Today was a good day. Sgt D took me and a few other ‘future soldiers’ down to do some weapons training with the 310th (the unit I will be in after my training). It was a blast. Being a huge gun fanatic myself, it was like being invited to play a part in a porn flick. I think I needed to change my shorts as I walked in and was handed an M16 and told to not let it leave my side. It was quite fun to go take a leak in the restroom with an M16 slung over my shoulder.

This was my first time even seeing a real assault rifle. It was great. Didn’t weigh as much as I thought it would. Very comfortable to hold and carry, and line up. The sights are nice and the pistol grip is great…. (more…)

So I’ve begun a routine to prepare myself for Basic. After a decade of working at a computer, being a father of two, and married, I am definitely out of shape. The good news is, other than working on a slight beer gut (even though I do not drink) I am not “overweight”. Actually fully clothed I look almost more skinny than I do large. But definitely starting to get a little jiggle and love handles. But not so much that it is physically impossible for me to get in shape for Basic.

So under the guidance of Sgt D, I have a small routine I am doing every other day. I first do 20 sit ups and 20 push ups in the morning. Then in the afternoon I do another set of those. Then I jog. For the jogging I am aiming for 3 minutes jogging / 3 minutes walking, 3 minutes jogging / 1 minute walking, 3/1, 3/1, 3/1. So far on day 1 I got 3/3, 3/1. I couldn’t handle anymore. I haven’t run in years. Not even jog. On day 2 I had my daughter go with me (it really helps to have someone there to keep your mind off the burn). I managed to get 3/3, 3/1, 3/1. Today I am running with Sgt D and hope to get one additional 3/1 in there. Don’t want to let him down. And time is running out for me to get completely in shape…. (more…)

MEPS day 2 has now officially been the worst experience in my entire life. And I’ve gone through a lot in life. So far, nothing is as bad as MEPS day 2, at least until I hit bootcamp. I will just explain things step by step from my experience. Yours may vary as a lot of the order you do things in is random. Either way, it’s all getting done at one point or another. And my timings may be off here, as I was so tired I was delirious. But you’ll get the basics here:

• Dullaghan drops me and another guy off at the Double Tree hotel at about 5:45pm. We ride down to the basement level and sign in with a lady right outside the doors, who mysteriously knew who we were before we said anything.
• She mumbles the rules of the hotel, where we can and cannot go, and that we had to be back in that room at 8:45pm to watch some video. So much for me going to bed at 6pm as I had planned, since we were going to be getting up at 4:30 am
• She hands us our room key and tells us where to get dinner. We head up to our room to drop off our stuff. Dullaghan heads home, and we head up to the 4th floor.
• After hanging out in the room for a bit we decide to head down for some dinner. We enter the dining room and order. The food is not bad. I get a very large cheeseburger (we’re talking fancy restaurant style) and some fries. There’s also a small buffet.
• We sit down and eat. We notice two others eating alone at separate tables. We one by one invite them over to our table, and eat and chat.
• After dinner we went back to the room and relaxed for a while. Waiting for the 8:45 video.
• At 8:40 we head down to the basement to watch the video. It’s quite boring and quite pointless. I guess it’s more for the teenagers than anything else. Just a bunch of “Dont do this” and other rules.
• After the video they offer you cookies and a drink. My roomie stays downstairs to use the gym, I head up to try to wind down and get some sleep.
• About 2am I finally drift off to sleep …. (more…)
   

SFC Dullaghan and I head down to the MEPS at Fort Gillem, GA. He has me setup to take the ASVAB and AIMS. We arrive and fill out some paperwork. I take a seat in the my new home … the MEPS applicant waiting room. After a while I am taken into a room with a bunch of computers. I am sat down and told to just follow the directions on the computer.

The test was a lot harder than the pre-test I took at the recruiting office. It covers the usual academics (language, reading, math, science, etc.) but very in depth. Asking detailed questions like the most common element in our atmosphere all the way up to hair math equations like (x³+x²) = (6x-3+x²) and more. Then it went on to mechanical questions about fuel injectors and all sorts of automotive things I have absolutely no clue about. After that it was electrical, about different types of circuits, and other things I am an idiot with. Then workshop, asking about names of different types of cuts in wood, or matching sawblades to the saw types. Again, I know none of this. And then finally it ended with engineering. Pictures of a dozen gears all meshed together (some inside each other even) and you had to determine how it all works.

Needless to say, extremely difficult…. (more…)

So I’ve spent a lot of time talking with SFC Dullaghan. This guy is top notch. While I have to keep in mind he is a recruiter, he is really an extraordinary ‘player’ or he is just one damn nice guy. He doesn’t bullshit me like a normal recruiter. He goes out of his way to make sure I understand the good and the bad completely. He has no problems with working around my hectic schedule with the kids and family. Even his wife is incredibly pretty and sweet to boot. He must have had his dress blues on the day he met her ;)

Overall though, he really made me feel good about this. He’s shown confidence in me, which really goes a long way for me. I don’t really know what it feels like for someone to be proud of me or believe in me. And for a total stranger to tell me that he really thinks I could do more than your average person, it means a lot. Even if he is just saying it to lure me in…… (more…)

So I was in the mall this week, trying to keep the newborn happy and getting some out of the house time. Working at home for 10 years can really make you dig deep for any excuse to run and errand. I stopped by a few stores and was heading to the food court when I saw two soldiers coming from the other direction. They smiled at me with the “hello nod” that most people on this planet do. I did my typical “Thank you” to them, as I do with all military men and women. It put a smile on their faces and they thanked me for my support and continued on their way.

A little bit later I passed them again as they finished talking to some younger people, handing out business cards etc. I smiled at them as we were drew nearer and said “Ahhh, get any recruits yet?” and one of them replied with “How about you?”. I laughed and told them “I don’t have the balls to do what you guys do. I have no shame in admitting that.”. But being recruiters they pushed the topic on a bit further. I was impressed though, as they were not pushy. They said what they had to say, and unlike most recruiters they listened to my responses without trying to counter everything……
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