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As of today, my 8yrs in the Army is COMPLETE!!!!!!!!!!!I guess in some ways, it might not be official till I get some sort of paper in the mail but to me, today is the end of it all. Besides, I don't need a paper to tell me that, I already got my Honorable Discharge when my 3yrs was up in Apr.'99.
Stationed at Ft.Jackson, SC for Basic Training
First off, when the area you live in has no jobs hiring and the temp services have nothing, you know its BAD. Even worse when your last choice in the matter is having to join the service. I'll never forget the day I made up my mind and told mom of my thoughts. Her response kinda shocked me. "I think you can do it, go for it." By doing this, this was a MAJOR step in one's life to going out on your own. I was 18 and a yr out of HS when I did it. It was also my first airplane ride and the first time to ever leave home like that (and out of state no less). I was so nervous and scared, I made myself sick when we got to the reception area before they take you to the main area where the Basic Training grounds are at. I could barely keep my food down during breakfasts that week, I was so homesick and in some parts, it was scary. Once we did arrive at the BT grounds, they kinda test you the 1st week or so, seeing who are the handicapped persons, meaning, which ones have to get their ass sent back home cause of a illness or bad medical records. This one girl got to get out cause of her bad knees. Those that I saw who got the free tix out, I soo envied them and wished I had something wrong with me or just fake some shit so they'd have to take me out. And believe me, I wouldn't have to fake much since I too had a bunch of shit in my medical records that I could complain I was having problems with.
After awhile, it wasn't so bad, plus having a HOT ASS Drill Sgt helped matters GREATLY *lusts* He was pretty mellow and didn't yell at us unless you REALLY got him pissed, then that wasn't a sight to see. That was the first time I ever thought a guy was hot with short hair, it shocked my older sis since I was always after or dated guys who had long hair. Now that I think more about him, he kinda reminded me of Thomas Jayne with the way he talked and kinda with his looks.
Hmmm...the worse things in Basic were::
running every morning *bleh!*
not enough sleep
road marches
downing canteens full of water after eating and then puking (believe me, alot of us done that). They wanted to make sure we were hydrated enough *rollseyes*
training out in the field, digging foxholes, and sleeping in those damn pup tents with another person.
learning terrains, maps, and the compass. (I didn't do so hot in those areas)
sometimes I hated KP (kitchen duty that everyone had to do) but the best times to get out of field training is volunteering for KP but that didn't always work.
the gas chamber. That was the first time I ever thought I was blind. I didn't throw up like half the kids did but I didn't like the idea that my sight was limited for a few mins. And the burning of your skin felt like someone rubbed you all over with Ben Gay, it tingled and burned like that and water only made it worse.
And hard to believe, but I hated qualifying on our M-16's. I don't think I pushed myself to do better and the hardest time to shoot your weapon is when you have to practice with your gas mask on.
The most KICKASS things were::
the obstacle course and the Victory Tower
bayonet training
and my most fav of all, throwing live grenades!!!! That is such a thrilling experience.
Course I won't go into details about the naughty things I've done once during KP in the cooler and what I did in the stairwell one night while our DS was out on a hospital call, course with the same guy *looks innocent* At least the 2nd naughty thing was a couple days before Graduation so we had to go out with a bang *snickers* No pun intended ^__^
During graduation is when I was pretty shocked with my family. After the ceremony and you could meet up with your family, my dad was asking all sorts of questions, for ONCE being interested in my life after fucking 18yrs!!! I almost didn't know who the man was. I don't think I ever saw my dad so proud of me and he was that way till the day he died. Ppl at his funeral service would tell me how he couldn't stop talking about his daughter in the Army and the first born grandson.
Next was AIT, its where you go to learn your job.
Stationed at Ft. Lee, VA
Won't say too much about it except it sucked ass. Our DS acted like it was Basic and stressed us out so much, I had a migraine for two weeks and our group all had a meeting one day after our DS was done with us for the day. EVERYONE was in bad shape and he treated us like that for 2 weeks. We were the ONLY company who had this prob, everyone else was chilling out.
My job sucked and learning about half the shit I never got to do was wasted. It was so hard to stay awake in class, the only time you could is when we went outside and did lessons there. I was a fueler.
The only good thing, once we were out of our probation period regarding our weekends, I could go home or my family could come down and visit me for the weekends and do things. It was only about 4-6 hr drive from where we lived in PA to VA. My family took me to Kings Dominion for my bday that yr in July since KD wasn't too far away.
After AIT, I was stationed permanently in Ft.Hood, TX. 1st Cavalry Division (the big boys)
As soon as my ass got there, half of my company was in Kuwait, so notice my shock that in two weeks, we were going there. What a great way to break in the newbie -__-, I think I scared my parents too when I told them of the news. It was quite an experience knowing that never in your life did you think that you would ever see such a place. That first time in Kuwait sucked, the 2nd time wasn't overly bad.
Nothing overly exciting to tell about during those 3 yrs there cause you did the same thing nearly every day. Got my dream car, '67 Mustang and the day after I got it, I met hubby in the barracks parking lot. He lived on the 3rd fl, I was on the 1st. And from there with us, is pretty much history.
The only time it might have gotten a tad interesting is when we had to do training away from TX. Such as having to do desert training in Ft. Irwin, CA out in the Mojave Desert from Nov- mid Dec. Talk about fucking COLD!!!! And of course windy and alot of days it rained. Hubby vol. to go with my unit but with a different company since he was a mechanic, I was in the supply field. I don't think we were married yet, but tehehehehehehe quite the coinky dink that his tent wasn't too far from mine when we were turning in the equipment for 2 weeks *lah dee dah, looks innocent* ^___^ Plus he came to my area out in the field to visit me when he could.
The 2nd time in Kuwait, was kind of a vol. job since another Unit needed extra support from other areas. We went from Apr-Aug and that was the worse time to go. HOT HOT HOT!!!!!!!!!!! The wind felt like you were walking in a HUGE blow dryer, the sand storms would sneak in our big tent and cover you in sand while you nap during the day. One day, it got up to 140 degrees but ya know what? I would rather have that desert heat than the icky stuff we get here in TX. What I liked about our job at the time, is you did your morning exercise, ate, went and picked up fuel at a meeting point or also go out in the middle of nowhere to fuel up tankers. During noon, we came back and did whatever till around 4 cause it would get too hot during the midday to work.
Saw alot of neat critters::
Camels: white, black, brown, and baby camels
Sheep with a Kuwaiti dude herding them out in the middle of nowhere
Scorpions
neat looking lizards big and small
and the WORSE I EVER wanted to experience was having a Camel Spider in our tent. Freaked all of us chicks out and of course some of the so called "macho" guys came over to help but the bugger ran off. I was so paranoid that I had a hard time sleeping, thinking it was clinging to the screen by my cot. A cook from Ft. Stewart, who we came to replace, was bitten by one of those spiders. She woke up just in time to find it on her neck. It did bite her but it wasn't too bad, just a really bad ugly bruise. These spiders can kill a fucking camel cause it will cling to a camel's body and suck it dry. I even saw a dead camel too in its decaying stage on the way back to our base.
We did 3 jumps (moving to different spots) and the last jump, I found out we were 25 miles away from Iraq O___O. Didn't have to worry much since the main support line and the UN Forces patrol the border(aka meaning its where the UN had the BIG guns and missiles). But the really awesome thing about being out in the middle of nowhere, is the night sky. Soooooooo pretty, its hard to believe that there are so many stars in the sky. The nights when the moon was out was the best and most beautiful as well as the sunsets.
Thats pretty much all to tell for the time being. Its been so long that some areas are a bit foggy. But I'm sure I can answer a question if asked.
Here are some pics though I had on my hard drive I had scanned in awhile back. I do have more but they aren't scanned, perhaps one of these days I'll do so but I don't have many exciting pics like bubba does since he's been to more places than me.
Graduation from Drivers Training. This was in Ft.Hood. You had to take drivers training to learn how to drive all the vehicles. The girl on the far left is the one who made the moves on me and was also in my company but worked in a different area. The other two girls I worked with. Of course I'm the odd one of the bunch in that pic, can't you tell? ^_~ The dude was just a friend who we met during the class.
Desert Training in the Mojave. This was when we were in CA. The trucks in the background is what I drove. I'm the one squatting down, holding my M-249 submachine gun. That bitch was heavy yet I'M the one that was assigned to carry the fucker, me and the only guy in our section. We had our M-16's traded in for those -___-. This bitch comes with a spare barrel and is on a tripod. Wish I had a better pic of it. But boy was it AWESOME to shoot!!
Our living arrangements in Kuwait 2nd time This is how we lived for the past 3 months in Kuwait. WOW! I actually look tan in that pic, not sure why since we were fully clothed while out there.
Sunset in Kuwait and cooling down This was our way of cooling off in the evening, by having water bottle fights, hence why we're wet but I got it the worse. We had to do it discreetly cause they'd yell at us for wasting water.
Hot and Tired. Coming back from being out on the firing range all day in the miserable heat. I'm on the left.
GUH! Thats it for the morning, I wrote enough as it is. Now time to count down for Akon so I can celebrate the right way of my freedom.
^__________^
Stationed at Ft.Jackson, SC for Basic Training
First off, when the area you live in has no jobs hiring and the temp services have nothing, you know its BAD. Even worse when your last choice in the matter is having to join the service. I'll never forget the day I made up my mind and told mom of my thoughts. Her response kinda shocked me. "I think you can do it, go for it." By doing this, this was a MAJOR step in one's life to going out on your own. I was 18 and a yr out of HS when I did it. It was also my first airplane ride and the first time to ever leave home like that (and out of state no less). I was so nervous and scared, I made myself sick when we got to the reception area before they take you to the main area where the Basic Training grounds are at. I could barely keep my food down during breakfasts that week, I was so homesick and in some parts, it was scary. Once we did arrive at the BT grounds, they kinda test you the 1st week or so, seeing who are the handicapped persons, meaning, which ones have to get their ass sent back home cause of a illness or bad medical records. This one girl got to get out cause of her bad knees. Those that I saw who got the free tix out, I soo envied them and wished I had something wrong with me or just fake some shit so they'd have to take me out. And believe me, I wouldn't have to fake much since I too had a bunch of shit in my medical records that I could complain I was having problems with.
After awhile, it wasn't so bad, plus having a HOT ASS Drill Sgt helped matters GREATLY *lusts* He was pretty mellow and didn't yell at us unless you REALLY got him pissed, then that wasn't a sight to see. That was the first time I ever thought a guy was hot with short hair, it shocked my older sis since I was always after or dated guys who had long hair. Now that I think more about him, he kinda reminded me of Thomas Jayne with the way he talked and kinda with his looks.
Hmmm...the worse things in Basic were::
running every morning *bleh!*
not enough sleep
road marches
downing canteens full of water after eating and then puking (believe me, alot of us done that). They wanted to make sure we were hydrated enough *rollseyes*
training out in the field, digging foxholes, and sleeping in those damn pup tents with another person.
learning terrains, maps, and the compass. (I didn't do so hot in those areas)
sometimes I hated KP (kitchen duty that everyone had to do) but the best times to get out of field training is volunteering for KP but that didn't always work.
the gas chamber. That was the first time I ever thought I was blind. I didn't throw up like half the kids did but I didn't like the idea that my sight was limited for a few mins. And the burning of your skin felt like someone rubbed you all over with Ben Gay, it tingled and burned like that and water only made it worse.
And hard to believe, but I hated qualifying on our M-16's. I don't think I pushed myself to do better and the hardest time to shoot your weapon is when you have to practice with your gas mask on.
The most KICKASS things were::
the obstacle course and the Victory Tower
bayonet training
and my most fav of all, throwing live grenades!!!! That is such a thrilling experience.
Course I won't go into details about the naughty things I've done once during KP in the cooler and what I did in the stairwell one night while our DS was out on a hospital call, course with the same guy *looks innocent* At least the 2nd naughty thing was a couple days before Graduation so we had to go out with a bang *snickers* No pun intended ^__^
During graduation is when I was pretty shocked with my family. After the ceremony and you could meet up with your family, my dad was asking all sorts of questions, for ONCE being interested in my life after fucking 18yrs!!! I almost didn't know who the man was. I don't think I ever saw my dad so proud of me and he was that way till the day he died. Ppl at his funeral service would tell me how he couldn't stop talking about his daughter in the Army and the first born grandson.
Next was AIT, its where you go to learn your job.
Stationed at Ft. Lee, VA
Won't say too much about it except it sucked ass. Our DS acted like it was Basic and stressed us out so much, I had a migraine for two weeks and our group all had a meeting one day after our DS was done with us for the day. EVERYONE was in bad shape and he treated us like that for 2 weeks. We were the ONLY company who had this prob, everyone else was chilling out.
My job sucked and learning about half the shit I never got to do was wasted. It was so hard to stay awake in class, the only time you could is when we went outside and did lessons there. I was a fueler.
The only good thing, once we were out of our probation period regarding our weekends, I could go home or my family could come down and visit me for the weekends and do things. It was only about 4-6 hr drive from where we lived in PA to VA. My family took me to Kings Dominion for my bday that yr in July since KD wasn't too far away.
After AIT, I was stationed permanently in Ft.Hood, TX. 1st Cavalry Division (the big boys)
As soon as my ass got there, half of my company was in Kuwait, so notice my shock that in two weeks, we were going there. What a great way to break in the newbie -__-, I think I scared my parents too when I told them of the news. It was quite an experience knowing that never in your life did you think that you would ever see such a place. That first time in Kuwait sucked, the 2nd time wasn't overly bad.
Nothing overly exciting to tell about during those 3 yrs there cause you did the same thing nearly every day. Got my dream car, '67 Mustang and the day after I got it, I met hubby in the barracks parking lot. He lived on the 3rd fl, I was on the 1st. And from there with us, is pretty much history.
The only time it might have gotten a tad interesting is when we had to do training away from TX. Such as having to do desert training in Ft. Irwin, CA out in the Mojave Desert from Nov- mid Dec. Talk about fucking COLD!!!! And of course windy and alot of days it rained. Hubby vol. to go with my unit but with a different company since he was a mechanic, I was in the supply field. I don't think we were married yet, but tehehehehehehe quite the coinky dink that his tent wasn't too far from mine when we were turning in the equipment for 2 weeks *lah dee dah, looks innocent* ^___^ Plus he came to my area out in the field to visit me when he could.
The 2nd time in Kuwait, was kind of a vol. job since another Unit needed extra support from other areas. We went from Apr-Aug and that was the worse time to go. HOT HOT HOT!!!!!!!!!!! The wind felt like you were walking in a HUGE blow dryer, the sand storms would sneak in our big tent and cover you in sand while you nap during the day. One day, it got up to 140 degrees but ya know what? I would rather have that desert heat than the icky stuff we get here in TX. What I liked about our job at the time, is you did your morning exercise, ate, went and picked up fuel at a meeting point or also go out in the middle of nowhere to fuel up tankers. During noon, we came back and did whatever till around 4 cause it would get too hot during the midday to work.
Saw alot of neat critters::
Camels: white, black, brown, and baby camels
Sheep with a Kuwaiti dude herding them out in the middle of nowhere
Scorpions
neat looking lizards big and small
and the WORSE I EVER wanted to experience was having a Camel Spider in our tent. Freaked all of us chicks out and of course some of the so called "macho" guys came over to help but the bugger ran off. I was so paranoid that I had a hard time sleeping, thinking it was clinging to the screen by my cot. A cook from Ft. Stewart, who we came to replace, was bitten by one of those spiders. She woke up just in time to find it on her neck. It did bite her but it wasn't too bad, just a really bad ugly bruise. These spiders can kill a fucking camel cause it will cling to a camel's body and suck it dry. I even saw a dead camel too in its decaying stage on the way back to our base.
We did 3 jumps (moving to different spots) and the last jump, I found out we were 25 miles away from Iraq O___O. Didn't have to worry much since the main support line and the UN Forces patrol the border(aka meaning its where the UN had the BIG guns and missiles). But the really awesome thing about being out in the middle of nowhere, is the night sky. Soooooooo pretty, its hard to believe that there are so many stars in the sky. The nights when the moon was out was the best and most beautiful as well as the sunsets.
Thats pretty much all to tell for the time being. Its been so long that some areas are a bit foggy. But I'm sure I can answer a question if asked.
Here are some pics though I had on my hard drive I had scanned in awhile back. I do have more but they aren't scanned, perhaps one of these days I'll do so but I don't have many exciting pics like bubba does since he's been to more places than me.
Graduation from Drivers Training. This was in Ft.Hood. You had to take drivers training to learn how to drive all the vehicles. The girl on the far left is the one who made the moves on me and was also in my company but worked in a different area. The other two girls I worked with. Of course I'm the odd one of the bunch in that pic, can't you tell? ^_~ The dude was just a friend who we met during the class.
Desert Training in the Mojave. This was when we were in CA. The trucks in the background is what I drove. I'm the one squatting down, holding my M-249 submachine gun. That bitch was heavy yet I'M the one that was assigned to carry the fucker, me and the only guy in our section. We had our M-16's traded in for those -___-. This bitch comes with a spare barrel and is on a tripod. Wish I had a better pic of it. But boy was it AWESOME to shoot!!
Our living arrangements in Kuwait 2nd time This is how we lived for the past 3 months in Kuwait. WOW! I actually look tan in that pic, not sure why since we were fully clothed while out there.
Sunset in Kuwait and cooling down This was our way of cooling off in the evening, by having water bottle fights, hence why we're wet but I got it the worse. We had to do it discreetly cause they'd yell at us for wasting water.
Hot and Tired. Coming back from being out on the firing range all day in the miserable heat. I'm on the left.
GUH! Thats it for the morning, I wrote enough as it is. Now time to count down for Akon so I can celebrate the right way of my freedom.
^__________^
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From:
no subject
From:
no subject
I plan to have tons of fun at Akon this yr, all my friends who I haven't seen in either 2 yrs or just a yr's time are coming. Thats what makes the con better than the con itself.
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
I hope you have a blast at Akon!
From:
no subject
I look forward to Akon just cause of seeing friends I haven't seen from 2yrs to even a yr.
From:
*high five*
Sorry I lost you on AIM. My connection is stupid. Gotta go, tho. Take care.
*HUGS*
CONGRATS!! ~_^
From:
Re: *high five*
Thats okay, I had a feeling that considering your living arrangements that your online time would be wonky.
*huggles back*
From:
no subject
I'm so happy to hear that, Beck! I've been concerned about you this whole time, just praying that they weren't going to call you up or anything.
*passes champagne & pie*
Thank goodness!
*hugs*
From:
no subject
*digs into the much deserved goodies*
Thanx a bunch chickie for keeping me in your thoughts during those times.
*snuggles*