Today was another hot day with temperatures around 103 degrees. We trained on convoy preps and IED's which was interesting. This evening we got our travel plans for those of us going to Africa. A few points for those that may be following:
1) If you're coming from a high cost area like Washington, D.C., try and negotiate orders through NMPS in San Diego vs. Norfolk.
2) Get your medical record in order. Make sure everything is documented. We lost a lot of folks during screening. A good number of folks needed something. Make sure the medical facility doing your overseas screening is using CENTCOM's criteria. It is different. If you don't meet the criteria, you don't want to find out after they PCS you to NMPS.
3) The NKO courses are useful, but neither NMPS or Ft. Jackson even looked to see if they were completed.
4) We only PT'd as a group once during our three weeks here. PT was on our own.
5) We really weren't limited on our sea bags - although if you bring them, you have to carry it yourself. Djibouti is different than other GSA assignments as we don't have to train in Kuwait.
1) If you're coming from a high cost area like Washington, D.C., try and negotiate orders through NMPS in San Diego vs. Norfolk.
2) Get your medical record in order. Make sure everything is documented. We lost a lot of folks during screening. A good number of folks needed something. Make sure the medical facility doing your overseas screening is using CENTCOM's criteria. It is different. If you don't meet the criteria, you don't want to find out after they PCS you to NMPS.
3) The NKO courses are useful, but neither NMPS or Ft. Jackson even looked to see if they were completed.
4) We only PT'd as a group once during our three weeks here. PT was on our own.
5) We really weren't limited on our sea bags - although if you bring them, you have to carry it yourself. Djibouti is different than other GSA assignments as we don't have to train in Kuwait.
6) Expect a lot of down time in Basic Army Combat Training. In 12 hours of training (5:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.), we were actually only training 3-4 hours. The rest of the time is white space.
7) You will probably have to experience other students with snuff in their bottom lips spitting into bottles next to you in class and in the field. The Drill Sergeants didn't seem to have a problem with this.
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