It's obviously been a while since I've blogged. For those who don't know, I spent the last 9 weeks in Navy boot camp, also known as RTC in Great Lakes, Illinois. I am currently at my A school for my rate which is boatswain's mate, or BM. Let me tell you about RTC, now that I'm away from it.
Looking back, it was easy, and admittedly, some days were even fun. I was lucky and got some really great RDCs. The first week is known as P-days and it's where you're issued shots and medically cleared for the Navy. I'm not going to sit here and say it didn't suck, because it did. But it wasn't hard. The most difficult part of that particular week was being out of my comfort zone and getting used to having things be a certain way. Oh and of course showering every day with like 50 other women in 5 minutes or less. Once I was cleared, the "fun" began. No more holding up full canteens for 30 minutes as punishment, it was now on to getting IT'd - or as we call it, getting beat. It's short for intensive training - this is where mountain climbers, 8 counts, and other tedious exercises come in. They can beat you for 8 minutes or 8 hours with breaks for chow. At first we got beat all the time...but as time went by they didn't beat us too hard. And I will admit, without those beatings, a lot of us wouldn't have passed our final PFA I'm sure. We tried to make it fun despite that it sucked. We'd sing Sponge Bob or The Wheels on the Bus (our own rendition, mind you) so that it would make time go by faster..or maybe the RDC's would stop. :)
There was a LOT of marching! Everyday we'd either march or go up some stairs. There was also PT every other day, which I loved. Every Saturday, starting in the third week, I believe, was an event called BASES that was implemented to prepare you for Battlestations (which I can't talk about). Sundays were Holiday Routine...a break from RDCs from about 0700 till 1300. We could write letters, shine boots, and take what we called Hollywood showers, where we got to shave and feel like a woman for a day.
I absolutely HATED bunk drills. We would do them a lot during P-days, sometimes as a learning tool and sometimes as punishment since they couldn't IT us. We would make our racks then strip them, and do it all over again. It was really tedious and time well wasted, in my opinion.
We had lots of uniform inspections too, which meant lots of drills for these inspections. While I appreciated the practice, at the time I hated it because we'd be in full NWUs and have to dress down to our shorts and t shirt to put the same thing back on. (or change into our white t shirt, depending on which inspection it was) Another example of tedious work. Oh well, it helped us pass, so I'll take it.
I'm gonna say the absolute hardest part of boot camp - once I passed my swim test - was working as a team and trying to get along with 50 females. I don't necessarily get along with girls or guys better - in fact I prefer to stay under the radar and just do my job - but it was near impossible to do that in boot camp. Every ten seconds we'd hear a "LOCK IT UP" or something else come from someone in a position of authority. Towards the end we were all so tired of hearing it that I think for a lot of us it went in one ear and out the other...especially since we were also tired of hearing it from the same person who would say it and talk 2 seconds later.
Boot camp overall was easy. I can honestly say that I thought that from the beginning. It started getting even easier around the 6th week, after the majority of the inspections were over and we were prepping for battlestations.
The very last week was the longest of them all. After Battlestations, we shined our boots and read our bluejackets manual. I kid you not when I say that's all we did. But graduation was soo worth it, because I got to see my family and lovely fiancee, so it was worth the wait and frustration.
So anyway, that's my review of the past 8 weeks of my life. Feel free to ask any questions! :)
Looking back, it was easy, and admittedly, some days were even fun. I was lucky and got some really great RDCs. The first week is known as P-days and it's where you're issued shots and medically cleared for the Navy. I'm not going to sit here and say it didn't suck, because it did. But it wasn't hard. The most difficult part of that particular week was being out of my comfort zone and getting used to having things be a certain way. Oh and of course showering every day with like 50 other women in 5 minutes or less. Once I was cleared, the "fun" began. No more holding up full canteens for 30 minutes as punishment, it was now on to getting IT'd - or as we call it, getting beat. It's short for intensive training - this is where mountain climbers, 8 counts, and other tedious exercises come in. They can beat you for 8 minutes or 8 hours with breaks for chow. At first we got beat all the time...but as time went by they didn't beat us too hard. And I will admit, without those beatings, a lot of us wouldn't have passed our final PFA I'm sure. We tried to make it fun despite that it sucked. We'd sing Sponge Bob or The Wheels on the Bus (our own rendition, mind you) so that it would make time go by faster..or maybe the RDC's would stop. :)
There was a LOT of marching! Everyday we'd either march or go up some stairs. There was also PT every other day, which I loved. Every Saturday, starting in the third week, I believe, was an event called BASES that was implemented to prepare you for Battlestations (which I can't talk about). Sundays were Holiday Routine...a break from RDCs from about 0700 till 1300. We could write letters, shine boots, and take what we called Hollywood showers, where we got to shave and feel like a woman for a day.
I absolutely HATED bunk drills. We would do them a lot during P-days, sometimes as a learning tool and sometimes as punishment since they couldn't IT us. We would make our racks then strip them, and do it all over again. It was really tedious and time well wasted, in my opinion.
We had lots of uniform inspections too, which meant lots of drills for these inspections. While I appreciated the practice, at the time I hated it because we'd be in full NWUs and have to dress down to our shorts and t shirt to put the same thing back on. (or change into our white t shirt, depending on which inspection it was) Another example of tedious work. Oh well, it helped us pass, so I'll take it.
I'm gonna say the absolute hardest part of boot camp - once I passed my swim test - was working as a team and trying to get along with 50 females. I don't necessarily get along with girls or guys better - in fact I prefer to stay under the radar and just do my job - but it was near impossible to do that in boot camp. Every ten seconds we'd hear a "LOCK IT UP" or something else come from someone in a position of authority. Towards the end we were all so tired of hearing it that I think for a lot of us it went in one ear and out the other...especially since we were also tired of hearing it from the same person who would say it and talk 2 seconds later.
Boot camp overall was easy. I can honestly say that I thought that from the beginning. It started getting even easier around the 6th week, after the majority of the inspections were over and we were prepping for battlestations.
The very last week was the longest of them all. After Battlestations, we shined our boots and read our bluejackets manual. I kid you not when I say that's all we did. But graduation was soo worth it, because I got to see my family and lovely fiancee, so it was worth the wait and frustration.
So anyway, that's my review of the past 8 weeks of my life. Feel free to ask any questions! :)
