed like we were back in our second week of training. Our fire drill was good but after we donned our uniforms some of the recruits did not shave and females did not do their hair. So the day took a turn for the worse. We had chow then went to medical where we received out small pox vaccination. Everyone was expecting to get impaled with a huge pitch fork needle but luckily the shot was not as bad as we thought. Next we went back to the house and received our orders. When we received them we yelled them at the top of our lungs and rang the field bell. After that we could not get the day back on track, we need to realize that we still have to graduate and the orders won't mean anything if we don’t. So we need to get our heads back in the game and remember we are not week 08, and just because we have our orders doesn’t mean we have earned them yet. So hopefully tomorrow our company can show our company commanders we want to be the best. Next there was noon chow followed by a lot of incentive training and right in between incentive training rounds we had a quick class on travel and expenses. We learned how to use the system to get from here to our homes and to our new unit, then finally evening chow which was a good break from the intense work out. The rest of the night was filled to the brim with fire drills , lessons on discipline, and some more incentive training. Tomorrow is a new day and hopefully Charlie will show their true colors.

 Sat 14Jan12

Today was a better day. Charlie had better results today than yesterday. We started out with our usual drill followed by changing and hygiene routine. We stepped off for chow ready to eat, usually everyone is starving in the mornings because it seems like an eternity since our chow the night before. So after chow it was back to the house. We were supposed to do the confidence course, but due to bad weather it was cancelled. Hopefully it will get rescheduled. We had our mentor come and speak with us, and he answered all the questions we could think of. He helps us understand more about any uncertainties we have about our future careers. After that we shot to the galley for noon chow, then we practiced our manual of arms to prepare for our test. Next we had a cycling class, it was tough but that will only make us stronger. In the end you had to be at 12 miles or more to get off the bike. We quickly went home, showered off, and got ready for chow. We had chili dogs, pizza, crab cakes, and curly fries. It was delicious. The rest of the night was spent on testing our required knowledge on rates and ranks, piece nomenclature, customs and courtesies, and other technical military information. We also had a quick phone call home to inform our families where we be stationed after boot camp. Even though it was a short call, it was still nice to hear our families voices. We finished the night with nightly routine and we called taps ready to start our last day of week 05 plus we have divine hours tomorrow so it will hopefully be a good fast day into week 06.