Letters From Home – Third Week

C077/K051 – Feb 21 – Apr 25, 1990

We jump ahead to our third week. One of the more jameed packed weeks we had at Orlando. Inspection after inspection. We also had our second issue and Sports day. No, this time frame is only for maybe 1989-1992 or 93. There is typically a debate from different periods as to what was done when.
I was lucky enough to get a schedule written by a lady who was there in 1994, so comparing her plan to my letters, they match up pretty well.

I will make a schedule and share that in the future as well to help jog the memories. And again, forgive the grammar and structure.

Hi Everyone                                                                                                                     90Mar25

Well, the third week is over. I passed every inspection with no problem. Monday was the bunk, and only two people failed. Then Tuesday morning at 1:00 AM, one of those guys tried to kill himself. He took a bottle of aspirin and got very sick. He's over at the hospital waiting to get discharged from the Navy. Tuesday was the only day we did not have an inspection. Wednesday, we got paid $112.67. I sent Kathy a money order for $80. I got another haircut Wednesday. They only cut the sides and the back. We also got our dog tags, ID cards, and had our first infantry inspection. We got 3.875 out of 4.0.

The CC's took away the radio after Monday. They were getting happier each day until Thursday. That was the personal inspection. I passed, but the company got a 3.6. I had a dentist appointment after the inspection. They replaced on filling and let the others go. I need to have three more taken care of plus two wisdom teeth pulled. The dentist said I have really nice teeth.
Thursday, we got yelled at a lot, but I was gone a lot. Friday was the killer inspection, The locker. I passed, but the company only got a 3.68. We missed getting a gold banner for our first comp flag by about 100 points or having one more person pass. Instead, we got a blue banner. We can't get Hall of Fame, but we can still get a CO's White.

Yesterday was sports day, our mini Olympics. I wanted to be at the track, but they put in at the pool. The company got seven firsts and many second and thirds. We won the "Cheerio flag" for our training group. Our group has 4 male and 3 female companies. Our sister company missed the female "Cheerio Flag" by a couple points. The CC's were very happy to have us win. It's the first Cheerio our Head CC has ever gotten. He's really happy with us, so we got the radio back. He also let us take a 1 ½ hour nap before lunch yesterday. We were out marching around and showing off our flag to everyone. The CC wanted to flaunt it a little.

Next week is our second comp period. We also start work week next Friday. Most of us will have to be in the Galley, but I'll get 3 days off because of my teeth being pulled. The three days are bed rest, so I'll catch up on plenty of sleep. The food is getting better. One day last week, we were supposed to have chicken for lunch, but they ran out. I got shrimp instead.

Kathy said the wedding plans are really going good. We had our dress uniforms issued the(sic) week too. All of mine needed to be sent to the tailor for adjusting. I got my transcripts Tuesday, but the CC's won't let me go give them to the people who need them. My second choice if I don't get Nuke is Gas Turbine. The school is in Great Lakes for 36 weeks. It's an advanced program like Nuke, but without the extra money and nuclear stuff. The job is about the same only there is no chance for sub duty because ll subs are nuclear.
Another choice is Operation Specialist or Anti-Sub Warefare Tech. Both have to deal with radar, sonar, and other detection equipment. All jobs have plenty of civilian applications. I'm only worried about getting put on hold here for an extra two weeks while the paperwork gets cleared.

Next week we've got two inspections, an A test, and our second PT Test. By the way, when you send me, more letters make sure to slash your zeros. The Navy has a hard time telling a zero fro an O.Some fo my letters have been sitting here at the base post office for 3 days until I got them. My eye is healed. I have to go back on April 9 for my final appointment. The vision is back to 20/20, and everything else is back to normal. I have to go read some stuff for class, Monday is ship and aircraft class. Well, say hey o to everybody and let me know how things are going. Take care, bye for now.

Jim

That was a long one. It had a good deal of info about what we did during our time. And, YES, we did get to take a nap. I know that s a little strange, but we did.