A School!

Well I'm all done with boot camp and in "A" School. That's the Navy's term for everyone's first school which trains you to do the job you signed up for. It can be more complicated than that but as long as you get the basic jist of things.

So far Corpsman training is going very well. I've been assigned to be the ADJ, which is the adjunct to the instructors, Chief James and HM2 (2nd Class Petty Officer Corpsman). That just means that I am in charge of the class when they aren't around and I am at the top of the chain of command for the students. Whenever there is an issue, the students are to come to me or one of my staff members before going to our instructors. I've also been appointed to the position of EPO (Educational Petty Officer). The other EPOs and I run the night and mandatory study for students in need of extra assistance. So far, on my first of 12 tests in the curriculum, my average is 94.5%. The students with the highest average get first pick of orders so over achievers actually get something other than just pride in performance.

Of all of the choices I am looking into, I am hoping for a Marine division in either Okinawa, Japan, Hawaii, or San Diego. All have their advantages. I have my digicam now so I'll take some pictures and go further into depth on what's going on here at Corp School.

My first taste of military time.

Well, on Thursday December the 11th, I found out that I was going to be picked up a day early to go to Military Entrance Processing Station (M.E.P.S.). This lead to quite a hectic weekend as I had to rush back from my friend Mia's birthday wine tasting event in the Santa Cruz mountains and pack up all my isht so Chief Gemo could take me to the Radisson LAX Sunday night. Lesson: plans are always subject to change once you sign on the dotted line. So, I leave tonight back to the Radisson where the shuttle will pick me up at 4:15 am to take me back to MEPS and then off to LAX. From LAX, I fly into Chicago where a bus takes us recruits to Recruit Training Center (RTC) in Great Lakes, IL for boot camp. GET SOME!!!

Here are a couple of links that explain exactly what it is that I will be doing as a U.S. Navy Corpsman.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hospital_corpsman

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hospital_corpsman

This is the symbol for a U.S. Navy Corpsman.

Tick.....Tock.....

Just getting started here....
Shipping out 20081216.