RECEPTION.

June 16 was the day I shipped out to Fort Jackson, SC. However, this was not the same day I shipped directly to my unit--before that, I had to go through Reception, which was probably the worst part of BCT. It was around midnight or so when the coach buses came to pick all of us up from the airport, and the bus ride was about 25 minutes. Everyone was afraid to fall asleep, for fear that they would get a rude awakening by a drill sergeant. Needless to say, it was a drill sergeant that got on the bus when we arrived in the Reception Battalion, who barked at us to form up according to branch. We thought they were going to bring us to the barracks to go to sleep, but to our dismay, our inprocessing started right when we got off the bus. No sleep til 2200 the next day. What a great way to start off Basic.

Inprocessing involved filling out endless amounts of paperwork, from financial matters to medical histories to life insurance. This was also when we got issued our uniforms, boots, military IDs, and vaccines. Getting our vaccines was the worst part--we all filed into this one room, where there was a line of NCOs holding needles, and they were not gentle at all. It was like, step up, STAB, walk to the next NCO, STAB, and so on and so forth. The last shot was the ever so gentle Hep B shot, which was inserted all the way into my arm bone, nearly causing me to faint. Nothing like getting 6 shots in a row, huh?

Reception was when the Army principle of "hurry up and wait" was at its finest. For every room we had to go through, for every process and issue we needed to do, there was a long, long line, and this line involved standing at parade rest with our mouths shut. I think it was around this time when I somehow learned how to sleep at parade rest with my eyes cracked open. Other people tried this tactic but failed miserably. The lack of sleep, combined with the little amount of time we had to adjust to a fast paced environment, equals a clusterfuck of epic failure, which we were constantly reminded of by the workers and drill sergeants that worked in Reception. I remember when it was my turn to get my ID picture taken, the specialist told me to key in the last four digits of my social. I looked at her blankly, because I did not understand what she meant. I didn't see a keyboard in front of me. So then she repeats herself, but also adding that if I didn't get it by then she would repeat herself rudely. I still didn't understand. Then she yells at me, and finally points to the number pad that was at the other side of the computer, by the wall. Her battle buddy proceeded to mock me, "Oh, she probably expected the numberpad to be on the ceiling or something!" Never in my life had I met such a rude staff. I mean, I get the whole "you're only a Recruit, you're not really in the Army yet", but we're still people so we still deserve some sliver of respect...Anyway, if you ever get a chance to look at my military ID, now you know why I look like I'm about to kill someone lol.

There were so many people who already wanted out, and I could only pitifully shake my head at them. If you can't even get through something as simple as getting your hearing test done, how can you expect to survive Basic? I was actually surprised at how many immature, stubborn, disrespectful and weakminded people there were, but I guess I was a bit naive in expecting to be surrounded by a bunch of motivated, dedicated, super hooah people? Idk. Most of the people I shipped out with were either still in high school or just graduated high school, so I shouldn't have been too surprised by the lack of maturity. I'll never forget standing outside the medical quarters, and all we had to do in our formation was to get accountability of everyone. Did we do that? NO. Instead we just stood there, in the scorching heat, bickering and arguing about HOW to count everyone who was there. I had never been so frustrated, how something as simple as counting had to turn into the argument of the century. Heck, there were people crying over it. This was when I prayed that wherever I end up, I hope I didn't end up in a gagglefuck like I was in at that time.

That's pretty much what Reception was. Waiting, sleeping, arguing, and waiting some more. Luckily I was only there for four days, sucks for the people who had to be there for like 2 weeks...

Army Life Pt 1: Making the Standard

I, Karen Joy Castro Castillo,
Do solemnly swear that I will defend the Constitution of the United States
against all enemies, foreign and domestic,
that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same,
and that I will obey
the orders of the President of the United States
and the orders of the officers appointed over me,
according to regulations
and the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
So help me God.

Words cannot describe how proud I am right now, all sworn in and enlisted in the Army. Well technically, I'm not actually going to be enlisting with the Army--I'm still with the ROTC, but I have to "enlist" in order to get a slot for basic training. Once I get back from training, I will sign a new contract with the ROTC which will give me a 2 year scholarship and the opportunity to train with a Reserves unit as well as the opportunity to branch into the Medical Service Corps. Can you believe how much has developed since the last time I blogged here? Exactly one year ago I made the decision to try out ROTC, not knowing what will come out of it. The uncertainty has since solidified into affirmation that the Army is definitely something I want to be a part of.

Of course, this was in no way an easy decision. Throughout the whole year, ROTC has tested me physically, mentally, and emotionally. There have definitely been times where I've doubted my own abilities, whether I was really capable of doing everything that was asked of me. However, there have also been times where I've proved myself wrong, which revived my motivation and confidence to keep going.

My ultimate test came near the end of this year, when it came time for me to get a Basic Training slot. It was the end of April, and Major Perrin and SGT Wynne wanted me to be at the Body Fat Standard because time was running out to get me a BCT slot for the summer. I stepped on the scale, and disappointingly, I did not lose any weight since my last APFT. I was sent home again and asked to return a week later, in hopes that I would have lost a couple of pounds or inches off my waist. Ate less, ran more, and hoped that I'd make tape the next weigh in. A week later, step on the scale again, only to realize I GAINED a pound! At this point, MAJ Perrin was ready to choke me, and SGT Wynne told me to start coming up with a back up plan. Basically, they told me that if I really wanted this, I would find a way to lose FIVE pounds by the next week. A huge lump formed in my throat, and my heart sunk. How the HELL was I going to be able to pull that off?! Is it even possible?

I went home, numb and knowing that my career in the ROTC/Army was about to end because my stupid self couldn't lose the pounds in time to make it to Basic Training. Heck, why did I need to lose the weight if I was going to lose all of it AFTER training anyways? I felt defeated, and I was really close to giving up. Was this really worth me risking my health? After a night of ruminating and pensive thinking, I woke up the next day and decided to do something about this. I was NOT going to give up. Heck, the first 2 tenets of the Warrior Ethos are to never accept defeat, and to never quit. So I started drinking water. LOTS of water. I knew a lot of my weight was water weight, so my plan was to pee it out and sweat it out. I sat in saunas, I cycled with heavy sweats on, ate a lot of fiber to clean out my digestive system, did EVERYTHING. Before I knew it, it was time for me to go back to the unit again to get weighed. MAJ Perrin smiled at me, noting how much skinnier I looked. "Step up on the scale, Miss Castillo!" she said in her usual bright voice. I watched the weight level off at 161, down four pounds from last week, and a grin creeped on my face. LTC Hall came in to personally congratulate me on my achievement. "I am proud of you," he said, staring firmly into my eyes, "I know this has been hard for you, but there are not many people like you. You are not even overweight, but some people are just cursed with the way their body is shaped [there are people who are practically obese but manage to pass the tape test because of their body shape!]. You have kept up a consistent effort throughout this year and I have seen you grow and improve. Keep it up." Hearing this from the colonel meant a lot, especially at a time when I thought I really didn't belong. I did it. and I did it without dying, haha.

Take home message-- This whole experience can be summed up in Harriet Beecher Stowe's words: When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you, till it seems as though you could not hang on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.