A Journal Entry from Cape May, NJ

On the Coast Guard website there is a link to read and follow journal entries written by recruits who are in basic training. Kevin's company is called November 180, and en entry was posted on October 14th. Here is a little insight on what Kevin is going through these days...


NOVEMBER 180 TRAINING WEEK 2
The real training begins for November-180 after a few days of anticipation, we finally met our Company Commanders, Chief Stanton, Chief Bou and Petty Officer Mullins. As the weekend begins our Company Commanders teach us the boot camp basics for being a weekend dedicated to introducing the process to new recruit, there is a lot to be learned. The biggest challenge thus far for November-180 is marching. For a pace that is technically walking, there is a decent amount of coordination that has to be put forth. Many recruits caught on quickly, some struggled. That is a part of the learning process. Hopefully the company will soon evolve in one, fluid marching machine. A lot was learned over indoctrination weekend and even more progress needs to be made. November-180 has the guidelines in order to be the best company Cape May has ever seen, now we have to figure out how to put it to good use.
Tuesday (7 Oct) was a days that many shipmates were concerned about. It was the initial swim assessment. Although there was apprehension in the air, most of it was wasted energy. Out of 67 recruits, only 05 failed to complete the swim circuit. Even those who did not finish made it fairly far. As a result of the success with the swim, the company's morale was high. There is still a lot of work that needs to be done, but at least we have one sizable accomplishment. We worked on Close Order Drill or marching and that brought out larger deficiencies. By the end of the session, we figured out that we need to figure out how to sound off, follow direction, and remain 100% focused on the task at hand. Teamwork would help us improve greatly, but it is a matter of figuring out how to work as a team that is the challenge.
On Wednesday we received our pieces. A piece is essentially a gun that can't shoot. Although they are no longer capable of fire power, they are very real. Some of them even had a part in World War II. For an item with such historic value, the pieces are not exactly popular with the recruits. All 09 pounds of the piece seems to increase as training continues. If a Company Commander says "grab your piece." That doesn't exactly define a good time. In addition to November's new toy, the recruits have been struggling with teamwork. The comfort level between shipmates is not yet ideal. But it will get there. Once everyone knows each other and begins trusting each other, maybe a time objective will be met.
After days of frustration, November finally made a time objective! The challenge was to make our racks. The time allotted was 10 minutes. This is a frustrating task, and very tiring but after a few tries, it finally got done. As a result the company's morale was high. A week ago this task would have been impossible, November seems to be finally connecting. Then of course, just as the day seemed as if it was going to the end on a good note, it took a turn for the worst. A few shipmates failed to keep their military bearing, so the whole company went down with them. The incident was just another example of what November needs to work on, a lot of teamwork and even more self discipline.