WEEK 08

Labor Day weekend we departed. On 11 September 2009 we formed. On 30 October 2009 we will graduate Training Center Cape May as India-182.

From across the country we came, full of excitement and fear. We chose to shed the world we knew to wear the silver anchors. We entered into this new world and embraced what would come, for every challenge was part of our transformation. We were stripped of our individuality and formed into a new entity-a company. We each have a job, a place to stand, a responsibility to carry; we became India-182. The process was not easy. Each day came as a torrent of information and physical exhaustion. We did our best but it took time to achieve the goals and expectations set before us. Our company commanders are not training us for just a job; they are training us to replace them as the time comes for them to leave. Nothing can be less than 110% and that is what we must give, and we do. There were days that ended in tears and others that ended with secret smiles and contentment. No day was ever “easy. It never got easier. No. It never got easier. We just got better. The tasks that seemed impossible before and the time objectives that we never made slowly became possible and eventually we did not worry anymore. We know what we have to do and what time it must be done in and we achieve the goals. Teamwork is always the key.

On September 11th the Towers fell and the world in which we live changed. In these shifting tides of political turmoil and unrest, we dared to swear our lives to defend the country and her people. In only a few shirt days we will be the newest guardians entering the fleet. We have studied our lessons well. We have taken each core value and engrained them into the depths of our being. We are shipmates-only together as a team can we meet our goals and objectives. Yes, we are India 182.

Monday we had our Guardian Challenge and were faced with every hands-on obstacle and emergency we have been trained for. The “cutter” sustained a direct hit and we ran to our stations. A fire erupted in the ship and crews went straight to fight the fire. Personnel were injured in another part of the ship and we ran to their aid. Some stopped breathing and we fought valiantly to bring them back to life. Damage Control Central kept us in communications at all times ensuring our safety and that the missions are being achieved. Our hearts raced and adrenaline pumped through our veins as we did our duty to save our lives and the cutter. When the exercise was over we felt pride. The lessons and time spent were not in vain. Once we completed our challenge our Company Commanders could see that we are ready to head out into the blue, into the fleet. After chow, we were marched together to the pavilion, colors held high and pennants steaming in the wind. We stopped at the pavilion and there we had our pinning ceremony. We reaffirmed our oath of enlistment, knowing much more about the oath we took than first time we took it. Then, we took off our covers and placed the Coast Guard emblem into our covers. We earned the right to be recognized as week 08, almost done, almost a non rate instead of a recruit.

We have only 02 more days till we are done. We are excited, bursting at the seams to leave this world behind and begin our next big adventure. We spend the days cleaning, maintaining uniforms and solidifying any plans left to be made concerning our move to our new stations. We are getting ourselves squared away because somehow we made it and the time to leave is nearly upon us.

Every lesson taught- great and small- we carry with us to the fleet. We are shipmates and every September 11th we will remember the towers as well as the oath we reaffirmed together and becoming India-182. We will remember each other years from now as if this just past and names will flow out of lips as memories come flooding back in. For we are a family; we are shipmates; we are India-182. We were a motley crew of rag-tag teenagers and young adults ready to change our lives and now we are something greater then we could ever have imagined. We have exceed our own expectations and managed to reach those of our Company Commanders. Like skillful craftsmen they took the rough and found the diamond hidden within.

We wait in excited anticipation for graduation. As the reality that we have nearly completed this training we grow even closer, knowing this is the end and we will all be scattered like so many leaves in the wind.

We have learned so much and come so far. Yet, this is only the beginning. We will never stop learning or growing. Recruit training sets the foundation. Everything else is up to us. It is up to us to earn the qualifications we need to succeed and advance. The more skills we gain, the more we can add to the team and aid the success of the missions. The end of recruit training is almost upon us but the real adventure awaits us in the fleet. We are ready.

And so, we come to an end. May we have fair winds and flowing seas. And if we should not, let God be with us as he has been with us these last eight weeks. Let us be confident and courageous, maintaining our core values in the face of fear and do the tasks set before us. We shall meet again through the years and when we do we will remember Recruit Training at Training center Cape May. We will remember and take pride knowing when and where we began as India-182!