A Sad Day (AIT - Fort Gordon) Day 76

Walking on the Barton Field track on the way to the IET center

on our last day with the software schedule.

Last night I had hall guard shift. During last weekend I guess the Command Sergeant Major came in and asked the soldiers on hall guard what the 3 general orders were. They were unable to tell him and he was not pleased. So the first thing we had to do on our shift was recite the 3 general orders to the sergeant on desk before we started our shift. We then had to put up signs with the general orders on them in all the stalls. Now every time a soldier takes a dump they can stare at the 3 general orders and let them sink in. 

PT this morning was muscle failure along with some extra core workouts. We did a lot of push-ups & sit-ups as well as the “4 for the core” exercises. Today’s muscle failure was not as bad as last weeks. I think we did a few less sets all together, but it was still a good workout.

Today is a sad day...it’s the last day of our software block. This means we will be back to the normal 8-5 schedule of school. No more leisurely breakfasts or long naps at the IET center. We tested out of Solaris Admin. I took the test and was the first one finished, I had to wait outside for about 10 minutes or so before another person came out (I needed a battle buddy to go to the break area and wait). We then had to wait about 2 hours while everyone finished and the tests were all graded. We then went back in and were told our scores. There were two people that got 100%. The instructor asked the class who they thought were the ones. Everyone said me and another guy that sits next to me. The instructor said “good guess, but neither of them scored 100%”. Bummer. He ended up telling the class who it was and then started calling everyone else up to get their scores. I ended up making a stupid mistake (I actually misread a question and scheduled a cron job an extra day), so I scored a 96.6%. Still not too bad. Next class is VOIP (Voice Over IP with switches).

After that we ate dinner and marched back to RBK. There were rumors that we were going to take our Phase V+ test here at RBK, but so far we haven’t heard anything. I’m hoping we will be able to take it at some point this week. It won’t make much of a difference this weekend because I should have a pass for the four day weekend.

the wife

Babe, I love the photo to this entry. Muah.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010 - 12:31 AM

Sergeant Negative (AIT - Fort Gordon) Day 71

Today some guys were late to the RBK formation, so the sergeant
put them in the front leaning rest position. I had to snap a 
quick picture...LOL

Here at RBK we have sergeants from various companies rotate through. Usually they are all pretty cool while they are here. There is one, I believe he’s from Delta company (I’ll call him Sgt Negative) who is just a total jerk all the time. He happens to be our sergeant on desk today. He is also our PT sergeant this morning. All he does is tell us all how crappy we are, how we are all shit bags, how he’s going to kick us all out of RBK and send us back to the company. This goes on and on all morning and he wonders why nobody is motivated. This dirtbag is just a jerk 100% of the time. I can honestly say I hate this guy. A crappy way to start the day. I think he gave me a headache and it lasted all freakin’ day!

Found out this morning that there was an issue with my leave request. I had to change some info on the address and I also attached the wrong LES form. (again why they need our pay info is pretty stupid). While at the IET center I was able to log in and print the correct one off really quick. I had it all ready and emailed it to myself before we left, so all I had to do was log on to my email and print it off. We have to pay by the minute when using these machines. We stopped by the company on the way to lunch and I was able to get it all to our platoon sergeant. Everything should be squared away now for the 4 day weekend coming up. I can’t wait!!!

In school today we started Solaris admin. It is pretty much a lot of the stuff we did in CLI, but using a GUI to do the same things. We also went over some of the other admin type stuff like setting up a user. I think admin will be much easier than CLI.

All week there have been rumors that we will be phasing up tomorrow. This is actually a week early than we are supposed to according to the policy letter, so I’m not getting my hopes up. It would be so nice though because there is a UFC fight on Saturday. We have to be back in our beds by 1:00AM on the weekends as phase Vs, but we don’t have to be back at all as phase V+. That would mean we wouldn’t have to miss the end of it.

Overheard Quote: “They called us turds” (Our MOS-T sergeant in class talking about what his drill sergeants called them in basic training)

A Day of Reflection (AIT - Fort Gordon) Day 64

Wow...today is day 64 of AIT. Day 64 of basic training was graduation day. It’s kind of hard to believe that I’ve now been in AIT as long as basic training. Time at AIT definitely seems to be moving faster than basic. There are definitely benefits of AIT over basic. It’s nice to be able to enjoy my food at a decent pace and talk to people at the table we’re eating at. It’s also very nice to be able to talk to people on the phone and have internet access. I don’t feel so cut off from the world like I did in basic. We don’t have the drill sergeants yelling at everyone all the time. 

AIT is still no picnic. AIT is still a training environment and as SGT Kent stated appropriately enough today “training is supposed to suck, that way when you get to your unit you’ll appreciate the liberties you get”. We have sergeants who like to yell at times, but more often just make up stupid rules. It seems that most of the sergeants here don’t give a damn about the soldiers. Don’t get me wrong there are a few who care for the soldiers, but most seem to just look for things to pick on the soldiers about. It can get pretty annoying at times. I still can’t believe I have to be escorted to the bathroom when in school. We also have to have an NCO anytime we have a formation crossing a road because they don’t trust us to cross by ourselves (I’ve made it 36 years so far without getting hit by a car). We can’t go anywhere without a battle buddy and we need a little permission slip anytime we go away from the barracks. It also sucks living in barracks because you are at the mercy of the sergeant’s whims. If they are having a bad day, they can make you come out for formations at anytime for any reason. Another reason I can’t wait to live with my wife in a house far away from barracks once I get a normal post.

Speaking of stupid formations...today everyone had to come out at 19:30 from the barracks for a formation. We had to listen to how 4 people got caught away from the company area without a pass. When an NCO starts talking it just goes on and on stating the same thing over and over. 

At times this place can get me down. I wouldn’t go so far as saying I get depressed, but without having anytime to go home and “recharge” with my wife and family can be draining. There is a lot of negativity here and it can wear on you. 

Today also happens to be my birthday. Usually a day of fun and happiness for me. I always look forward to hanging out with family and friends and at least going out for a drink or having a special dinner. Here it was just me and I felt pretty alone. I am 37 now and I’m usually the oldest in all the classes, sometimes older than the instructors. I can feel the aches and pains in my body from all the intense workouts that we have been doing. This is the first time in my life that I’ve felt old. Strange.

We tested out of Exchange Server 2007 today. I got a 95 on the test. It showed that I missed one part of the exam which I know I did. I had to show the instructor on the virtual machine that it was indeed done correctly, then he changed my score to a 100%. Next up is Sun Solaris CLI (Command Line Interface).

mom

Sorry you had to be so far away on your birthday. We will have to celebrate even harder on you next one to make up for it. Happy Birthday, miss you, mom

Thursday, August 26, 2010 - 06:38 PM