Anywhere

Since my LS A school is only a month, I don't have long before I'll be filling out my dream sheet and heading off to my first duty station. I haven't figured out what I'm going to write. I have so many questions. Where can I go? Do I want overseas? Washington State or San Diego? Do I want a ship or a squadron? Is there something I can choose from other than those? What about Guam, Japan, Hawaii, London, Italy, Greece...? I could go on and on, but there's a character limit for this blog. :P

Anyway, I've been searching for answers to my questions concerning LS's and dream sheets and I've yet to find any. Whenever I ask anyone where I can go, they say "Anywhere." I know that's technically an answer, but it's a bit vague. I'd really like a list. Even though I didn't ever get to fill out a dream sheet as a nuke, it would've been a lot easier since there are only about 10 aircraft carriers. But you can order supplies and handle mail - really - anywhere.

I'm getting used to not having very much information before I make a decision. Before I joined the Navy, I was compelled to learn everything and plot out each possible outcome before I bought a jar of peanut butter. Now I'm telling the Navy where I'd like to live the next 3 years.

Sometimes I can't believe I'm actually in the Navy. The last couple of years have been tough, but they don't feel like my life. I look down at my uniform to try to remind myself that it's real and it's me. Is it odd that after over a year in the military it doesn't feel real yet? Maybe after I'm on a ship it'll (what's it supposed to do?) sink in...

Things here at NTTC (Naval Technical Training Command) in Meridian are much different than NNPTC in Goose Creek. I'm discovering what it's like to change commands and feel everything you've grown accustomed to being taken away and replaced with something foreign again. It almost feels like going back to boot camp. However, that could be because they pretty much treat me like someone who just got out of boot camp. I wish I had earned my crows at the end of nuke A school. At least then people could look at me in my unniform and tell I'm not straight out of boot camp. I didn't cut my hair because I thought people would be able to tell from that. I was wrong.

I suppose you're asking your computer monitor why it would matter to me that they thought I was from boot camp. Well, the sailors straight from boot camp are akin to puppies. They're still on what I called the "Boot Camp Grad High". They feel like they've reentered the world. They're eyes are big and everything makes them sparkle. They come here with just their seabags.They spend their boot camp money at the NEX and look forward to buying and wearing civilian clothes. They have so much energy. They run around and laugh loudly and do things. heh. I suppose I'm a bit jealous. Even though I haven't been on a ship like the Petty Officers in my class, I feel seasoned and jaded.

These damn Mississippi pine trees are wreaking extreme havoc on my allergies. I'm going to bed. I have much more to say about Meridian and the base here; maybe I'll write again tomorrow. To keep you until my next post, think about this: There are Marines here. And they do lots of pull ups.

Not a Nuke

It's been a while since I posted. I haven't been busy or anything. I've been in limbo and I didn't want to post until things were decided. So I was on T-Track (hold between A school and Power school) when I failed an official PFA. Apparently, this is grounds for being kicked out of the program. Yeah, right. The rules say it's 2, but apparently the Navy can arbitrarily decide to change the rules at whim. So they kicked me out of the program and I was sent to DTP.

DTP is where people go when they're getting out of the nuke program. Some of them are getting discharged and the others are getting other jobs. I'm getting another job. Despite what the Navy did to me concerning the nuke program, I still want to be a part of it. So I was in DTP for a couple of weeks before I got a job and I'll be leaving for my new A school soon. I'll be an LS (Logistics Specialist). In 2009 the SK(Storekeeper) and PC (Postal Clerk) rates were merged to make the LS rate. It's certainly not going to be as challenging (read interesting) as the nuke program, but it's a stable job and I'll still get all the stuff the Navy has to offer, like the benefits and travel.

When I got kicked out, I went through all the stages of grief:
1) Denial
2) Anger
3) Bargaining
4) Depression
5) Acceptance

I've accepted my new path in the Navy and I'm willing to give it my all. Oh, since I signed my new contract, I only have 4 years obligation instead of 6.