Making It Through

So I'm about half way through A school now. We had Math and Basic Electricity (BE) for the first 2 weeks. After that, Math was over and we just had BE. Then starting with the 3rd month we started Electronic Fundamentals (E Funds). Next there's Digital Electronics (Digital) and ICE (I don't know what it stands for) for the ET's and E Quip (that one either) for the EM's. When I got here, I had a roommate, but she's an MM; she graduated and moved into a "Petty Officer Suite". Those rooms are 1 person per room, 2 rooms to each bathroom.

The work is tough, but doable. When I'm feeling demotivated, I think about how lucky I am to be here and all the crap I've gone through to get here. Here, the Navy holds everyone to a higher standard than elsewhere in the Navy. I know how that sounds, but it's true. Sailors who are "de-nuked" go one (most of the time) to become outstanding sailors in other jobs. Everything here has to be perfect: grades, uniforms, room inspections, PFA scores, watches, cleaning...

Goose Creek, SC

It feels like it has been years, but I've finally made it to nuke school. I was nervous at first, but this place is so nice. Anyway, I'll get to that part later. You probably want to know how bootcamp was, huh? I really prefer not to think about it, so I won't volunteer many details. If you have a specific question, please ask and I'll answer. :)

Bootcamp was a 2 month long mind game. The RDCs (Recruit Division Commanders AKA the boss) spend the whole time messing with your head. The best advice I have is to be quiet and pay attention. The RDCs will tell you exactly what to do and there's always someone who does it incorrectly. Bootcamp would've been much easier if I had been able to pass the PFA before I left. Other than that, the most difficult part was learning to live with 79 other females. It's always loud after taps. Everything in your rack (bed) has to be folded and arranged in the rack specific way.

After I graduated bootcamp, I was in THU (Temporary Holding Unit) for a while because medical screwed up my medical record. So I had to get that straightened out, then wait for new orders to nuke school. heh :) The Navy's motto should be "Hurry up and wait." If you have to go to THU for any reason, just know life there isn't so bad. He had fun and there are usually some nice people there and there's certainly more freedom and less work than bootcamp. So be grateful! :)

THU has phases 1-3 for the "THUers" there. Each phase provides more freedoms, like getting to wear "civies" (civilian clothes) and more fun jobs, such as getting to pick up new recruits at the airport. That's especially fun; I got to do it once. A blast. :p I bought a laptop, along with a mobile hotspot and a bunch of movies and video games. While we did clean and stand watches, we still had lots of time on our hands.

Anyway, that's over and I'm at NNPTC (Navy Nuclear Power Training Command) now. I'm in "Indoc" (Indoctrination) and I'm an "Indocker". I'm just learning the rules and regulations of the base. It's much easier since I was in THU. Apparently the phases are the same Navy-wide. There's a lot of fun stuff to do around the base and there's always something going on at the MWR (Morale, Welfare, Recreation). My roommate and I went to see a free movie at the base theater the other weekend. There's also the bowling alley and a hobby car shop.

The rooms are great. There's a bunk bed with drawers under the bottom bunk, two nightstands, two armoires, and a whole closet. I share the room with one person and we share the bathroom with 2 people in the adjoining room. It's a big change from a compartment with 80 people. :)

I think I'm doing well with the adjustment. I haven't been late for muster and we did a mock PFA today and I passed! Looks like I'll be in Indoc at least another week, so I need to formulate some goals to improve myself, because I'm sure I'll consider this downtime when I start A school. ;)

Musings

I'm getting nervous. I suppose it's just the pessimist in me that's giving me this sense of impending doom. I just know something is going to go wrong.

Even so, I'm still preparing to leave. :P I'm going to give 2 weeks notice at work. They still don't know I'm joining the Navy. I feel kinda bad about that, cause I've gotten to know the people there and they're really nice. Plus, my supervisor there wants to train me to be a supervisor. Don't worry though! I'm so not staying there! The work is simply too mind-numbing.

I'm planning to pack up most of my stuff the last week before I leave and leave the boxes stacked up in my room.

I thought of some questions to ask my recruiter about the schedule the day I leave and what sort of things to bring. I've seen official lists of stuff to bring that are really long and most people say you'll have to mail back most of that stuff anyway. I guess then I'll just bring what I need to stay the night at the hotel near MEPS.

I can't wait to get my life started. :)

65 Days

It's now 65 days until I ship out to boot camp. I'm taking a vacation soon and I won't get back until after 60 days before I leave, so my 60 Day interview will be the day after I get back from vacation. That sucks because I'm really close to the weight limit, so I'll have to really watch what I eat. On the other hand, I've significantly increased my workouts and I've made lots of progress since I started. For example, I can now do 2 real pushups. Previously, I could only do a few of the knee ones. And I'm up to about 30 curlups in 2 minutes. The running is at about 22 minutes for the 1.5 mile run. That's not as good as it can be, but I'm still improving, so it's ok. :)

3 Months

I went through my stuff in the attic and got rid of most of it. You wouldn't believe all of the junk I've accumulated. So I don't exactly have stacks of 30 year old newspapers creating a maze through my living room, but it was a lot of stuff I never use and stuff I won't even miss when it's gone. I felt so much better after I got rid of all that stuff, like a weight had been lifted. Maybe it was cause I was actually out doing something. ;)

I discovered recently that people who are scheduled to leave mid- to late-December have their ship dates pushed forward so they all leave on the 15th or somewhere around there. And the Navy doesn't even let them know until a few weeks before they're supposed to leave. I talked to my recruiter just to be sure and she said since I leave so early (the 5th) that that won't happen to me. I wonder why the Navy doesn't just push the ship date ahead before they give the date to the recruit. I mean, they do the same thing every year. The ship dates get pushed forward because MEPS is closed from about the 15th of December to about the 2nd week of January. I wish I had a vacation like that. Anyway, then the recruits get to boot camp, but they have to stay in processing for much longer. They stagger the creation of divisions (training groups) so that in February, when they will graduate, there will still be a graduation each Friday, like normal. I understand that, but it would really suck to make plans for December, then get notice at the beginning of December that you have to leave earlier. Anyway, I guess they have a good reason for doing that to people. (I doubt it.)

I'm still very excited, but there's more nervousness mixed in recently. The closer my ship date gets, the more real this all seems. Am I really joining the military? Sometimes when I think about it, it seems so bizarre. I never would have done this when I was in high school, but I really wish I did.

Another weird thing: I'll be 31 when I get out. No, that's scary. I always thought I'd be married with a kid by then, but I squandered my early 20s and now they're long gone. So sad. I could've had a lot more fun.


Oh, and if you haven't had your fill of Navy stuff, check out the USS Nimitz Dry Dock podcasts.

4 Months

So I leave in 4 months. I'm starting to get really nervous. I just know something will happen to screw up my plans. Anyway, I've pretty much decided what I'm going to do about getting my stuff after boot camp. I think I'm going to sell my car before I leave because I won't need it and when I do need it, I probably won't get leave to come home and drive it to South Carolina, where my training is. I'll have my laptop and some comfy lounge clothes shipped to me after I get to South Carolina. Then I'll wait until I get my apartment for prototype to get the rest of my stuff, either by shipping it or by renting a U-Haul and driving it there. I would prefer the latter if I have enough leave. :)

I probably didn't ever explain the nuke program, did I? Well, here's a link in case you're interested. :)
https://www.cool.navy.mil/enlisted/rating_info_cards/nukepower.pdf

8 Months

Tomorrow will be 8 months until I leave for basic training. Waiting all of that time will be fine, but I'll hate to just wait through it. I'd like to use it for something. It seems kind of silly to take college classes before I get in, since they'll be paid for if I take them after I get in, but that's what most people do, it seems. I have a part time job where I'm getting about 35 hours a week right now and that keeps me fairly busy, but it's not fulfilling at all. So boring.

I'll have to buckle down and get in the groove of working out frequently and eating what I'm supposed to again. I've been slacking off recently, but that stops. I want to get fit ASAP so I can be ready if I get offered an earlier ship date.