Week 03

The indoctrination week is just over and Mike-182 is beginning this week with Seamanship. As maritime guardians, we should be able know our vessels (boats and cutters), that we use in day to day operations. A lot of us have already begun to imagine what it would be like to be on duty on board these vessels.

19 Oct 09.

We had a class today that dealt with Bills the US government set up to support the education of those that serve in the armed forces. The class was taught by one Petty Officer Pascucci, by now one of our favorite instructors here at TRACEN Cape May. We learned how both the Montgomery GI Bill and the Post-9/11 GI Bill can be used to help with the monetary burden of educating ourselves and our families. Later in the day we were taught a class on sexual harassment and other such sexual crimes that can affect us whilst serving in the armed forces; this class was taught by Senior Chief Snyder (also a great instructor, but a sense of humor only goes so far as to keep 86 recruits awake throughout class.)

Although the classes don’t seem to have much bearing on drawing us closer to the goal of becoming guardians, outside of the classroom our Company Commanders drive us further than many of us thought we were capable of going. We are learning such things as Manual of Arms, Close Order Drill, and other such skills that serve to teach us proper military bearing and discipline so we can conquer any task put before us as we serve in the Coast Guard.

21 Oct 09

After our Survival Float class of the day before our classroom style classes seemed as though they might be rather mundane, but of course as always things are not as they seem. Our day began with a class taught by one of our Company Commanders OS1 Ricketts. The class was a building block on the Coast guard history class of the day previous taught by BM2 Jansen, another one of our Company Commanders. The class taught us just how important our roles in the engagements of the U.S. Coast Guard are. These missions became more clear after our history class of the day before, allowing us to realize just how important to the success of our nation the Coast Guard has been. Later in the day we took a course on Advancements within our service. Petty Officer Garcia taught us just what it takes to learn the jobs we wish to do, as well as earn more responsibility within our service. Our academic day ended with a class on Leave & Liberty, on that all of us paid keen attention to. Petty Officer Jansen clearly outlined for us just how often we get to take a vacation, and just how to earn the time off. We finally realized just how amazing serving our country can be (who else on the planet gets 30 days paid vacation a year?).

22 Oct 09

Today began what most of us view as our most practical training. Our first Seamanship class taught us the names and uses of the many pieces of hardware bolted and wielded to the decks of any boat or ship. We were introduced to our future responsibilities as deckhands by this class and our skilled instructor Petty Officer Stoltz.  This class was very important as a motivator, a beacon to point us towards the clear path to our collective goal.

23/24 Oct 09

Seamanship continues for us. Petty Officer Stoltz has proven to be an excellent teacher, as well an excellent motivator. He teaches us not only the importance of knowing the parts and types of the vessels used by our branch of service, but also how important it is to trust in your shipmates and work as a team. We began with a class on Vessels and Aircraft that taught us the many different ships, boats, and aircraft that service the U.S. Coast Guard. Knowing just what different vessels and aircraft we may have the opportunity to serve on, or to work around and with was and is an empowering thing.  Marlinspike class was next on the billet. The many types of line, their uses, and the basic knots uses by seamen were learned by all of MIKE-182. Good humor was shared by all as we were allowed to help one another master the knots taught by Petty Officer Stoltz. These classes also afford us the ooportunity to earn banners to add to our colors by working as a team to succeed overall, something for us to strive towards as a sense of pride for our company sets in. BM3 Stoltz also allowed for us to speak to and motivate one another. We learned just how important being a team is to the success to every one of us, and by the end of the day we were like “a whole new company”. This great transformation allowed us to earn an “Evening Routine” a chance every night to finish what tasks we were unable to complete, and take a second for personal reflection. Our classes also continued as we learned the basics of helm controls, watch/ lookout procedures and duties, and of course more practice on our knots, all in all a wonderful cap to our week. Finally we are MIKE-182, not a riff-raff group of recruits “playing Coast Guard”.

Good night and best wishes.

-historians of MIKE-182

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