CHERRY POINT, NC

MCAS Cherry Point is located in a small town named Havlock in BFE, NC and this is where C School was held. C-school is more hands on and more there to teach you exactly what you will be doing once you get to the fleet. You learn how to build the bombs, fix racks, all the Aussie gear (Support Equipment) and how to take apart and put together gun and ammo packs. Its a lot to learn in the short amunt of time your there so you have to take with you what you can and relearn once you get to your first duty station. PT here picked up a bit: Longer and faster runs, harder excercises. The instructors really wanted to give you a run for your money. Unlike Pensacola (Navy base) We had rules: we were to march as a school everywhere we went, we had to sign in and out everywhere we went, we had a midnight curfew everynight of the week and room checks at 1 am everynight plus 2 hour posts through out the night. Really didn't make for much fun.. so you made your own fun...

A few things that I don't have pictures of are like the "water park." Really its an old mans house on the river who built a wooden playset type thing over the water. It had ropes and tires and diving boards and a 50 foot tower to jump off and zip lines, and fighting logs. It was free and added much entertainment into our lives. While I was there we also had a hurricane so what did us Mariens do? Put on our PT gear and headed into the mud puddles. My hair was completely black by the end, and I loved it!

Near September things began to get better because we learned the ways. First off, My mom and Aunt Connie came down to visit and bring me my car (or theres lol) and we had a good time. We went out to the bowling alley on base so they could see my life, meet my friends, and see my surroudnings. Once again, even as adults, the boys loved them! Differently of coarse then when Alisha and Alysa came down but they were treated good by all my friends which made me very happy. They also got to see the durnk side of marines puking and walking the wrong way and of coarse acting crazy cause thats what we do! And the other side of things getting better is my roomate Torres who was also my roomate in pensacola with me lives in jacksonville, NC (about an hour away) so we put in special liberty chits and got to stay down there every weekend. Weird to say but La Mirage (a local strip club) was about our only fun on friday nights. Nothing like seeing the guys you work with in that enviroment.

Ever heard of One Tree hill? While its TV show on FOX and 3 marines from each class got picked to be an extra in an episode. While I was fortunate and got picked. We wore our cammies and Pt'd in the background. I have yet to see the episode but Ill let you know when I see myself!!

For my 20th birthday, Torres and I headed down to myrtle Beach and had an awesome time. We got a hotel on the ocean, got to be on the radio, went to an awesome club, and it just happened to be bike week so we got to ride on crotch rockets. It couldn't have been much better.

Lopez and I

I left Cherry Point as a Lance Corporal and also graduated top of my class and recieved a Certificate of Accomodation.

Then the day finally came where myself and Lcpl Johnson packed the truck to its limits and headed on our 40 hour drive across the country to his house in California where I stayed with his family for a week. Then we continued down to Yuma, AZ where I shall be for the next three years..

PENSCAOLA, FL

After Boot Camp and MCT, anything would seem like heaven and thats pretty close to what Pensacola was. First off, it is a naval base in Florida. I was there from May-July for what we call A-school. The course itself is three weeks long and is more book based then hands on. You learn the types of bombs, rockets, missiles, and support equipment you will be working with one day. Theres not to much to say about the actaul class but I can tell you all about my time there.

When you first arrive you are put in INDOC where you check in and learn the area and cannot change out of cammies or green on green at all. We even went to the beach in our PT gear. PORTSIDE is the hang out on base where they have kareokee, pool, a bar, internet, pizza hut, and taco bell. While on INDOC, Bodenburg and I went there and danced in our cammies, not many were happy with that and we got kicked off the dance floor immediatly. That only started our journey. Sunday through Thursday you have a 2200 curfew then Friday and Saturdays you do not have a curfew. So during the week it was the usual wake up, class, get ready, PORTSIDE, and then the all famous DVD lounge. Big screen TV and the only place your allowed to be besides your room after 2200. Weekends we would take a taxi out to Penscola Beach, get a hotel near by and usually spend our nights at The Dock. The Dock would be my Tiki's back home. Thursday nights were field day, so when you got bored you made fun. We would cut things out of dry sponges, see who could do the most pull ups with me on their back and carry people in sea bags. Somethings others could never understand..

In June, I had the priveldge of having Alisha and Alysa come down and spend a weekend with me and see what my life was all about. They got to experience male marines deprivation of females first hand because as soon as they walked up, every guy wanted to know who the new girls were. I got to sit back and laugh at that for a minute.

Besdies for the partyin, Pensacola was beautiful! You had a beach on base, palm trees, and all the sights that just make you smile. This would be the place I would want to be stationed if I had the choice. I made some of my

closest Marine friends there to this day. I cant say much besides it was amazing!

Rivera ----->

<--Josh, now the EX

Coates, I still get to see him!

MCT

MCT: MARINE COMBAT TRAINING
Going in to the Corps, just like all of you, I pictured Boot Camp to be the hardest thing I would ever go through.. and then I went to MCT and realized it wasn't.

MCT is 3 weeks long and is there to teach you basic combat skills to survive. You learn things from squad attacks and formations to living like you were in combat. You get to shoot 6 different weapons including a grenade launcher and a .50 cal. You also go on three humps. A 5k, 10k, and a 15k with an 80 lbs pack on your back. Me, weighing a 110 lbs, had some issues with that, but of coarse made it through. You sleep either on a cement floor or outside with only and iso mat and a pancho liner, not exactly warm or comfortable. If you get sleep that is. Between the late night patrols and 2 hour fire watches a night, theres not much of that going on. You learn to make good friends and quick, cuddeling with other females is okay for warmth.

We also got to dig fighting holes or "Fox Holes" There were to be 3 feet wide by your height tall. Sure I was the shortest one and thats why i was put with the tallest girl, Gotta love how that works.

Food? Whats that? Ohh an MRE: Meals Ready to Eat. At first you were kinda scared to try it but as time went on you knew that was your food so you enjoyed every minute of them! I will say the Ravoli and Sloppy Joe isnt to bad. (Which I got a hold of one and will be bringing it home in August for you all to enjoy..your welcome.)
MCT is a mixture of about 80% males and 20% females. Now you can look at that in 2 ways: The good way - you actually get to see something half good and the bad way - Guys are naturally more athletic so you had to step up or head right back to base and sit in holding which is really something you do not want. When i said you only had something half good to look at, I meant it. And us females were no better. Lets just say you average about 1 shower a week.
Through all the bad times, you learn a lot to help you survive. With the night patrols, "gun attacks", "IED's" and so on.







It was just some real training... and damn am I happy im done with it!

FORMING

Forming is not something that is required or something everyone must go through but if you happen to be one of the lucky/unlucky ones you are forced.

After Boot camp, you will go on 10 days of leave and then return to Camp gieger, North Carolina for MCT. Well unfortunetly only so many females can be sent through each cylce, therefore, 20 of us were held back a week and put into forming. Well this lil miss was not supposed to be the one being held back but I decided to go home from boot camp and die my hair half black.. I guess the Marine Corps doesn't really allow that.

In forming your up at 5, clean your squadbay, go to formation, chow, 4 hours to do what you want, formation, chow, 4 hours to do what you want, formation, chow, clean, sleep, and all over again. Doesnt sound to bad right.. Did I forget to say you cannot get out of cammies nor can you leave base or go in all the restricted areas they have set, yeah, your really not that free.

I did have my girl with me though.. miss Leveque. She was the other little recruit in Boot Camp and is just like me. We did get to go bowling and we actually entered a kareokee contest and sang Barbie girl.. Oh yeah.. we won! and we flirted with all the boys waiting in holding to go to the School of Infantry, pretty much caused trouble cause thats what we do best!

Forming could never prepare you for what came next..