Back In Business!

Hey, how's everybody doing?

Sorry for the long delay in posting. I got back home Aug. 1st and took a month off to chill with the family. Got back to work about 3 weeks ago & it's been a little nuts so no time to drop by. Hope y'all are still hovering about out there & having fun!

I had a kick ass (and BIZARRE!) time during my IET into the US Army. It was a great experience and I'm really glad I did it, but I'd be lying if I didn't say there were days where I was sayin': "What the FUCK where you thinking?" BCT was tough on this old body at first - particularly the knees. It is one of God's grand jokes that as we get older, the primary joints for moving us about to stay healthy become progressively less capable of moving! That God - he's one funny SOB! The worst part was being sick as a dog almost the entire time. I had one hell of a nasty URI (Upper Respiratory Infection. I have to type it out, cuz The Wife keeps yelling at me to stop using acronyms for every third word I speak! What can I say babe, it's the price of being in the Army and Medical fields!) that hung on until the week before I graduated. It was so bad that I couldn't lay down for more than an hour at a time before I'd wake up hacking and coughing. Let me tell ya: when all you get is 4-5 hours of sleep (on good days!) waking up like that does NOT make you a happy camper! Anyway, I'm back now & doing my monthly drills with my NJARNG unit. I figure the best way to get back into the swing here is to bore you all with my endless stories of my Army adventures! If they get too tedious, please let me know and I'll lay off a bit . . .

So many stories to tell that I don't know where to begin! Hmmm . . . probably at the beginning, yes? :-)

Well, here's the initial tale of my entry into Big Green. As you can imagine I didn't get a lot of sleep the night before I left home. The Wife and The Boy were a little upset, and we were up pretty late. I got about 2 hours of sleep. I left with the recruiter and went to MEPS, where I spent a few hours processing, then went to a motel for the night, where I spent hours on the phone with the family. I had to be up at 0300 to catch the bus back to MEPS, so I got no sleep at all that night. The next day was a repeat of my medical in-processing, getting orders cut and catching the plane to Atlanta, then a plane to Columbia, SC and lastly a bus out to Ft. Jackson. We got into base at a little after 2300 hours and figured we'd get bunks and catch a few hours sleep before we started processing through Reception. Hah! Welcome to the Army dumb-ass!! We started the moment we got off the bus; there were drill sergeants waiting for us! We spent the night filling out paperwork, getting uniforms (they made us change into PT's - shorts & t-shirts) and standing in lines until 0330. They then told us we were getting bunks, so they formed us up outside (it was 17 degrees!) in only the PT's and proceeded to let us stand there until 0530, at which time they told us there were no bunks available and it was time to start the day anyway. We hit chow (an adventure in itself) then spent the entire day and night being poked, prodded, stabbed with needles, and screamed at by DS's and civilians alike. We kept at it until 0230 the following morning. That meant that I had gone without sleep for something like 80 hours (if my math is correct, which it prolly ain't!) Let me tell ya folks, unless you been through it you can't even imagine what kind of pain comes with that level of tired! We had people breaking down, passing out, screaming, crying . . . hell, we even had one girl have a complete mental collapse. They had to carry her out and they took her to mental health at the hospital. she was STILL there when I graduated BCT! They gave us two full hours of sleep that night and it was the most welcome rest I ever had. I sat on the edge of the bunk and don't even remember lying down. I certainly remember the screaming DS who came into the bay, kicking bunks and screaming at 0430 though!

That boys and girls was my intro into the US Army, circa January 28th, 2009. Yup, it truly sucked but I stand by my original statement that I had a great time. You'll see why eventually, I think . . .

Stay tuned for more of my rambling idiocies!!!!

Later!