To continue from my story: "Miami Sunrise", which I started back last fall on diaryland...
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The day I flew out of Miami to Great Lakes, Illinois, was a very long day. Because of multiple storm systems across the US, I encountered various lengthy delays between my stops.
It was supposed to take 4 hours to fly to Great Lakes. Instead, it took all day.
I hated to fly. The delays compounded my fears and by the time I got on the last connecting flight, I was a bundle of nerves. What better then to hit some awful turbulence? It was rapidly becoming a white-knuckle flight for me and the other passengers.
We were into our last half an hour of flight when we hit bad turbulence, and we ended up bouncing around like basketballs in the sky. We were low on gas too, so we ended up having to fly over to Indiana to refuel since we couldn�t land in Great Lakes because of the storm.
We refueled and quickly were back up in the sky. We attempted a final landing and it got extremely unstable. We kept hitting these empty air pockets and we�d drop. We were told to assume the crash position, just in case.
I was terrified. I thought, �How sucky it is that I�m going to die before I get to boot camp..�
Finally, the plane touched down in the dark. That was when I found out that it was 9:00 p.m. I�d left the Miami Airport at 8:30 that morning.
When we landed and disembarked, that�s when I found out there were 4 other girls going to boot camp that night. Nobody was there to greet us, so we just sat next to baggage claim for a while. Finally, at 11:00 p.m., a van pulled up and a petty officer from boot camp, Great Lakes, greeted us and loaded up our bags.
I was really tired. I couldn�t wait to get to boot camp so that I could go to sleep.
Um, but that�s not what was going to happen. The four of us grew quiet as we approached the main gate. My stomach sank a little when I noticed that there were 5 mean looking guys standing outside of the main building we were driving up to.
Once we stopped, the door was ripped open immediately and we were ordered to �get out� and stand in line. The four of us quietly got out, instinctively knowing not to draw attention to ourselves.
We stood quietly in line for about 20 minutes. That�s when another van drove up. About 9 kids got out this time, boys and girls. Then, five minutes later, a bus full of kids got out.
We all were herded into a single file line in front of the building. By now, I knew it was about 12:30 a.m.
I thought we might be immediately ushered to our barracks where we could sleep, but there was a whole orientation planned.
First, we had to empty out our luggage of any perfume, makeup, cd players, cd�s, tapes, radios, and headphones. All of that was put into a box that we labeled with our home addresses. Next, we were given a t-shirt, a pair of sweatpants and tennis shoes, and were instructed to change out of our �civilian� clothes. The civilian clothes also went into the box.
After we packed up the box, we repacked our luggage and put a nametag on it.
Then, we had a urine test. That�s when boys and girls were separated, from then on out.
After we had the urine test, we had an orientation class to go to. By now it was about 2:30 in the morning and it was hard to stay awake.
Next, we all went to the barber to get haircuts. Thank God I had the foresight to cut all of my hair off before coming to boot camp, because the barbers, older recruits themselves, did a horrible job whacking off a girls hair to the ears. It was pitiful.
Some of the girls cried. Inwardly, I smirked, thankful I didn�t have to look like a moron.
Finally, we were marched to our barracks in the dark of night. I remember being half asleep but I kept going, for fear that I would draw the attention of the loud petty officers.
I remember being told to be very quiet, that we were not to be loud because there were 4 other divisions asleep in the building. When we walked into the big room, I immediately noticed there were like 50 rows of bunk beds, halved, on opposite sides of the room. The beds were twin sized, and had a thin mattress, but we didn�t care. We were really tired, and immediately, most of us dropped into sleep right away.
I swear, maybe about an hour later, we were awoken my 3 people marching up and down the aisle, banging on rash cans and screaming at us to get up.
Groggily, I opened my eyes and realized this was not a bad dream�and struggled to get to my feet.
Now, I looked around and realized there were about 70 girls in the room with me. All of us looked very tired.
We were told to get ready for breakfast. The clock said 4:00 a.m. Amazingly, that was the latest we�d get up on any morning for the next 6 weeks.
We lined up for breakfast. We were shown how to march in time with other recruits. We marched about � mile, in the dark, to the galley for breakfast. I remember having my eyes closed and still marching. I don�t think I�ve ever been so tired since. The galley line was extremely long. I think it took us about 20 minutes to get from the front door to front of the line. The food was less than appealing.
We sat down to eat at a long table. I had just taken about 3 sips of fruit punch and two bites of some horrible eggs when we were told we had two minutes left to eat breakfast.
I hurried up and ate as much as I could, sensing that I would need all my strength to get through the day. I couldn�t believe we only got 8 minutes to eat breakfast. It was the first of many inconveniences.
After we ate breakfast we were marched to medical for our physicals. That took pretty much the whole day. It was a lot of waiting.
Except for lunch, we stayed at medical the entire day.
After medical, it was PT time. We were taken to the gymnasium and we had to run laps, in unison, with the other girls. Then we did sit-ups, pushups and other exercises. A lot of us were out of shape and it was very hard to keep up.
After PT, it was time to march back to the galley for dinner. It was about 5 p.m. We had another 8 minutes for dinner, and it was time to march back to the barracks.
All that marching, especially as tired as we were, made us exhausted. It was June, and it was already in the 90�s. We had to wear the jogging pants, the shirt and the tennis shoes. It was so hot.
When we got back to the barracks, we were given time to take a shower and then we had some orientation with our 3 bosses. Chief MaGayhee, a female chief, Petty Officer Mercer, a guy and Petty Officer Smith. Petty Officer Smith was a 2nd class, while Mercer was a first class.
All of us kids, there were about 95 of us now, as a bunch of kids had come in while we were at medical, were Seaman Recruits, which is the lowest rank in the Navy. I was a Seaman Apprentice, as I had some college time in before the Navy.
Our three bosses took turns laying down the law and introducing us to various ways of life in the Navy. All three stressed that teamwork would make us successful. All three stressed that they were our bosses for the next 9 � weeks.
We were in bed early that night, around 8:00 p.m. There wasn�t much talking around the room because we were all exhausted.
It was a fitful night of sleep. Thank God I didn�t have to stand watch that night. Standing watch means you have to stay alert and vigilant when everyone else is asleep or otherwise preoccupied, four about 4 hours. I don�t know what I would�ve done if I would�ve missed 4 more hours of sleep that night.
At 3:30 the next morning, the lights came on and we were told to get up.
That day, we went and got fitted for our uniforms. Again, that pretty much took all day.
That afternoon, we had PT again.
The very next day, we started classes. We were each given a notebook where we had to take notes for our classes that we had to study. That notebook had to be in our back pocket wherever we went, folded in half, believe it or not. Kind of awkward.
Some nights after that, I had watch, and it made for really hard days where I had to stay awake in class even though I was dog tired. And no matter what, we had to PT every day, sometimes twice a day, and we were pushed to our physical limits.
During the 2nd week, I got hurt for the first time. We were gathered in the pool area and had already received our swimsuits and were suited up.
Immediately visible to us all was a platform, 20 feet off the ground and extended out over the deep end of the pool. We were instructed to climb the ladder, walk to the edge. We had to cross our arms, put our feet close together, and jump.
Of course, I hit the bottom and sprained my ankle. Naturally, because I�m the clumsy one.
I was sent to medical so I could wrap the ankle up. Two days later, I was marching down the street and I half fell, half stepped off the curb and sprained my other ankle. Back to medical I was given a prescription for 800 mg Motrin.
I wrapped both ankles, faithfully took my Motrin, and successfully completed PT every day. I was also a road guard, which meant I had to run all the way down to the next street and stop traffic so that my group could cross the street. I was determined to make it to graduation. I wanted to finish ONE thing in my life that I started.
We got our new uniforms. We graduated from sweatpants to dungarees, which are bell-bottom pants made out of heavy denim. Our entire day�s clothes were: dungarees, shorts, bra, t-shirt, chambray shirt, cotton socks, black dress socks and 5 pound work boots. We wore that all at once, so we sweated like pigs. You cannot believe how hot it was there in Great Lakes in July.
Boy, was it hard to feel pretty around boys when we sweated so profusely.
During the fifth week we went to the gas chamber. It was actually real tear gas, but diluted. It didn�t make any difference, your nose, lungs, and stomach went haywire. It was one of the scariest moments of my life because I couldn�t see or breathe for about 6 minutes.
Sometimes, as a group, my division would get in trouble. That�s the only time I really hated boot camp. We had to cycle. Which means, you exercise to the point of exhaustion as a punishment.
There were some hard feelings toward certain girls, who always got us in trouble by not listening, screwing around, or by being devious. We always paid for it when one messed up.
There was a girl from New Orleans named Marcel, who we were forever cycling for, that never wanted to get up in the morning, who never made her bed, who was lazy as she could be. I was constantly dragging this chick from one place to another, making her bed, whatever, just so we wouldn�t get in trouble.
Eventually, in the next month, she got kicked out of the Navy.
On Sundays, if we hadnt� screwed up, we had a free day to go to church, iron our uniforms, take showers, visit with the other girls, write letters home, or sleep. It was really nice.
Oh, and like a few other girls, I developed an interest in a guy from the brother division. Yes, we had a brother division. About the fifth week, we were integrated with the brother division for PT, class, and other events. I became interested in a guy named Jody Ordeneaux, from New Orleans also. We wrote letters back and forth for the next 4 weeks. It was nice to have something to look forward to upon graduation from boot camp.
He was so cute. I think we kept in contact until I got married to Shayne.
I also got a job in the galley. I was a Turnstile. Basically, I was someone who announced incoming groups of recruits. I also got a chance to work in other areas of the galley. I loved it. It was neat to see how food was prepared for hundreds of people on a daily basis. The food was disgusting though and a lot of mystery meat was served. And we weren�t allowed to have any coffee or caffeine.
As the weeks went on, we earned privileges, like watching a movie, listening to the radio,going to church, eating candy and drinking soda.
I remember the O.J. Simpson trial was going on during that time, so a lot of Sundays we�d spend listening to the radio to find out about the trial.
I never worked so hard for privileges all my life, but it made me appreciate them more.
Before I knew it, the ten weeks were over. I had lost 28 pounds, gained 10 pounds of muscle. I could run well, could do a ton of sit-up�s and pushups. I knew a lot about the Navy, and I was very proud to graduate from boot camp.
I graduated boot camp in August of 1995. I was one of 65 girls. We�d lost about 30 girls over ten weeks because of some reason or another. I completed something I started, and for the first time in my life, I had self-confidence. It was the best decision I ever made.
9:32 am - April 27, 2004
Recent entries:
What you missed - January 16, 2012
%%older_entries%%From hell - October 19, 2010
%%older_entries%%a rant from a few weeks ago - August 17, 2010
%%older_entries%%Tired - June 20, 2010
%%older_entries%%A beautiful lie - March 11, 2010
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