June 29th

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.

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.

June 26th

Today was a relatively easy day. The training was held indoors (air conditioned) in simulated situations and ranges. I celebrated the evening with dinner at Burger King and buying a fan for my berthing space. I highly recommend anyone coming to South Carolina in the summer for training to invest in a small fan if you are in one of the large barracks. People are getting excited today with the anticipation of family and significant others coming to visit prior to us flying to Africa.

June 25th

It continues to be very hot here. Today the temperature was over 103 degrees on the shooting range. We started to day mustering at 3:30 a.m. The Army likes to have a lot of formations. They start the day in formation, end the day in formation, and I think they have formations to plan formations. The hardest part of the training here finished today. Yesterday, I qualified on the M16 as a Marksman on the timed pop-up targets ranging from 50 meters to 300 meters away. Today, we shot the big guns such as the 50 cal and the Saw. The Army took care of us in the heat making sure we kept hydrated and let us field the 70 pounds of battle rattle we wear unless we were actually shooting. Tomorrow we get to sleep in until 7:00 a.m.

South Carolina

There is only one word for South Carolina in the summer time... HOT! We checked into Fort Jackson for our basic combat training. The bus dropped us off in a parking lot relatively close to the barracks. Officers 0-1 to 0-5 were placed together in large 40 man open bay barracks with bunk beds. There is no television, refrigerator, or other basic amenities. The air condition does keep the barracks at around 74-75 degrees. The enlisted barracks have newer amenities and apparently is a little cooler. 0-6 officers get their own room but share bathrooms. Junior female officers received a little nicer accomodations when they were moved to Army lodging. They were put 2 in a room with refrigerator, microwave, direct TV (HBO, Starz, etc.), and maid service. We eat in a dining hall. The food isn't that bad.

On a typical day, we get up at 4:00 a.m. and muster in the drill field at 4:45 a.m. From 5:30 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. we have breakfast. At 6:15 a.m. we board the buses to our training sites - typically the ranges where we are trained to qualify on the M16 and 9 mil. They also put us in Humvee simulators that flips upside down and we practice egressing from the upside down humvee safely. For the most part, we hurry up and wait. That seems to be the Army way. The buses frequently break down and air conditioning rarely works. Be prepared for lots of white spaces in the schedule. The Army Drill Instructors have really been terrific. I've got nothing but praise for them. We normally have Meals Ready to Eat (MRE's) for lunch and return to the Camp around 5:30 p.m. Dinner is normally served at 6:00 p.m. giving us time after dinner to clean our weapons and talk to family before hitting the racks.

Navy Mobilization and Processing Site

Preparing for a deployment requires a lot of work. After all there are passports to get, immunizations, finances to get in order, turnover with your relief, family matters, wills to update, required online courses (9mil and M16 are a bear), medical screenings, and more. And information on what's required isn't always clear.
At NMPS, you'll be medically screened according to CENTCOM standards which differs from other overseas locations. We lost a lot of folks the first few days who were disqualified for medical reasons. For these folks, there was a lot of confusion. While there was a lot of down time while we were fitted for uniforms and screened through medical, the folks at the USO were terrific. They had comfortable furniture to lounge in, games, high definition televisions, high speed computers, beverages, and food. They were awesome. Before we knew it, it was time to get on the bus for a 7 hour trip to South Carolina for basic combat training.