Change of Responsibility (AIT - Fort Gordon) Day 57

This morning we again didn’t have PT because of the upcoming ceremony. Now let me stop here for a second and discuss the army’s priorities. Right before we took our final exam for CCNA2 (a pretty demanding class and test) the class asked the instructor if we could come in early the day of the test to do some extra studying. The instructor thought this was a great idea, but when she ran it by the 1st sergeant he said PT is very important and he wouldn’t want us to miss it. Now fast forward a few days... we have now missed 2 days of PT because of our 1st sergeant’s change of responsibility ceremony. No big deal.

We marched over to Centurion Field and then were released for breakfast. When we formed back up we practiced singing two of the songs that we will be singing (The Army Song and The Signal Corps March). I guess we weren’t sounding too well in rehearsal the day before. We stood around and waited...and waited. At least this was first thing in the morning (8:30), so it wasn’t getting too hot yet. The ceremony was for our 1st sergeant who is leaving and another is taking over as 1st sergeant. We did a lot of standing at parade rest and attention (keep in mind that when at either of these positions you cannot move at all - the guy in front of me actually got stung by a bee and was able to keep still during the sting!), listened to speeches, sang our songs, and then marched off while doing some loud cadence. I think we all looked pretty good and we sure as hell sounded good when we were marching off. Even our platoon sergeants said it was the best they have ever witnessed. 

After the ceremony PFC Metal and I took off and headed straight to the IET center for our morning nap. Our main goal was to get away from Charlie company asap. You never know what will happen to you if you hang around there too long, most likely they will have you cleaning toilets or some other crappy job. It was awesome and amazing all in one. I really look forward to those naps each morning LOL. After resting up we headed over to eat lunch and then school.

We heard today that someone in Charlie actually went AWOL. I didn’t actually know the guy because he came after I moved over to RBK. Pretty crazy, I thought all that would be done once basic is finished. This place can be pretty crappy too though, just in a different way.

Overheard Quote: “Only 38 more hours until I can have a beer” (A private in formation before the ceremony started)

Rehearsal Day (AIT - Fort Gordon) Day 56

Had to wake up at 4:15 this morning even though we were not going to be doing PT. We had to be in formation in our ACUs and we had to get all our cleaning duties done before the formation. Once we were all accounted for we marched over to Centurion Field which is right next to the Charlie barracks. After arrival there, we stood for an hour doing nothing...absolutely nothing.

We finally started the rehearsal and ran through it twice before we were released to go eat breakfast. After breakfast PFC Metal and I walked over to the IET center and waited for it to open. Once it opened we assumed our positions and took a nice nap until lunch time. I’m starting to really like this IET center. 

We ate lunch and went to class. Today starts Windows Server 2008. We went through some slides and a practical exercise of installing and some configuring of some basic services.

Ate dinner and then marched back to RBK. Took a long shower and kicked back and relaxed the rest of the night. Today was a pretty good day.

Overheard Quote: “False motivation is better than no motivation” (Our command sergeant major during the rehearsal telling everyone we need to sound off better.)

Test Day (AIT - Fort Gordon) Day 55

This morning sergeant Kent decided since we didn’t run yesterday that we should run today...and run we did. In sergeant Kent fashion we found hills and run up them. At least I’m feeling better now. Even though the run was pretty tough, I wasn’t coughing and hacking all over the place.

We got on the bus to head to class and when we got there we just headed over to the IET center since our class doesn’t start until noon (making sure we didn’t go by Charlie company - you never want to be seen without something to do or else they will find something for you to do) I could get used to this schedule! Once we got in the IET center me and a number of us just sat down and took naps. 

We woke from our naps and went to lunch at 11:00, then class at noon. Today is test day, our Windows Vista class will soon be over. The test was completely hands on. It included installing Vista and setting up some users and groups as well as some other minor stuff. I’m a Mac guy and I think I could have done this test in my sleep. I scored 100% along with about two thirds of the class. The entire class passed though which is the important part.

After class we were informed that everyone in Charlie company and in software classes will have to attend a “changing of responsibility” ceremony. That is just great. So after dinner we had to go rehearse for the upcoming ceremony. So instead of heading back to RBK we had to stand in the sun in formation. We listened to what was going to happen and went back and forth from attention to parade rest multiple times. An hour and 15 minutes later we were able to head off to RBK.

We found out that we also have another rehearsal tomorrow morning instead of PT, that might not be too bad... I need to give my legs some rest as I hear we are having another run day tomorrow at RBK with sergeant Kent.

Overheard Quote: “I can’t believe how much this place sucks” (I heard this from an MOS-T talking about Fort Gordon at lunch as he was getting up to leave)