PFC Garner, USMC
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Sorry to keep you waiting!
PFC Garner, USMC
Saturday, January 29, 2011
It's been a while...
I'm somewhat at a loss for words, so I'll keep this short. Just know that if you intend on taking the journey to the yellow footprints, you'll never make it through unless you make everything about your fellow recruits instead of putting yourself first. Marine Corps Recruit Training is a mental mind**** but you will make it through if you muster up enough mental courage and find TEAMWORK. You have to learn to trust and rely on the 60 or so other recruits who will be by your side for three months.
And after everything is said and done, you'll leave that depot missing that camaraderie, missing your fellow Marines. Once you earn your place in "the family", you'll find there is nothing else like it. So, best of luck to all those future Marines out there. Stay motivated.
Pvt. Garner
P.S. I'll update with my experience on the Crucible and Marine Week pretty soon, I just thought I'd throw a short and sweet update to let y'all know I actually made it off the Island as a MARINE!
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Last Week as a Recruit
Sunday, 9 Jan 2011
Admin week is over and all I really did was spend way too much time in the waiting room at dental. This week we've got the final PFT, final written testing and final drill -- then it's off to THE CRUCIBLE. In 5 trainging days I WILL be a Marine, mark my words!
We recently did our CFT, too, and I got a first class score. Oh! I kept my Sharpshooters qualification through Table 2 and our platoon is taking the trophy for the rifle range. Another highlight: platoon 4003 and 4002 faced off in a field meet yesterday -- there was a 3-mile rifle relay, pull-up contest, push-up contest, crunch contest, O Course relay, tug of war, stretcher relay and "dizzy izzy". Platoon 4003 won and will take the trophy for the field meet! There's a lot of motivating things going on right now, but there are still some demotivating moments: I just have to keep in mind that I'll be a Marine in less than a week and I'll see my family soon after. I cannot wait. I'm also really looking forward to The Crucible, the "Warriors Breakfast", Liberty Sunday, Marine Week, Family Day, the Moto Run, and Graduation. The whole deal. Anyway, I'll write again next Sunday but this will be my last letter/blog as a recruit. Send your prayers and wish me luck.
Rct. Garner
Admin week is over and all I really did was spend way too much time in the waiting room at dental. This week we've got the final PFT, final written testing and final drill -- then it's off to THE CRUCIBLE. In 5 trainging days I WILL be a Marine, mark my words!
We recently did our CFT, too, and I got a first class score. Oh! I kept my Sharpshooters qualification through Table 2 and our platoon is taking the trophy for the rifle range. Another highlight: platoon 4003 and 4002 faced off in a field meet yesterday -- there was a 3-mile rifle relay, pull-up contest, push-up contest, crunch contest, O Course relay, tug of war, stretcher relay and "dizzy izzy". Platoon 4003 won and will take the trophy for the field meet! There's a lot of motivating things going on right now, but there are still some demotivating moments: I just have to keep in mind that I'll be a Marine in less than a week and I'll see my family soon after. I cannot wait. I'm also really looking forward to The Crucible, the "Warriors Breakfast", Liberty Sunday, Marine Week, Family Day, the Moto Run, and Graduation. The whole deal. Anyway, I'll write again next Sunday but this will be my last letter/blog as a recruit. Send your prayers and wish me luck.
Rct. Garner
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Final Weeks
Saturday, 1 January 2011
Alright. I can't remember the last time I wrote a letter for a blog or if I told you that I ended up in the hospital on "Team Week" with cellulitis and pneumonia. I'm good now, I just missed a little bit of BWT on Monday this week since I was on light duty. Oh! I'm a Phase 3 recruit now, and this week we did Basic Warrior Training (Day movement course, Night movement course, land navigation, night navigation), Table 2 Firing, and the combat endurance course. Pretty busy week. We didn't get back to the squad bay on Tuesday night until 2330. LONG days. This upcoming week is "admin week", so we've got final travel, uniform fitting, CFT, 3 mile formation run, and all that last minute stuff. Next week is final testing, prac app, final PFT, and THE CRUCIBLE. It's crazy to think that I'll finally be a Marine in two weeks and I'll be off the Island in three weeks. I cannot wait and I'm so glad that time is going by fast. Anyway, I gotta' go get caught up on my uniforms and knowledge, so I'll write again tomorrow.
Alright. I can't remember the last time I wrote a letter for a blog or if I told you that I ended up in the hospital on "Team Week" with cellulitis and pneumonia. I'm good now, I just missed a little bit of BWT on Monday this week since I was on light duty. Oh! I'm a Phase 3 recruit now, and this week we did Basic Warrior Training (Day movement course, Night movement course, land navigation, night navigation), Table 2 Firing, and the combat endurance course. Pretty busy week. We didn't get back to the squad bay on Tuesday night until 2330. LONG days. This upcoming week is "admin week", so we've got final travel, uniform fitting, CFT, 3 mile formation run, and all that last minute stuff. Next week is final testing, prac app, final PFT, and THE CRUCIBLE. It's crazy to think that I'll finally be a Marine in two weeks and I'll be off the Island in three weeks. I cannot wait and I'm so glad that time is going by fast. Anyway, I gotta' go get caught up on my uniforms and knowledge, so I'll write again tomorrow.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Minor Setback
Wednesday, 22 December 2010
Oh boy. So, guess where I am? In a big old Naval hospital somewhere off Parris Island. It's "Team Week" so don't worry about me getting dropped from training or anything. You're probably wondering how I ended up here, right? Well, as you should know by now, I had a 7-mile hike from the rifle range back to 4th Battalion on Saturday morning. It was a little wet and rainy, and the moisture in addition to the friction in my boots played havoc with my feet. Sunday morning there was a small blister on my little toe, and by that evening it was a medium-sized blister that was purple in color. Then over the course of the night I started getting fevers, chills, nausea, and I had completely lost my appetite.
I thought I was just going to go to BAS (Battalion Aid Station) then back to the squad bay for bed rest or light duty (I didn't even want to go to medical, but my fellow recruits nearly dragged me to the Senior Drill Instructor's hatch) but after I went to BAS, they sent me to Acute Care in the larger medical facility (BMC) on the Island. That's when things started getting sketchy and I knew something was up. They took my vitals, hooked me up to an IV, took blood and urine samples, then took chest x-rays. That, of course, was after they cut my toe open and drained it. None of the medical personnel directly told me what was wrong with me but I kept overhearing that my blood pressure kept dropping, my heart rate was unusually high, I had a fever, a ridiculously high white blood cell count, and pneumonia in my left lung. Just for good measure, every now and again, someone would whisper the word "septic". I was getting worried about being stuck in medical and missing training, all the while this really nice corpsman is telling me to relax and take a nap.
Anyway, they shipped me off the Island to this hospital in Beaufort and they said I'll be out of here by the end of the week. The doctors here told me that I had cellulitis in my foot, a urinary tract infection, and some sort of upper respiratory infection that they don't think is pneumonia. So, I've been feeling pretty beat up.
It's not all bad though, my platoon sent me all sorts of notes, cards, and letters with prayers, well-wishes, and all that jazz. I get all the Gatorade I can drink, and nighttime TV privileges (which I usually sleep through). I would love the food if I wasn't too nauseous to eat most of the time.
Today has been a bit of a lonely day, but I've been getting visits from the Company Executive Officer, my Senior Drill Instructor, our sister platoon's Senior Drill Instructor, and even one of the green-belt dill instructors was "nice" enough to "drop off" my tenni-runners and shower shoes.
Yesterday, they also let me have two phone calls home, just to let my mom know how I was doing -- it was the first time I had heard her voice in over two months.
It made me realize that my time here in Recruit Training is almost done. Next week I'll be a Phase 3 recruit and there are only about three weeks until the Crucible. Right now though I have to get back to 100% so I can knock out the upcoming events; Company Commander Inspection, Basic Warrior Training, and the CFT.
That's about all there is to report right now; just thought you'd all like to know I'm a little broke but they're fixing me up like new.
Rct. Garner
(Rct. Garner is no longer in the hospital and is back to 100%.)
Oh boy. So, guess where I am? In a big old Naval hospital somewhere off Parris Island. It's "Team Week" so don't worry about me getting dropped from training or anything. You're probably wondering how I ended up here, right? Well, as you should know by now, I had a 7-mile hike from the rifle range back to 4th Battalion on Saturday morning. It was a little wet and rainy, and the moisture in addition to the friction in my boots played havoc with my feet. Sunday morning there was a small blister on my little toe, and by that evening it was a medium-sized blister that was purple in color. Then over the course of the night I started getting fevers, chills, nausea, and I had completely lost my appetite.
I thought I was just going to go to BAS (Battalion Aid Station) then back to the squad bay for bed rest or light duty (I didn't even want to go to medical, but my fellow recruits nearly dragged me to the Senior Drill Instructor's hatch) but after I went to BAS, they sent me to Acute Care in the larger medical facility (BMC) on the Island. That's when things started getting sketchy and I knew something was up. They took my vitals, hooked me up to an IV, took blood and urine samples, then took chest x-rays. That, of course, was after they cut my toe open and drained it. None of the medical personnel directly told me what was wrong with me but I kept overhearing that my blood pressure kept dropping, my heart rate was unusually high, I had a fever, a ridiculously high white blood cell count, and pneumonia in my left lung. Just for good measure, every now and again, someone would whisper the word "septic". I was getting worried about being stuck in medical and missing training, all the while this really nice corpsman is telling me to relax and take a nap.
Anyway, they shipped me off the Island to this hospital in Beaufort and they said I'll be out of here by the end of the week. The doctors here told me that I had cellulitis in my foot, a urinary tract infection, and some sort of upper respiratory infection that they don't think is pneumonia. So, I've been feeling pretty beat up.
It's not all bad though, my platoon sent me all sorts of notes, cards, and letters with prayers, well-wishes, and all that jazz. I get all the Gatorade I can drink, and nighttime TV privileges (which I usually sleep through). I would love the food if I wasn't too nauseous to eat most of the time.
Today has been a bit of a lonely day, but I've been getting visits from the Company Executive Officer, my Senior Drill Instructor, our sister platoon's Senior Drill Instructor, and even one of the green-belt dill instructors was "nice" enough to "drop off" my tenni-runners and shower shoes.
Yesterday, they also let me have two phone calls home, just to let my mom know how I was doing -- it was the first time I had heard her voice in over two months.
It made me realize that my time here in Recruit Training is almost done. Next week I'll be a Phase 3 recruit and there are only about three weeks until the Crucible. Right now though I have to get back to 100% so I can knock out the upcoming events; Company Commander Inspection, Basic Warrior Training, and the CFT.
That's about all there is to report right now; just thought you'd all like to know I'm a little broke but they're fixing me up like new.
Rct. Garner
(Rct. Garner is no longer in the hospital and is back to 100%.)
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
From the Rifle Range to "Home"
Sunday, 19 December 2010
Friday was Training Day 40 and Platoon 4003's last day at the Rifle Range -- meaning it was also Qualification Day. Let me tell you shooting was probably the easiest thing I've done at boot camp. I qualified as a Sharpshooter on prequal and qual day, just a few points shy of Expert. Hopefully I'll be able to pick up Expert when we shoot Table 2 in a couple weeks.
Actually, being on the range is relaxing; our coaches were pretty chill and the Drill Instructors can only mess with you in the pits when you're pulling targets and ONLY if you're screwing up. On qual day our shooting block NCO brought us Krispy Kreme donuts and one of the coaches brought mini Snickers bars. There's nothing better than box chow, candy and donuts here at boot camp. This week is "Team Week" for our platoon, so a lot of recruits will be going to dental, medical, making up tests, qualing on the range if they haven't and doing random community service around the Island. I'll be getting my 3rd and 2nd class swim qualifications, so I'll still be a little busy this week.
We're past the half way point in training, and I'm glad to be back at our squad bay at 4th Battalion. We hiked 7 miles from the Rifle Range yesterday to make it back "home". Our Chief Drill Instructor started calling cadence when we made it within a mile of 4th Battalion and the other Drill Instructors and our Senior Drill Instructors continued it until we made it all the way. We were all so tired, cold, wet, hungry, and in pain but we all held our heads a little higher when we earned the right to sing cadence. At one point our Senior Drill Instructor sang a line, "Don't you worry about being alone, Senior Drill Instructor Staff Sergeant James is going to take you home", and recruits from Platoon 4003 got so emotional -- I, among other recruits, sobbed.
It sounds strange but our own 4th Battalion squad bay did really become home for us and being on the range for two weeks made a lot of recruits "homesick". However, this recruit does miss the food and the time we had alotted for chow at the rifle range chow hall, BUT our last overweight recruit finally made weight so now the entire platoon is allowed to eat peanut butter at the chow hall! You have to enjoy the little things sometimes.
That's about all of an update I can give right now. I'm still a squad leader and as an artist recruit I've got requests and commissions coming in on the daily. They keep me busy. I'll update again soon.
Rct. Garner
Friday was Training Day 40 and Platoon 4003's last day at the Rifle Range -- meaning it was also Qualification Day. Let me tell you shooting was probably the easiest thing I've done at boot camp. I qualified as a Sharpshooter on prequal and qual day, just a few points shy of Expert. Hopefully I'll be able to pick up Expert when we shoot Table 2 in a couple weeks.
Actually, being on the range is relaxing; our coaches were pretty chill and the Drill Instructors can only mess with you in the pits when you're pulling targets and ONLY if you're screwing up. On qual day our shooting block NCO brought us Krispy Kreme donuts and one of the coaches brought mini Snickers bars. There's nothing better than box chow, candy and donuts here at boot camp. This week is "Team Week" for our platoon, so a lot of recruits will be going to dental, medical, making up tests, qualing on the range if they haven't and doing random community service around the Island. I'll be getting my 3rd and 2nd class swim qualifications, so I'll still be a little busy this week.
We're past the half way point in training, and I'm glad to be back at our squad bay at 4th Battalion. We hiked 7 miles from the Rifle Range yesterday to make it back "home". Our Chief Drill Instructor started calling cadence when we made it within a mile of 4th Battalion and the other Drill Instructors and our Senior Drill Instructors continued it until we made it all the way. We were all so tired, cold, wet, hungry, and in pain but we all held our heads a little higher when we earned the right to sing cadence. At one point our Senior Drill Instructor sang a line, "Don't you worry about being alone, Senior Drill Instructor Staff Sergeant James is going to take you home", and recruits from Platoon 4003 got so emotional -- I, among other recruits, sobbed.
It sounds strange but our own 4th Battalion squad bay did really become home for us and being on the range for two weeks made a lot of recruits "homesick". However, this recruit does miss the food and the time we had alotted for chow at the rifle range chow hall, BUT our last overweight recruit finally made weight so now the entire platoon is allowed to eat peanut butter at the chow hall! You have to enjoy the little things sometimes.
That's about all of an update I can give right now. I'm still a squad leader and as an artist recruit I've got requests and commissions coming in on the daily. They keep me busy. I'll update again soon.
Rct. Garner
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Finally, A Letter
Sunday, December 5, 2010
So, let's talk about boot camp. It's been awhile since I've been able to write an update. I'm not exactly sure where I left off. I'll just start by saying that I got my 4th class swim qualifications (I have to wait until team week for my higher quals) and I have my tan MCMAP belt.
Monday, Training day 24, was Initial Drill and our platoon managed to fail miserably -- our Drill Instructors haven't let us forget it either. By other Marines' standards, we've been told we march like Phase 3 recruits and our sister platoon is obviously better but our Drill Instructors and Senior Drill Instructor pretty much hate us right now because they say we "fail to perform." Boot camp is incredibly emotionally and mentally taxing.
But I digress... our first training day of Phase 2 was Tuesday, TD25, and we went to the gas chamber. It wasn't that bad but recruits were jumping around and swearing like they were ON FIRE. I'll admit to the thought of running for the door but getting choke-slammed by a Drill Instructor seemed like the worse of the two options. One recruit from our sister platoon peed on herself, but that's another story entirely.
This week we had our first uniform fittings for our service and dress uniforms; and my cammies actually have my last name and "U.S. Marines" above the breast pockets now. Oh! my boots are bloused now too. The platoon is actually starting to look like Marines -- too bad they don't act like it yet.
Anyways, I'm running out of time, but I will tell you that we hiked to the rifle range yesterday and will be here for the next two weeks. I'll write again soon but it's off to church for me.
Rct. Garner
Continuation...
Sunday, December 12, 2010
It's taken me a full week to start a continuation of the last update. Grass week at the rifle range is now over, and we're half way to graduation. Our platoon had a few mile-stones this week; Yesterday was the Initial PFT (we all passed even though the majority of us were too exhausted to give a great performance), we've all had a chance to fire our weapons and we actually got rewarded with chocolate this week.
In other news, this recruit is now a squad leader -- appointed by the Senior Drill Instructor herself. Why? Not entirely sure yet. Balancing a schedule between being a regular recruit, an artist recruit AND a squad leader is ridiculous but somehow I manage.
Our SDI doesn't hate us anymore and we're actually being treated like second phase recruits. We get to do things without being counted down and we get to go places without the Drill Instructors at times. It's hard to express in writing how nice that is.
The rifle range squad bay feels so big and empty in comparison to our "home" back at 4th Battalion. We're not in the regular buildings like the males; it's more like a giant trailer. Food here is awesome but they don't let us eat the male chow and they get to eat things like fries, cake, cheeseburgers, cinnamon rolls, and as big of a portion as they want. We get bigger portions here than back home but at afternoon and evening chow we basically eat the male "diet" trays.
Our platoon constantly prays for box chow -- it always has a sandwich, an apple, orange, two granola bars, a hard boiled egg, raisins and a packet of Gatorade. The great thing about this upcoming week is that we'll have box chow everyday while we're on the range. It's no secret that Platoon 4003 LOVES box chow and out sister platoon, their Drill Instructors, our Drill Instructors, and our marksmanship coaches think it's so bizarre.
But I suppose I should talk about things other than chow...
Actually, one more chow-related story: recently my aunt sent some cookies in the mail... My advice to any recruit coming to Marine Corp Recruit Training is DO NOT let relatives send any edible items. You WILL get thrashed for it. I paid dearly for those cookies on the quarterdeck, in the pit and scuzzing up and down our enormous squad bay. Anyways, I have things to do and places to be. I'll write again soon.
Rct. Garner
So, let's talk about boot camp. It's been awhile since I've been able to write an update. I'm not exactly sure where I left off. I'll just start by saying that I got my 4th class swim qualifications (I have to wait until team week for my higher quals) and I have my tan MCMAP belt.
Monday, Training day 24, was Initial Drill and our platoon managed to fail miserably -- our Drill Instructors haven't let us forget it either. By other Marines' standards, we've been told we march like Phase 3 recruits and our sister platoon is obviously better but our Drill Instructors and Senior Drill Instructor pretty much hate us right now because they say we "fail to perform." Boot camp is incredibly emotionally and mentally taxing.
But I digress... our first training day of Phase 2 was Tuesday, TD25, and we went to the gas chamber. It wasn't that bad but recruits were jumping around and swearing like they were ON FIRE. I'll admit to the thought of running for the door but getting choke-slammed by a Drill Instructor seemed like the worse of the two options. One recruit from our sister platoon peed on herself, but that's another story entirely.
This week we had our first uniform fittings for our service and dress uniforms; and my cammies actually have my last name and "U.S. Marines" above the breast pockets now. Oh! my boots are bloused now too. The platoon is actually starting to look like Marines -- too bad they don't act like it yet.
Anyways, I'm running out of time, but I will tell you that we hiked to the rifle range yesterday and will be here for the next two weeks. I'll write again soon but it's off to church for me.
Rct. Garner
Continuation...
Sunday, December 12, 2010
It's taken me a full week to start a continuation of the last update. Grass week at the rifle range is now over, and we're half way to graduation. Our platoon had a few mile-stones this week; Yesterday was the Initial PFT (we all passed even though the majority of us were too exhausted to give a great performance), we've all had a chance to fire our weapons and we actually got rewarded with chocolate this week.
In other news, this recruit is now a squad leader -- appointed by the Senior Drill Instructor herself. Why? Not entirely sure yet. Balancing a schedule between being a regular recruit, an artist recruit AND a squad leader is ridiculous but somehow I manage.
Our SDI doesn't hate us anymore and we're actually being treated like second phase recruits. We get to do things without being counted down and we get to go places without the Drill Instructors at times. It's hard to express in writing how nice that is.
The rifle range squad bay feels so big and empty in comparison to our "home" back at 4th Battalion. We're not in the regular buildings like the males; it's more like a giant trailer. Food here is awesome but they don't let us eat the male chow and they get to eat things like fries, cake, cheeseburgers, cinnamon rolls, and as big of a portion as they want. We get bigger portions here than back home but at afternoon and evening chow we basically eat the male "diet" trays.
Our platoon constantly prays for box chow -- it always has a sandwich, an apple, orange, two granola bars, a hard boiled egg, raisins and a packet of Gatorade. The great thing about this upcoming week is that we'll have box chow everyday while we're on the range. It's no secret that Platoon 4003 LOVES box chow and out sister platoon, their Drill Instructors, our Drill Instructors, and our marksmanship coaches think it's so bizarre.
But I suppose I should talk about things other than chow...
Actually, one more chow-related story: recently my aunt sent some cookies in the mail... My advice to any recruit coming to Marine Corp Recruit Training is DO NOT let relatives send any edible items. You WILL get thrashed for it. I paid dearly for those cookies on the quarterdeck, in the pit and scuzzing up and down our enormous squad bay. Anyways, I have things to do and places to be. I'll write again soon.
Rct. Garner
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