Cruise, Almost Done

So last Thursday through Friday we had a 22.5 hour evolution that was easily the hardest thing I have ever done. By the time they secured us I was completely exhausted, had numerous abrasions, blisters, chafing, sore muscles, and bruises. I slept for about 10-12 hours and all day Saturday movement was very difficult. Now, almost a week later, I am mostly healed up, the only medical issue I have lingering is blisters on my hands, and looking back it was a good experience that helps keep things in perspective as far as what to expect from actual SEAL training.

Today we got to do one of my favorite things: shooting. Starting out with M4's I got an M4 with a 10" barrel, 4-position stock, aimpoint red-dot sight and suppressor. Fun stuff. We shot off maybe 100 rounds between zeroing the sights and doing target aquisition drills. Then we moved over to the Sig Sauer p226 pistols and that was a blast. Along with a little familirization fire we went over a number of the basic skills used in the Navy's standard pistol qualifications and then actually shot through the qual course. While I ideally would have liked to have shot expert, I missed the 5-rings a few too many times and had to settle for a score of 216/240, which still qualified me as "sharpshooter." No complaints really since I have never shot a course like that for score.

Thursday we have interviews that will go into our BUD/S application packages and then we are essentially done with our 1/C cruise here in sunny Little Creek. I'll catch those big birds home on Sunday and then it is back to the real world. Wheeeeeeee!

Starting Week 3

So yesterday we got to do some stuff. In the morning we got hammered a little bit for an infraction and then yesterday afternoon they had us paint the CO's office. That's right, paint the CO's office. Learned a lot about SpecWar doing that. But with eight of us and the right tools it really didn't take that long, maybe an hour. We also got to talk to one of the guys that is a sniper so that was pretty cool too.

This Thursday/Friday we are supposed to have a "Hell Day" that simulates what a day of Hell Week would be like. We'll go for about 24 hours and it will not be very pleasant. One guy in the last group quit within 40 minutes of starting. But it will be educational too. Learn how far we can push ourselves.

On another note, I think I am getting "the HoJo Funk." We have been in the hotel for about two weeks now and several of us are getting weird respiratory issues. Definitely not fun. Thank God for Lysol I guess.

Cruise, Week 2

So it is now official, after this weekend we will have had more days off than we will have had days of actually doing stuff. This is primarily due to the fact that since this week had the 4th of July holiday we only did two days worth of stuff. Add to that only 4 days of stuff last week and you end up with 6 days of work to 7 days off. Honestly I'm starting to get a little bored by it, but fortunately the next two weeks should be a bit busier.

I have decided that I really don't like the bar scene. I have volunteered to go out with the other guys to be their designated driver and it bores me out of my mind. I don't drink and have no interest in meeting strange girls in these bars and so that leaves me with little else to do but sit and watch whatever the bar has playing silently on the TV. Fortunately I have maybe only two more trips out like that before I end up coming back home.

Honestly, to an extent I already feel like I am ready to come home. Little Creek is great and all, and what we have been doing is pretty cool, but this is not my home (yet...). I'm also starting to get quite tired of eating out, which is pretty much my only source of food. Oh well, we're halfway through at this point so I guess it's all good...