Chris' Updates

My lord, this weekend sucked. The week was pretty decent in LAN class, and I was looking forward to a nice relaxing weekend, maybe get some business done at the PX. But just my stupid luck, we were duty company, duty platoon, and I'm a lowly Phase 4. So Saturday rolled around, and I got put on DFAC (dining facility) detail. Basically, the DFAC closest to our barracks has been under renovation for asbestoses or something, and is now ready for operation. Only thing is, all of the equipment was at a DFAC across base. So we got to unload trucks containing every piece of equipment that's used in a cafeteria, including the pots, pans, serving trays, plates, silverware, cleaning supplies, and all of the food in bulk packaging. Then just for fun, we did it again and moved more equipment from yet another DFAC into the one we emptied. Don't ask me what sense that makes, I could not tell you. We worked from 0730 in the morning to about 1530 (3:30pm), and we worked hard. But it gets be...

It's been a good week, in general. We had PC Maintenance class with Sgt. Pippin and Sgt. Zimmer. The class material was easy enough, since ripping apart computers is a pastime for me. I should've tested out of the class, but I really have no reason to try testing out. If I finish the schoolhouse portion early I still don't get to come home, I'll just end up cleaning around the barracks all day. Anyway, Sgt. Pippin describes himself as "the most motivated instructor in the schoolhouse." I believe that entirely. He usually has 2-3 pots of coffee in the morning before he gets to class. Not glasses, but pots. He has to hold his arms in front of him to keep them from shaking with all of his excess energy. He's a crazy mofo, I'm telling you. I wish I could video tape him to show you all at home, because he is great to see in action. Other than that, life is pretty much settling in to AIT mode. I've been a little bit sick with a cold or flu or something, ...

Life is so much better here at AIT. Yeah, it still has it's annoying points, but it's not lockdown, thank you God! The drill sergeants here are human, they complain about having to pull duty and admit it when they make mistakes. We have a set schedule that we usually know about ahead of time. We have free time to move about as we please. We can walk to the PX and the on-post Burger King as long as we have a "battle buddy." And we get cell phones after the duty day! It's so nice to be able to call people! I probably mentioned most of that in the last post, but I'm finally feeling some of this freedom. It's frickin' great! Class is our main deal being here, and so far so good. We've been thru a week in Basic Electronics, two days in Information Security, and just finished two weeks in Windows XP. For Security and Windows, we've had Sgt. Harr instructing us. He's a real laugh when he wants to be, and he likes to keep his classroom environment...

Hey everybody, Chris here again! I'm finally out of Basic, and about a week thru Advanced Individual Training, or AIT. Life is much different here at Ft. Gordon, Georgia. Instead of 24/7 Drill Sergeant presence, they only really deal with us at the barracks. When we leave for school, we are under the instructor's charge, and generally the instructors are pretty lax. Our current instructor, Sgt. Grimes, is very laid back. And unlike the drill sergeants, he acts like a human being, with his own cares and concerns. He's here to teach us skills, not discipline. I really enjoy that attitude, since I have a high level of discipline anyway. We even get free time after school and on the weekends. Yes, we have to take care of the barracks and the occasional busywork detail, but we can do just about anything on free time. The only frustrating part so far is when the drill sergeant on CQ for the night decides to play with formation times and uniforms. "Formation is 21:15 in PT...

From journal entry: The air was charged with excitement this morning as we got ready. We got our personal effects and cell phones back, and people saw their opportunity for last minute pictures and exchanging of addresses. We caught the motor move to Hilton Field where we marched in proudly. The ceremony was short and sweet, and the pass and review was our moment to shine. We were released, and I found Mom and Ashley. The graduates were required to take the bus back to the company, but we met back up there. Sign-out took forever, but eventually we got off-base. We ate lunch, and I had the first real burger I'd eaten in two months. We shopped for a short bit, and then went and just rested at Mom and Ashley's hotel room. I felt bad not doing something more interesting with them, but they told me they were there to enjoy my company, no matter where or what we were doing. The last two days were a great visit, and not nearly long enough But I guess it's time to start looki...

From journal entry: I finally got to see Mom and Ashley after 10 weeks of hardly talking to them. It was incredible to see the, even with so little to do. We were restricted to the base, so we checked out the PX and the Ft. Jackson museum. It was hard to let them go for the night.

From journal entry: Today was a frantic attempt to get the bay ready for Inspection 4. We had to dress the bunks in our TA-50, plus prepare our Class B uniforms. IN4 itself was hellish. Standing at parade rest for an hour is not fun, especially in those patent leather shoes. But we got pizza, candy and soda afterward. Woot!