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..