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Post by Fickle81 on Sept 3, 2008 20:09:22 GMT -5
To wowposter:
Spam like that again,and you can consider yourself finished here...you have been warned...
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Post by Fickle81 on Nov 17, 2008 13:08:49 GMT -5
Alright,so heres the deal...for those of you who read my stuff who haven't been paying attention for the amount of time that you've known of my existence,I have been living in a house with 2 male friends of mine (one of the roomate's parents pratically gave him the house) since around 2002. I have basically been the one with the most drive and motivation,going to college and getting a job thats slightly better than minimum wage (although it's only part time,so that evens things out),while the 2 of them are basically content with your meager low end minimum wage jobs (one works at the local Speedway while the other works at the local CVS). As a result of this,I'm the one that carries a lot of the load bill paying wise. While my job is definatly better than theirs (I make $11 an hour),it's really not enough for me and hasn't been enough for quite awhile.
Over the past several months,I've been trying to either get a better paying job in my degree field (interactive multimedia) or start a new career entirly (I got an interview to be a corrections deputy after passing a pre interview exam)...however,due to the fucked up economy which has caused high unemployment rates in central Ohio,I have not been successful at either. Hell,the only reason why I really even have the job that I have now is because I'm good friends with top people of the company. Since I've long been tired of just scraping by,I saw it was time for a drastic change.
That is why on the 21st of last month,I enlisted in the United States Army,and will be leaving for Fort Jackson in Columbia South Carolina tomorrow around the early lunch hour to do my military basic training (I'll be going to the hotel to spend the night here in just a few hours). Since I have an associates degree,I'll be enlisted as an E-3 rank (Private First Class) rather than the rank most trainees enlist as (E-0). I'll be there for exactly a month before I'll (hopefully) get to go home for Christmas for 16 days before heading back to complete the rest of my basic training (about 2 months). Then once thats done,I'll be heading to Fort Meade in Maryland (near Washington D.C.) for about 3 more months to recieve training in my MOS field (Multimedia Illustrator). If all goes well,I'll be completely finished with my training 3 days before my 28th birthday (June 26th,birthday being on the 29th),where I'll hopefully get some kind of 20-30 day leave before starting my first duty station.
I have been aggressivly avoiding the military all of my life due to my father being a Vietnam veteran and thus having to be raised with quasi military discipline,so I know all about what the military can do to a person psychologically and the affects it can have on the others around them...however,other things went into my decision to accept my fate and join,such as the money (I'll be making around $1600+ a month,with pretty much nowhere to spend it till I get out of AIT,with duty station housing pretty much paid for) and other benefits (free health care,no downpayment on a house,etc),as well as the fact that the army is kinder and gentler than it was when my father was in it (although it will still be rough and intense).
So obviously since I'll be gone for so long,I'm not gonna be able to even check my list of frequented sites for quite awhile,let alone be able to update anything on this board. However,there is a shining light...when I (hopefully) get to go home for Christmas,I'll have a good thousand dollars in my checking account,so I plan on getting myself a brand new laptop as a Christmas gift to boost my surly depleted spirit. Once I get to AIT where I'll be allowed to have it,I will have it shipped to Fort Meade where I'll be able to once again access the internet on a more regular basis. So best case scenario,I'll go through a month of basic training and get to go home for a little over 2 weeks,where I'll try to update the board with something as a way of letting others know I'm doing dandy,go back and finish up my basic training,and recieve my laptop in AIT around early to mid March which is when I'll try to start posting again on a more continual basis...however,the worst case scenario is if something goes wrong in basic towards the end of that first month and I don't get to go home at all thus not being able to get my laptop,which means you won't be hearing from me AT ALL for probably a good 8 months.
If something unforseen happens,such as I get severely injured or even die in basic training,I will most likely have it setup to where somebody CLOSE TO ME (family member or VERY close and proven trustworthy friend,99% of which are NOT online) will have the login and password information for this board to be able to login and make an announcement on the front page. If people make posts on here directed towards me or if I'm namedropped on either BD or DD,those will have to wait until I'm able to respond,but trust me,I most likely WILL respond.
Thats pretty much it...I'll see ya when I see ya. Kefka
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Post by michealmyers on Feb 6, 2009 23:01:30 GMT -5
Hey Kef, I want to know from you what basic training consists of. I've been thinking about joining the Army, and I would like to know the details from someone that isn't a recruiter. I know you are still in training now, and that you might not be able to go into great detail, but anything you can tell me will be greatly appreciated. Good on ya for joining, and sorry it took me this long to join your board.
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Post by Fickle81 on Feb 20, 2009 17:46:28 GMT -5
Hey Kef, I want to know from you what basic training consists of. I've been thinking about joining the Army, and I would like to know the details from someone that isn't a recruiter. I know you are still in training now, and that you might not be able to go into great detail, but anything you can tell me will be greatly appreciated. Good on ya for joining, and sorry it took me this long to join your board. I actually just graduated today...I can honestly say it's one of the finest moments of my life. I will definatly tell you this...you're absolutly right not to trust recruiters...they only tell you about the great and wonderful benefits,or sometimes even outright lie in order to get you to join...I let my recruiter know near immediatly that the smoke detector on my ass was finely tuned so it would be best not to try to decieve me. Ok so anyways,basic training...in all honesty,it's gonna be an asskicker anyway,but the degree of asskicking depends on where they send you. I went to Fort Jackson,otherwise known as "Relaxin Jackson"...if you go to either Fort Leanerd Wood or Fort Benning,you're REALLY gonna be in for a treat...but yea,it's quite stressful. Basically there are 3 phases...red,white,and blue. Red phase is the part of the process where one person's fuckup(s) can cause the entire platoon to get smoked (extremely soreness inducing PT)...and in that case,it all depends on the drill sergeant. If you've got a fairly laid back drill sergeant,it may not be so bad...but if you've got a drill sergeant that demands high amounts of discipline,you might end up getting smoked for up to 3 hours. I had one of those moments where our drill sergeant made us roll around back and forth from one side of the bay (barracks) to the other and then said "now that the floor has been swept,now we need to mop it...which requires water." Then he had us do an assload of pushups,flutter kicks,side strattle hops (jumping jacks) to the point where we left puddles of sweat on the floor,then we rolled back and forth AGAIN,tracking the "water" all over the floors. White phase is where they start focusing on individual smokings,and blue phase is mostly student leadership based. In case you haven't caught on,you get more and more privleges as you progress through eash phase...when we hit blue phase,everybody got their cell phones back and were able to use them during personal time. To be completely honest though,basic training really isn't something you can describe in complete detail...it feels like I've done and have been through enough to fill up 2 lifetimes in just 3 months. Although you may have to suffer because of other people's stupid mistakes,basic training is really only as hard as you make it. Does a lot of it suck and is it incredibly stressful? Absolutly,but as my drill sergeant said "it sucks for a reason",and it's designed to push you to that breaking point of dealing with stress. A lot of it is just a major mindgame designed to break you out of that civilian mentality in order to rebuild you as a soldier. It's definatly unlike anything you'll ever experience in your life,and once you come out the other end,not only will you not be the same person you once were,but you'll also make some true friends (and enemies) for the rest of your life who will pratically be your family. Maybe one day I'll get into the entire details of all that went down in my basic training experience,but I feel like I could write 1,or even possibly 2 books describing my experiences. As for the shit you actually do...for one theres PT...you have to pass a PT test near the end of the cycle where depending on your age bracket,you must meet a 50% standard (60% in AIT) in order to graduate (in my case it was 30 push ups,45 sit ups,and at 17:54 on a 2 mile run). You also have plenty of weapon training like learning nomenclature,how to clean it,bayonet training,shit like that. Then you have your field training exercises such as land navigation,infiltration,cover and concealment,etc...to get a lot of that,you'll have to spend 1,3,and 7 days out in the field (the 3 day has a 6 mile road march and the 7 day has a 10 mile one...all of which are graduation requirements)...then you have shit like obsticle courses,the gas chamber (DEFINATLY a fucked up experience),the night infiltration where you have to low crawl roughly 500+ meter with loud machinegun fire over your head as well as explosions,and so much more shit it's not even funny. If you want a little sample of some of the shit you do in basic training,although it will be sugarcoated,go to www.goarmy.com/ and watch the videos that highlight the training experiences for each week. All and all,it's not for everybody,but if you go into it with the proper mindset,thick skin,and a strong mind and heart,you should be able to pull it off. Anyways,I'll be popping smoke from Fort Jackson and deploying to Fort Meade tomorrow. I had one of my roomates give my laptop to my father who came down to see me graduate (hence,how I'm posting on here right now) and I'm allowed to take it with me to Meade...hopefully they'll let me keep it when I get there,and if so,you'll be seeing me post a little more often...if not,I'll post when I get my shit back...whichever the case,see ya when I see ya...
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