14SEP09

Today the port side of the company spent most of the day at the firing range. We shot a .40 caliber pistol, some of us did well enough to receive a marksmanship and sharpshooter score. On the other hand some of us shipmates weren’t as skillful as others in operating such a powerful weapon… including receiving safety violations for shooting the deck and overhead. Starboard side spent the day inside a classroom, learning about commitment and the proper way to render colors. After a day at the range, portside went to take individual photos in their dress uniforms for photos that will be given to us after graduation.

15SEP09

Today it was starboard s side’s turn to go to the range and to get their individual pictures taken. After all was complete and both sides were together again we compared results and portside received higher scores and starboard side received more violations! We all gave each other pats on the back for the high scorers but for the violators we couldn’t help but feel annoyed that they didn’t follow the rules at the range. For most of us to be novice shooters, all in all we did a good job.

16SEP09

This is the day we all dreaded…our physical fitness assessment. The test consisted of pushups, sit-ups, and the 1.5 mile run. We all felt like we gave a hundred and ten percent and the sweat and heavy breathing that filled the gym definitely showed it. As if running the 1.5 mile wasn’t bad enough, we had to run the outer part of the parade field that evening for training which was exhausting because of how much we used our legs that day and the parade field isn’t small either…When we were told to get into our racks our legs were very sore and it felt great to finally rest them because other than when we are in our racks we almost never get a second to relax our constantly moving bodies.

17SEP09

After morning chow, we slung our rucksacks on our backs and headed to seamanship. We were being tested on the five types of lines and knots, which were easy enough to understand and perform because every class our instructor gives us a lot of time to practice. When we were tested we were outside…it was a cold windy day but we managed to all pass the test and headed back inside of  the building. Tomorrow is graduation for Charlie Company, and we feel honored to participate because it will be our first time getting to participate in a company’s graduation!

18SEP09

Today was an important step in training because a 0730 we took our midterm test. We all studied all long and hard to be prepared, since it was an open book test we had to tab all of the sections with masking tape( which we use for everything) so that we would know where to find the answers. After rushing through nervously we completed our first major test and got saw our scores posted an hour later! We were ecstatic that we all passed and some of us even got a perfect score! The graduation came next so we prepared our uniforms and headed over to the parade field. Our company performed well with our facing movements and our proud march back to the squad bay but then came trouble…our uniforms weren’t at all inspection ready, we didn’t look like we took proud in the company and this made our company commanders heads spin. We were forced to do intensive training the rest of the night, except for those who participated in the blood drive after the graduation. The ones who gave blood where more than thrilled to know that they didn’t have to do anything physically straining… which is all we do. Never the less our company contributed our part to the Red Cross.

19SEP09

Saturday…Today our company headed to the gym for our pugil stick training. We thought it was exciting to learn the variety of moves and blocks. We also learned about all the gear that we will suit up in during a match. All these instructions were in preparation for our bouts(fights) we will have on Monday! This gives us a chance to take all our anger out on each other, something we dream about on a daily basis… For the remainder of the day we went back to Healy hall for what we call “field day”.  Field day is squad bay maintenance and cleaning. Lastly we hit the rack and were squirming with joy that tomorrow brings divine hours and a step closer to week 05.

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