And the Humidity Remains...

Two weeks have passed and I almost find myself at a loss for words.  Day to day is very repetitive.  There's been some excitement though.  For only a month and a half more I will be the "Boot."  This is good news because it's one less thing I have to worry about.  It's nothing that is too terrible or anything that is hard.  It's just another thing.  Since my last entry I've been learning more and learning more.  I've got a good handle on the Public Affairs side of life.  There's a monthly publication that is put out.  I was literally thrown into the position of making it happen.  Lucky for me, I relied on some good 'ol struggling to figure it out.  Soon I will have a link up for the publication called "The Stinger."  It's a compilation of everything the battalion is doing.  All of the detachment sites send in articles and pictures and it's my job to put it all together.  It's almost complete and I'm very satisfied with it.  I was told that it'd just be a copy/paste job and that it's easy.  Well, after opening the program and realizing how messy everything was, I decided to start over and make it my own.  I got approval from higher and it's good to go.  I'm fortunate to have once worked with Adobe software.  It gave me a leg up on this project.  Soon I'll be teaching others so that I'm not the only one with the working knowledge of the software.

On the Camp Maintenance side of life, I'm still learning.  I've been spending most of my time with the PAO stuff and going to various meetings to take care of the upcoming Field Exercise.  I never really have much advice, only suggestions.  It's difficult to know so little about something I'm responsible for.  Soon it will be done and I'll be better for it.

Okinawa has been decent to me thus far.  The only thing I really have to complain about is the exchange rate.  If ever I want to go out in town, I must buy Yen.  There's an ATM near here that dispenses it.  Most are familiar with the $20 minimum amount to withdraw from an ATM.  For Yen, it's $5,000 minimum.  The exchange rate right now is 80 Yen = $1.00.  So, $5,000 Yen is actually over $60.00.  It comes out in one nice 5,000 Yen paper bill.  Now my pocket is hot with all this Yen and I'm anxious to spend it.  The thing is, everything here is so expensive, in terms of Yen.  I saw a pair of K-Swiss shoes for about 40,000 Yen at a mall.  Do the math and that's almost $500.00.  I couldn't believe it.  I stick to buying small snacks and frozen treats in the Family Mart.  It's like a convenience store.  I'm pretty sure I saw a package of pigs' ears on the shelf.  I opted for the Calpis Frozen Treats.  Calpis is a white drink here.  It reminds me of milk in color and consistency.  These frozen bites came six to a box and they were about twice the size and same shape as a gum drop.  There was a small outer layer of what was like white chocolate and an inside of soft ice cream.  Frozen treats are now once again enjoyable after the recent root canal on my tooth.  The endodontist asked me how I made it so on in so much pain.  He remarked how it was a very bloody root canal procedure.  He was a good endodontist.  The only pain was from the numbing shots.  After that, nothing.

This weekend was a good two days off.  On saturday, a coworker and I drove to Hedo Point.  It's the very northern part of the island.  It was about 100 clicks away.  That's supposed to be funny.  It was 100 kilometers.  We got there after dark and with the moon straight in front of us, we could see clearly the waves crash agains the coral below us.  We were approximately 200 feet above the water's surface.  The waves crashing was nothing dissimilar to thunder.  After marveling for a bit, a pit stop in the restroom was called for and I came upon a floor toilet.  I thought to myself, "hey, might as well."  But, I then figured that my legs would get tired and I wasn't about that.  I then reaffirmed myself after noticing all the small cockroaches scurrying about.  On the way out, I stopped at a set of vending machines, eager to ease the fire in my pocket because 5,000 Yen is a lot of Yen and it really doesn't have a value to me.  I didn't see anything intriguing enough until I found a small crab on the wall.  I took a picture for keeps.  He, or she, wasn't about becoming famous whatsoever, but with camera skills like mine, no one can escape my lens.

With the typhoon season coming to a close, the weather is to be turning.  However, it still surprises.  Today was downright hot.  It very much reminded me of back in Mississippi where the sun beats you down and the humidity holds you down.  It can only get better.

Until next time, arigatou gozaimasu.

In The Land of Japan

I've been away for almost two weeks now.  It's not an easy day when I'm away from my family.  So far, I've done little, accomplished almost nothing, and been tasked with many, many things.  The responsibilities started piling on the day I started.  Since I've landed I have been given many hats.  Some I will keep, some will go away.  You may be wondering what I do here, and I'm going to tell you.

Echo Company Commander: In charge of camp maintenance and construction projects, responsible for approximately 100 people.  I will be losing this position this week when the LT comes in.  This is typically not a job for an Ensign.

Camp Maintenance Officer:  In charge of all camp maintenance work for Camp Shields.  Right now, there is a galley renovation that I will be working on.  Responsible for approximately 40 people.

The Boot:  In charge of scheduling events for the Ward Room.  This is the position for the most junior ensign.  I have an actual concrete-filled boot that I take to every officer event.  This is a rich Navy tradition.  I will be losing this position in December once the new ensigns come aboard.

Watch Officer for Yama Sukara:  In charge of advising marine personnel about all the things the Seabees can do for the marines.  Not much known yet, it's a training exercise for the marines that will be happening in time to come.

Public Affairs Officer: In charge of all things that are released to the public from NMCB 11.  Responsible for two people.  They have other jobs also.  I will be getting another person to work for me here next month.

Air Detachment Commander: In charge of the group of people who would be sent out first if something were to happen which required Seabees.  The real job will happen for our Field Exercise.  The Air Det will play a role in that training exercise.

So, on any given day so far, I've split my time between all of that.  I have plenty to keep me busy.  Meanwhile, I'll be starting to study for my Seabee Combat Warfare Specialist pin.  It takes about a year to get, there's a lot of work to be done.

I've not done much since my time on the island, although I've been fortunate to have a two day weekend and a three day weekend.  I've been to a Japanese fast food restaurant where I quickly learned that a Japanese size Large is a Timothy size Medium-Small.  This weekend I was a part of the world's largest tug-of-war in Naha.  It was spectacular.  The event typically brings in 25,000 people.  The rest of the day was spent in the shop district of Naha.  It's like the miracle mile of Chicago, but Japanese style.

More work will be coming this week and soon I'll be having my feet underneath me.

Thoughts

I’d like to catch up on some thoughts while I wait for my flight to Okinawa. I
remember waking up at 4:30 in the morning and was off to the airport in Gulfport.
I had a window seat, not hard when there’s only three rows and an empty airplane.
Flying west to over the coast and seeing my apartment complex where I knew my
wife was created one of the most unique feelings I’ve ever felt. It wasn’t a happy
feeling.

After traversing from one side of the airport to the other in Houston, I found my
flight and began making my final calls. Of them, the call to Sarah was the longest.
Rightly so and well-deserved, it was incredible to hear her voice already. I get onto
the airplane, a 777, and find my seat quite quickly. I’m in 17A. Close to the front and
at the window. But, the seat was offset with the windows, so I had a full window
slightly behind me and then in front of me as well, right over the wing. Turning that
plane in the air puts such a strain on those wings, I could easily see a 12 inch total
deflection at the wing tip. After placing my two bags, I sat down and then came to a
very important decision. For the first time in my life, after flying many times across
the country, I decided to use the lavatory aboard a plane. It was a lot bigger than I
had anticipated. I appreciated how everything was so easily marked and function-
friendly. I figured that with the 13.5 hour flight in front of my, it might be good to
start on empty.

Taking a look at all the seats on the plane, I now regret not asking for some kind of
business class upgrade availability and swing my big military ID around. It’s still
difficult sometimes to take advantage of the “perks” without thinking that I’m
abusing it. I’m in my seat and gawking at my 7 inch touch-screen display on the
seatback in front of me. It’s got on demand movies, tv shows, music, and games. I
noticed the credit card swipe slot and thought surely it would be a paid service.
Apparently the good folks at Continental Airlines like to keep their international
travelers happy, tv was free. I began my viewing pleasure with Iron Man 2. Wow, I
want to be Iron Man. I thought it was funny that even though, in the movie, this guy
developed a military drone robot, they still felt the need to create different drones
for all the branches of service. I think during this movie I got my first can of Ginger
Ale. I also got a small bag of tiny pretzel sticks. A little bit later, I enjoyed viewing
Green Zone with Matt Damon. Matt Damon. What a rogue. What kind of chain of
command did he have? I can appreciate the terrible intel that led to no discovery of
WMD’s and that the whole WMD was a big deal, but to just decide on your own what
kind of missions to run and who you report to/help out, seemed far outside any
military training I’ve ever been a apart of. During this movie, I got my meal. I had
the beef short rib. It came with a side of white rice and some gravy with one piece of
broccoli, one slice of carrot about the size of a penny. I did have a dinner roll with
butter and a small greens salad with a small, but appropriate slice of smoked salmon.
Now, it is important to note that the menu showed classic ceasar dressing, but it
came with ranch. To finish it off, I had two Milano cookies, chocolate, of course.

Somewhere around this time, the second can of Ginger Ale came. I believe I then
tried to sleep, listened to some music. It just didn’t work. Maybe next time. I went
back to the screen and found an episode of 30 Rock, two episodes of the Simpsons,
and the movie The A-Team. It was a lot better than I expected. Here, a water
arrived, unwanted, but oh well, I wasn’t going to argue. Talking about the water
makes me remember seeing the business class be handed out warm wash cloths. I’m
thinking, “what, coach not good enough?” well, yeah, we were and almost everyone
took one at the beginning and end of the flight. Can someone tell me what they’re
for? Why? I then started watching Forrest Gump with about 4 hours left in the
flight. I didn’t make it all the way through, but I did get another Ginger Ale.
Something so good happens with that drink. The meal cart came back, but what I
thought I was denying was a drink turned out to be dinner, because it was about 10
pm back home. Either way, I had downed some granola earlier and wasn’t in the
mood for Miso Sauced Chicken. Soon enough, we were in sight of land and then we
landed. I must say, I was surprised to see almost all the Pacific Ocean covered in
clouds. Apparently the Discovery Channel films on “nice” days. Too bad it took me
almost 24 years to come to such a simple understanding of something that should be
obvious.

So then, there it was, foreign soil. The first thing I noticed was the rectangular
plots of land, agriculture of course, and without being stereotypical, I decided it
was rice fields. But, honestly, I don’t know. The water canal right next to it all
would make sense, but I just don’t know. I then noticed that the entire landscape
was incredible. The clusters of trees looked perfect as if they had been trimmed to
look that amazing. The open areas of grass too looked equally as groomed. I could
only assume that is just the way things are here. I noticed that their tall towers
alternated red and white, just like in the States. Power lines looked similar, but not
identical. The striping on the roadways had no yellow, all white and when I saw
vehicles driving in the left lanes, it really hit me. I’m somewhere else. While taxiing
to the gate, I had my first wildlife experience. I saw a bird. It was black and seemed
confused. It was about 600 yards away. That’s all I know.

I’m then off the plane and going to the immigration lines. Without asking anything
about me, this lady in airport clothes tells me to join the longest line there.
Apparently she could tell that I’m not a local. And we get in trouble in America
for profiling. I’m through immigration and then customs who inquired about my
bag that I told them not to open. They were cool with it. While standing in line at
immigration, I couldn’t help but to look at everyone very intently. It really struck
me that I am absolutely clueless about Japanese life. I felt so blank. In America, it’s
so easy to look at someone and immediately decide how we feel about that person.
So easy in fact that most times, we don’t even need a good look, but a passing glance.
Not the case here. I had no idea what anything said about anyone. I could guess
about a few things from movies or tv that I’ve seen, but on the whole, it was very
humbling. I wish that I had had that feeling much earlier in life. I wish more people
would not take for granted the ease at which we judge people. It’s hard to not do
it. It’s a way to protect ourselves when we’re not even thinking about it. But I wish
that more people could understand that it’s something our culture has taught us and
that we are completely different from the rest of the world. There’s something to
be said about understanding one’s ignorance. Today I just got +1 in the ignorance
column.

A few things I noticed to be common were that most men wear jeans that are not as
baggy as ours. Similar to a skinny leg jean, but not as emo. Also, most of the time,
they don’t tuck in their shirts. After looking at all the people, it was hard to put
my finger on a definitive set of fashion. To me, it all seemed haphazardly thrown
together, long tops with tight pants, nice suits, very odd combinations of footwear
and legwear. Odd to what I know. I also noticed that tethers on phones are a
popular thing here. People like to adorn their phone with a strap and some dongles
or bling. Aside from those observations, I didn’t notice any other trends.

I finally found my gate and made my first foreign purchase. Some Japanese Tea and
Japanese Vitamin Water was mine for about 350 yen, I think. Somehow, they put
it on my debit card and the conversion happened instantaneously. Amazing huh?

May 10, 2010

Prior to arriving in Oxnard, California, Sarah and I found ourselves on a 3/4 cross-country journey.  With this trip, I only added one more state to my count.  I believe I'm at 35 right now.  As before, the desert in Arizona and New Mexico was filled, absolutely filled with vegetation.  I think I've seen drier areas in Western Nebraska, but that's beside the point.  The tall Saguaro cactus started to become more and more visible the closer we got to California.  Having it be the first time in my life to see them, I was very impressed.  I believe I was watching Discovery Channel and saw that it takes 70 years of growth before any "arms" will even begin to grow.  Seeing all the arms only added to the impression.  Before too long, we were outside Los Angeles and on our cruise into Oxnard.  We got in on a very sunny day and the first thing we noticed were the banners on the light posts in the median advertising the annual Strawberry Festival.  Of course we were excited, it was two weekends away.

A few days later, I put my khakis on and walked over to the building where I would be schooling for the next three months.  The first week was all about introductions and a little bit of gear issue.  During the first two weeks, I learned about the Seabees and took a short test on them.  The Sunday of the third week had me on a bus at four in the morning on my way to Fort Hunter Ligget.  For the next 5 days, I would be experiencing a taste of FEX, or Field Exercise.  We went on night patrols, day patrols, did land navigation, terrain appreciation, Combat Operations Center simulations, and this one time, some push-ups and leg lifts.  Late nights and early mornings only prompted fine memories of training once had and made me appreciate a career to come.  The one man tent and a pillow made out of uniforms not worn suited me well until the morning I woke to see something running underneath my sleeping bag.  I did not have my glasses on yet, so what I assumed to be a bug or some sort soon found itself smashed under my left hand.  With my flashlight hanging from the top center of my tent, I used my right hand to turn on the white light and held my left hand up and very quickly realized that I had smashed a scorpion.  I attribute my resolve to my not-so-long-ago scorpion run-ins in Texas.  It was a little one, but it should did scamper.  That excitement was second to that which came Thursday morning when we packed up.

The following two weeks were spent learning all about Public Works Department.  The desk-jockey side of the Civil Engineer Corps.  There's not much interesting to say about that part of the school except that if you don't know how much money you need or where it should come from, you're in trouble.  After that, the next phase was Construction Technology.  As an engineer, it all was very basic.  Instead of looking at the design capabilities of certain materials, the focus was all about what materials are out there and how they are used.  Simply put, paint goes on walls, shingles go on roofs, and sometimes we need a special type of door.  If that phase of school wasn't riveting enough, the next two weeks would, well, it wasn't very exciting either.  Contracting 120, otherwise known as CON120.  I learned that there's a lot more that goes into a government contract than looking at the lowest bidder.  Also, documentation is key.  Everything must be able to be proved.  For another two weeks, I spent time learning about Naval Construction Force Operations.  Basically, it focused on everything from how an individual battalion operates all the way up to the Secretary of Defense and the President.  Finally, my schooling was complete with one week spent in Division Officer Leadership Training Course.  I learned all about being a Division Officer, except that, there are no "divisions" in the CEC.  It was really meant for a Line Officer and not a Staff Corps Officer.  Much was able to be crossed over to the CEC, but it took some work.

Aside from going to class five days a week and overcoming the depressing weather, Sarah and I made our way all over every weekend.  It only took about a five mile drive in any direction to escape the June Gloom that made its way all the way into August.  We visited Venice Beach, Los Angeles, Santa Clarita, Santa Barbara, Ojai, Ventura, Solvang, Malibu, Fillmore, Simi Valley, Santa Paula, Thousand Oaks, and everywhere in between.

And just as quickly as California came, California went.

March 26, 2010

What a great day that was.  I woke up early again that morning and prepared for graduation.  Once the private commissioning ceremony was done, my entire class gathered in the gym.  The music played and out we marched.  About two hours later, I not only graduated, but I was officially an officer in the United States Navy.  But, it doesn't stop there, I became an officer in the Civil Engineer Corps.  It was a spectacular feeling.  I think the weirdest thing was to be addressed as "Sir" by the Gunnery Sergeant who was my drill instructor for the last twelve weeks.  It didn't seem appropriate that for nine weeks I was yelling as loud as I could and as quickly as he would put us on our faces, he was now calling me sir.  The previous three weeks that led up to graduation were amazing in terms of weather.  It was as if once we became Candidate Officers, the clouds parted and bright sunny days were there for us to have.  The only exception was graduation day.  It had gusts of 40 mph and carried rain with it.  The scene that I had described to my family was nothing like what they got to experience.  But, by 10:00 that morning, I no longer held residence in Nimitz Hall seated in the heart of Training Country.

The next two weeks were spent traveling.  New York City, Pittsburgh, Chicago, and Lincoln were some of the main stops on my way back to Northeastern Colorado.  This trip was especially amazing because I now had a navigator.  My wife Sarah was with me finally.  We made it to Colorado to see my mom holding the house door open for us telling us to "Come in, come in!"  Even though a few days ago we had just seen each other, it was still like a new hello.  Sarah and I sorted through all of our Household Goods, HHG, and waited for the movers to arrive on time.  Sure enough, they did.  They unpacked and packed all of our belongings and put them in a truck and said "See you in Mississippi!"  Sarah and I then were on our way there too.  By this point, things were rolling just fine.  I had taken countless trips to Personnel Service Department, PSD, to make sure things were in order for the move.  I had an agenda to take us to Lincoln to see my brother and his then fiance for a few days and then sync up with the movers when we got to Mississippi.  The time in Lincoln was spectacular as always, although there's never enough time to see everyone.  Our next leg of the trip was somewhere in Missouri.  By the time we were about 100 miles away, we noticed that it was still early in the afternoon.  Hotels.com got a call and we had a new hotel reservation.  Next stop, Memphis, Tennessee.  This looked to be a long drive, but not as long as I would have imagined.  We took a highway though the Northeast corner of Arkansas and what a spectacular drive that was.  Those Smokey Mountains are something else.  As we were about to leave Arkansas, we noticed a storm on the horizon.  We drove and it got dark just as we caught the storm.  The next two hours were spent white-knuckle-driving.  The rain was too heavy for the windshield wipers to keep up with and it was blocking out the reflectivity of the paint on the road.  It brought back a distinct memory of driving to Kearney, NE in the same situation only I was driving a 1984 Mazda B-2000 Sundowner pickup.  It weighed every bit of 500 lbs.  This time, the bigger vehicle did play a safer role in getting me to my destination until we drove into Memphis.  Two things happened simultaneously.  Memphis had poor roads and Memphis got a lot of rain.  Highways with posted speed limits of 65 mph had inches of pooled rainwater on the surface.  The darkness hid all of them.  The only time I could anticipate a pool was right as another vehicle hit it splashing all the water on my windshield.  Thankfully, with no close-calls, we made it to our hotel for the night.  Our trip the next morning was much nicer - probably because the rain cleaned up everything.  Nevertheless, we were six hours from Gulfport.  If you've never been to or through Mississippi, the easiest way to describe it is with an analogy.  The state of Mississippi is like a bumpy lawn with tall grass that sits as the edge of a pond.  The roads sit in areas that have been mowed.  Everywhere else, tall grass.  Prior to entering the Navy, I had met people from all over the country and when I speak of my Western Nebraska upbringing, the inquire about trees.  My usual response was one that said "yeah, we have a few trees, by the creeks and rivers, but not many."  Well, I am changing my answer, after driving all over thus far, the answer is no, Western Nebraska does not have any trees, comparatively.

We arrived in Gulfport and made our way to the apartment complex that we had picked on the internet.  We took the tour and decided that this was the place to live.  Our excitement of an early arrival was shot down because although we signed for it, we couldn't stay because the carpets weren't cleaned yet.  We holed up, literally, in the cheapest place in town for one more hotel night. The next day we drove around while we waited for the carpets to be cleaned and came to check them out in the afternoon.  Everything was going well until I got a call from the moving company telling me that my HHG wouldn't be there today.  And not only would they not be there that day, they wouldn't arrive until Monday.  Some of you who have connections with military life have heard of the dreaded PCS move.  The one where your HHG may get lost, "untrackable," or just absolutely late.  I pleaded with the lady about her "no work on weekends" policy and sure enough it worked.  Later the next day, we were in the fine company of all of our HHG.  This story is one of luck, chance, and possibly good telephone skills, but I assure you, I'm fearing the next move.

With the arrival of our goods, we spent the next few days unpacking.  Once everything was about 90% in order, I decided to report to NMCB 11 for Stash Duty.  I ironed my khakis, measured my collar devices to precision and was looking forward to work.  I arrived at the Quarterdeck only to stand around for a few minutes until some chief walked by and noticed that I was not like everyone else.  He directed me to the XO's office where I talked for a bit and was directed to another ensign to start checking me in. Now, I've pondered why I received no help that morning on the Quarterdeck and I can only assume that because I was the only one in khakis and everyone else was in their camouflage uniform, they just assumed I knew what I was doing.  Things were going ok and then I got my first tasking.  It was my job to read through the OPORDER and pull out all the administrative tasks.  Seemed easy until I realized it was 90 some pages long and all in a military format.  Wake up call! You're in the military now, start swimming.  Sinking was not on my mind.  It was a challenge, but one I met and succeeded.  When I presented it back to the XO, he asked if he had given me the electronic version and I replied "no."  He then asked if I had typed that all in and of course I did.  It was a lot of typing.

Just ask quickly as two weeks went by from March 26 to arriving in Gulfport, three more weeks passed and Sarah and I were on our way to California.  We thought of all the happy cows and sunny beach time we would get.  As it turns out, the desert in Arizona and New Mexico is not the desert I had in mind.

January 3, 2010

I reported to Naval Education Training Center, Newport, RI for twelve weeks of OCS, Officer Candidate School, on January 3, 2010 at about 8:30 in the morning.  I picked up a guy in my hotel and another at a different hotel and away we went.  On the way we speculated about what the next twelve weeks of our lives would be like.  Well, we were basically all wrong.

I was part of class 12-10.  The twelfth class of the fiscal year, 2010.  I was in Hotel Company.  My sister company was Golf Company.  There were 48 people in my company on that first day.  There should have been 50.  The first day was a lot of admin stuff in the morning then it all began.  Yelling, pivoting, and moving quickly while never looking anyone in the eye was the norm for the next few weeks.

My class was the fourth class in the new program.  It focused very heavily on academics and there were some schedule changes.  The first 3 weeks were Military Indoctrination.  The next 6 weeks were Academics and the last 3 weeks were Candidate Officer.  All three weeks at the beginning were dedicated to the first inspection, RLP, Room Locker Personnel.  Nothing but stamping my name, folding, picking fuzzies and dust off, and clipping all the little strings from the stitches was happening.  Meanwhile, I got up at 4:50, with Reveille at 5:00, to make my "rack" or bed and put my shoes on.  I would sleep in my PT, Physical Training,  gear and when the alarm would go off, I would sit up, turn to my right and slip my "go-fasters" on.  We would PT until about 6:30 or 7:00 and then shower.  Breakfast took about an hour, but we only had 20 minutes to eat.  And that was a 10 step process to take one bite and have one drink all with my left hand and a spoon, which was kept on the right side of my plate.  Lunch came about 11:30 and dinner was 5:30.  We would work on our RLP preparation until Taps at 10:00.

I failed my first inspection because of a missing item, but it was for the best.  My re-inspection came with a price.  My Chief Petty Officer for my company made me do so many jumping jacks, leg lifts, and many other things.  It hurt, but I passed very easily this time.  The Drill Instructor was the one who failed me.  I'm on the left of the picture with the big glasses.

Academics came soon enough and I was learning away.  I had four classes: Sea Power (Naval History), Engineering and Weapons Systems, Navigation, and Seamanship.  There were midterm tests and final tests.  I scored well on all of them.  Even though academics was going on, I still had another inspection to prepare for and homework to do for the classes.  I didn't get by so easily on this one.  But, I did pass.

The last three weeks were just about the worst.  Waking up at 4:50 each morning I would come to find a luxury.  As a Candidate Officer, it was my job to help run the place and teach the students below me.  I was up at 4, sometimes 4:15 each morning and going to bed at 11 or 11:30 each night.  But, I could basically do whatever I wanted.  I was the Battalion II adjutant.  All I had to do was make sure the two classes below me in Battalion II had their reports in each day.  These kids had it figured out, so I spent my time teaching them Seamanship and Navigation in their off time.  I helped with inspection preparation and passed on everything I could.  I enjoyed it and I also got to wear my khaki uniform to church, a big plus.  I also could finally wear my personal glasses.

There's so much more that I can say about OCS.  It was the hardest/easiest thing I have ever done.  The hardest because I had never ran so much in my life (95% of the time it was inside up and down stairs), but it wasn't intense every minute of every day.  There were down times were I found time to smile and pick myself up from being frustrated about the day.  I would not trade any experience for it and I'm glad to say I've been through it.  If there's anything I've not covered, drop a line and I'll get to it.