Coast Guard Recruit Company X-Ray 183 weekly journal posted Sept. 3, 2010

X-183 Week 2

On Friday August 20th X-Ray company met our company commanders, Chief Dendy, Petty Officer Couch, and Petty Officer Fredrickson, and spent the weekend "Forming", or beginning to look, act and speak like a member of the military. Week 02 is a stressful time in basic training; There is a lot to learn in a short amount of time. As members of the United States Coast Guard, it is imperative that we are accurate and fast because lives truly do hang in the balance.

In basic training we are given time objectives for every task: 15 minutes to take a shower, 02 minutes to get outside, etc. While it may seem arbitrary at first, this practice instills the discipline we all need to get a search and rescue mission out fast. To us 15 minutes may seem short, but to people treading cold water, it's an eternity.

The demand for speed and accuracy was very stressful initially, but X-Ray company is starting to meet more deadlines.

A high point for the week was attending a lecture in the Chapel. The Chaplains let us relax for a bit while they shared stories about their own boot camp experiences (Navy and Marine Corps among them) and deployments to Iraq. After hearing about our troops in Iraq basic training did not seem quite so bad.

Now X-Ray 183 marches on into week three, we are gradually learning the meaning of the quote "with great power comes great responsibility". Beginning this week, our company has taken over watch for Healy Hall. Answering phones, relaying messages, running security checks in the squad bays and writing watch logs are all part of our responsibilities, which help us prepare for standing watch in the fleet.

This past week we also had our swim assessment, where we took the first plunge into the water based portion of basic training. Everyone did really well, and for the recruits who are not used to swimming the Coast Guard has provided a Monday through Friday remedial swim program to help them excel.

Also new to our company are the cybex, lifecycle, and core strengthening exercisers. These take place either in the gym or on the track. The cybex workout includes multiple stations of weight lifting equipment. Lastly core strengthening is a series of intense stretching and holding poses that strengthen our core muscles.

Boot camp isn’t all about screaming and sweating, aside from the physical challenges we face, each day we also have classes. This week we learned about rates and ranks and how to properly identify all the different Coast Guard insignias so we know how to address military personnel properly. This information will follow us through our entire career with the Coast Guard.

It's crucial information we need to know as we evolve from civilians to military members. We are also learning military customs and courtesies, how and who to salute, and most important the Coast Guard core values of Honor, Respect, and Devotion to Duty. These three words are just a small window to a huge picture we are beginning to explore.

Rumor has it we have three of the best Company Commanders on the regiment. The more time we spend with them and the more we learn from them proves the rumors are true. They have even shared personal stories of past experiences in their careers to help us better understand the many things we are learning. Their stories directly affect what we are learning in class, and sometimes jerk a few quiet tears. We respect them more and more every day, and are working hard at trying to come together as a team, to make our CC's proud, our families proud, and ourselves proud. There definitely strict, but it all has a purpose.

Until next time......