CLICK HERE FOR BLOGGER TEMPLATES AND MYSPACE LAYOUTS »

Thursday, May 1, 2008

yeah for mass punishment...NOT!!

alright so welcome officially to the blog. this is an actual post. mom said it was up and running just fine so here goes...

so far I have been at my advanced individual training (ait) for little over 5 weeks now. it is at fort gordon, georgia right by augusta. everything you heard about georgia I can now confirm. it is hot. very hot. and just like ohio its not the heat but the humidity that gets you. its not uncommon for the humidity to reach 100%. at least I am sweating off some pounds here. if the army has taught me anything, it has been to just roll with the hits because they keep on coming. you just got to learn how to duck. enough about the weather. how come all my conversations start with the weather? I just noticed that. did the same thing with mom on the phone the other day. must be an ohio thing.

my job (military occupation specialty/mos in military terms) is signal support system specialist. still trying to figure out what all that means. so far we have been learning about computers and how they work. not just the physical components but also the software and how information travels and communicates with the hardware. all really confusing still but im sure by the end of it I can finally get mom and dad a computer and confuse the heck out of them telling them what is actually happening inside that metal box. this week we started learning about networks and how to set them up, IP addresses and all that jazz. got a test tomorrow on it. gonna be sweating that one. I got to keep my average up if I want to stay the standard setter for my class. oh yeah I guess I get to brag a little bit...i have the highest test average in the class. 95% which means I can miss 2 on the test tomorrow and not jeopardize it. yeah right that is gonna happen. they say that this is the hardest test all training where the most of the people have to recycle and retest. so cross your fingers for me. ill let you know how it went in the next post.

ah mass punishment. what a retarded idea. one guy screws up and all 300 soldiers in the company get to pay for it. we just had to clear the barracks 2 nights ago (at 0230 mind you) because one genius decided to bring a fifth of jack daniels back into the barracks and throw away the bottle in the latrine trash. I thought they had an iq requirement for the army? must of slipped under the radar. needless to say we were all ticked and lucky for him we have a no torture rule. we almost lost our weekend because of that. the reason we got it back was because today we had a barracks inspection from the battalion command sergeant major and he said our company set the standard for the whole battalion. that's because we have been cleaning for 3 days straight now but hey ill take it. anything for a weekend pass. especially this weekend cause it is a phase up weekend which means that everybody gets phased up...um oh yeah y'all don't really know what our phases are. well the short version. phase 4 is the first 4 weeks and you can't do anything during off duty hours without a pass from a sergeant. literally can't cross the street. phase 5 is weeks 5 to 12 and we can wear civilian clothes during off duty hours and can go anywhere on post during the week and off post on the weekends until 0100 each night which is our bedcheck. phase 5 plus is weeks 13 till to leave and same stuff as phase 5 except you can stay off post all weekend till recall formation on sunday. so this weekend I get phase 5 plus and you can bet they won't see my butt till recall. me and my batts (battle buddies) have tons of plans. hell we been planning it since the first week of basic. heres what we are going to do. sit by the pool, drink beer, and hit on any poor female that crosses our path. that's really all we want to do. be lazy. you guys take it for granted I know I sure did. but you can not imagine how awesome it will be to just lounge around for the day and do what we want to instead of be at the end of our sergeants leashes. I just hope some blue falcon (military slang for a person who screws his battle buddies) doesn't mess it up for everyone and get the weekend cancelled.

ok well that's enough for now. its now 0208 and I got a stupid dog tag, id card and orders papers inspection at 0300. I swear the stuff they think of in this army... I just hope it is quick and they let us third sisters sleep in. probably not but hey a soldier can dream right? so good night and take a nap for me today.

Hooah!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello Frank! This is Kayla, I work here with your mom! I swear the best lady ever!!! I have been meaning to write you but I have been very busy being a newlywed and moving into our house, and trying to adjust to a whole new life. Your mother keeps me updated almost on a daily basis. Your graduation pictures were so awesome. btw i heard your not such a fan of they beray(sp) your cute little hat? lol you wear it proud though. I want to let you know that i think what you have accomplished is wonderful and im proud to say that i know you! thanks for being part of the american way! if you ever want to chat or anything im here, in between giving your mom computer lessons! God love her! she is getting better technically- thought you would get a kick out of that. Well i sure hope that you get to keep your pass for next weekend. that would really stink to be working really hard all week and then not get a little break. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you! And good luck on your test! i hope you blow it out of the water with a score higher than 96%. Well i hope to hear back from you soon
take care, God bless, and be safe

Kayla

Auntie Ann said...

Hi Frank!
My blogger name comes up as "Auntie Ann" b/c that's what I signed on as when I was writing comments on Kurt and Carla's and Stacey and Andy's blog sites. But, apparently, now I can't change it. I tried several times yesterday but I was having no succcess and getting frustrated. I was going to ask Kayla, my computer guru at work but we were both too busy. So you'll just have to live with it for a while.
With the current high temperatures and humidity, your icy fingers story from Basic Training probably feels like a million years ago! Remember to hydrate, hydrate, hydrate! Just think about John Rohrer who STARTS Basic in June! Poor guy!
On the opposite note, we have had frost warnings twice in this past week! Brrrr Ohio!
Your test tomorrow sounds totally daunting to me (computer challenged). Remember when we used to study for your spelling tests together? This is one test I certainly couldn't help you study for! But I will be thinking of you and will send up a prayer or two.
What's up with a dog tag inspection at 3:00 AM (did I read that right???) Crazy!
Keep your eyes open for a Care Package from home. It should be arriving any day now.
Much LOVE LOVE LOVE from your Ohio home!
Stay STP Mom

Katie said...

Frank - awesome blogging - keep it coming! I love getting the inside scoop.
I would hate mass punishment too and would probably petition to have that no torture rule removed:) Would death looks count as torture? Maybe Stacey could give you some pointers:)
By the way - how'd the test go? That's really cool that you're learning all about networks and computers. That knowledge will be like gold when you get out of the army - if just to keep Gma's computer going so she doesn't have to talk to the people from India.
Take care and keep blogging!!
Much love - Katie

Becke U said...

Hi Frank~ yet another coworker from your mom's office, I hand her a paycheck every 2 weeks, so I think I'm cool with her right now...It certainly sounds like you are somewhat enjoying your time there other than the few mess-ups from the others. Mass punishment reminds me of high school when the teacher punishes everyone for someone else's mistake... I have a very good friend who's husband was a fight pilot in the AF in Lakenheath,Enlgand for four years and served in Gulf War I. His battallion was the 1st to strike Hussain's home in 1990 with the F-111's F-111s, using GBU-15 guided bombs. I saw the tape a couple years later visiting there from the AA and it was unbelievable. He took me to the Officer's Club twice (I was there in Oct 90 and Feb 92) and that was an eye-opener as well. I have a cousin who was in Germany during the Cold War when the walls came down, he was an MP at an Army Base. He's now a Harley Patrolman in Akron/Goodyear Heights....BTW both were from Louisville!!!! I had some time to write today, my husband left four days ago for a cross country trip across the USA on his Harley to San Fransisco....he's on his way to New Mexico today. He's living his dream this month, back to reality when he gets back home to the wife and kids....and he will have to take me on rides the rest of the summer..:) We are big Harley riders in the summer. I hope all is well, and I hope to talk to you and keep in touch, please tell everyone that you ALL have such important jobs and my family especially appreciates the contributions and sacrifices everyone takes daily....BTW..have fun on your weekend leave...hopefully no one screws that up too! Hoo haw! Becke Umberger