10OCT09

"Juliet-182 Act III" or "Ep, Ep, Eppright"

What measures a man? Is it standing tall, broad shoulders, being fearless at all times? Some say that pride is the sign of a foolish man. Well, Chief Boatswain's Mate Eppright has a lot of personal pride, but "foolish" is nowhere close to a word I would use to describe him. Here are a few words I would use; wise, leader, professional, and most of all, honorable. Chief Eppright, in our eyes, personifies the Coast Guard core values, Honor, Respect, and Devotion to Duty, as all of our company commanders do.     

We're half way done. We have successfully completed week 04. As we take a step back and assess our progress, is the glass half full or half empty? Looking towards the future, does our company have an optimistically beating heart or a pessimistically dying soul? We have been toying with our pacemaker these past few days and if we continue on this path we will push the electromagnetic pulse button (AKA Chief Ruchser) in too far and it will undoubtedly kill us. We don't look for pain, we search for gain. Sometimes the easiest lessons are learned using the toughest methods. The Marines say "Pain is only weakness leaving the body." If that's the case, Juliet-182 only continues to get stronger. Pain is a great equalizer, and probably just what we needed to get back to form. The standards held by all 04 of our company commanders have been distinguishingly outlined in permanent red ink. Furthermore, we have all been forewarned, as we should not have to look to our Company Commanders for motivation. If anything, we should motivate them each and every day. They should leave the 02 deck of James Hall every night thinking "I love my job. I can't wait to come back in tomorrow." I'm sure that's not the case. Hopefully, they know we are trying. Ultimately, it will be our perseverance that propels us in our pursuit to graduation. As the rollercoaster peaks, we are prepared to start the down slope of recruit training. This is what the first half has told us, we will be a big deal. We will march like a group of gorillas searching for food. Nothing will stop us. From here on out, we have to get back to striving for excellence. We can march across the finish line as a company, or we can each be individually afforded our moment of glory. Although, the only way to ensure that we all finish is to go together, SR Webb marching the unit, SR Cook calling the cadence, and Juliet-182 strutting across the field with reckless abandon.

Goodnight, Juliet-182

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