Recruiter School Day 0

     In the middle of the night my roommate arrives. I woke up to greet him and share a short conversation before he fetches the rest of his things. I fall asleep some time after this. His name was Joe, but I would find out later that it was actually Joel but I misunderstood him. He didn't correct me when I said Joe though. Seems like a nice enough guy.

     My alarm wakes up me up at 0530, which I promptly snooze about 3 times. I have the intention to ride my bike for exercise this morning but I see that it is still very dark outside so I wait until the dawn breaks to start moving. I get dressed and walk down to my car (A white Ford Escape, nothing special.) to pull my bike from the inside. It's a 2017 Trek Marlin 7, which is a pretty beginner front shock mountain bike with 29er tires. It's a large frame when I am most certainly a medium at best. However, beggars cannot be choosers. I tactically acquired this bike by keeping my eye on it and a housing complex. After almost 9 months of watching the bike begin to rust under a stairway from lack of use. I decided it was time to liberate it from it's lack of use. I left a note where the bike was to text my number should anyone want it back. Which I most certainly will return should I receive a text. 

     The ride is pleasant enough, no rain and nobody ran me over. I did however make a solder mad because I rode past them down a hill. That's his problem though for not having such a cool bike! I visited the cadet land where my wife has done many summer training's for ROTC. It was an empty complex of old dark red brick buildings; normally by this time of year it's teeming with college cadets. I ride all around my barracks to build a mental map and help orient myself to the immediate area. I determine that I need a softer saddle for this bike.

     Breakfast consists of a mass gainer shake and minimal DFAC food. I later regret this as the mass gainer shake gave me enough gas to power a hot air balloon for a few hours. I went to the main exchange to get a new laptop after my old one, and I mean like over 7yrs old, poops out one final time on my desk. I get a nice mid range HP laptop. 8Ggb ram, 256gb SSD, touchscreen, i7 processor and hp's own version of a graphics card. I don't plan on doing anything beyond school work and watching YouTube so I should be okay.  It set me back several hundred bones but a personal laptop was stressed to be successful for the course. I just do as I'm told ya know.

     I set up my laptop and have the second microwave meal as a snack. After piddling around on the new laptop I go to lunch. Lunch was, coincidentally, korean beef and noodles. This in combination with the other korean beef noodles and the mass gainer was not good for my gut. 

    I lay around in my room until the 1400 formation outside the barracks. We are all gaggled outside and take role from one of the instructors. subsequently, we are marched across the street to the classrooms on the first floor of a 3 story brick building. The building does look like a normal college building but it's as if the rest of the campus disappeared. Due to the pandemic (COVID-19) we all have to wear our masks inside the building. All Day. Thankfully we are in and out of there after about two hours. The entire time I was either fighting to breathe in/out of my mask, adjusting the mask to not fog up my glasses or holding back the pressurized methane building up in my colon that was putting up a pretty good fight to get out. I eventually gave up and released some pressure but if anyone else was aware they didn't say anything. Thanks battle buddies. 

     I went back to my room to change quickly and head to the PX for some small items. I end up walking around the PX way longer than I should have. To my credit, they were remodeling and I had to deduce that because of this, the kitchen aisle was now located between the baby girl clothes and the women's underwear section across from the men's dress wear. 

     I talk with my wife and kids while I eat some chow to go from the DFAC. I can't remember the food because it wasn't satisfying in the least as my gut was still aching from the days gastrointestinal events. I go to bed with an aching belly, unhappy about the 0430 wake up in the morning and a feeling that I should have taken a shower. But the day 0 was done and only 40 to go. Not the worst thing in the world, but I wish I could have done it online.

Recruiter School Day -1

     Here at Ft. Knox, attending the Army Recruiter School at the prestigious Army Recruiting College. The call it a college to make is sound better and bigger than it is. Don't get me wrong, it's a nice place but if it was a real college it may be the smallest college in the U.S. beyond 1980. 

     Anyways, I arrived here on Saturday evening around 1900 at the staff duty desk for the school house. I was given a room key and told I was too late for chow. Not to worry though, I got a nice microwave meal from the shoppette; chicken basil or Korean beef? Choices must be made and I chose both. 

     The room is surprisingly spacious and neat and tidy inside. You open the door and are greeted with a generously sized common area/kitchen area that's about 14' x 14'. The kitchen table is not torn up and the floors were clearly swept. No terrible smells detected or horrible sounds coming from anywhere, a good sign. There are even bowls, plates, spoons, forks and various other basic kitchen things to compliment the electric 4-burner range, full sink and full size fridge. (I didn't say anything about a microwave because you have to have one in a barracks room. How else can a barracks soldier survive if they can't reheat that pizza from yesterday's yesterday?) The bathroom is immediately on the right when you walk in and is full size tub, shower and toilet with a single sink and mirror. Nothing to write home about in there; I will however spend alot of time in there conducting official business.

     Opposite the entrance are two doors labeled A and B. I am on the right "B" door. Inside this room I am once again happy to see about a 14' x '14 squareish room and minimal furniture. I don't much like having alot of furniture when it's just me living in there. I tend to live rather spartan when I am alone, and I was often told when I was a single soldier that my room was too bare and that it had a neat/clean serial killer vibe. Can't a guy be a clean minimalist anymore? I digress... the room is nice; it has a lovely desk with overhead lamp and bookshelf. The bed is the Army standard twin blue mattress that could spring an elephant a few feet in the air accompanied with a wooden frame who's integrity is generally in question. There are too many drawers for clothes for my liking. I fill up only three drawers worth of clothes and my bedside table drawers with my electronics and other knick knacks. For a 45 day course I have brought the following clothes: 1 set of OCP's, two pairs of boots, two pairs of running shoes, 1 pair of leather dress shoes, my full dress uniform, 10 green army shirts, 5 civilian shirts, 8 running shorts, two pairs of cargo shorts, a pair of cargo pants, 15ish pairs of socks and underwear, two jackets, PJ pants and two full sets of Army PT's. Nice. 

     I get settled after I make a few trips to haul my stuff upstairs and tuck into my basil chicken. After that upsets my stomach I put the finishing touches on my room while I chat with my wife on the phone. My service sucks and the Wi-fi isn't working. They said it was free wifi so I guess it working right would warrant paying for it. Thankfully there isn't a wake up the next morning so I stay up and chat with my wife till we say our good nights. I am already beginning to miss her and my boys. It's almost torture to video chat them because I am so hands on with the kids playing I can feel my boys hair as I play around with them, rough housing on the large pillow/mattress thing in our living room. I must do what I must do though; for the sake of taking care of my family and keeping this career going. I attempt to remain stoic but I am not that disciplined. Perhaps it's not the discipline I lack but rather the need to still feel some emotion. I have been told I am too emotionless, robotic even but I still feel. Especially for my boys.

     I can't sleep well, but at least I can sleep in. I listen to the bible app read through an old testament book throughout the night as I toss, turn, and generally get little sleep...

I write this from Tuesday, the 30th of June.