A Promotion, and a Weekend of Military coolness...ness.
Before I begin,I will be starting random dedications one per post...but not every post will have a dedication.
Anyways...The random (Though it isn't REALLY random; I had this idea for a few days now...)dedication goes to........Hannah G. (Shock and AWE!!)
So because this post is dedicated to Hannah, I will include her name somewhere in this post.
Anyway, first I will start off with the drill weekend.
Well, I had my first RSP (Recruit Sustainment Program) Weekend. It was cold, wet, yet mucho funo. It took me and my fellow Privates about an Hour and a half to get to Ethan Allen Shooting Range. Once there, we got off,signed in, and chose a bunk and make our racks, (Military for beds). I was surprised how much I knew and could do. I actually knew what I was doing. After that, we were issued nifty PT uniforms...they are really cool...except for the shorts...they are a bit too short. But they are supposed to be like that. They are used for running. ANYWAY, After all of the Admin stuff, we were sorted into Companies, Then Platoons. I was 2nd Squad (Leader) 1st Platoon.
Then we were marched off to our briefing site. Along the way, we passed shooting ranges firing off Machine Guns, Grenade Launchers, all of that cool stuff. We got to our brifing site, and did MORE paperwork, and got a cool reference book. I like it muchly. Then we went over the many policies, such as Sexual Harassment, EEO (Equal Employment Opportunities) and such other dull stuff. THEN we got into the Good stuff.
We covered...
-The Ranks of the Army,
-Military Time
-Phonetic Alphabet
-Drill and Ceremony, aka Marching and such cool stuff
-The General Orders
-and the Soldier's Creed
After a LOVELY lunch of Veggie and Cheese MRE (Meals Ready to Eat, They are VERY nasty) We had a little competition between 1st and 2nd Platoon. We had to run up a hill that had a a 75%incline... so it was very steep. We had to run up the hill and stop and at the 5 stations posted along the way.
The First station was Knowledge of the Phonetic Alphabet. I had to spell "Headgear" Using the PA (Phonetic Alphabet)...and for an example I will spell Hannah's name using the PA
Hotel
Alpha
November
November
Alpha
Hotel
There it is...too easy? I will spell the month of February.
Foxtrot
Echo
Bravo
Romeo
Uniform
Alpha
Romeo
Yankee
Tada!
I passed that test, then I ran up to the next station, that was Military Time... I was asked the following times:
Midnight
11:30 PM
6:35 AM
7:12 PM
The times correspond as follows
Midnight = 0000
11:30 PM = 2330
06:35 AM = 0635
07:12 PM - 1912
Want a trick to know how to do it? If it is at or after 1 PM you add 12. Soo...say the time is...3 PM, So what is 12+3? 1500. That simple.
Tada! I passed that test as well...Then came the Ranks...I had to ID the following ranks.
Sergeant
Staff Sergeant
and Chief Warrant Officer (CW02)
I passed that.
Then came the General Orders...at the time, I did not know themn at all...so, instead, I did 10 push-ups.
My final test was Drill and Ceremony...I had to do the following
Left face
Right face
and a few About faces,
I aced that as well...
Then we did the PT test...I passed THAT as well.Then I went to sleep and dreamed goot things to come.
Anyway, that was the bulk of my first Drill Weekend.
Then today, I visited my recuiter, and he had good news for me, I was promoted to E-2 or PV2. That made me happy...SO I am tired now, and will post my MEPS visit soon...I hope.
Anyways...The random (Though it isn't REALLY random; I had this idea for a few days now...)dedication goes to........Hannah G. (Shock and AWE!!)
So because this post is dedicated to Hannah, I will include her name somewhere in this post.
Anyway, first I will start off with the drill weekend.
Well, I had my first RSP (Recruit Sustainment Program) Weekend. It was cold, wet, yet mucho funo. It took me and my fellow Privates about an Hour and a half to get to Ethan Allen Shooting Range. Once there, we got off,signed in, and chose a bunk and make our racks, (Military for beds). I was surprised how much I knew and could do. I actually knew what I was doing. After that, we were issued nifty PT uniforms...they are really cool...except for the shorts...they are a bit too short. But they are supposed to be like that. They are used for running. ANYWAY, After all of the Admin stuff, we were sorted into Companies, Then Platoons. I was 2nd Squad (Leader) 1st Platoon.
Then we were marched off to our briefing site. Along the way, we passed shooting ranges firing off Machine Guns, Grenade Launchers, all of that cool stuff. We got to our brifing site, and did MORE paperwork, and got a cool reference book. I like it muchly. Then we went over the many policies, such as Sexual Harassment, EEO (Equal Employment Opportunities) and such other dull stuff. THEN we got into the Good stuff.
We covered...
-The Ranks of the Army,
-Military Time
-Phonetic Alphabet
-Drill and Ceremony, aka Marching and such cool stuff
-The General Orders
-and the Soldier's Creed
After a LOVELY lunch of Veggie and Cheese MRE (Meals Ready to Eat, They are VERY nasty) We had a little competition between 1st and 2nd Platoon. We had to run up a hill that had a a 75%incline... so it was very steep. We had to run up the hill and stop and at the 5 stations posted along the way.
The First station was Knowledge of the Phonetic Alphabet. I had to spell "Headgear" Using the PA (Phonetic Alphabet)...and for an example I will spell Hannah's name using the PA
Hotel
Alpha
November
November
Alpha
Hotel
There it is...too easy? I will spell the month of February.
Foxtrot
Echo
Bravo
Romeo
Uniform
Alpha
Romeo
Yankee
Tada!
I passed that test, then I ran up to the next station, that was Military Time... I was asked the following times:
Midnight
11:30 PM
6:35 AM
7:12 PM
The times correspond as follows
Midnight = 0000
11:30 PM = 2330
06:35 AM = 0635
07:12 PM - 1912
Want a trick to know how to do it? If it is at or after 1 PM you add 12. Soo...say the time is...3 PM, So what is 12+3? 1500. That simple.
Tada! I passed that test as well...Then came the Ranks...I had to ID the following ranks.
Sergeant
Staff Sergeant
and Chief Warrant Officer (CW02)
I passed that.
Then came the General Orders...at the time, I did not know themn at all...so, instead, I did 10 push-ups.
My final test was Drill and Ceremony...I had to do the following
Left face
Right face
and a few About faces,
I aced that as well...
Then we did the PT test...I passed THAT as well.Then I went to sleep and dreamed goot things to come.
Anyway, that was the bulk of my first Drill Weekend.
Then today, I visited my recuiter, and he had good news for me, I was promoted to E-2 or PV2. That made me happy...SO I am tired now, and will post my MEPS visit soon...I hope.
posted by Aielunknown at 9:10 PM
2 Comments:
Hey, Brad!
Thanks for sharing. You actually made it sound fun, even though I know it couldn't have been easy. I'm still blown away by you being in the National Guard, but I really think it's awesome. And, it sounds like you are doing well. You seem to have found your groove, Brad.
Spelling the PA way seems like it would get old fast. It makes a lot of sense, though.
Do you have any fellow Norwich students in the National Guard with you?
Congratulations on your promotion! I also noticed you were a squadron leader. That's really cool, too.
God bless you in all you're doing, B. It seems like you are growing a lot. I trust you have a place to fellowship up there and are doing your devos.
When do you think you will be back home again?
Take care!
CG
P.S. I didn't know you did TeenPact. It sounds like it was a really important experience for you. I've heard other people describe similarly. Hannah's looking forward to it, too. It will be different!
I'm kind of looking forward to TeenPact. =p xD
Thanks for dedicating a post to me. Bummer for me my name is the same both ways, because then I only get 3 words. Not 6. xD
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