Hey everyone,
I have successfully completed Marine Corps Recruit Training. On December 3rd I marched proudly across the Peatross Parade Deck with just over 100 other females and close to 400 male Marines probably thinking the same thoughts I was..."Oh God, I hope I'm in step!", "Please don't let me screw up and look stupid in front of all these people.", "Whose obnoxious family is that in the stands yelling so loud I can barely hear the commands?", "Is the bend in my knees enough to keep my legs from giving out...focus, focus, don't move, ugh my feet are killing me in these corfams, is the ceremony almost over yet", and finally "I can't believe this day is actually here; it seemed so far away 3 months ago."
First, I want to thank all of you for your letters and continued support throughout my time waiting to ship out to boot camp, during boot camp and my future career as a Marine. They helped me so much get through each day. Mail call was what we all waited for. Standing on line after our shower we would all look and listen hoping to hear our name called for a letter from home envious of those who got letters on days we didn't. I also want to thank the amazing friends I made...I couldn't have done it without you! We kept each other going and pushed each other when we thought we had nothing left to give. All of you really are like sisters...sometimes we got on each other's nerves and snapped but moved on quickly because that's what sisters do.
0200 (2am) 22 Nov 2010: "LIGHTS!!!!!!!!!!!!"
That was the first word we heard the long awaited morning of the beginning of the end. We were about to embark on the most physically and mentally draining days of recruit training. "Hurry, hurry, let's go, we've got to go! NOW!" was repeated over and over again as the drill instructors tried to move us along to form up with our gear for the first hike of the Crucible. Side by side in a column of 2 both female platoons formed up just outside our squad bay wondering what the next 54 hours held. We knew we would only be getting 4 hours of sleep each night and eating only the 4 MREs issued to us the day before. "Left, left, left, right, left, round step, march!" There was no going back now. Our 6 mile hike had begun. Once we arrived at Page Field where all our exercises and activities would take place we grounded our gear and had a little time to eat. Then the fun began! Another short hike to the rifle range to complete the combat marksmanship part of our final test. an hour or so later we hiked back for more obstacles. It was the longest day we had experienced during our time on the island. Up at 0200, bed at 0000. We did get plenty of time to sit down, rest and eat. In addition to our morning hike, we did a 5 mile night hike through the woods without flashlights or anything to help us see. It was important to stay close to the recruit in in front of you because it was almost pitch black. The only light was a little glow stick on the pack of the drill instructor that looked like it was floating and bobbing though the sheet of black night. Not even her shadow was visible. We were all so exhausted by the end of the day all we wanted to do was go to bed.
Day 2 started early at 0400. We dressed, ate a little then began the activities for the day. One of our activities was evacuating a casualty 1 mile to safety. In our squad of 15 people we had to patrol our way to the casualty though a clearing in the woods. Not even 200 yards into it our drill instructor decided that during the incoming fire from the front one person didn't drop fast enough. She just happened to be the biggest one out of both platoons so we had to carry her the rest of the way. Luckily the drill instructor let us start over. Whew! It would not have been fun trying to carry her through the whole course! Once we finished all the small obstacles for the day and the sun went down we started the night assault course. Pushing a 35 lb ammo can through the sand while low crawling with your rifle and going under razor wire is not easy! After another long day bed was again at 0000. Now we all knew the obstacles part was over. We only had our 9 mile hike back to civilization. We did it in 3, 3 mile legs stopping for 10 minutes between each for our head and water calls. Maybe it was because we were all motivated to finish, but the hike seemed like nothing. The hardest part was the blisters and sharp pains that shot through your feet. Every time we stopped then started I would wobble for a little because of the pain. It was hard but focusing on putting one foot in front of the other helped keep me going until my feet went numb for that leg. Our last 3 miles we yelled cadence the whole way to let everyone know we were almost Marines. When we finally finished we grounded our packs behind the second battalion squad bays and waited for all the male platoons before going to our emblem ceremony. We had done it...the crucible was over and for the most part so was our training.
Normally the emblem ceremony is done in front of the Iwo Jima statue by the parade deck where graduation is but the schedule got moved around for the holiday. Because of a graduation we had our elsewhere. We were the first ones ever to receive our Eagle, Globe and Anchor on the yellow footprints. We had come full circle. Our transformation from civilian to Marine began on the yellow footprints when we first got off the bus and that's where it ended. It was a surreal feeling like nothing I can explain in words. There was an amazing sense of accomplishment in everyone's eyes knowing that throughout the past 3 months we had tested our minds and our bodies more than what we ever thought possible. Among all the new Marines there was not one dry eye...I think the males were actually crying more than us! Some even looked like they were going to hyperventilate from all the blubbering! After the speeches the drill instructors went one by one and handed each of us our EGA. Trying to maintain bearing and control the tears as much as possible we all clasped the treasured symbol of the Marine Corps tight in our left hands knowing we had the honor, courage, commitment and strength to begin and complete the most difficult boot camp in the military. We had all done it...stood tall and proud, earning the title of United States Marine; something only a hand full of people can say they did.
The last 10 days of boot camp were exciting and sad at the same time. The final test standing between us and finally getting to leave Parris Island was our Battalion Commander Inspection. We spent almost a whole week cleaning, ironing our uniforms and cleaning our weapons...there was no way we were going to fail and have to stay there longer. Oh no! We were so close to graduation nothing was going to stand in our way. Not the green dust bunnies under the beds, loose straps on our packs, a wrinkle in our uniform, a minute speck of carbon on our rifle or shoes even a quarter of an inch off of perfect alignment. Needless to say we all passed. Now we knew for sure we were going home...it was only a matter of time.
More about Marine week to come...stay tuned
Semper Fi!
PFC Rohrbach
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Heading Down!
Hey everybody,
Well, only 3 days left! (Technically, 2 until we get to see her :o) We're heading out in just a short while to make the drive down to South Carolina. We will be driving all night and arrive around 12 noon tomorrow!
Thursday is family day so we will get to see Chelsea for the first time in 3 months! We can't wait. We will get to spend part of the day with her and she will have the chance to show us around the camp, including the squad bay, her "bedroom" and her special places she has to keep a clear mind, along with some of the exercise courses and obstacle sites. At 7 am we will get to watch her participate in the motivational run (about 3 miles) and see her hard work in person. It should be very interesting.
Friday at 9:00 am we will finally get to see her graduate and officially become a Marine! We will post lots of pictures after! Then she will spend the weekend catching up with her family (awww!).
Once she is relaxed, I will make sure she posts a message to let everyone know some of her experiences! Thank you all for keeping up with my posts and for supporting Chelsea in her journey of becoming a United States Marine!
Sincerely,
Logan Rohrbach
P.S. Keep checking back, you never know what'll pop up!
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Getting Close!
“11/4/10
OMG! Yesterday was the best day ever ever ever! I just had to say that before hi….so hi!
Ok, back to yesterday. We went to early chow b/c some of us had to go to dental which I was dreading! We still can’t get cereal and stuff but they actually give me the double rats on the hot food so it wasn’t too bad. Then 10 of us walked to dental to get our wisdom teeth out. They called everyone but me and one of the other girls from the other platoon. So we sat there for ½ hour then they told us we weren’t getting our teeth pulled! I was so relieved. Now I can have it done my way. So we walked back to the squad bay. We are still preparing for our inspection.
11/7/10
Sorry for the gap between writing…we were so busy preparing for the inspection. We cleaned everything top to bottom, had to get our uniforms all ready and make sure everything was squared away before we could do anything else. This inspection was in our service uniform; aka pickle suit. We got our red & yellow service ribbon which was cool and they already had our rank insignia on the sleeves. We didn’t find out if we passed individually but as a platoon we did.
Now that the inspection is over we get to relax until Tuesday I think. BWT is supposed to start on Monday but it’s a holiday so we have the holiday schedule – 4 extra hours of free time. There was also talk of them cancelling our final PFT and using our initial score because we don’t have time before the crucible. Time seems to be flying now.
So, its getting cold here I have no idea how. It was 80 last Friday then it dropped to like 40 on Wednesday. We still had to role our sleeves so we were all freezing! They switch over today so our sleeves went down and we can wear our sweatshirts underneath. I’m hoping it warms up again especially for next week and the crucible. Really, how does it drop 40 degrees in a matter of days!? This place is weird. I swear, I think the whole island is temperature controlled. They started serving some new food at the chow hall. For Halloween there was cornbread and now they have applesauce. I can’t wait til liberty Sunday when we can go around and get as much food as we want. Everytime I’m talking with my friends here the conversation at some point always turns to food. OK enough about food I’m getting hungry.
On Friday we got our pictures taken. We were allowed to buy makeup at the PX for the pictures. The other platoon didn’t get to wear any. We weren’t in full dress blues either. It was a white shirt that velcroed, a cropped blue jacket and cover. You’ll get to see them on family day. We also ordered our yearbooks, graduation DVD and USMC ring.
Oh! All the people that didn’t pass the rifle range had to go back last week everyday until they passed. 2 people didn’t qual so they got dropped back immediately. All their stuff was moved Fri night. The other platoon had 8 dropped for not qualing. We’re down to 58 from 61 now. Another girl hurt her ankle and is being sent home depression. I personally thing there should be at least 10 other people here that need to go home.
Also, I’m well on my way to earning a cosmetology certificate. I trimmed the ends of my hair last night and now everyone comes to me to have their hair done. I did 3 this morning plus my own and those were all new people whose hair I had never done before. I’m like the resident hair dresser. Its kind of funny but not. I have to do it all on free time.
There was something else but I can’t remember. Oh well, maybe I’ll think of it later.
How is everything going there? Is your back any better? Classes? Etc? Write back and send more pics if you can J
Love, Chelsea”
“11/8/10
Hi Logan,
I wrote you a letter yesterday but I got yours today. We can definitely go to the range sometime. Military ppl can get a membership to the ranges on base so we can go shoot the rifle or we can do skeet shooting w/ a shotgun…whatever you prefer. Its so much fun!! You’d love it too. I have one more chance to get expert during BWT. If you shoot expert you don’t get anything special except the badge. Marksman looks like a pizza box with a bullseye, sharpshooter is like a cross and the expert is cross rifles with a wreath. It does suck that they get dropped but if they get deployed and need to shoot back they’re no good to anyone. Every Marine is a rifleman so they need to learn to shoot and hit the target.
I already mentioned the inspection so I won’t repeat myself. I was hoping that girl got dropped but they decided to keep her. She just gets IT’d all the time for the rest of boot camp.
So since my other letter our Senior DI called me into her office and told me to eat more so now I have no restrictions. I can have French toast, yogurt, cereal as much bread, peanut butter, jelly and fruit as I want! I’m so happy! Tomorrow and Wednesday for lunch we get MREs. They took away all the sweet stuff and candy though but hopefully I’ll gain some weight from that. If I don’t gain my last 3 pounds I get put on grad hold until I reach that weight L
Less than one week of practice for you now… by the time you get this you’ll probably be done. It will give your back a rest too. At Thanksgiving tell everyone I said hi. I’m sure I’ll write to you before that though.
Everyone started writing their food lists for when they go home.
Oh! Today we practiced putting on our cami paint. It looked really funny. I’ll bring some home so you can use it.
T minus 24 days… probably 20 or 21 when you get this… See you soon!
Love, Chelsea”
Monday, November 8, 2010
New Letter!
New Letter!
Letter #9 To Me:
“10/31/10
Hey Logan,
It seems like forever since I’ve last written you. Last week at the rifle range was crazy. We were busy all day everyday. Early chow at 4:30, right to the rifle range to set up, shooting all morning and afternoon, time with our coaches, late evening chow then shower, and free time to clean our rifles. All the practice paid off for me. I shot a 215- 5 points away from expert! I still have table 2 (moving targets) next week where I can make up those 5 points. The 8K (about 7-8 mile) hike back wasn’t as bad as the one there. Everyone stayed together more so the people in the back didn’t have to run as much. When we got back we went right to climbing the ropes. I was one of less than 10 that were able to get to the top.
So, back to the rifle range… 29 of our 61 recruits didn’t qualify (190+ pts to qual) or onked as they call it here. So now they all need to go back this week to try and qual and if they don’t they get dropped to another platoon. The shooting was so much fun! I wish we did it more. We shot from sitting, kneeling, standing and laying down from 200, 300 and 500 yards at different targets. It’s a lot to write so I’ll tell you when I see you on family day.
Today didn’t start out as a good day at all. We went to the pit twice before breakfast and had our food rationed. No pancake, syrup, yogurt, cereal, jelly and only one piece of fruit. Why? Because one stupid girl decided to keep 2 live (unused) bullets from the rifle range and mail them home. One came back and we all got in trouble. All week we had shake downs where we emptied all our pockets and stripped down to bras & underwear so they could check that no one had any all while yelling “no brass, no trash, no saved rounds” yet she still didn’t say anything. I hope she gets dropped for it. She could have gone to jail if they called the MP’s. I don’t know how some people can be so stupid! I’m so sick of being here. I’m glad there’s only a month left.
October went by so fast. Hopefully November is the same way.
This week we are just getting ready for our company commander inspection on Saturday and do jobs around the base like mow the grass and things like that. We probably cleaned for 4-6 hours today because our squad bay has to be clean for the inspection!
I really hope they take us off this food restriction soon. I’m so hungry! It was the same at dinner and lunch. One peanut butter, no jelly, once piece of bread and one fruit. We did have baked ziti so that was good and cream of potato soup. They had corn bread but that counts as a piece of bread so I didn’t get any. I want food but I have to wait another 3 ½ weeks until the warriors breakfast and we’ll be Marines! There’s finally a light at the end of the tunnel.
Our drill instructors have noticeable changed also. They still yell when we do something wrong but we don’t get counted down for every little thing, shower without them standing in the doorway telling us to get out but who knows what will happen now. We had to dump all our stuff yesterday during free time so they could check that none of us had anymore rounds. They did it again this morning too. I keep telling myself Dec 3 and that I’ll make it there. I’m still living meal to meal.
That one girl who went home because her little sister died I saw in church today. She’s 2 weeks behind us & just started the rifle range. We’re now the senior Oscars. A platoon of “babies” picked up yesterday so its kind of cool being looked up to and helping them out.
Gotta go now…let me know how everything is going. Has anyone written anything on facebook or the blog? See you soon!
Love, Chelsea”
Thursday, October 28, 2010
New Letter!
Letter #8 to Me:
"10/24/10
Hi Logan,
Everyone always thinks they know more than you or are better than you and once people started leaving to go back to their free time it turned into a gossip session. I have no respect for over half the people here.
Now that we’re eating a lot more at the male chow hall I’ve gained the weight back. I’m up to 114 now but I’ll probably lose it as soon as we get back. We get so much more food here.
I’m glad they didn’t drop me too. I don’t want to spend any more time here than needed. My knee still hurts a little but not as bad. It’s the worst during the runs but I can get through it. Now I have the same thing in my left knee. It was killing me during the run yesterday. I really need to stretch and ice it so it can get better before our hike back but there never seems to be time. All team week I think we pretty much just get ready for our company commander inspection and get our teeth pulled. Should be fun!
Sorry to hear about your back. Hopefully the steroids start working better and practice won’t hurt as much. At least you can go lay down afterwards and study from bed. I wish I could say November will go by quickly here too, but there’s no telling. Could go either way.
We found out that because of Thanksgiving our Crucible will start on Monday Nov. 22 and end on the 24th so make sure you change that on your calendar. That Sunday we can make phone calls so expect one sometime in the morning. I’m definitely getting real food that day too!
Starting this week we have 40 days left until graduation. Its really starting to wind down. I’m hoping to get 30 days of recruiters assistance right after so I’ll actually get to spend the holidays at home but there are no guarantees. It would be nice. I got my first bank statement the other day. My first 2 wk paycheck was almost $700.
Ok, I should probably study now. I’ll write again.
Love, Chelsea
P.S. Thanks for Alex’s address. I got a letter from him a few days ago. He said they have males and females in their platoon and he’s having a great time right now.”
Saturday, October 23, 2010
New Letter!
Letter #7 to Me:
We left around 5:30 yesterday morning on our hike to the rifle range. We start grass week tomorrow but I think it mostly learning everything we need to know before we actually shoot. The hike was a little over 6 miles and was not fun. We wore our large packs and Kevlar helmets. I got pushed towards the back and had to run most of the way because people in front of me kept falling back. We eventually made it then had a pretty easy rest of the day. We unpacked all our stuff and went to chow. After chow we drilled for 2 hours then went back to our squad bay, hygiened, got mail and went on free time. We were all so tired after the hike. I woke up to go to the bathroom but didn’t want to get out of bed. Tomorrow should be better. PT in the morning then the rifle range. Hopefully the next 6 weeks go quickly.
While we’re at the range we eat at the male chow hall but can’t eat it unless we have it at ours. It’s so unfair! They get cinnamon rolls, and pastries for breakfast and chips, brownies and cookies with lunch and dinner. They can also get as much food as they want and have so much more time to eat it. They don’t have DI’s on them all the time when they eat either. Ours watch us like hawks to make sure we’re not eating what we’re not supposed to. And we have to eat with the B side platoon so they try and make us follow their rules. We don’t get milk in our cereal and a drink with breakfast… it’s one or the other. They tried to stop us from taking peanut butter b/c they lost their privilege but most of us took it anyway. I got 2 J Finally getting double rations! Here we have to eat with the other platoon so instead of only 60 people having to eat we have 120. Depending on which side of the chow hall we’re on sometimes I end up in the back and there’s nothing left by the time I get there. Guess that’s one more thing I need to talk to her about.
I’m starting to get really sick of a lot of the people here. They must have been dropped on their heads when they were babies. The girl next to me always needs help buttoning her sleeves, securing her weapon to the rack and everything else. She can’t even hang her camis on the rack by herself. Some of these people are truly stupid. I don’t know how they made it through their first 18 years of life! When they say don’t talk on line or in formation people do it anyways. No one around here knows how to listen, follow simple instructions or know how to talk to people. I wouldn’t want most of these people next to me if I ever had to fight. I guess that’s why there are so many more men… to pick up the slack of all the women who are idiots and somehow made it through bootcamp.
They say that teamwork here is the key to success here… ours is non-existent because people are always bitching and snapping at each other acting like mini-drill instructors. When we were lined up waiting to go into the chow hall the guide from the other platoon called us freaks. She’s actually worse than the DI’s for our platoon. Enough venting… can’t wait til I can get away from these people!
Oh! I almost forgot to mention that we had to go back to medical on Friday. Guess what for? More shots… we all got 4 more including another one in the butt! I had to get an extra because my chicken pox shot wore off. That one they gave me in the back of the arm. It hurt so bad. I got my ticket to MCT. I’m taking the bus down from DC because it was only $93 and 100% refundable w/o penalty if I need to change it.
I sent Mommy a list of food to bring for graduation. I said we were stopping at the first pizza place we see. The Sunday after our crucible we get a few hours of liberty so I’m planning on going to the food court at the exchange and stuffing my face!
Well, I’ll let you know how everything goes here at the range. I’m kind of nervous because there’s so much to learn. I’m sure I’ll do fine though. Just have to listen and do everything they say. I’ll write again soon!
Love, Chelse
P.S. Did I tell you about our service uniform issue last week? Also, how is everything else going? Let me know about the MRI.”
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Important Update! PLEASE READ!
Hey Everybody!
Some important updates in this post, so please make sure you read! There has been some debate about whether they were going to drop Chelsea to a younger platoon because she has missed so much due to her knee injury. Which would push her graduation date back to the 17th of December. The most recent letter I received she did say that they told her they could not drop her and that she would be graduating with her platoon on December 3rd. So, as far as we know at this point her graduation date is DECEMBER 3rd! If there are any changes I will notify everyone to the best of my ability as soon as we hear.
Sorry this is a really long post, it includes a couple 5 page long letters from her J
“10/5/10
I started getting lots more letters… YAY!! Mail call is getting better and better. Mommy said everyone is upset they can’t send me food & want to know what they can send. I need more letter writing stuff like envelopes & stamps though I don’t know how much time I’ll have to write while we’re at the rifle range just b/c we need to keep our rifle really clean. They can send pretty much anything so long as it’s not food or anything sharp. Oh, our hair gel, hair spray, black hair ties and black bobby pins would work too. Some of us still haven’t gotten to go to the PX to get it yet. Also, I really like getting pictures. Just nothing too bulky… we don’t have much room for our stuff. Just a 1.5 ft. X 3 ft. footlocker at the end of our bed. Don’t send books either… I won’t have time to read them.
I think that’s pretty much all for now. I’ll let you know how it goes tomorrow.
Letter #5 to Me:
Today we had our PT session early. We started before the sun came up. It was the first day we got to do the obstacle course. When you just watch it looks pretty easy and low to the ground but some of the stuff once you get up seems really high when there’s nothing to catch you but some shredded tires on top of dirt. It was fun though- would have been more fun if there weren’t so many people yelling at us to keep moving. Right after we showered then went right to the Pugil sticks. This was the last time we did Pugil sticks until the crucible.
My arms are so tired from always holding the rifle. It seems like we drill 8 hours a day ( I know it’s less but it seems longer).
I don’t know if you heard or not but when I went for my final follow up for my knee, the trainer sent me to have my cough looked at and since I had a fever. They put me on bed rest for 2 days. Yesterday morning our senior DI had me bring all my stuff to the front of the squad bay for an inventory. Usually they do this when someone is getting dropped to a newer platoon but one of the other DI’s said she thought I was staying b/c there was no paperwork for it. I’m so confused! Today on the obstacle course our chief DI (above our senior) said I was still here b/c there were some people who thought I still deserved to be here so I still have no idea what’s happening. I may be staying an extra 2 weeks and I may not be. Its not my fault my knee started to hurt and got sick with a high fever. I was still able to pass the martial arts test. If I’m not gone by Monday I’ll be marching in initial drill & we have our first written test on Tuesday. We officially enter phase 2 on Monday. I’m really really hoping they don’t push me back but if they do I’ll definitely be home for Christmas.
Lots of people are saying that with the holidays and MCT classes not picking up until Jan that we’ll have all of December off. Wouldn’t that be nice!! Tons of time to recover and sleep. I’m going to start making a list of everything I want to eat on the ride home. I started dreaming about how to sneak food in.
10/10/10
Today started off great! We do our weigh-ins every Sunday. Last week I was 109 b/c I got sick. I gained back enough to get to 112 and she finally decided to put me on double rations. Until the paperwork gets done I only get to pile up extra from the salad bar- as much PB&J as I want!! YAY! I finally felt full after breakfast today. Eggs, hash brown, waffle, banana, rice krispies, yogurt, watermelon, 2 pieces of bread, 2 PB packets and 2 jelly packets. It’s great! I can’t wait till full double rations!
I think that’s all for now. I haven’t heard from you in a while. How is everything? Oh, I got a card from Pete yesterday. He said he was playing JV and Varsity football.
Geez, I fell like I never get much of my own free time. I hate being good at everything. Everyone is always asking for help w/ their hair or rolling sleeves on their uniforms. They need to learn it on their own! I haven’t gotten to stretch & ice my knee the past few days. I’m sure I’ll have more to write after next week. I think after initial drill and our written test I’m making up my swim qualifications and also going to the gas chamber. I’m not looking forward to that but we also do the repell tower and get measured for our service uniforms. Our green camis got sent out to get our name tapes put on …exciting!! We finally get to wear our names!
I was getting 3-5 letters a day for a while but they’ve been tapering off little. I guess there’s only so much for people to write about. Have you gotten my letter about my job yet? I’ll be in Pensacola for 5 months so hopefully there will be at least one long weekend I can come and visit.
I can’t wait to get out of here. Anyway, I’ll sign off now and update you next week.
Letter #6 to Me:
“10/11/10
I hate firewatch! I want to go back to bed. I had to stand a 2 hour post from 10 to 12 after going to bed at 8. It’s so boring nothing goes on!
Today was probably one of the worst days for our drill instructors. We failed and lost initial drill so they weren’t very happy. Because of the holiday we got an extra 4 hours of free time, a good amount of which was spent sorting through our stuff. They made us dump everything in the middle of the squad bay, mix it up the shove it back in any foot locker. So we had to use our free time to resort. It was a mess b/c they took hair product out of the gear locker and dumped that all over it too so not only did we have to sort but we had to clean too. Hopefully it’s not going to be like that for the next 2 months. If it is its going to be long!
I haven’t heard from you in a while so let me know how everything is going. Tomorrow we have the written test and the gas chamber. I’m not looking forward to that. Everyone says its not too bad but I don’t know about that.
I got your letter yesterday. I figured you were busy with school and everything. I hadn’t thought of Easter but it’s a definite possibility. The mileage limitations vary depending on how many days we get off. I’ll have to wait and see which days for Easter we get.
Yesterday was a packed day. I had to make up my swim qualification in the morning after out written test. The all did the repel tower but I was late so I didn’t get to go L I was so disappointed! Then we ate and went to the gas chamber. It wasn’t nearly as bad as everyone said it was going to be. The didn’t make us take our masks off and breath in or anything crazy like that. They only made us close our eyes & hold our breath for 30 seconds while we broke the seal on our mask. It did burn a little but not too bad. A few people freaked out, took their mask off and bolted for the door. The Marines in charge (series commander, chief drill instructor) were not very happy. They made our drill instructors and senior drill instructors unblouse their boots – NOT GOOD!! They said they’ve never had a platoon with so many people embarrass them like that. What was even worse…the male company that picked up the same time we did was there waiting to go after us. We ended up in the pit for that. I hate that when one person screws up we all pay for it. Our senior hates us now.
Swim qual was pretty easy. We put on a set of camis, swam 25 meters how ever was comfortable for us then we were pushed off a 10 ft. platform into the water, swam to the side, learned how to use our shirt as a floatation device then swam another 25 meters. Today was a really easy day. All we did was get issued our service and dress blues. It took forever (all day) just because 61 people had to put everything on to get altered. We didn’t do our dress blues today but we got the jacket, pants & skirt. I can’t wait to actually wear them! I got in trouble today for taking 2 pieces of bread and 2 peanut butters. She told me I was going to be double rations but apparently she said she never told me that. I’m going to talk to her about it though. She also said she can’t drop me so grad is still Dec. 3rd.
Once we finish up this week we go to the rifle range. Once we get there I probably won’t have a whole lot of time to write. I’ll try though.
The days have started to go by quicker now. Last week seemed never ending but there are only 50 days left. I can’t wait for Dec 3rd! It was getting chilly here for a while but it warmed back up. Sorry if I repeat anything. We focus so much during the day I can’t remember what I wrote in the last letter.
I’ll sign off now… gotta get some stuff done. Talk to you soon!
Sunday, October 10, 2010
New Letter!
Letter #5 to Mom:
"10/5/10
Hi Mommy,
Even here it seems like things happen on right after the other. I went for my final
follow-up for my knee and was told by the trainer to go have my cough checked out
and when they took my vitals I had a 101 degree fever so they put me on bed rest
for 2 days. If my fever is gone tomorrow I'll go back on full duty.
Like I told Logan, my body seems to be failing me in every way. It's really disappointing
because all I want to do is go back to training.
The best thing we've done so far is the pugil sticks. We each got 2 rounds with
someone from the other platoon. I got knocked over the first round but was able to
get back up. The second round I got in a few good hits. I'm really not crazy about
their martial arts program. I don't know if it's the was they teach it or if it's because
I'm not used to working with girls who have no idea what they're doing. I'll do what I
have to for MCMAP and go back to jiu jitsu.
When Kate comes back (if she's not back already) she wouldn't have been put back
with our platoon because she would have missed too many days. She was probably
put with the next company to pick up.
(**My note** Kate is the girl who lost her sister, 2 days after she shipped out.)
My pink eye went away after I gave it to 5 other people including my rack mate then
I got it again. We did get hit with a storm...not sure if it was the same one you asked
about. It only rained for 2 days but everything was flooded after. We had to PT in it
one day and low crawl through the mud. It was cold and not fun at all. I want to get
this letter out today so I'll try to wrap it up.
The letter you sent on Oct. 2nd got here today (Oct 5).
Hygiene has gotten better. We've washed out hair about once a week and have shaved
3 times already. Did you get my 4 pg letter yet? I don't think we're allowed to have
makeup so don't send any. We don't have time to put it on either. We only get about
5 minutes in the morning to go to the bathroom, get dressed and make our beds.
I'm still waiting on double rats...(rations). We get weighed every Sunday. This past
week I lost 4 pounds but I think it was because I was sick. I haven't been maintaining
my muscle either not being able to PT.
I finished the 3 mile hike but was on light duty for the 2nd 5 mile hike because of my knee.
They're still deciding whether or not to drop me to the younger platoon. I'm keeping my
fingers crossed.
I'll let you know how the rest of the week goes.
Chelsea"
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Important Update!
Hey everybody,
I'm posting 4 letters this time! Sorry I haven't posted in a while I've been quite busy with homework.
Letter #2 To Alex:
"Hey Alex,
Our letters must have crossed paths in the mail. I sent you one early in the week. Last week I was on light duty and at medical most of the time so there wasn't much training for me. We finally did get to shower with shampoo and now it's 1-2 times a week we wash our hair. Our senior DI even let us shave!! So far our only uniforms are our PT gear and camis. They're not as comfortable as they look. In a few weeks we go to get measured for our service uniforms, (brown shirt and green pants). No dress blues :( until we buy them on our own. We did our first hike yesterday with a small pack and it was only 3 miles so it wasn't bad. Apart from the tight knee muscle, cough, runny nose, and pink eye in both eyes, not much has changed since my first letter. People are still bitchy as ever and most haven't learned teamwork yet. It sucks that you got pushed back again but it does give you more time to get ready. Please tell everyone to write me! Getting letters at mail call is my favorite part of the day! I was expecting lots of letters but have only gotten a few from my family and you. As far as capital... I don't know what Jon is talking about but I didn't call him from here. I've only made 2 phone calls and they were both to my mom. I knew Dace on his business trip... He's down here near me working w/ the SWAT guys. How is Andrew doing? (Big, tall blonde guy who used to be a marine) - tell him to write me too. I feel so disconnected without my phone or Facebook. You don't get used to the suck. It gets really annoying after a while especially when you have to dress and undress 10 times because one person moves slow. I'm almost 1/4 of the way done. The days have been going by pretty quick. Keep writing.
Chelsea"
Letter #3 To Me:
"Hi Logan,
I don't remember what I wrote in my last letter so sorry if I repeat anything. Fannie said you've been doing a good job keeping everyone up to date. I've gotten a few letters since I last wrote you but only 3 other than you, mommy and grammy.
First, I got assigned my MOS on Saturday. (I also got a phone call home to get some info and 2 choc chip cookies for lunch- at the security clearance building). My school is 5 months in Pensacola. We get liberty after our classes & on weekends but I think there are mileage limitations for the length of the weekend but he said there will probably be a long weekend w/a holiday where I'll be able to visit you.
My knee still hurts but I'm trying to work through it to graduate on time. I also got pink eye in both eyes already. A lot of our schedule got postponed b/c of heat and rain. Tomorrow we get to do the confidence course..yay! Finally something fun! We had our first hike on Sat...It was only 3 miles with a small pack so it wasn't that bad. The worst part was my knee. After this week we go to the pool for 4 days to do our swim qualifications. Then we start Phase 2 where they give us a little more freedom. BTW, I'm still waiting on my double rations. I can't believe we're in our 4th week here, the days are starting to blend together but go by quickly. I go to church on Sundays because we get 2 hours away from the drill instructors. One is pretty nice but the other is a complete b***h. Our senior DI is nice too. She let us shave twice already & her last platoon had to wait 8 weeks before they shaved.
I wrote this part yesterday & got your letter today. Our classroom stuff is mostly history, customs, traditions, rules & regulations. Stuff like that. I think we start doing more activities in phase 2 but we're on our feet all day & holding our rifle a lot so we're all really tired. We only sit down for meals, classes and free time. The food isn't too bad. Breakfast is my favorite meal. We get scrambled eggs (kind of rubbery), either French Toast, a waffle or a pancake (my favorite is the french toast- only every 3 days though), a hash brown, 1/2 a PB&J sandwich, cereal and fruit.
I got your second letter today... PT today was rough. Its been raining like crazy so our PT field is basically underwater we had to crawl through it today and a bunch of other stuff. Its been getting cooler too so we were freezing after getting wet. We got to do pugil sticks today too. I'm not sure if I won my match but I got in some good hits after I got up off the ground. Grass week & firing week are the rifle range so those shouldn't be too bad. Today was when it started to get really tough. The DI's do yell but not as much as some from the other platoons.
My pink eye cleared up but my knee still hurts. If it still hurts after the end of next week I'll go back & have it checked.
So If you can't run will you be allowed to play when the season starts? How is everything else going? You should be allowed to send it. If it fits in an envelope w/a letter just put it in there.
Everytime it gets hard I remind myself the fastest way out of here is to go straight through training. Keep telling everyone to write!
Love, Chelsea"
Letter #4 to Mom:
"Hi,
I was glad they let me make the phone call. Sorry I didn't say more or elaborate. I wasn't very private and they said to keep it short and business like. Hopefully we'll get another one. We got cookies for lunch that day too! They were sooooo good!!
I finally got a letter from someone other than you or Logan. Logan said she has a big Marine Corps flag hanging on her wall, a countdown to my graduation and space cleared so she can hang all my letters.
Talk to you soon,
Chelsea"
Letter #5 To Mom:
"Hi Mommy!
I got your 2 letters and package this week. I hung the pictures up in my foot locker already.
I know the package seemed menial to you but here being able to have those things are a luxury.
I just wish we could get food.
I'm back at medical today for my knee because the the pain hasn't gone away even though
I did everything they said to.
When we first got here was when we got divided into our platoons. 5 of the 6 of us that were
on the bus got put in the same platoon and the other one is in a different platoon. Most people
seemed to adjust pretty well with the exception of missing home. Some others didn't adjust too well
and are still struggling. It seems like there are 3 or 4 that can't seem to do anything right so the drill
instructors are on them all the time. We are not supposed to talk on line or in formation but our
platoon can't grasp that concept.
Today medical sent me to the trainer they have here. She showed me some other stretches
because apparently I was given the wrong ones to do. She said that's why I wasn't any better.
We got french toast this morning for breakfast! That made my day. Yesterday we go to do pugil
sticks. It was fun but hard. We had so much gear on it was hard to swing the stick but I did get a
few good hits in For our PT session yesterday we put our green camis on and did the different carrys
and low crawl. It wasn't that fun since it had rained the few days before and the weather is getting
cooler. It's nice during the day when the sun is out but in the morning and in our squad bay it's cold.
Once we get to the rifle range we get to wear our green camis with the sleeves down and when we
come back it will be time to wear the greens for the fall and winter months.
When we were getting our gear together for our march tomorrow (which I won't be going on
because of light duty again) our senior DI mentioned about dropping to another platoon. I don't know
if she was serious or just messing with me since she said it in front of everyone. I would think if I was
getting propped she would have said something to me directly alone. I really hope she decides to let me
stay. I've made some great friends already. It seems that people tend to bond more with the recruits
that bunk around them. I sleep right next to the girl that I had met through the forum and facebook
which is nice. There are a few girls that are closer to my age and 3 or 4 that are older but for the
most part they are 17 - 19.
How is everything going with the business? Have you done anything else with PADF or connected
with any other organizations?
I do miss Charlie but I'm sure that you're taking good care of her. I haven't gotten a letter from
Aunt Paula yet and only a card from Grammy. Fannie did say, Logan was doing well keeping everyone
up to date on everything. Apart from yours and Logan's first letter, Alex was the first one of my friends
to write to me. He updated me about everything at Capital and is going to tell them to write. Logan said
she keeps telling everyone to write. I did get a letter from Gary and Eileen too. I also got a letter from
Rosemary too. So, what has everyone been saying on facebook? Logan is relaying all my info but not
keeping me updated on everyone else. Alex had mentioned that he got pushed back again. I'm glad
they didn't keep doing that to me. He has a lot more training than I do.
The Cape should be fun. Hopefully you'll have good weather. Are there any hurricanes or tropical
storms headed this way?
I'm looking forward to morning chow!! My favorite time of the day!!
Love,
Chelsea
PS: Send more pics and have others send them too."
Monday, September 27, 2010
Best Letter Yet!
Letter #3 to Mom
This is the letter I received from Chelsea today, Sept. 27, 2010
I do not know when she wrote it as it had no date. From what I can tell, I think she wrote it on Sept. 20th. I’ll have to remind her to date them.
We had to go back to medical to get our blood drawn on Monday L and yet again they had to stick me twice! That makes for 7 sticks in the last 2 weeks. Lucky for me I already had some of the shots before. I went yesterday morning to have my knee looked at again. The Corpsman said one of my thigh muscles had tightened up and was pulling on the knee joint causing the pain. She said to ice it and stretch and put me on light duty for yesterday and today, so hopefully I can get back to training tomorrow.
As of right now my graduation day is still Dec. 3. The 2 trips to medical and 2 light duty days didn’t affect anything, as far as I know. I don’t know why it happened and neither did the Corpsman because I had been pretty active before.
The physical stuff hasn’t gotten really difficult yet, other than my body just being tired. It got a few days off though. We’re supposed to do our first hike this Saturday. It’s only 3 miles so hopefully it won’t be so bad and my knee will be better.
We have 2 people on bed rest and another on light duty so I get to sit here and make sure nothing happens to the bed rest recruits while everyone else is out at a training activity. I’d rather be watching but it’s what they told me to do L. We’re supposed to make out first trip to the PX tonight to buy things we need like extra PT gear, hair gel and stuff like that, so I hope they don’t give me bed rest watch again. I do like the extra “free time” I get though so I can tell you a little more about it. Sorry if I repeat anything from another letter…I can’t remember what I already wrote.
When we first got here, for me at least, there was no moment that I thought, “What did I get myself into?” The 6 girls I went down with on the bus were divided into platoons. Five girls in one group and 1 in another group. (I was in the group of 5).
Next we went to get all our gear. First we got our sports bras, underwear, soap, tissues etc. Then we went to get our clothing and boots. Everything was very fast paced…they wanted to get us in and out as soon as possible. Next we filled out some paperwork, got briefs on choosing a bank for our direct deposit and papers for out service record. We didn’t sleep Wednesday or Thursday night. That Thursday we packed all our civilian things in a brown paper bag, taped it up and put it in storage.
I decided to put all the underwear and bras I brought in there. I’m glad I did because all our whites are now ivory and stained from the laundry markers.
Anyway, Friday we went to medical to get all our shots and stuff, which I think I already told you about. Friday night we got a little sleep because we took our IST was on Saturday. So Saturday we took our IST and lost 2 people from our platoon because they didn’t pass. Also that girl whose father swore her in got emergency leave 2 day after we got here because her little sister died. After lunch on Saturday we met our drill instructors and chain-of-command.
Sunday and Monday were our forming days where they basically teach us how to be recruits. Sunday was pretty laid back because of church and 4 hours of free time in the morning. I’ve been trying to lay low and fly under the radar but now since I’m on light duty they sort of know me, though only one know my name. For the most part they don’t bother me too much because I do try and do what I’m told. Some people here aren’t that lucky. There are 2 or 3 that get IT (Incentive training – extra PT) a lot because they don’t really try and the DI’s can see the lack of motivation.
I’ve made some good friends already – ones that I will definitely keep in touch with.
Right now there are 61 of us all sleeping in a big room on bunk beds…I’m glad no one snores. Sometimes at night I do hear people talking in their sleep saying, “Ay Ma’am or “No Ma’am. There are a lot of people that have attitudes and get nasty towards each other some of the time. I try and stay away from them. For the most part everyone is pretty nice except for those few.
I had read about the bathrooms but I thought our stalls would at least have doors and divisions between the showers…boy was I wrong!
All the senior recruits say that we get more freedom during phase 2 & 3 so hopefully our hygiene gets better. 61 of us have about 2 minutes to take a shower and all but 2 days we’ve been here all we do is rinse off our body and wash it with soap. We’ve only washed our hair twice since we’ve been here. I’m going to see if they have shampoo and conditioner at the PX.
Oh, also during receiving they took all our hair stuff and girly products and made us put them in a bag for everyone to use. How unfair is that?, because not everyone brought it.
The food is ok. I haven’t had to start eating meat yet. I probably eat 600 to 800 calories per meal but I’m still always hungry. Breakfast is my favorite. We get scrambled eggs, a hash brown and either a pancake, waffle or French toast (YUM!) (with syrup), different choices of fruit, cereal (I started putting milk in it for the extra protein), yogurt and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Right now we only get to take one piece of bread. I’m hoping they put me on double rations soon. One night for dinner we got lasagna…that was my favorite dinner. Someone also said during phase 2 they let us go to the chow hall by ourselves to eat so maybe then I can get a little more food.
One exciting thing though, our first paychecks were deposited on the 15th and we got our military emails, not that I have access to it. Not much else has gone on here. Most of us just try to make it meal to meal. Breakfast to lunch is the longest. We wake up around 4, go eat around 4:30 or 5 after we get dressed and undressed 10 times and don’t eat lunch until sometime between 12:30 and 2. Dinner is early though. I don’t know what time (they don’t let us see any clocks) but most days I think it’s between 4:30 and 6, since our free time starts at 7 and lights out at 8. That’s pretty much it.
I like getting mail. It was sad watching everyone get lots of letters last week and all I got was my $0.00 bank statement. Tell people to send me letters…I like getting them. You can also send newspaper clippings and pictures. We are also allowed small packages. Thanks.
Love,
Chelsea"
Send her some letters everybody!!!
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