So it's Sunday again and we are in the middle of our Holiday Routine (our 6 hours of free time for the week). Everyone is ironing, folding , cleaning their racks, and polishing their boots. I, on the other hand, am writing letters and taking time to relax.
I'm still homesick but every day gets a little better. I've been here for 31 days now and I've only got 26 days left til graduation. I have a feeling the next 26 days are going to fly by. We still have to go to the firing range to learn weapons, the seamanship building to practice basic seamanship, learn firefighting, go to the gas chamber, and do our final battlestations test. On top of all that, we have inspections, drill tests and two more tests.
Yesterday we spent about 2 hours marching around in circles practicing for graduation. It's amazing that some people still don't get it. My division has a lot of smart people, but we have just as many, if not more, stupid people. There are about 4 or 5 people in my division that have Bachelors degrees, and about 6 or 7 who are over the age of 26.
On Friday, my division will become the senior division in our ship (they call the barracks"ships"-each ship holds about 12 divisions, and each division has around 80 people. My guess is there is about 12 ships.) That makes us all excited. You can tell all the new recruits that just moved in because their hair is still shaved off. The best way to tell how long someone has been here is by how long their hair is.
Anyway, I think I'm going to take my Hollywood shower. That's what we call showers on Sundays because we can take our time and not be rushed. Every other day we get about 40 minutes to get 80 guys showered and the bathroom cleaned. When there are only 12 shower heads, that means SHORT SHOWERS. R:)
Friday, September 30, 2011
September 18, 2011
It's Sunday morning at 8:45. I've already been up for a few hours and eaten breakfast. It's Holiday Routine, which is our "free time" for the week. We have between 0700 and 1300 to write letters, fold and iron our clothes and socialize. I'm only an hour and 45 minutes into it and I'm already bored. For the past 25 days, I've had every minute planned for me and now that I can do whatever, I'm bored. I wish I could go to Taco Bell or use a computer, make a phone call, see my family, or at least sleep.
There s a rumor going around the division that on Tuesday we might have the opportunity to call home. I sure hope so. I'm not sure if a phone call would be a good thing or just make me more homesick.
It's pretty sad that I miss checking Facebook-just goes to show how addicted I was to it. I also keep checking my pockets to make sure my phone is on silent, but then I remember I don't have a phone. Everything I have here was given to me by the United States Navy. It will be weird once I'm graduated and go to my A school to have some of my things back. Alright, I will make this entry short. I'll write soon. R :)
There s a rumor going around the division that on Tuesday we might have the opportunity to call home. I sure hope so. I'm not sure if a phone call would be a good thing or just make me more homesick.
It's pretty sad that I miss checking Facebook-just goes to show how addicted I was to it. I also keep checking my pockets to make sure my phone is on silent, but then I remember I don't have a phone. Everything I have here was given to me by the United States Navy. It will be weird once I'm graduated and go to my A school to have some of my things back. Alright, I will make this entry short. I'll write soon. R :)
September 14, 2011
So today has been the best day of boot camp thus far! It started with an early breakfast followed at 0730 by getting two of my wisdom teeth pulled out. Yes, that's right-I actually enjoyed getting them out. Well not the process of getting them out but the couple days that follow. Everyone who gets their wisdom teeth pulled out gets "sick in quarters", aka-bedrest for two days. That means that all day today and tomorrow I'm able to lay in bed an study and sleep. I finally am going to be able to catch up on my sleep. There were a total of 10 people in my division that got our teeth out today. Last Tuesday, another 12 people got their teeth out. I'm a happy bootcamper. But I know that won't last for long.
Time seems to move a little faster. This week has gone by pretty fast. I can't believe tomorrow is Friday already. Yesterday we had an inspection, and I got a 5 out of 5. It was an inspection on how we dress in our Navy working uniform and how well we make our bed. Tomorrow there is another inspection but since I'm SIQ I get an automatic pass. Tomorrow is also our 1st test, but again, since I'm SIQ, I get to take it on Monday. That gives me all weekend to study and get the test questions from my fellow shipmates.
I'm still really homesick, but I've received letters from home and from a couple friends which really helps. Everyone loves getting letters here, including me, so PLEASE send me letters. My address is:
SR KELLY R.S
SHIP 12, DIV 354
RECRUIT TRAINING COMMAND
3515 SAILOR DRIVER
GREAT LAKES, IL 60088-3515
I've decided that this has probably been the worst experience of my life but I know I'm learning alot and that I'm changing for the better because of it. Nothing is easy here. Where else can I get paid to study, eat, get my teeth pulled and exercise? This is definitely an experience I'll take with me the rest of my life, but I'm more than ready to be done. Only 36 days til graduation ! Woo Hoo!!! R :)
Time seems to move a little faster. This week has gone by pretty fast. I can't believe tomorrow is Friday already. Yesterday we had an inspection, and I got a 5 out of 5. It was an inspection on how we dress in our Navy working uniform and how well we make our bed. Tomorrow there is another inspection but since I'm SIQ I get an automatic pass. Tomorrow is also our 1st test, but again, since I'm SIQ, I get to take it on Monday. That gives me all weekend to study and get the test questions from my fellow shipmates.
I'm still really homesick, but I've received letters from home and from a couple friends which really helps. Everyone loves getting letters here, including me, so PLEASE send me letters. My address is:
SR KELLY R.S
SHIP 12, DIV 354
RECRUIT TRAINING COMMAND
3515 SAILOR DRIVER
GREAT LAKES, IL 60088-3515
I've decided that this has probably been the worst experience of my life but I know I'm learning alot and that I'm changing for the better because of it. Nothing is easy here. Where else can I get paid to study, eat, get my teeth pulled and exercise? This is definitely an experience I'll take with me the rest of my life, but I'm more than ready to be done. Only 36 days til graduation ! Woo Hoo!!! R :)
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Blog #3 08SEP11
I can't remember when I wrote my last blog entry, nor can I remember what I wrote about. So I'll just write what's been happening the last couple days.
My division moved into our permanent barracks a couple days ago and its the furthest barracks building away from everything! Needless to say, we march a lot. Being that I'm Starboard Watch, I've got orders to yell out while we are marching. I'm not much of a yeller, but I just do what I'm told. The days are all running together and I never know what day it is. You think that would mean time was going by fast, but no-it goes by so slow!
Today we had our swimming qualifications. In order to graduate boot camp, everyone needs to qualify as a 3rd class swimmer. Today there were two divisions doing the qualification-so there was about 175 people there. I thought it was easy. All we had to do was jump off a high platform, do 50 meters of swimming, do the dead man's float for 5 minutes and put on a pair of coveralls and fill it with air and float. Of course I passed, but there were about 30-40 people who failed and need to go back for swimming lessons. Then they asked if anyone who wants to try for 2nd class swimmer to stand up, so I thought, what the heck, and I stood up. (The 2nd class swim is a little more difficult. People who want to be divers, seals and other special ops have to pass this.) There was about 30 people who wanted to try, but they weeded it down to about a dozen-with me being one of them. Turns out only three passed, and yours truly was one of them. It made me feel good.
I still hate this place and can't wait to graduate. Everyone feels the same way. We are all counting down the days. I've been here a little over 2 weeks and six weeks from tomorrow (09SEP11), I will graduate.
Alright, I'm going to bed cause I gotta get up at 4 am. Ick! R :)
My division moved into our permanent barracks a couple days ago and its the furthest barracks building away from everything! Needless to say, we march a lot. Being that I'm Starboard Watch, I've got orders to yell out while we are marching. I'm not much of a yeller, but I just do what I'm told. The days are all running together and I never know what day it is. You think that would mean time was going by fast, but no-it goes by so slow!
Today we had our swimming qualifications. In order to graduate boot camp, everyone needs to qualify as a 3rd class swimmer. Today there were two divisions doing the qualification-so there was about 175 people there. I thought it was easy. All we had to do was jump off a high platform, do 50 meters of swimming, do the dead man's float for 5 minutes and put on a pair of coveralls and fill it with air and float. Of course I passed, but there were about 30-40 people who failed and need to go back for swimming lessons. Then they asked if anyone who wants to try for 2nd class swimmer to stand up, so I thought, what the heck, and I stood up. (The 2nd class swim is a little more difficult. People who want to be divers, seals and other special ops have to pass this.) There was about 30 people who wanted to try, but they weeded it down to about a dozen-with me being one of them. Turns out only three passed, and yours truly was one of them. It made me feel good.
I still hate this place and can't wait to graduate. Everyone feels the same way. We are all counting down the days. I've been here a little over 2 weeks and six weeks from tomorrow (09SEP11), I will graduate.
Alright, I'm going to bed cause I gotta get up at 4 am. Ick! R :)
Blog #4 11SEP11
Today is Sunday and from 0700 to 1300 we have what they call here Holiday Routine. Basically it's free time to do whatever we want as long as we don't sleep. It's a time to write letters, iron our clothes, shine our boots and study. It's nice to finally somewhat relax. I might even take a long shower (I'm used to taking a 2 minute shower if I am lucky). I decided against going to church this morning because I really needed a mental break.
Since my last post, I've completed my first PFA (Physical Fitness Assessment) and passed it. I ran my 1.5 mile in less than 12 minutes and completed the required amount of sit ups and push ups. Out of 80 people in my division, 50 people passed-I'm thankful that I was one of them. I continue to surprise myself. I'm so thankful for my parents, who insisted on raising me with discipline, values and good, common sense. I feel so far ahead of most of the people here.
I'm more than ready to get out of here, but I'm getting used to it which makes every day a little more bearable. I've been making mistakes lately with checking the deck log which has resulted in some chewing out sessions, but I'm so numb to it by now. I just do what I'm told and keep my mouth shut.
A couple days ago we gout our first mail and I was happy that I received two letters from home. It's nice to know that there's a world outside of GREAT LAKES NAVAL STATION. Mom sent me some pictures that I look at all the time. Getting letters and pictures from home gives me the hope that I will soon be done here. The guy in the bunk next to mine told me today that there are only 41 days left. I've been here for 18 days already. I'm getting really home sick and missing my dog Jackson. But like all things, time will only continue to go faster. R :)
Since my last post, I've completed my first PFA (Physical Fitness Assessment) and passed it. I ran my 1.5 mile in less than 12 minutes and completed the required amount of sit ups and push ups. Out of 80 people in my division, 50 people passed-I'm thankful that I was one of them. I continue to surprise myself. I'm so thankful for my parents, who insisted on raising me with discipline, values and good, common sense. I feel so far ahead of most of the people here.
I'm more than ready to get out of here, but I'm getting used to it which makes every day a little more bearable. I've been making mistakes lately with checking the deck log which has resulted in some chewing out sessions, but I'm so numb to it by now. I just do what I'm told and keep my mouth shut.
A couple days ago we gout our first mail and I was happy that I received two letters from home. It's nice to know that there's a world outside of GREAT LAKES NAVAL STATION. Mom sent me some pictures that I look at all the time. Getting letters and pictures from home gives me the hope that I will soon be done here. The guy in the bunk next to mine told me today that there are only 41 days left. I've been here for 18 days already. I'm getting really home sick and missing my dog Jackson. But like all things, time will only continue to go faster. R :)
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Blog entry #2 01SEP11
It's Thursday morning I think and i just got done with my night watch duties. It's 3:15am and I'm wide awake. Pretty amazing considering I only slept for 2 hours last night. I've been put in a leadership position: starboard watch. From what I hear, it's the third highest position for a recruit in a division. I don't like it, but I'm doing my best. I'm basically in charge of setting up the watch schedule. Once our RDC's (Drill Instructors) leave for the night, we have to have four guards at the door. Shifts are 1 hour long and people hate doing it. So I'm the bad guy who has to schedule people to get up in the middle of the night to stand watch for an hour. Oh well, someone's got to do it.
So normally recruits are in processing for only a couple days when we get her, but my division has been in it for over a week now. We've been waiting for more recruits to arrive so that we could fill our division. Apparantly there was a hurricane that slowed people down from coming in. Anyway, yesterday we finally filled our division so come next Tuesday (which will be 2 weeks for me) we actually really start training.
Yesterday we got fitted for our uniforms which was pretty cool. It actually felt like we were military. Up until now, we've been wearing the same blue sweatpants and sweatshirt. Hopefully next week the uniforms will be done so we can start wearing them.
Today we are going to medical for in-depth physicals and dental exams. That is one stop closer to making sure we are "fit for duty". At that point our RDC's can start hitting us with physical training-push-ups, running etc.
I better get finished up, our RDC's will be here any minute yelling at us to get out of bed so we can make it to our 4:00 am breakfast. I was put in charge of waking all 88 recruits up at 2"30 so they could shave and be ready on time. Sometimes I doubt my reasons for joining. It's been really sucks so far. The Chaplain came in today, which was encouraging. She said "I'm not going to tell you that it gets better with time. It just sucks less". I thought that was funny and we all are excited for it to "suck less". R :)
So normally recruits are in processing for only a couple days when we get her, but my division has been in it for over a week now. We've been waiting for more recruits to arrive so that we could fill our division. Apparantly there was a hurricane that slowed people down from coming in. Anyway, yesterday we finally filled our division so come next Tuesday (which will be 2 weeks for me) we actually really start training.
Yesterday we got fitted for our uniforms which was pretty cool. It actually felt like we were military. Up until now, we've been wearing the same blue sweatpants and sweatshirt. Hopefully next week the uniforms will be done so we can start wearing them.
Today we are going to medical for in-depth physicals and dental exams. That is one stop closer to making sure we are "fit for duty". At that point our RDC's can start hitting us with physical training-push-ups, running etc.
I better get finished up, our RDC's will be here any minute yelling at us to get out of bed so we can make it to our 4:00 am breakfast. I was put in charge of waking all 88 recruits up at 2"30 so they could shave and be ready on time. Sometimes I doubt my reasons for joining. It's been really sucks so far. The Chaplain came in today, which was encouraging. She said "I'm not going to tell you that it gets better with time. It just sucks less". I thought that was funny and we all are excited for it to "suck less". R :)
Blog entry #1 8/27/11
FIRST 4 DAYS:
This is a long blog entry so make sure you make time LOL. I arrived at the airport around 12:30 pm on Wednesday. My orders were to report directly to the USO Office, but I went and ate some lunch first. I reported around 1:30 pm but was told that the Navy people wouldn't be there until 5 pm. There were a few other recruits waiting, and during the next few hours many others came in. There were a total of about 200+ recruits that processed that night.
At 5 pm a couple Navy guys came and immediately began yelling at us. I was beginning to get nervous. I was on the first bus that took us to the base at Great Lakes-about a 45 minute drive. Once we all got there, the drill instructors, or RDC's as they call them here at bootcamp, yelled us through a multitude of processing steps. One of the first things was a pee test. I ended up holding my little jar full of pee at shoulder height for over 2 hours before they took it from me. Thats when I decided that this was really going to suck. We did other things that night including boxing up all our clothes we were wearing and exchanging them for new skivies (underwear), shorts, sweat pants, shirt and hoodie. We also got all new hygiene items. Basically they took everything away from us that made us "us" and replaced it with Navy crap turning "us" into "sailor recruits". These sweats by the way.....I've been wearing for the last 3 1/2 days. We've changed our skivies, shorts and shirts but my sweatpants and sweatshirt have not been washed. I even slepp in them. We got divided into our divisions-mine being 354-and went to our temporary ship, or living quarters. I'm living in a room with 80 guys-bunkbeds surrounding the bulkhead(outerwall). It's definitely been interesting.
Most of Thursday was spent standing at attention-whether we were in line for the barber shop or in line for the chow hall. So far that has been the worst part and hardest part of boot camp. After standing on my feet for 30+ hours, my back, hips, knees and feet were killing me. They haven't been PT'ing (physical training0 us cause we haven't been through medical yet. Finally, at 10 pm on Thursday, we were able to go to sleep. After being awake for 40 hours, I was definitely ready for sleep. I had watch at 2 am so I had to wake up and stand guard for an hour, but come 3 am, I had no problem getting back to sleep. We were awakened at 6am by yelling form our Petty Officers. Friday was spent learning how to do stuff and stenciling all our clothes. We also learned how to make our racks (beds) so we did that many, many, many times. There is even a special way to take off and display our dirty sheets! I, of course, am the best at making my rack. Chief even asked me my name after looking at my rack! One of our RDC's favorite things to do is to have us throw our mattresses on the floor and put them back on the bed. He starts with having us do it once in 15 seconds. Then when some idiot's can't do it, he makes us do it twice in 30 seconds. So of course some can't do it, so he then has us do it 4 times in 40 seconds, then 7 times in 40 seconds. They make it impossible, but fortunately for me, I know it's just a game they are playing with our minds. I go along with it and just keep quiet and do what I'm told.
One of their favorite words here starts with a F and ends with an -ers (LOL). if they get through one sentence without saying some form of that word, I'd be surprised. It's almost comical watching these RDC's be so tough. Today while we were learning how to fold and stack our skivies, my favorite moment so far happened. We took almost 2 hours folding and stacking our skivies. Once we folded and stacked them we had to bring them up to the table to show one of our female RDC's. Every pile that was brought up ended up getting thrown on the floor and told to do it right. After about 20 minutes of this, she asked what was wrong with all us mother f****ers and said she wanted someone who was perfect to come up. So naturally I went up. There was one guy who beat me there, but his pile got thrown all over the room. I set my pile down and she tried her best to find something wrong but couldn't. So she put my pile of skivies on the table to show everyone else what perfect pile looks like. I was pretty proud. The next hour was spent with her continuing to call people names and chuck their piles all over the place. It turned out to be very comical and we even got a few smiles out of her.
Now I'm laying in bed. I'm supposed to be sleeping, but I wanted to write down some stuff before I forgot.
So far boot camp has been bearable. Not too tough, except for the long periods of standing. I'm really surprised at how stupid some people really are. I'm learning everything at the same time as everyone else, but end up having to teach them myself when they sit there with a nervous, blank stare on their face. I guess that's the natural leader in me coming out. It also makes me very thankful for the way I was raised and the education I have. There is definitely a difference between those of us with a college education and those with barely a high school diploma.
OK, I'm getting tired so I'm going to bed. Sorry for the long blog entry. And a big thanks to my sister Dede for typing this all up for me. More to come in a couple days. There will be multiple blog entries at once cause I'm only able to send out letters on Sundays. R :)
This is a long blog entry so make sure you make time LOL. I arrived at the airport around 12:30 pm on Wednesday. My orders were to report directly to the USO Office, but I went and ate some lunch first. I reported around 1:30 pm but was told that the Navy people wouldn't be there until 5 pm. There were a few other recruits waiting, and during the next few hours many others came in. There were a total of about 200+ recruits that processed that night.
At 5 pm a couple Navy guys came and immediately began yelling at us. I was beginning to get nervous. I was on the first bus that took us to the base at Great Lakes-about a 45 minute drive. Once we all got there, the drill instructors, or RDC's as they call them here at bootcamp, yelled us through a multitude of processing steps. One of the first things was a pee test. I ended up holding my little jar full of pee at shoulder height for over 2 hours before they took it from me. Thats when I decided that this was really going to suck. We did other things that night including boxing up all our clothes we were wearing and exchanging them for new skivies (underwear), shorts, sweat pants, shirt and hoodie. We also got all new hygiene items. Basically they took everything away from us that made us "us" and replaced it with Navy crap turning "us" into "sailor recruits". These sweats by the way.....I've been wearing for the last 3 1/2 days. We've changed our skivies, shorts and shirts but my sweatpants and sweatshirt have not been washed. I even slepp in them. We got divided into our divisions-mine being 354-and went to our temporary ship, or living quarters. I'm living in a room with 80 guys-bunkbeds surrounding the bulkhead(outerwall). It's definitely been interesting.
Most of Thursday was spent standing at attention-whether we were in line for the barber shop or in line for the chow hall. So far that has been the worst part and hardest part of boot camp. After standing on my feet for 30+ hours, my back, hips, knees and feet were killing me. They haven't been PT'ing (physical training0 us cause we haven't been through medical yet. Finally, at 10 pm on Thursday, we were able to go to sleep. After being awake for 40 hours, I was definitely ready for sleep. I had watch at 2 am so I had to wake up and stand guard for an hour, but come 3 am, I had no problem getting back to sleep. We were awakened at 6am by yelling form our Petty Officers. Friday was spent learning how to do stuff and stenciling all our clothes. We also learned how to make our racks (beds) so we did that many, many, many times. There is even a special way to take off and display our dirty sheets! I, of course, am the best at making my rack. Chief even asked me my name after looking at my rack! One of our RDC's favorite things to do is to have us throw our mattresses on the floor and put them back on the bed. He starts with having us do it once in 15 seconds. Then when some idiot's can't do it, he makes us do it twice in 30 seconds. So of course some can't do it, so he then has us do it 4 times in 40 seconds, then 7 times in 40 seconds. They make it impossible, but fortunately for me, I know it's just a game they are playing with our minds. I go along with it and just keep quiet and do what I'm told.
One of their favorite words here starts with a F and ends with an -ers (LOL). if they get through one sentence without saying some form of that word, I'd be surprised. It's almost comical watching these RDC's be so tough. Today while we were learning how to fold and stack our skivies, my favorite moment so far happened. We took almost 2 hours folding and stacking our skivies. Once we folded and stacked them we had to bring them up to the table to show one of our female RDC's. Every pile that was brought up ended up getting thrown on the floor and told to do it right. After about 20 minutes of this, she asked what was wrong with all us mother f****ers and said she wanted someone who was perfect to come up. So naturally I went up. There was one guy who beat me there, but his pile got thrown all over the room. I set my pile down and she tried her best to find something wrong but couldn't. So she put my pile of skivies on the table to show everyone else what perfect pile looks like. I was pretty proud. The next hour was spent with her continuing to call people names and chuck their piles all over the place. It turned out to be very comical and we even got a few smiles out of her.
Now I'm laying in bed. I'm supposed to be sleeping, but I wanted to write down some stuff before I forgot.
So far boot camp has been bearable. Not too tough, except for the long periods of standing. I'm really surprised at how stupid some people really are. I'm learning everything at the same time as everyone else, but end up having to teach them myself when they sit there with a nervous, blank stare on their face. I guess that's the natural leader in me coming out. It also makes me very thankful for the way I was raised and the education I have. There is definitely a difference between those of us with a college education and those with barely a high school diploma.
OK, I'm getting tired so I'm going to bed. Sorry for the long blog entry. And a big thanks to my sister Dede for typing this all up for me. More to come in a couple days. There will be multiple blog entries at once cause I'm only able to send out letters on Sundays. R :)
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Richards address
Hello. This is Dede, Richards sister. He asked me to post his address at the base so we can all send him letters. His address is:
Kelly, Richard Shaw
Ship 12, Div 354
Recruit Training Command
3515 Sailor Drive
Great Lakes, IL 60088-3515
His graduation date is October 21, 2011
Kelly, Richard Shaw
Ship 12, Div 354
Recruit Training Command
3515 Sailor Drive
Great Lakes, IL 60088-3515
His graduation date is October 21, 2011
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