Coast Guard Recruit Company Whiskey 182 weekly journal posted March 9, 2010

01MAR10

18 day’s left. Today we attended classes on fire extinguishers and fire protective gear. It was an interesting class. It took 10 min for one of our shipmates to get the flame retardant suit with the oxygen canister on our instructor said that when we get in the fleet we’ll only have 02 min to get all of it in and get ready to fight the flames. It’s all rather exciting to think about.

We worked out at the gym again today. We all pushed ourselves. Petty officer Morgan taught a class on dress uniforms. We all figured out how we need to wear our uniforms for reporting to our units. Petty officer Morgan along with our other CC’s sang cadence for us today. With the exception of lights our and chow, marching to our CC’s cadence is what we look forward to most. We all enjoy it a great deal. They’re very clever and a lot of fun. All 03 of our CC’s have really fun songs for us. Of course, when we’re marching and singing them it’s serious business. We try to march as well as we can. There’s a great sense of pride we get from singing and marching. Tomorrow is our manual of arms test. Keep your fingers crossed. We all want to call home again.

02MAR10

Today was a good day. We attended fire school. We put out a small fire with a extinguisher and also dressed out in the full PFG.

We passed our manual of arms test. Although we passed and will get on base liberties this Saturday, we feel a bit saddened. Chief Reno has high expectations of us, as we do of ourselves, and we didn’t perform as well as we could have. We disappointed him and that seems to have taken some of the enjoyment out of it. Hopefully, we’ll do well on our close order drill test. Maybe we won’t disappoint them again.

We did swim circuit today. It was a lot of fun and a good workout. Any kind of exercise in the pool seems more fun. I much prefer it to situps or squats or pushups any day.

We tried on our tropical blue uniform today. Tomorrow we’re going to the uniform distribution center to make sure they fit. It felt really good to wear them.

03MAR10

We had a bad day today. We lost a bit of our self discipline and our colors. To make things worse, Chief Reno and Petty Officer Morgan told us how disappointed they are with us.

We went to the uniform distribution center to try on our bravos. Some of us have alterations to be made.

Petty officer Morgan taught a class on legacy today.

At Goff Hall we dressed out in PFG’s and divided into groups to put out a simulated fire. That was fun. We looked like we’d just walked off the set of a George Lukas film dressed out in our PFG’s. we even sounded like Darth Vader trying to breath in our masks.

The half of us who didn’t fight fires today went to career counseling and to get their I.D’s done. We alternate tomorrow.

Hopefully, the rest of the week will go better than today. It would be nice to earn back some privileges.

04MAR10

REMATCH! We had a pugil stick rematch outside after lunch. Bouncing off the walls of that octagon shaped ring burned off a few extra calories. Not to mention it was a lot of fun.

We had a better day today, but it wasn’t as good as it should have been. Starting tomorrow we do watches surrounding the graduation functions. It will be a surreal experience.

We split up again today. Half did fire school and the other half did I.D’s and career counseling. I speak from personal experience, but my I.D. picture is, by far the worst I’ve ever seen. If most people’s military I.D looks like a mug shot I must look like a serial killer. It’s definitely not flattering.

15 day’s left. It’s hard to believe. In our household goods class this afternoon we discussed the different methods for moving our belongings to our first unit. Attending these classes and making these arrangements is like having an out of body experience. That’s the best I can compare it to. We’re there and participating, but it doesn’t feel like it’s only 02 weeks away. Making flight arrangements just seemed like another item on our daily schedule. Maybe we’re all just waiting until week 08 to let it register. That’s probably a good thing. Maybe we’ll get our stride back and the next 02 weeks will go by quickly and with little I.T. our CC’s have high expectations for us, as do we, and I know we can be one of the best companies to leave here.

05MAR10

PO Morton took us out for a run and there’s nothing like a company run after sundown. The run, along with the cadences we sang during it, was definitely one of the highlights of the day. I’d have to say it was the most fun we have had in 06 weeks. It was the perfect weather for it. The snow is gone thankfully. I’d forgotten what grass felt like under your feet when walking across it.

Another company graduated today and we kept watch. It was exciting to see them walk out in their bravos heading toward the gym for the ceremony. It made me envious. We’re counting down. 14 days to go.

Chief Reno decided to give us on base liberty after all, so it looks like some of you will be getting phone calls. Everyone is anxious to speak to those they love for more than 05 min. plus, from what we hear, we may get to watch a movie. It will be strange to even see a T.V. we just want to take our mind off basic for a while. Just take a breather, so we can come back full steam and work toward off base liberty next weekend.

06MAR10

Today was a great day. The company toured a 210’ cutter after chow. It was fun to see what life will be like for most of us in a few weeks. We now have a better idea of what to expect as a seaman or fireman.

Our on base liberty turned out to be just what we needed to rejuvenate us. We purchased items at the exchange, talked to loved ones, pigged out and caught a movie. For me, the most rewarding part of the day was sitting around the picnic tables stuffing our faces with junk food. Smiles all around. We huddled around the tables content in the moment, not anticipating the next move or worried about a time objective. We whispered plans for the future and stories from the past, reminisced on our most memorable moments of training and sighed at the thought of only 13 days to go. 06 weeks we’ve been here. We started out as strangers, but we’ve never felt closer to anyone than the men and women who sat across from us today. We smile secretly together, wince in discomfort from I.T. together, and in 13 days we’ll walk away from here together, some of us never seeing each other again. That’s a sad thought. As we sat in the theater tonight laughing at the same parts of the movie, it hit me. I’m really going to miss everyone when we leave. It’s always hard to say goodbye to family. And family is exactly what we are.

07MAR10

Divine hours went by as usual.  Some of us attended church while we all ironed, shined boondockers and went about doing the usual routine.  We marched today and are doing better at focusing and listening to the commands.  The company ran 03 miles today.  We did an off-base run with 02 other companies.  It was a lot of fun; the cadences we sang took our minds off of the run and how tired we were.  People were out on the sidewalks watching us.  Kids were taking pictures of us.  We all got a great deal of satisfaction from the run.  All 03 Company Commanders were running with us keeping the momentum up.  We had a few shipmates fall out of the run and couldn’t finish but in all I was very proud of the company.  We sounded off, kept up the pace, and we looked like we were supposed to.  We looked like a senior company.

Chief Reno inspired us all beyond words once we returned from the run.  He told us he was proud of us and that he is happy we are his last company.  We were set aback by this remark.  It was unexpected, but that just made it all that more appreciated.  I felt a great deal of pride and encouragement in that moment, as did we all.

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