Coast Guard Recruit Company Echo 186 weekly journal posted Feb 6, 2012

Week 04 was, by far, ECHO Company's most productive week. For starters it seems like this is the first week ECHO did something right. The entire company passed the Mid-term exam and our squad bay inspections with high marks. Also, 23 out of 24 shipmates in remedial swim passed the swim test with less than 2 weeks of extra swim lessons.

   Despite these successes ECHO-186 still has some glaring weaknesses. We limped through our Physical Fitness Test with nearly half the company failing at least one of the events which included timed push-ups, sit-ups and a 1.5 mile run. We also continue to struggle with marching and look like a herd of tranquilized cattle when moving through the regiment. Additionally, we took our first marksmanship class this week and learned that most of us can't hit the broad side of a barn, failing to earn the marksmanship pennant for our Guidon.

   We furthered some of our competencies in Coast Guard practices and traditions through a Helm simulator and our Colors class. In the Helm simulator, recruits got exposed to the basics of navigating a cutter or small boat. We also learned the proper way to raise and lower the National Ensign and all pennants associated with conducting morning and evening colors. We also formed two colors teams that will be responsible for performing the colors ceremony next week.

   The highlights of this week were definitely our first pugil stick bout and filling out our "Dream Sheets". Boot camp builds a lot of tension and frustration amongst recruits that must be vented somehow. Both the recruits and the Company Commanders alike enjoyed the many beatings being handed out in the pugil stick ring.

   When completing the Dream Sheets recruits squeezed their hopes and dreams into an intensely meticulous 8-1/2 x 11 sheet of paper where we hope to influence the region and type of unit we end up at.

   We head into week 05 anxiously waiting learn the fate of our orders after boot camp and preparing to knock off the "Back Nine" of recruit training. Till next time this is ECHO-186 signing off.