Week Ø2 – Yankee-181
We can’t believe it has been over a week since we arrived here to begin recruit training. We have been going non-stop since we arrived with work outs in the gym, classroom lessons, and trying to obtain some sort of military bearing. Our bad habits of our previous lives seem to get in the way but our Company Commanders make sure that we receive plenty of incentive to get it right. I am sure that by now they are beyond frustrated that the two things we shout the loudest before each task, “Discipline” and “Speed” are the two things that we lack the most right now. Talking and moving around seems to be our biggest vices, as we can’t seem to comprehend the position of attention. But, we are confident that we can put it behind us especially with the help of letters and good news from home to fill our minds and help us get squared away. The Chaplain greets us with current events and headline news each week. Already we have come a long way from where we were when we arrived but we have a long, long way to go until we fully transition into a company that excels in teamwork, leadership, and most importantly, one that lives the Coast Guard Core Values of “Honor, Respect, and Devotion to Duty.”
A new day begins… This morning started off exceptionally easy (for the first five minutes) as our Company Commander did not wake us up with what seems to be our usual incentive training session for moving slow, or what not. Instead we awoke to a quieter, calmer voice with orders to line up in our marching formation. Our steady paced march was a warm up for a short run on the track. A few hours later we found ourselves in the gym for a work out that included weight training and cycling. When noon chow came around (lunch) we were ready to eat. After chow, little did we know the fun was about to begin. Nervous recruits did what nervous recruits do best… mess up! And messing up only encourages our Company Commanders to do what they do best, “encourage” us to do better! The day quickly fell apart for Yankee, as we continue to blindly lead the blind. All we need to do as we close week two of training is learn to move fast, and work, think , and move as a team, oh and listen to our Company Commanders!
Saturday of week Ø2 is hard. We ended today with sore muscles and crammed full brains. So far, this has been one of the hardest days for us here in Cape May; we worked our bodies to what felt like the physical breaking point. Amidst all of the madness of the day, we had a chance to meet our Company Mentor who talked with us, and helped answer some questions we had about our time here thus far, and what to expect in the weeks to come. The day ended as it usually does, everyone tired, ready to hit the rack, and with the option for everyone to participate in a prayer. We look forward to much needed rest and divine hours tomorrow.
Week Ø2 humbled us and reveled to us faults both individually and as a team. For some, these faults are physical, for others attitude or motivation. We had our swim test this week, and the handful of us that did not pass will be attending remedial swim at Ø53Ø each morning Monday thru Friday. Speaking of remedial instruction we have received much of it this week including remedial rack making, sounding off, classroom procedures, which is helping to whip even the worst of us into shape. Putting our rack together one item at a time takes more out of you that you would expect. Not only do we have these physical hurdles to endure, we have to overcome mentally, as we struggle to pay attention to all the little details (which seem to matter the most) and follow directions. We learned very quickly that there are remedial instructions for this too! We have had to have remedial instruction on signing out of the company, slashing our zeros, and writing in capital block letters because some us can’t seem to get this…
We still have several weaknesses but have been told that there are some things that we are doing well. We are trying to learn and overcome, prevail and win. It is hard, for most of us this is the hardest thing we have ever been through, but we can’t quit, and won’t stop until we are standing there at graduation, shining, knowing that we gave it all we had.
Until next time,
YANKEE-181
We can’t believe it has been over a week since we arrived here to begin recruit training. We have been going non-stop since we arrived with work outs in the gym, classroom lessons, and trying to obtain some sort of military bearing. Our bad habits of our previous lives seem to get in the way but our Company Commanders make sure that we receive plenty of incentive to get it right. I am sure that by now they are beyond frustrated that the two things we shout the loudest before each task, “Discipline” and “Speed” are the two things that we lack the most right now. Talking and moving around seems to be our biggest vices, as we can’t seem to comprehend the position of attention. But, we are confident that we can put it behind us especially with the help of letters and good news from home to fill our minds and help us get squared away. The Chaplain greets us with current events and headline news each week. Already we have come a long way from where we were when we arrived but we have a long, long way to go until we fully transition into a company that excels in teamwork, leadership, and most importantly, one that lives the Coast Guard Core Values of “Honor, Respect, and Devotion to Duty.”
A new day begins… This morning started off exceptionally easy (for the first five minutes) as our Company Commander did not wake us up with what seems to be our usual incentive training session for moving slow, or what not. Instead we awoke to a quieter, calmer voice with orders to line up in our marching formation. Our steady paced march was a warm up for a short run on the track. A few hours later we found ourselves in the gym for a work out that included weight training and cycling. When noon chow came around (lunch) we were ready to eat. After chow, little did we know the fun was about to begin. Nervous recruits did what nervous recruits do best… mess up! And messing up only encourages our Company Commanders to do what they do best, “encourage” us to do better! The day quickly fell apart for Yankee, as we continue to blindly lead the blind. All we need to do as we close week two of training is learn to move fast, and work, think , and move as a team, oh and listen to our Company Commanders!
Saturday of week Ø2 is hard. We ended today with sore muscles and crammed full brains. So far, this has been one of the hardest days for us here in Cape May; we worked our bodies to what felt like the physical breaking point. Amidst all of the madness of the day, we had a chance to meet our Company Mentor who talked with us, and helped answer some questions we had about our time here thus far, and what to expect in the weeks to come. The day ended as it usually does, everyone tired, ready to hit the rack, and with the option for everyone to participate in a prayer. We look forward to much needed rest and divine hours tomorrow.
Week Ø2 humbled us and reveled to us faults both individually and as a team. For some, these faults are physical, for others attitude or motivation. We had our swim test this week, and the handful of us that did not pass will be attending remedial swim at Ø53Ø each morning Monday thru Friday. Speaking of remedial instruction we have received much of it this week including remedial rack making, sounding off, classroom procedures, which is helping to whip even the worst of us into shape. Putting our rack together one item at a time takes more out of you that you would expect. Not only do we have these physical hurdles to endure, we have to overcome mentally, as we struggle to pay attention to all the little details (which seem to matter the most) and follow directions. We learned very quickly that there are remedial instructions for this too! We have had to have remedial instruction on signing out of the company, slashing our zeros, and writing in capital block letters because some us can’t seem to get this…
We still have several weaknesses but have been told that there are some things that we are doing well. We are trying to learn and overcome, prevail and win. It is hard, for most of us this is the hardest thing we have ever been through, but we can’t quit, and won’t stop until we are standing there at graduation, shining, knowing that we gave it all we had.
Until next time,
YANKEE-181
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