On the 25th it will be 2 full years since I was discharged from the Army. Its been two years of ups and downs and being pulled in one direction then another. A ton of depression to deal with and happy moments. Its been crazy and its been boring.
I can't believe its been that long since I was on active duty. It doesn't seem real. It feels like just yesterday that I was leaving Oak City and headed up to MEPS in Salt Lake. Those first days were the moments when I started questioning whether my plan was going to work as far as enlisting went.
I had to loose 12 lbs before I could ship to basic and upon a pre check at the recruiters office I found that I was 3 lbs up from where i needed to be. I started worrying about it a lot then. I told myself as we left Provo and headed to SLC that if things didn't work out the next morning that was it. No more pushing and shoving against something that wasn't meant to be. I was on the verge of giving up.
That night in SLC staying at the Sheraton I met two fellow enlistee's and we decided to head to the pool for a swim before bed. We basically treaded water for two and a half hours enjoying it knowing that our swimsuits and access to a pool would be non existent for two or more months.
The next morning my two friends from the night before left for the airport and I got on a bus to MEPS where I worried, because thats just what I do, Worry!
I stepped onto the scale in the room they took us too, wearing nothing but underwear and a bra. I was afraid to look down but as they told me to step back into my spot in the line up I glanced down 163.0.....Perfect weight to go on to Basic the next morning. The two hours of treading water had paid off.
Then came the mandatory pregnancy test, I knew I'd pass it of course cause I was a good little Molly Mormon...lol. But out stepped the lab tech and said non of us could ship out....I was like WHAT?! lucky for me she was playing a joke. (Something I learned was a main way of tempering the tension in a room in the army).
So I finished up my testing and signed all my documents, got sworn in, and set up my direct deposit (lucky for me Armed Forces Bank allowed me to open an account via Fax cause I didn't have a bank account otherwise. LOL)
That night I stayed at the Sheraton again knowing I had to be up at 5 in order to dress and eat and get in the Taxi to the Airport in order to catch the flight at 7:29 am.....Boy was I anxious. I had never flown on a large plane before in my life and never flown for more than maybe 30 minutes before and that was only once before over Ephraim in a small plane when I was 7.
I made it to Ft. Jackson, SC had to be held back at Reception there for 3 extra weeks then finally shipped to my basic training company on August 8th. I was ill prepared for the SC heat even tho I had been in it for a month already. But being in full uniform and training and marching and carrying a weapon was new for me in the heat and that first day I got heat stroke. I learned to get used to my body hating heat.
I started having problems with my knees during Physical Training in the mornings and tho I finally broke down and went to a dr they just told me take some IBprophen and drink water and i'd be fine. (thats the army remedy) except I finally got thru to them that I was allergic to IBP and that I needed something else, they put me on naproxen and I went abt my training. I failed the first two PT test of basic and on the final PT test that you have to pass I failed the first time I took it so while we were out in the field at Victory Forge I had to wake up extra early and head back to our barracks and take the PT test again. I knew I had to pass so I told myself its now or never. I worked up a strength I didn't know I had and pushed myself visualizing my Mom in front of me coaxing me on! I knew that in order to see her in a little more than a week I had to pass, and that if I didn't it would be another two months of retraining before I could. So I pushed hard and as I came in thru the final turn around the track on my 2 mile I was scared I wouldn't make it but passed with a minute to spare! YES I did it!
Back to Victory Forge I went without knowing for sure I had passed yet. My Drill Sargent let me and the others take a quick nap then abt noon I got called to the DS area in the middle of our camp. I thot here it is, I either make it or break it!
DS Alexis said Pvt Taylor, we got a call from your Mom today! (Oh Boy, not good news to a Pvt in Basic! I had everything bad run thru my head in the moments he waited suspensfully to tell me what it was abt) Mom wanted to know if I had passed my PT test so that they could arrange their flight to come to my Graduation. (SIGH) I PASSED! I was so excited but kept my military bearing because I knew I had to if I didn't want to eat dirt again! LOL.
I had made it thru Basic Training. In a week I would graduate and see my parents, Ginny and Angel! They were all coming out!
Before VF we had been fitted for our dress uniforms and when we got them two days before graduation I was shocked. Just in the week since I had lost inches and my uniform was loose. LOL it was a great day. All in all I had lost 25 lbs in the 3 months I was at SC.
For family day we went to the Post Museum then went to the bowling alley and went bowling! How much fun it was! At the bowling alley I had to use the bathroom, so did mom and Ginny. So we went together. As I walked out of the stall I had my uniform jacket up under my chin as I buttoned tied and belted my pants. Mom walked out of the stall just as I finished and she gasped, "Jamie, You have a waist!" I laugh thinking back on it now because I didn't believe her, I hadn't weighed myself since the first week at Reception so I couldn't guess that I had gone 25 lbs since I began the process!
So the next day after finally seeing Columbia SC and being able to leave post and having dinner at a buffet for a first in three months....suffice to say I didn't eat much! LOL so used to having proportioned meals to a buffet. It was funny seeing my families faces as they watched me eat.
After that I ended up heading to Ft Lee, VA where I was in Victor Company while I learned my job to be a Petroleum Supply Specialist. It was interesting and so different from Basic Training.
I was there from October 14th to January 17th before I was shipped to Ft Leonardwood, Missouri (Worst place in the world to train in February btw)
In my next couple of post I hope to write abt the rest of my time in the Army and up thru today. To have a record of this for a later date when I may some day not remember!
