Weight

I wouldn't consider myself fat by any means, but this lets just say this summer I've enjoyed more than my fair share of fast food. Today I went to the gym and I weighed in at 190! That's about 15 lbs more than I would like to be at going into boot camp (more weight to carry while running and doing push-ups and sit-ups). My goal is to be down to 180 by the time I leave. I think it's doable. When I eat healthy and exercise I can drop weight really fast. My only problem is that I hate to work out! We'll see how this goes. 10 lbs in a month is doable, right?

I also talked to my recruiter today and asked about my ship date. Turns out that I have to report to my recruiter on the 23rd of August to get all my papers together and from there they take me to MEPS and I'll stay the night in a hotel. The next day they will drive me to the airport and send me on my way!

SR Kelly

30 Days till Boot Camp

Yesterday was actually the 30 day mark, but I'm close enough. I enlisted in the United States Navy on 20110505 (May 5, 2011). It's been a long couple months as I prepare to join the world's greatest Navy. Some people ask me why I joined the Navy and I guess there are many reasons why I did. I won't go into all of them, but I will tell you a couple.

First of all, I love the military and I've always been fascinated by it. In college I spent a summer in San Diego with my brother Robert working as a lifeguard at one of the pools on the Navy base. It was there that I really became interested in the Navy more so than the other branches. I saw all three of the Navy's core values: Honor, Courage, and Commitment. I wanted a part of it. It just took me 10 years to build up the courage to finally enlist.

Secondly, I want to make a difference. I know I can do that anywhere doing just about anything, but I feel as though the Navy is where I've been called to make that difference.

When I enlisted, I went in to MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station) knowing exactly what job I wanted - Hospital Corpsman. It was a long process sorting through the different jobs the Navy had available, but in the end, I got exactly what I wanted: Hospital Corpsman FMF (also referred to as Doc). I won't go into the details of my job so that while I'm in school I'll have something to write about :)

I'm sure August 24th (my ship date) will be here before I know it. I've got plenty of things that I need to do before shipping off to boot camp, but I won't bore you with all the details. I'm really excited to see what my future will bring. Will boot camp be hard/easy? Will I be put in a leadership position? Will my body hold up? Will my mind hold up? I guess we'll see.

While at boot camp I won't have access to a computer (duh), but I will be able to hand write letters. As of now, I'm planning on updating everyone by writing to a family member and having them type my blog.

I'm not nervous at all yet, but I'm sure that will change during the next 29 days.

SR Kelly