So after the 29 days, I decided to return to the ship on the 30th day morning.  I walked up the brow of the ship and onto the quarter deck, presented my ID and asked permission to come aboard.  Without hesitation the Officer of the Deck gave me permission to come aboard.

I was stunned because the officer of the deck did not know I was U.A.  I said to him, “Wait.  Don’t you know that I am U.A.?”  He looked at me for a second and with an embarrassed look on his face he said, “Oh!  Hold on!”  So he called downstairs to the Master at Arms and informed him that I was returning from being absent without authorization.

So after a couple minutes the Master at arms took me and began processing me.  He told me I was on restriction and not allowed to leave the ship.  I also had to report to the Chief’s Mess in the morning for a board meeting.

When you commit a violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice you basically receive an informal trial first.  Then if necessary you must have a meeting with the Executive Officer.  Finally if the charges are serious enough then you have a Captain’s Mass.

Cheifs Review Board – The meeting with the Chief’s were my first order of business.  You enter into their mess hall, and they will be sitting around a table and you must stand at parade rest.  Then they will read out what you are being charged with and after they will let you explain your reasons for your actions.

At the time I went to see the Chiefs I still had a really poor attitude.  I didn’t care about what happened and expected to be kicked out of the Navy.  So the morning of the review board I dressed in a wrinkled and painted up uniform.  I had lost all military bearing and was already a civilian in my mind.

As soon as I walked in and stood at parade rest they made me stand at attention.  They could feel my attitude right away.  These were hard core sailors.  They were the salty dogs and I was disgracing their Navy.  They shouted at me to stand at attention, then they read the charges.

“You are being charged with 29 days of Unauthorized Absence and 3 accounts of missing ships movement.”, the Senior Chief said.  “What do you have to say about this?”.  I don’t remember the exact words I used but they were not positive.  I basically told them that I had did it on purpse and wanted out of the Navy.

They, of course, did not like that answer and began pouring on the scare tactics.  One of them told me, “Do you realize how fast this ship can suddenly go to war??”.  I said no and he snapped his fingers and with an angry look on his face he said, “Just like that!”.  He said that if I would of left while at war it was possibly punishable by death.

So they kept asking me questions but I kept answering with the words “no and “yeah”, instead of “Yes Cheif” or “No Cheif”, etc.  This is considered disrespectful and it really pissed them off.  They got so mad that they told me to get the hell out of there.  They were very disgusted at my attitude. 

The Master at Arms took me a side and counciled me a bit.  I thought about the conversation I had with my dad while I was U.A.  I told him that

Whatever he said got to me because I remember suddenly changing my attitude and wanting to do things right.  In other words they were going to let me back in the talk to them if I showed respect.  They mentioned that the charges against me could be resolved right there and I may not have to talk to the XO or Captain.

I agreed to show respect this time and try to act more mature.  So I went back in and this time they told me that because the charges were so serious they had no choice but to send me to the XO.

So the rest fo the day I began to do some serious brainstorming.  I felt kind of ashamed of myself after the meeting with the Cheifs like as if I was better than that.  I thought a lot about what my father had said about me quitting and I began to change my attitude.  I talked more with the Master At Arms and decided I was going to make a change.  I decided I did not really want to quit and I wanted to see this thing through.

XOI – So the next day I got prepared to see the XO.  I took the time to make sure my uniform was squared away.  When I met the executive officers it was a much more formal ceremony.  I had to stand at attention at one of a table and he stood there and read the charges to me.  This time when he asked me what I had to say about the charges I said, “Sir, I made a huge mistake.  I am sorry for what I have done and I have a lot of growing up to do.”  He was shocked at what I said.  I could tell he saw right away that I was not trying to make excuses and he said, “Well….um…unfortunately these are serious charges and I have no choice but to send you to see the Captain.”  Just like the Cheifs told me.

Captain’s Mass – So I ended up going to Captain’s Mass that same day.  Again, I made sure my uniform was squared away and I went up to see the Captain.  This time there were quite a few people present.  There was the Captain, Master At Arms, the BM1, a couple other people from my division, two other officers, plus the XO.  So again he read the charges and asked me what I thought about them.  I said the same thing I told the XO.  He responded differently than the XO however.  He told me that he had faith in me and said he knows I will turn this around.

He also asked the other officers and shipmates their opinion of me and if they thought I was worth salvaging.  They said, I was a hard worker and was worth keeping in Navy.  So the Captain did not kick me out, instead he issued the following punishments:

45 Days restriction – This meant I could not leave the ship for 45 days unless special authorization was granted.  Sometimes they let restricted people go to the exchange to get items they needed.

45 Days Extra Duty - Each of the 45 days I had to do two hours of extra work at night.  This was on top of my regular 8 hours of work during the day.  Whatever division had some extra work they could use me to do it for them.  Very often it was some sort of cleaning task.

1/2 Months Pay For 2 Months – I had my pay cut in half for two months.  This sucked.

Reduction in Rank From E-2 to E-1 – Restricted Bust - He gave me a restricted bust on this charge.  This meant that for the next 6 months if I didn’t get into any trouble, the reduction in rank would not occur.  But if I did it would take effect right away.

So there it was.  I was busted but not kicked out.  I wasn’t too down about the punishments though.  I had become a new person right then and there.  I knew I was going to turn things around and I was going to change my reputation.  Many people did not like me at that time because I showed lack of respect for the Navy and had a bad attitude.  I had an uphill battle, but I had pride and ego on my side.

Being On Restriction – As you would imagine being on restriction was pretty boring.  Same routine day in and out.  We did go out to sea though during that time to the Virgin Islands.  It sucked because we went to St. Croix and I was not able to go on liberty there.  I just got to hear how nice it was.  I do regret seeing that place.  I don’t remember going anywhere else though.

Conclusion – Eventually I released from restriction and my pay went back to normal.  I didn’t get into any trouble so my rank stayed the same.  I was on my way to becoming E-3 and then had to work on becoming a Boatswainsmate.  Throughout the restriction I began building new relationships and showing that I was serious about the job.  People started to notice and began respecting me more.  I eventually would go on to turning things completely around.  Stay tuned for more.

Failure – In the last post I was talking about how I failed to wake up on time to be at quarters.  Well, I decided I might as well stay gone for the whole day since the punishment was going to be the same.  I ended up drinking again that night and setting the alarm once again to 7 AM so I could make it there on time.

Failure.  How completely stupid could I be to fail to wake up again for the second day in a row?!  Well, drinking irresponsibly will lead to irrresponsible behavior.  That in combination with the piss poor and childish attitude I had, made for some bad decisions.  I did not wake up again on time and laughed my ass off at how bad I was being.  I knew I was screwed, but I pretended like I didn’t care.

The third night I didn’t even set the alarm.  I had a dscussion with my friend who was letting me stay over his house and I asked him if I could stay for awhile.  I offered to help with the rent and pay my own way.  He agreed to let me stay until I couldn’t pay rent anymore.  In other words, after they stopped my pay and my last check ran out.

Meanwhile back on the USS O’ Bannon…When someone doesn’t show up for quarters in the morning the first thing they do is ask fellow sailors if they know where the person is.  Thinking, maybe they woke up a little late and are still rushing to put their boots on or something.  It happens.  If that is not the case then they are marked as UA and go through the process.

Once they are reported, notification is sent to the quarter deck, along with a photograph and orders to detain the person when they arrive.  After ten days of being absent they stop your pay.  Then after 30 days they declare you a deserter and put a warrant out for your arrest.  They figure you will eventually turn up somewhere so the moment the police run your name they will see you are a deserter and detain you immediately.

I decided I was going to stay gone for 29 days.  I made up my mind that I did not want to be in the Navy anymore and I heard if you are gone UA for awhile they would kick you out.  I was already screwed so I figured I would take advantage of the time off.  Being drunk often made it easier to not care about the potential consequences.

As you would imagine the next 29 days were probably going to involve a lot of partying, and mayhem.  What else is there to do before you have to face inevitable negative consequences.   There was one really significant experience that I would like to tell you about.

That special girl – Flash back…I met her my first time on leave from boot camp.  This was around February in 1998.  I think it was my very first day home, when I went out with a cousin of mine and got introduced to a friend of hers.  We hit it off right away and I spent the next two weeks getting to know her.   We had amazing make out sessions that sometimes lasted till morning.  No sex though, because she was a virgin.  When it came time for me to go back to Florida she decided it would be best if we let each other go.

She felt that it would be a bad idea to stay in touch because, she didn’t think she could handle a long distance relationship.  I didn’t agree.  I really liked this girl and did not want to lose her.   We spent the next few hours discussing it and in the end I convinced her to try.  It was amazing how strong our feelings had grown for each other in such a short time.  By the end we were both in tears not wanting to let each other go.  Teenagers and their emotions…

Back to being U.A – Wouldn’t you know it, the time I decided to go U.A. was the time she decided to come visit me in Florida.  She said she was always curious to travel and thought it was a good iea to come to Florida since I was going to be there.  So one weekend during the twenty nine days she flew down.  It was amazing…

We spent the entire weekend just being with each other and didn’t go out anywhere special.  We were so happy to see each other after the long time we had spent apart.  We had a very romantic time, again very long make out sessions and even had a passionate kiss in the rain.  She left after that weekend and I went back to the ship.

A few days went by and a feeling of depression set in.  I only wanted to be with her and being young and insecure I asked her to marry me.  This idea did no go over well.  What was I thinking???  We talked for a long time but she did not give in this time.  She probably felt like she already let me talk her into having a long distance relationship and this was just too much.  She just couldn’t make the leap of faith I was willing to make.  I always imagine how different my life would of been if she had said yes.

I look back on that time now and laugh at how clueless I was.  I was simply infatuated and had no idea what true love was.  I was truly willing to put it all on the line.  This is probably why parents tend to be so hard on teenagers.  They want to make sure they don’t make the same mistakes they did.

The phone call home - After 10 days of my being gone the ship sent a letter home to my parents which said that I had been missing for a number of days and they were not sure what has happened to me.  It also said they don’t know if I am hurt or ok, etc.  Not a cool thing for an already worried mother to read.

I ended up calling home and boy was my mother not happy.  I explained to her the situation and that the Navy was just not for me and that I went U.A. so I can get kicked out.  My mother kind of understood and seemed like she would support me no matter what I did. 

I ended up speaking to my dad also.  When I told him that I was going to quit he said the following:

“Are you f**king kidding me??  I was drafted against my will to the Army and I stuck it out for two years.  You voluntarily joined the p**sy ass Navy and you are going to quit!?  Don’t even think about coming home.  If you quit then you are on your own.”. 

As a young male, when your father says words like that, they have a lot of power.  Those words had a lot of effect on me and I began to grow up just a bit.

Time to face the music – It was time.  I was very close to the 29 day mark and needed to wrap things up before going back to the ship.  I remember buying a t-shirt just for the occasion.  On the front of the shirt it said, “I’m sorry, you must think I care”.  I was trying to make a statement about how much I did not want to be there.  Stay tuned…

As an 18 year old punk, you often think you have all the answers.  You think you know what you are doing.   However, you are usually mistaken, because you don’t realize that you are still growing, there is so many things you don’t know and your mind is going to probably change.  This truth created some big problems for me in my first years in the Navy.

Back in the introduction I talked about why I wanted to join the Navy.  I said I wanted to become a SEAL and be the best of the best.  Well, that all changed when it came down to ACTUALLY doing it.

In boot camp I had a one track mind.  All I cared about was being a SEAL.  I was in great shape, afraid of no challenge and was on my way.  I had already passed the preliminary physical test and was about to go to dive school.   Then something suddenly changed.

I started thinking about what life would be like if I were actually a SEAL.  What if I did go all the way through the training and make it.  I thought about  how that lifestyle would be.  I already had a good idea of how it would be and I began to doubt myself.

I started asking myself if this is what I really wanted to be.  In a matter of minutes I had changed my mind and decided against becoming a SEAL.  Why I made that decision, I am still not quite sure.  I think all along I just wanted to become a SEAL just so I could show off to my brother and father.

It is obvious it wasn’t really what I wanted to do.  I don’t think I really knew WHAT I wanted to do, so it confused me.  I lost sight of the goal and this is where it began to go downhill.

So after announcing that I was no longer interested to my division leader I told him I just wanted to go to my duty station and perform the job I picked initially at MEPS.  I really wish I would of given more thought to the job selection process.  I chose Seaman Apprenticeship which if you were in the Navy you know what that job really entails.

Seaman Apprenticeship is basically a nice way of saying deck ape.  Your job is basically shipboard preservation.  The ship is mostly metal and metal in salt water is not a good combo.  So the ship rusts easily and quickly.  Someone must keep the rust under control or the ship will fall apart in no time.

This is the job of the deck division.  As an E-1 in the seaman apprenticeship program you will be in deck division and you be spending many hours per day chipping and sanding rust, priming and painting and cleaning.  Then you will do more sanding and more painting and cleaning.

As you would imagine I didn’t enjoy doing this job.  It was tedious work that never ended and I hated it.  This along with other aspects of the Navy, such as watches and authority started to make me not want to be there.  I starting thinking that this was not for me and I wanted to get out.

One day I was spending the night over at a friends house.  We were partying and having a great time like usual and I ended up spending the night.  I remember setting the alarm to wake me up in time to get back to the ship and be on time for quarters.  So, I fell asleep and when I woke up it was around 11 o’ clock.  It turns out I accidentally set the alarm for 11PM instead of 11AM.  Quarters usually starts at 8AM.  I was late!  In the military when you are late it is a big deal.  It doesn’t matter if you are late one minute or ten days.  It is still a major offense.

This was the beginning of a life changing experience for me.  Things went seriously downhill from this point.  Stay tuned…and don’t forget to subscribe to get the next story sent to you automatically.

In the last post I mentioned a character I call “The Enemy”.  Well, I wanted to tell you guys the story of how it all happened.

The first few weeks on board the USS O Bannon I started doing the usual things people do when they meet new groups of people.  I start talking to each person and find out who they are and all that.  I had been getting to know many of the guys in my division and started to become kind of friends with this one guy (The Enemy).

It turned out he really liked a girl (The Enemy’s Girl) that was in our division.  We would talk about it and joke around as all guys do until one day I said something wrong.  It was one evening after work hours and we were all planning on what we were going to do that night.  Well, earlier in that day I had spoken to the enemy’s girl and she ended up inviting me out to a bar that her and some friends were going to.  For the record, I was not physically attracted to her much.  I thought she was a cool person but did not have intentions on trying to get with her.

Words Are Powerful

While I was getting ready, the enemy came up to me and asked me what I was going to do that night.  I said the following in a kind of chicken shit but joking manner.  “I am going to be going out with your girl!”  You know how sometimes you mean to say things as a joke, but it turns out to be NOT funny to the person at all?  Well this was one of those times.  I don’t know why I used those words but I did and it must have hurt the dude really bad.

He gave me a really sour look and I could tell that he was pissed.  It was that moment that I knew he really cared for this girl.  I tried to apologize but he would not accept it and from that moment forward he began to hate me.  He started talking trash and treating me like crap.  Since I was new he was able to get a lot of the other people against me also.

Not a great way to start off your tour on a Navy ship, let me tell you!  As time went by, I kept trying to apologize and be cool with this guy.  I figured since we have to work together it would be easier on the both of us if we got along.  He just would not budge.  He was really jealous and had this grudge against me.

Eventually he started dating the girl and they ended up becoming a couple.  I tried talking to her to make him understand that I felt bad and that he didn’t need to hate me for it.  She usually acted like she didn’t care and seemed to like the fact that we had drama because of her.  They eventually got married and he moved to another ship that was in the same battle group.

The Creation Of The Enemy

I used to hear threats from other people that knew him sometimes.  They would tell me that if he saw me he was going to kick my ass, etc.  This is where I began to dislike him.  I was tired of kissing this guys ass and if he was going to be making threats then I had a problem with that.  This is how he became, “the enemy”.

I am sure by now you might be thinking, “Why didn’t you just let it go?”  Well, all I can say is that when you are young, proud and in that type of competitive environment it is not easy to let things go.  I always felt like I had something to prove.  My friends are no help either because they were usually egging me on to fight him.

I occasionally saw him in local bars, clubs, etc.  We would exchange some words and make threats but both of us always waited for the other person to make a move first.  One time we did actually almost fight but he backed down.  There was even a time when he came to my apartment!

One night we had a party and one of my roommates invited the enemy’s lady over and she brought him along.  I was pretty drunk when they arrived and was blown away that he actually showed up to my apartment.  I stepped to him and called him outside to fight but he didn’t want to.  My roommates held me back and I kept talking trash.   It was probably a good thing that we didn’t fight because I was pretty drunk and he was sober.  Liquid courage can get your ass kicked sometimes.

So, eventually I calmed down and I sat down with him and talked things out.  I explained to him that it was really shitty for him to treat me so bad all that time and make threats and get others to dislike me.  I think we agreed to squash the drama but I got this feeling that he still didn’t care for me at all.  So be it.  I think that was the last time I saw him.  I can’t remember talking to him again after that day.

What I learned

I learned a lot from that experience.   I image what things would have been like if I never said those words.  Or what would have happened if we fought, or what if I pursued that girl in the beginning, lol.  It is crazy how life is like that.  One small thing can change the whole course of your life.  I learned to be more sensitive to others feelings be a little more careful about what I say.

I know some people might ask why I even cared so much about it, well I can’t help it.  It is just how I am.  I feel as though I can get along with anyone and if I feel their hatred towards me is unjust then I always try to fix things.  It is such history now that if I ever saw him again I would probably just laugh and not say anything.

In the next episode I will introduce you to my best friend who I call E.

Life experiences usually have a lot to do with the people involved.  A crappy job can be alright if you work with great people.  This is why I feel it is important to talk about some of the people I experienced Navy life with.

I will introduce you to some of the distinct characters that really made a difference in my life.  There is no doubt that each and every person on my ship and over seas were unique but I will only talk about the ones that made the most significant impact for now.  You know?  The ones I can never forget.

Like I stated before I did essentially two different tours in the Navy.  The first part was on board a ship and the second was spent in Kuwait.  They are two different stories all together.  I will first talk about the characters on the ship and introduce the characters from Kuwait in a later episode.

For their protection I will not use their real names.  I will just use fictional names that may or may not mean anything at all.

The Characters

Shultz – A white guy from Michigan.  This guy was one of the most unique people I have ever met.  He was not the brightest star in the sky but had tremendous heart and passion.  I first met him in Jacksonville.  He was part of the group of us who were all waiting for the ship to come back off of that cruise so we could check in.  Shultz’s antics made for some of the most amazing and interesting stories on the O Bannon.

E – A Sicilian dude from Florida.  This guy was a real class act.  We became friends right off the bat and ended up being like brothers for the next 3 years.  We had many great times together.  We were both heavy drinkers so we were constantly getting ourselves into trouble.

Kay – A a black girl from Philly.  This girl was one tough cookie.  She had a real hard core attitude.  She was intimidating and wild.  Still, under neath all that harden exterior was a beautiful, compassionate and REAL person.

Beamer – A mixed race guy.  Don’t remember where he was from.  This guy at one point was in charge of our division.  He was your average officer but there was a unique incident that happened involving me and him that I will reveal later on.

ED – A black guy from Mississippi.  He was a real tough boatswains mate which we regularly got into scuffles with.  We always had this tradition in deck division where the the Seamen (Rank E1- E3) fight against the Petty Officers (Rank E4-6).  When we got into these wrestling/play fighting matches, whoever faced Ed usually lost.

Web – A black guy from Mississippi.  Web was also a boatswains mate who I got along with really well.  We had a unique relationship. We used to find great entertainment in talking about what it would be like to have sex with the different women on the ship.  We used to talk about the things we would want to do with them, and about what they would be like in bed.  As if we actually knew how every type of women was in the sack.  I am quite sure we were wrong but it was hilarious to us.

Wilz – A white guy from Indiana.  Kind of arrogant and snobby at times but overall a pretty cool guy.

JJ – A black girl from New York.  She had a crush on me for some reason.  She was very open about it too.

Alpha – A pretty cool guy from New York who cut everyone’s hair on the ship.  He didn’t like me at first because JJ had a crush on me and he was jealous.  I can tell that he liked her and they may have had relations in the past.

The Enemy – A white guy, don’t remember where he was from.  This is another guy who didn’t like me because of a girl.  This guy became my sworn enemy throughout the 3 years and we almost fought a few times.

The Enemy’s Girl – A Latino girl from Texas.  She is the girl mentioned above.

The Girlfriend – A half breed like me from Texas.  She was my girl friend for about a month.  I learned a very good lesson from her why you shouldn’t date people you work with.  Especially in a military environment.

That is enough for now.

Again, these are a few of the most memorable people that made a significant impact on my life.  I learned a lot from them and had some really great times and even shed tears with them.  I hope I made some positive impact in their lives as well.  You will hear more about these characters as this Navy life story progresses.

I am just focusing on the people that were stationed with me on the O’ Bannon for now.  There were people from other ships, civilians, friends of shipmates and many others who I remember which I am sure to will mention later on.

One thing I noticed is that I don’t keep in touch with any of these people.  Mainly because they all live in different states.  I am sure I may come across one or more of them later on in life.  This has become more and more likely with the new age of social media we live in.  I have spoken to some of them in the past but on a very basic level.

There will be many posts to come just talking about the few people mentioned here.  In the next episode I will tell you about how the enemy came to be.

Military Veterans Suffer from Service Related Asbestos Illnesses

The use of asbestos in industrial applications can be traced back to the Greeks, who used the mineral because of its heat and flame resistant qualities. Derived from the Greek word, meaning inextinguishable, asbestos popularity reached its climax in the 20th century among industries and manufacturers.

The United States government and asbestos manufactures have been heavily criticized for concealing and not acting enough to inform the public of the dangers associated with asbestos exposure. Asbestos exposure has affected various industries including the military, real estate, power generation and shipyards.

It’s fire resistant, versatile and durable qualities paved the way for its uses as insulation in aircraft, vehicles and buildings. Asbestos appeared on most vessels used by the Navy and in shipyards. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs stated that out of the 25 million military veterans living today in the country, hundreds of thousands were exposed to asbestos while on service. As many as four million service men and women worked in shipyards repairing and building giant vessels. Thousands of tons of asbestos were used as piping and boiler insulation aboard navigation rooms, sleeping quarters and mess halls in ships.

Frequent exposure to airborne asbestos fibers can increase the chances of developing asbestos-related illness such as malignant mesothelioma, a fatal lung ailment. Mesothelioma survival rate varies from patient to patient for many reasons. These include age of diagnosis, latency period and cigarette smoking.

Miscellaneous Exposure Settings

The potential remains for another generation of veteran and civilian asbestos exposure. Military personnel and citizens should be aware of the hazards involved with this obsolete substance and take the proper initiatives to avoid exposure.

The World Trade Center attacks of September 11th, 2001 set about 2,000 tons of asbestos in the air and resulted in 62 percent of those caught in the dust cloud coping with respiratory problems. Natural disasters are also potential exposure settings. Hurricane Katrina damaged thousands of older asbestos containing homes. Almost three years after the storm, states of the Gulf coast region are still struggling to restore buildings and prevent asbestos exposure.

United States combat troops have been stationed in Iraq and face many extreme dangers on a daily basis. Aside from performing military operations, there is the potential threat of asbestos exposure. Over $194,000 worth of asbestos was imported into Iraq in 2003, documents reveal.

This presents a significant hazard for all soldiers stationed in the country because intense winds and desert sands can carry asbestos dust for long distances.

Military veterans and civilians who have developed an asbestos-related disease find themselves in a tough situation when attempting to receive assistance and benefits for their wrongful illness. Currently, mesothelioma is not readily recognized as a service-related medical ailment. However, veterans can apply for Veteran Affairs (VA) benefits for asbestos-related illness and must provide proof that their exposure occurred at the time of their military service.

A Change in Lifestyle

The end of P-week and onto the first official week. The first three weeks of Navy Boot Camp are clearly the toughest both physically and mentally. If you can get through the first three weeks then you’ll pretty much be able to go all the way to graduation.  The key is getting used to a whole new life routine.  They will always push you into quitting and they will use that as a tool to make you want to succeed.  Nobody likes being told they can’t do something.  They will tell you things like, “I guess you are not cut out for this opportunity”, etc.

Marching and Drilling In the first week of navy boot camp you will be learning the all about the basic foundations of what it means to be a sailor in the United States Navy.   You will spend hours and hours learning the complexities of marching and drilling moving as one entity.  You will march EVERYWHERE!  The first couple of weeks, you’ll notice that everyone messes up on everything.

It is actually funny to watch total noob recruits trying to march, as they all stare at their feet while they walk and bump into each other.  It is stressful.  On multiple occasions I saw two recruits break out in a fist fight because one was stepping on the others boots while they were trying to march. Marching is all about learning to move with others as one.  There are strict patterns you must follow depending on where you are in the ranks.  There are simple terms you need to understand:

• March – To start marching from whatever position you are at.
• Ranks – This term describes the rows of people in the group.  “In the ranks” means, “in the lines of people”.
• Left Face – To turn your body facing 90 degrees left from where you are now.
• Right Face – To turn your body facing 90 degrees right from where you are now.
• About Face – To turn your body facing 180 degrees from where you are facing now.
• To the Rear – To suddenly start marching in the opposite direction.
• Dress – To execute a dress order.  To line your self up with other people in the ranks.
• Dress right – To line yourself up to the person on your right.
• Dress Left – To line yourself up to the person on your left.

These are some basic terms involved with marching.  Marching terminology is much more technical and can get very complex.  There are trick drills and complex formations and more.  We will speak of the basics for now.  We have many posts to talk about marching as it is a constant throughout all of your time in boot camp.  For full details on drilling and marching terminology and procedures you should go to your local recruiting office and join the Navy. Haha!  Just Kidding.

You Have to Learn to Swim

Also in this week you will be required to take your initial swim qualifications. Before you can  graduate boot camp, you have to be able to swim on one level or another.  Even if it is doggy paddling.  They call basic swimming 3rd class swim qualifications.  I already knew how to swim so this was easy for me but not so for others. When they test you initially they separate the people who already know how to swim from the ones that need to learn.  I am not lying when I say this: but when they separated us, the group who couldn’t swim was about 75% African American.

I know this is a cliche but I am telling you from experience it was true.  It is irrelevant though because they all eventually learned to swim anyway.  It was just interesting to note. You ever heard that when someone is drowning and they panic they will drown someone else to stay alive?  Well, when they started to train the ones who couldn’t swim they would throw a group of them into a small circular area the pool.  They would yell at them to doggy paddle around this little area to stay afloat.

This may seem cruel but there were professionals around that would not let anyone drowned.  RDC’s also had these long sticks to help control each person. Well, during the training one guy panicked and started to literally drowned the guy in front of him to keep afloat.  I remember watching him doggy paddle toward the guy in front of him and literally start to try to climb on his back like he was climbing a ladder.  The RDC’s noticed and started yelling at him to stop and swim on his own.  He stopped ,then again began to climb on the person again.  This time the RDC’s made him get out of the pool and he was disqualified.  I think he may have been dropped from boot camp also, but I am not sure.

Classroom Time Does Not End with High School

We spent hours in the classroom each day learning about about rank/rate recognition, rape awareness, equal opportunities, sexual harassment and fraternization, core values and more.  It was horrible, trying to stay awake during these classes because you were always so sleepy.  Most instructors would allow you to go in the back of the class room and do push-ups and sit-ups if you were unable to sit without falling sleep.  Many times did I get caught sleeping and had to go in the back to workout to stay awake. I remember they would always tell us, you can sleep, as long as you can sleep with your eyes open.  The crazy thing was I saw someone do it before, it was creepy!

The Ship, Organization and Neatness, and Uniforms

In boot camp you don’t waste much time sleeping.  You use all but a couple hours thought the day learning and organizing, everything!  The barracks was considered your ship.  We slept in very basic and uncomfortable bunk beds which were lined up perfectly inside the ship so the RDC can see all the way down the row to the end and carefully watch each and every recruit. We spent lots of time inside the ship organizing, stenciling, ironing and listening to the RDC tell us stories and more.  Once you pass P week you will get your first official uniform, the dungarees.

This is the uniform you will be wearing most of the time you are in the Navy.  It is a utility uniform used for general tasks and working. In boot camp you get to learn the very technical skill of stenciling your uniforms with your name in very specific places, with very specific measurements.  It was amazing how much you had to pay attention to detail during this part of the training.  You would be doing push-ups and sit-ups for even the simplest mistakes on your informs.  During the first week you will spend lots of hours getting this part right so that all 80 or so folks in your division look exactly the same.

Interesting Details About the Ship

The ship always had to be perfect, you could not leave it at anything but spotless at all times.  Every detail of the cleaning was handled by the recruits on a daily basis.  There was a soda machine at the end of the hall that could not be touched, ever!  This was an interesting psychological test and it will come into play later on in this series.  There was a gun rack for M-16s that always had to be cleaned, but we had no guns!  It was a circus of things that didn’t make any sense throughout boot camp but there are reasons for it.

Stay tuned for the next episode where I will go into week 2 of Navy boot camp stories.  If you haven’t done so already, subscribe to this blog using the links below, so that you get the next post as soon as I publish it.  Thanks for reading.

The Final Month at Home

After I graduated from high school I only had 1 month of freedom until I started my military career.  During that month I basically just partied and built up the anticipation.  I met a cute girl during that time which I could not be with because I was going away.  That sucked.  At least she agreed to keep in touch while I was gone and maybe one day we could see each other when I came home on leave.

MEPS

The first place they sent me was a place called MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station).  The one I went to was located in LA.  This building is the very first of a series of processing stations you will encounter.  There I went through a rigorous screening process.  They process many potential candidates for the navy here, one at a time here.

I did the following and more of the following:

Endless Paperwork

I did tons of paper work.  Some of the forms seemed like I filled them out many times.  I remember feeling frustrated to have to stand in line after line, to fill out form after form.  The whole time I was treated with a lack of customer service.  There is a phrase used in the military called, “Hurry up and wait.”  You will learn what this phrase means on the day you get processed through this facility.

If you never used a signature before you will be a pro by the time you leave that facility.  You had to sign dozens of forms.  The recruiters even had me start practicing writing my signature from day one.

The forms that you fill out go into what they call a service record.  This is the record of your whole military career.  Along with the service record you will get a medical and dental record as well.  These three folders pretty much are the proof of your military career and health history.  If you lose one of them you will have to do all the paperwork again and all of the medical examinations, dental examinations, etc.

I remember hearing that if you pissed off a Corpsman on a ship he would simply throw your medical record over board and you would have to get all the shots again.

So basically it is in your best interest to always make copies of every one of your records.

Physical Examinations

The paper work is just one piece of the puzzle.  They have to make sure you are physically fit to perform your duties as a United States Sailor.  So they made us go through a series of physical tests.  First they gave us a full body physical where they checked every part of our bodies and took many specimens of blood and tested it for everything imaginable.

Next they made us perform a series of odd physical movements in our underwear.  For example, we had to fall from a standing position directly onto our knees on the hard tile floor.  I remember how, not cool that felt!  Then they had us doing things like, crawling around like a monkey, waddling like a duck, various stretches, walk across the room slowly so they can check for flat feet, etc.

Another noted thing was this really old man with warts all over his face was the one giving the rectal exams.  Not the most comfortable of situations, let me tell you.

The final parts of the exams involved an actual psyche evaluation, a criminal background check with interview, and swearing in ceremony.

Mental Exam

The mental evaluation was basically to find out if we were crazy. We wouldn’t want to hire crazy people to defend the country, would we?  They asked us a whole lot of interesting questions and I think we took a written test too.  I wish I could remember some of the questions; they would make for interesting content.

Background Check

The background check and interview was frightening.  The first thing they did was put me in a private room with a counselor or something and he asked a lot of personal questions about my past.  He asked me questions about crimes I committed, drugs I tried, secrets I had, and more.

They kept telling me, “Don’t lie to us!  If you do, we will know anyway on your background check!”

I am pretty sure it was a test of honesty as well.  I remember they kept making sure that I was sure that I never, ever smoked marijuana in my life.  I knew that they wouldn’t find any drugs in my system so but I told them I tried it once as a teenage for experimentation.  They of course recorded that in my service record.  I bet that by saying that it disqualified me from certain top secret jobs.

Swearing In (The Oath of Enlistment)

The Navy is all about ceremonies.  They have ceremonies for everything!  It makes things count for more.  Like when I got promoted to E-4 (Petty Officer Third Class), there was a ceremony for all to see that I now had more authority.  It was a lot more effective that way.

Anyway, at the very end of MEPS processing you are required to go through a swearing in ceremony.  It is basically an out-loud promise that you will defend the country, etc.

Here are the exact words you must say with your right hand raised.

I, ___________________, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.

I remember feeling very proud during this time and feeling like part of a great thing.  At the time I really meant what I was swearing.

Job Selection

Sometime during the process you will sit down with someone and decide what job you want to do in the Navy.  There are many jobs to choose from and you must be qualified for them.  They base your qualification on the ASVAB test (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery).  This is a comprehensive test of skills in math, language, reading, problem solving and more.

My only focus was to become a SEAL so I didn’t really care what my job was.  I just figured it would be SEAL.  They said,  ”If you happen not to make it as a SEAL what would you want to do?”  I told them that I wanted a job that had to do with computers.  They told me about these 3 apprenticeship programs.  They are Fireman, Airman or Seaman.

The things I read about each one sounded pretty good.  The Seamen Apprenticeship program was the only one that had mentioned the use of computers at all.  I guess I didn’t score high enough on the test to get any other jobs.  So I chose the Seamen Spprenticship program.  I would be in for a rude awakening later on.  We will go into that in a later episode.

Scare Tactics

It was amazing the amount of scare tactics they used on you during the process.  They basically convinced you that the most important thing was to pass the screening to become a member of the military.  The whole time I felt scared that I was going to fail on something and they use that against you.  They tell you things like, “Maybe you are not cut out for the Navy.” Or “If you fail at this you will be disqualified.”  They make you feel as though there is nothing else you can do but join the Navy or else you will be a failure.

They use tactics like this for many things in the Navy.  They use fear of the unknown and your insecurities against you.   Over time you will realized what you can and can’t do.

Conclusion

The whole process takes about 12 hours to complete.  You will be there from real early in the morning all the way until the evening.  It is a very long and stressful day and you will learn things about yourself. Shortly after the prcessing you get a plane ticket and a date to fly over to Illinois where you start Navy Boot Camp.  This will be the subject of episode 3.  Boot Camp is eight weeks long so it will be broken up into different episodes.  I wrote this post based on how I remember it.  If you are strongly considering the Navy as a career you should review the actual MEPS site for further details.

The next episode will talk about the first 3 days in boot camp.

Important:  The stories you are about to read are non-fiction.  They are real events that actually happened in my life.  I will try to keep as close to the actual events as my memory will permit.   Also, the statement and opinions expressed in these writings are that of my own and in no way reflect the opinions of or the policies of the U.S. Navy.

What I am writing?

I am in no way a professional writer.  I am writing this simply because I enjoy writing about Navy life and because I get to kind of re-live my experiences.  I have also found that people enjoy hearing stories about military experience.  I spent 3 years and 8 months in active duty in the U.S. Navy.  I first did a 3 year tour on a ship and then got activated from the reserves to do 6 months of duty in Kuwait.

I got out at the end of 2004 so it has been some time and a lot of partying since my Navy days.  Let us hope my memories still remain in tact.  So without further ado, I give you Navy Stories.  My first non-fiction writing project.  I hope you enjoy it.

The Decision To Join

For as long as I can remember I wanted to be a Navy SEAL.  I think it is because of a combination of reasons.  Both my father and brother were in the Army and they both are really into sports.  My father always talked to me about being somebody big and being my own man.   I wanted to to do something to top them and to impress them so, I joined the Navy to become a S.E.A.L.

I remember thinking that Navy SEALs are the best of the best and that is what I want to be.

Notes: SEAL is an acronym for SEa. Air and Land.  Which means they can run operations and attack the enemy from any geographical area or terrain.  Navy SEALs are the most elite military special forces unit in the world.  They have the most difficult training known to man.  The SEALs are trained to never quit no matter what.  This philosophy of strength in the individual makes them virtually unstoppable as a team.

I don’t remember the exact date I told my parents about joining the Navy but I know It was sometime during my junior year of high school.  My mom was not too happy about it but she wouldn’t tell me not to go.  My sisters were concerned but it was peace time at the time.  My brother was always a little tough on me and I remember my brother saying, “So you want to be a bad ass huh?  When you get back I am just going to kick your ass.  Just to show you how bad ass you aren’t.  Hahaha!”

I remember telling my dad that I wanted to go to the Navy to become a SEAL.  He gave me a lecture about the military and agreed that I should go if that is what I really wanted to do.  My father was drafted into the Army for 2 years during the Vietnam era.  He explained to me the difference between wanting to go, and being drafted, but I was very determined at that time to become the best so I did not care.

One day the recruiters came to my school and gave some speeches and walked around talking to the students and went ahead I enlisted during my junior year of high school.  I joined the early enlistment program so I would be ready to go as soon as I graduated.

The Recruiter’s

Those recruiters really sock it to you with the motivational speeches and bullshit, but when you are young they are very impressive people.  They will pretty much tell you anything to get you in.

When I went to the recruiter’s office he showed me various videos of Navy SEAL training to show me how hard it was.  The videos showed them holding boats over their heads and running ridiculous distances.  They did tons of different calisthenics and really tough training procedures.  They showed them infiltrating and taking over buildings, etc.   I was not deterred by the training.  I felt like I would be able to handle it.  The recruiter was surprised at how determined I was to be a SEAL.  He said that most of the people he shows the videos change their mind right away.

I had been approached by other recruiters from different branches before but I chose the Navy instead.  It was entertaining watching the recruiters argue that their branch of service was the best.  The Navy recruiters used Bo Jackson to help sell the idea saying, “Did you know Bo Jackson flew for the Blue Angels?!”.  They had posters of him on the wall in their office.

After the initial paper work I received a little white id. card saying that I was in the early enlistment program.  I was showing it off at school thinking I was all bad because I was going to the Navy.

Stay tuned for the next episode where I explain the grueling process of joining the Navy and going to boot camp.