Over the next couple of weeks, we did more strength training, more knowledge building, but it never seemed to end. We could all taste the graduation day, being that we knew it was so close. We didn’t know what day of the month it was or when graduation was, but we knew it was near because we were back in MCRD San Diego, in phase three. From my knowledge, boot camp has changed slightly since I was there, and that the week of the Crucible about week 9 and not 11 like it is now. This is when we would start getting our ‘United States Marine Corps’ tags put on our digital uniform. This is also when we would start getting fit for our graduation uniforms, known as Service Alphas and Service Charlies. Mainly what was focused on during this time was the graduation ceremony and the many hours of marching that we would get to do in front of all our families.
To backtrack a little, there was a recruit appointed to be knowledge recruit and the writer for the platoon, whenever something needed to be done, and this position was titled the Lead Scribe. About the time that phase three started, the Lead Scribe got fired from his position for screwing something up. The entire platoon was put at a test to see who knew the general and medical knowledge the best, and this person would be the new Lead. Somehow I was the winner of this and to tell you the truth, I cannot remember what I was required to do in this position but to keep a clean and updated dry erase board for the platoon. I got to be in charge of the medical training events and general knowledge events. I was also instructed to be a pass/fail grader during the final testing event in the medical knowledge stage, which was for the entire company, not just my platoon. In the long run, I got no recognition for this; it was just something you got to do. There we many other titles throughout each platoon such as the guide, squad leaders, and a few others.
The last few weeks were long days and nights, as well as little sleep. This was to make sure that we were 110% ready for graduation so that all the families could witness what has been to their brothers, sons, fathers, and more.
One of the days of the final week, we were told what our official MOS (job) would be and where we would be going after basic training was completed. I was told I was going into the air wing defense program which training for that was located in 29 Palms, California. We also called this place 29 Stumps because there was not a single palm tree there, but that is for a different blog entry. Also for another blog entry, this time in 29 Palms did not go over very well and I would not end up doing this MOS
February 2nd, 2006 had finally arrived, the day before graduation but this was also family day. We did have a ceremony here in front of all our families, but it was nothing like what was to bed held the following day. The reason this was called family day was because after everything was done, we got to actually see and be with our families for a little while before we had to go back to our squad bays. I got to show them around the different parts of base for a little while, which almost gave me a complete different perception of the base. I cannot remember how long we got with our family but we rested that night knowing that we would be going home with them the next day.
The day was finally here and it was graduation day. We marched around the parade deck, which felt like a couple dozen times, listened to some recognition announcements of some outstanding recruits, and then conducted our graduation ceremony. This lasted hours and once it was done, we all got to go back to our squad bays, grab all of our gear, get our box from day one, and find our families again so we could leave. During this time I got to take my parents to meet my drill instructor. One of them, Sergeant Tyson, was actually relieved of duty from being a drill instructor for hurting a recruit, but he was still there and he was one of the first people I introduced to my parents. Most ask why I would introduce this person, the kill hat of our platoon to my family. The reason is because if he didn’t kill us day in and day out, we would not be who we were at graduation or as successful. I appreciated this drill instructor just as much as any other, if not more. After that I went on to introduce our senior drill instructor to my family, whom was a French African American. Nothing at all wrong with who he was but he really was proud of this because he spoke like twelve languages, not including English, was very physically fit and smarter than anyone could imagine. I mention this because this is what you imagine a Marine as. This was a stellar and outstanding Marine and others strive to be like him in the Corps.
I was not able to locate any other drill instructors to talk to but after we were done, we went back to their hotel, grabbed all their belongings and I booked it off base faster than I ever wanted to move in my life. I honestly just wanted off this base, not to get away but to really get far from the hectic three months that we just experienced as possible. When we finally got to the airport, and I was still in uniform, it was not long before I was asleep on the plane while headed back up to Portland. I would get to be home for about ten days before it was time to head back down to Camp Pendleton for more training before MOS school. This part of training was combat training. This would be the start of another experience of trying to escape, and this time, I mean actually trying to escape!
No comments:
Post a Comment