30NOV09

We have now started week 05 and it should be an eventful week for us. Today we began our first of 02 pugil stick fights. We had fun. When spectating we were given permission to cheer on our shipmates and encourage them. I doing this, our morale raised among the company.

01DEC09

Our orders should start coming in soon. We were told that nobody would receive their orders until we all received our orders. Training is becoming more mental than physical now and for some it is getting tougher. The required knowledge is growing week by week and we are finally learning the meaning of the saying we were all told in the beginning of training, “The days are long but the weeks will fly.”

02DEC09

For most of us in Quebec this week has flown by. Almost all of our orders have come in and Petty Officer Rosas read them out to us. Our company had a diverse spreadsheet of orders. Everything from cutters in Alaska to small boat stations in Florida. We even had a couple of shipmates get stationed right back here in Cape May.

03DEC09

At the beginning of this week we began standing watch at Sexton Hall.  Sexton Hall is where is where all the brand new recruits stay during forming week. We were all amused at how frantic and scared they all looked. It is hard to believe that just 05 weeks ago that was us tripping over each other.

04DEC09

This morning was the day that some of us feared. We all received our yellow fever and smallpox shots. Most of us handled the smallpox shot fine while others failed at hiding their fear.

The company that we share Munro Hall with (November 182) graduated this morning. Watching them all getting ready this morning was exciting and seeing them with their families and friends made us all the more eager for 22DEC09 to come. We are so close but then again so far from graduation.

05DEC09

We have started practicing close order drill and manual of arms more. Next week we have our manual of arms test and we have to pass this to earn our on base liberty. So though we are slowly perfecting everything most of us are eager to get everyone on the same page.

Our teamwork is improving and by watching all the junior companies we have definitely improved. We had a rough start here in recruit training but if we can keep coming together like we have done over the past couple of days then there is no doubt that we can be the best.

06DEC09

Week 05 has come to an end and the company is really starting to come together. We only have a couple more weeks left and everyone is pushing to go out strong and be the best. It is our company’s goal to earn our colors next week and have it fly from our guideon proudly. Petty Officer Garcia let us know that it is all the small things that are holding us back.

07DEC09

As a company we were proud of ourselves and each other that no one took the week 05 dive. We were warned that there are some cases where companies get their orders and aren’t satisfied so they lose all motivation and take the week 05 dive. If anything, this has been one of the best weeks for Quebec 182 so far. So far all of us are attempting to be the best we can and be the best company on the regiment.

24NOVØ9

It is officially week Ø4 and we started if off with a bang; literally. Due to the size of our company we split into Ø2 small companies, a port and starboard side. For the past couple of days we have alternated going to the range. There we first learned the nomenclature of the SigSauer P229.40cal. Then the following day we were able to either practice on a simulator or with live fire. From there we had sack lunches followed by the opportunity to qualify with the weapon. Everyone had a different interpretation of the whole experience at the range, some were apprehensive and some were excited. Overall it was a part of training we enjoyed. We also lost Ø6 of our shipmates some were due to medical reasons and the others were reverted due to disciplinary reasons. As our Company Commanders put it, they are starting to week out all the wink links, because they refuse to graduate anything less than perfection. Tomorrow we all have our physical fitness test. As a company we came together and encouraged each other to skip all desserts and eat well-balanced meals. The faster shipmates have also volunteered to slow down and keep a pace for the slower shipmates. That is one example of how we are starting to come together helping each other out. As Chief Stanton states we are only as strong as our weakest link.

For Q-182 “Together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.” Henry Ford

26NOVØ9

Today was ultimately the best day any of us have had in the past Ø4 weeks. As a regiment we were able to participate in Operation Fire Side for Thanksgiving. Local families volunteered to open up their homes to us and allowed us to use their phones, computers, and enjoy a nice home cooked meal. We were all extremely grateful. The Company Commanders feared that this break in training would damper our self discipline and the military structure that they have worked hard to instill in us, however for most of us it was motivating talking to our families and loved ones. It motivated us to get through the next half of training.

Tomorrow we will be taking our midterms our company commanders have allowed us to study in the evenings. As nerve racking as the midterm sounds it’s very exciting to know that after this last hump we will officially be half way through training.

29NOVØ9

We finally earned Ø2 pennants; pennants go on our guidon to show other companies our accomplishments. We earned the red one for the blood drive since 100% of the company signed up to give blood, and the yellow one for everyone passing the midterm. Everyone did really well on our test the company average was a 92. As impressive as our score was we are still struggling when it comes to team work. We will be having a meeting directed by the squad leaders which we hope will help us come together and work out our differences and help us comet together as a team. Yesterday we were introduced to the Crakin a tool Company Commander s use to help us work together. We were also introduced to pugil sticks. We will not get to fight till Monday morning, but we learned the basic offensive and defensive moves. The purpose of pugil stick fighting is to build self confidence and for everyone to experience a feeling of adrenaline. We are all really excited! This morning we started off rough for Quebec-182. We started off with a fire drill and were failing time objectives left and right. Needless to say we had to make it up to Petty Officer Garcia. Gear was left adrift and we embarrassingly marched around with it.  A dirty pair of gym shorts flew from our guidon all day, except when had the privilege to watch our true Q-182 colors flying from our guidon during the off base run. As quickly as it was put on it was taken, not a good morning. After is when we made up our tardiness and lack of self discipline to Petty Officer Garcia. We marched with our rucksacks and pieces all the way to the outskirts of the beach and back through the woods of the regiment stopping every so often to check our position as Petty Officer called it, it was one of the toughest things we have done so far. We then were reacquainted with the crackin, we didn’t meet our first time objective, but on the second try we pulled it together worked as a team and got the mission done. It was a proud moment for all of us and Petty Officer allowed us to start with a clean slate. Not only were we thrilled Petty Officer Garcia gave us a fresh start but to come together felt really good. As long as we follow through with our teamwork things will start getting better for us. As we are constantly reminded our actions dictate how training goes.

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06Nov09

November 6^th 2009 was when the fun really started. That afternoon at 1300 we met our Company Commanders that were going to take over and mold us into Guardians. They were much tougher than our previous ones. Pushups, crunches, squats, and flutter kicks are our morning routine and disciplinary actions for all of our wrong doings. As much as everyone around us and The Company Commanders try to drill team work in our heads we are still struggling.  With short time requirements for all of our tasks most are still looking out for themselves and right now we look like a school of fish out of water.

Week 02

We started week 02 on the wrong side. All of us are in shock with the new environment and still have not managed to get ourselves together. We have a large company of 97 recruits and are still struggling to do simple things like sounding off and refraining from touching our faces. We have already learned a large amount of information and we are only in week 02.

07Nov09-16Nov09

Our Company’s title is Quebec-182 and still going in week 02 we are having a large amount of issues. The teamwork in the Company is not improving, we still continue to have issues sounding off, and our self discipline is all over the road. As our lead Company Commander Chief Stanton and Assistant Company Commanders Petty Officer Rosas And Petty Officer Garcia put it “Christmas came early”  this week. We were issued our pieces. About 9 and a half pounds of torture! We were taught a couple drills with them and when our self-discipline or lack there-of our Company Commanders order us to get our pieces out and then make us pay. Which causes just about everyone in company to sweat!  It was not quite a “Merry Christmas” for us. In these past couple of days the weather has been anything but nice. It hasn’t stopped raining and the winds here are strong. When marching in formation we all struggle to keep in step and align to the right. Though we have gortex jackets and pants on we are pretty much we from the moment we get up till we take evening muster. We have already lost a couple shipmates. 02 unfortunately due to medical reasons and 01 gave up on us. Training is tough but we are pushing through. This week we learned how to greet our Chain of Command properly and no longer use sir or mam sandwiches. Last night began our watches, for our first couple of watches we will be breaking in with N-182. Basically what we do is wake up sign in and patrol the building to make sure nothing happens. We also walk through the squad bays to make sure our shipmates are not out of the rack. Today is Sunday and everyone looks forward to this day. We have about 05 hours to get our uniforms and racks squared away, shine boone dockers, study or required knowledge, and attempt to write a letter home. Mail has just started arriving and those who get it are ecstatic. Tomorrow begins week 03 and the rumor around the company is that this will be one of our toughest weeks. So nobody is looking forward to what tomorrow brings.

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