Training Day - (Germany) Day 357

This morning I headed into work and as what has started to become the norm…I sat in a conference room and read. I did this until lunch time and then headed to meet my wife for lunch at the shopping center food court. My boss happened to come in and ended up sitting with us to chat for a while. After lunch I headed back and read some more, until I got a call from my boss telling me I needed to call our company XO (executive officer). So after a few tries I finally get through to him and he asks me if I've completed certain training (opsec training and social media training). I tell him that I'm not sure…I've done all kinds of training and can't remember specific ones. He then tells me he's going to email me a link so I can check…I remind him that he's going to have to email it to my personal account because I'm not allowed on any computers here. He then tells me to go use the library computers and if I haven't done the training to go ahead and finish it.

So I head off to the library, which is actually on PHV. I log in and find that one of them I did 2 years ago, and the other has no record. I do them both and get certificates printed out. By this time it's a little after 1600, so I head back to my house to scan the certificates and email them to him. I can't make it to PT, but I find out that nobody else did either because there was a company Christmas party today that everyone had to go to in Landstuhl. I read my email and the XO replied back (after I already started the training) telling me to go ahead and do it tomorrow so I can attend the party. LOL…I didn't even hear about the party, and I don't think I was invited anyway. There is no way I want to spend any more time than I have to with our first sergeant who already hates me.

All of this crazy stuff that has happened to me has really altered my mood. I don't sleep very well, I am alienated from everyone I used to work with, I feel like crap every day, and I don't do much of anything at work each day. One part of me wants to just get this all over with, I don't care what happens…the other part wants me to go to JAG and make sure I keep all my rights. Honestly I've tried calling JAG quite a few times, but nobody ever answers the phone. I just keep plugging though each day knowing that it's one day closer to getting out. I really hate my life right now…I hate being depressed. Christmas is usually a really fun time of year, but not this year. Hell…my wife actually bought all her own presents and wrapped them so they're under the tree. I just can't get into the spirit…it's all I can do to get up and get ready for work each day. I can hardly bring myself to smile anymore. I am glad my wife is here with me or else I'd be in a deeper depression. I hate feeling like this, but it seems there is nothing that changes it.

POR (AIT - Fort Gordon) Day 120

I had hall guard last night from 2:30 to 3:30. This shift wasn’t bad, it was the fact that I just couldn’t get back to sleep after the shift, so I just laid in bed awake until 4:30 when it was time to get up. I used to never have a problem sleeping before, but since AIT I’ve had issues now and then. It sucks because getting enough sleep each night is vital. I need to be able to stay awake and pay attention in class during the day and if I don’t sleep well the night before it makes paying attention difficult.

As mentioned yesterday I did not have PT this morning. In the morning formation they read off a list of people who need to attend the POR - (Preparation for Overseas Replacement). This was the first official announcement that we had to attend this meeting. We marched over to the Charlie DFAC and ate breakfast, then waited at Charlie company to march to the POR. The sergeant on desk ended up telling everyone just to battle buddy over to the POR because she just had surgery and couldn’t march us...fine with me.

We arrived at the POR and it lasted half of the day. There was a lot of information dealt out. It turned out to be really bad news for me though and everyone else that has dependents and is heading to Korea. You can take your dependents to Korea with a command sponsorship, but it’s full right now. Yes...Korea is full. They can still send soldiers over there, but there is no more room for dependents. Why they send married soldiers instead of single soldiers I don’t know. Why they don’t build more housing for dependents I don’t know. All I do know is that I’m pretty pissed off and depressed. Yes I knew before joining that there was a good chance I would be away from my family for a period of time. I just thought I would have some time with my family before getting shipped out. I’ve been through basic and AIT separated from my family, now I find out I’ll get two weeks after AIT to spend with my family and then I’ll be away for 12 months. This really sucks! Today was probably the most depressing day I’ve had since joining the army.

I arrived back in class after lunch and we reviewed for the upcoming test tomorrow by doing an exercise that basically had us do all the steps we’ve learned previously. I don’t think the test will be too difficult, I just hope nobody asks me what I learned in this TIMS class.

Our normal group left for the RFAC for dinner once again. The food there is so much better than the Charlie DFAC. I also had a berry pie with ice cream all over it (eating a lot out of depression I guess). We then headed over to the library to wait for the RBK formation to arrive. 

I then talked to my wife for a while about everything that’s going on and our future. Nobody is very happy tonight.

Zombieland (AIT - Fort Gordon) Day 18

Last night I decided to watch Zombieland through my Netflix account (love that!). I've heard a number of people say it was a good movie and I just never got around to watching it. So I watched it and I'll have to admit that I enjoyed it. Of course it had lots of zombies and violence and blood, but what surprised me was that the movie was actually about finding love….oh and also Twinkies. 

I had about 10 minutes left in the movie and all of a sudden I hear yelling outside our door. All phase IV people had to go out in the hall with their ID cards for accountability. What the hell, it was 23:00. Grrrr…had to pause the movie, get accounted for, then finish it up so I could go to sleep.

One of the guys in our room last night never came back after leaving sometime during the day. Guys came in and turned on our lights sometime after 1:00 AM looking for him. (something I also hate about living in a room with all these other people) He ended up showing up before our morning formation and the sergeant was a little pissed. He did a lot of yelling and the guy had to do some extra duty, but I guess he didn't get into any real trouble.

We had an early formation at 8:00 instead of 8:30 like the rest of the weekend. Nobody actually knew until a few minutes before, so there was a lot of hustle going on. I was actually already up, I was planning on eating before what I thought was our 8:30 formation. Luckily we didn't have any duties after formation, so I was able to head to the DFAC then.

The rest of the day was pretty mellow. Hall guard shifts, studying, and copying the stupid policy letters. I was able to finish that, which was one of my goals this weekend. I also worked out a bit in our room. Pretty much a laid back day all in all. Nice to have a day off from all the BS.

I had lunch again with the depressed guy to see where his head was at. Also because PFC Metal has his wife here, so he took off and is eating with her. I tried to let the depressed guy know that this isn't going to last forever and if this MOS isn't something he wants, he should see if he can get re-classed into something else. He is only in the reserves, so once he's out of school he'll have it pretty easy. He just has to make it through AIT.

Recall formation (the last formation of the weekend) was long and hot. During this formation a sergeant usually walks through the ranks and checks attendance as well as shaves and haircuts. I made sure to shave for the second time today a half hour before formation because of this. I probably need a haircut, but they didn't say anything this time. It took about 50 minutes for everyone to get checked and for mail to get passed out. This whole time everyone just stands around at attention, parade rest…or as some people do "parade pretty". Not only was formation long, but it was also a little tough. Because of the four day weekend there were a number of family members and kids in the company area waiting for their soldier to get done so they could visit for a little longer. Makes me miss my wife and kids even more. I was able to talk to them all today, but that still isn't as good as seeing them in person.

One guy in our room (the guy who got into trouble today) has to actually move out today because of the classroom integrity deal I spoke about earlier. He's not too happy. I hear we'll be getting new people from Bravo and Delta company. There are a number of people trying to jockey for room changes before they get here. So we may end up with more people out of our room and new people in it.

Overheard Quote: "Middle aged black women find me attractive" (A private sharing some personal information with me and PFC Metal)

Independence Day (AIT - Fort Gordon) Day 17

Last night (very late) two of our roommates came back after a night out on the town. They just turned Phase V so they now can go off base and drink. They came back pretty lit up with stories of milfs, chunky women, girls from our platoon and much more. It sounded like they had a pretty interesting night to say the least. After they settled down I was able to take a short nap before my hall guard shift at midnight. The guy who was supposed to be with me never showed up. I did my two hours and then woke up the next shift and slept in until 8:00 AM.

We celebrated Independence day with a crap load of formations. We had formations at 8:30, 11:00, 13:00, 14:00, and 18:00. Are you kidding me? It really sucks when we have to keep coming back and forming up over and over again. We had a mandatory BBQ at 14:00. During this time they fired up the BBQ and some soldiers manned it. The rest of us were required to stay outside or in the day room only. I decided not to partake and went with another guy to the DFAC. I've had enough cheeseburgers and hotdogs lately and just wasn't feeling it. We were also required to wear ACUs the whole time and it was warm, so eating dinner in the air conditioned DFAC sounded nice.

The guy I went with to the DFAC is having some issues here and being in the army in general. He's really depressed and wants to leave. He is 27 and has a child at home. I spent the whole time talking with him about these issues. I don't think he'll make it, just because he has no desire to be here. He actually hates it here. I think he feels like I felt a few days ago when I had a bad day, except his never get better. I feel for him. He's also having a tough time grasping all the concepts and stuff in class. He doesn't have any background with computers and he's falling behind in the class. Basic training and AIT can be a tough and lonely place. Especially if you don’t have a very good support system.

I had hall guard duty again at 18:00 and this time I had a guy actually show up to do it with me. We had to do a bunch a cleaning earlier, so everything was already done. We both just sat on the floor of the hall with our laptops "guarding it". My butt eventually went numb…the dangers of guarding a hall!

Overheard Quote: "What should I think when my husband tells me I love you like a stripper loves dollar bills?" (One of the female privates talking to another)

The Real Arrival (AIT - Fort Gordon) Day 3

The Charlie Company Logo

I finally have access to my computer for a few days, so I thought I would give my wife a break and add some updates myself. Until she gets back home and receives some of my previous posts there may be a few days missing

Yesterday I didn't even blog...just relaxed and enjoyed the day with my wife. Today I spent every last minute with her that I could. She dropped me off at my new company. Watching her leave was tough. She was pretty emotional because we will not be seeing each other for who knows how long and also because while she was here with me she found out her grandpa died. After she left me alone with this new company I wonder why the hell did I join the army. I hated leaving her. I was able to video chat with my kids, but I hate not being able to see them in person.

Ft. Gordon is so unorganized. Nobody seems to know what's going on. All the new guys just kind of wander around with lost looks on their faces. We had formation at 16:00 and it's nothing like Ft. Benning. Everyone here is pretty lax. I guess on Sundays they do a shave check at the formation, the sergeant couldn't believe that I shaved this morning. I'll have to remember to shave twice on Sundays...that sucks. 

I unloaded my bags into my locker. I'm still going to have to do some more organizing to get it in order, but all my stuff is out of the bags.

We have orientation tomorrow all day. I know I'll get into the swing of things, but right now I'm lonely and depressed.

Anonymous
 

Hang int here, it will be over soon and you and your sweetie will be reunited. Remember she has lots of family here with hugs so she can make it thru. You did this for a reason and it will all be over and okay soon.

Love you, mom
 

Wednesday, June 30, 2010 - 02:39 AM


ryan13B
 

thank you for this, im going to Fort Benning on may 31. this is a big help. thank you.
 

Tuesday, February 22, 2011 - 09:58 AM


Brandon
 

Glad I could help. It's still an adventure every day, although not as crazy as basic training was. An experience that I'll remember for ever.
 

Tuesday, February 22, 2011 - 09:34 PM