September 01 through September 06 week 01

The recruits of Hotel-182 arrived in Cape May, New Jersey as individuals. The recruits came from different backgrounds, hailing from places all across America, each one with their own hopes to become a guardian of the sea.

As each individual poured out from the transporting bus into the United States Coast Guard Training Center in Cape May, they were met by their forming company commanders and their new lifestyle as seamen recruits for the duration of their training.

During the first few days, the recruits quickly began to learn that their individuality must be combined through teamwork and followership in order to complete the rigors of intense training. Some of the challenges that tested the recruit’s teamwork consisted of finite time management; marching as one large unit; and thinking, working, and depending on each other’s actions. Recruits learned how imperative attention to detail is for everyday military life—it is what enables the Coast Guardsman to save lives, to protect the environment, and keep our nation’s boarders secure.

Recruits went through a medical screening and then were handed over to their lead company commander: Marine Science Technician First Class Leathers, and their company commanders: Yeomen Second Class Garcia and Boatswain’s Mate Second Class Thor.

Discipline was no longer an abstract concept for the recruits; it was an actuality to be confronted and mastered. Discipline was taught through many methods including incentive training—push-ups, crunches, squats, and flutter kicks. The recruits learned that trying physical situations can also be very mentally exhausting, and mental activities can be difficult when physically tired. This began the process of preparing the recruits for the stressful aspects of their jobs.

Above all, the recruits became familiar with the coast guard’s attributes of a model Guardian—honor, respect, and devotion to duty.

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