EC graduated basic on Feb. 5th. We thought she would have liberty from noon Friday until Saturday night, but she had to be back on base by 7:30 PM, and she was on a plane to Pensacola at 1:00 AM. But it was still great to see her graduate and spend time with her. My sister-in-law flew up from Austin, met us in Dallas, and then we flew into Midway Airport in Chicago.
EC's division was a performance division, and that means every recruit in the division had experience in High School marching bands or some other musical experience, and they provided the drum line, carried the State flags in precision marching drills, etc. One of the most enjoyable parts of the ceremony, was the roll call of the states, where everyone got to clap hands, cheer, whistle, stomp feet, pound on the bleachers, and generally make as much noise as possible in support of their recruits and their State.
California was very well represented, as was Florida, but there were more Texans and we were louder. After our demonstration was over, a woman sitting almost behind me said, "Well, I suppose if you live in Texas there isn't much to do but join the service."
At which point my sister-in-law turned around and said, "Do you understand demographics? Texas is the second most populous state in the U.S. Of course we're well represented. Why is your family member joining the service? No opportunities back home?"
At this point I said, "Right now, Texas has about the world's 14th largest economy, and puts us just ahead of South Korea and Australia. I believe I heard you cheering for Georgia. Where are you on the scale? (that would be 23rd) Besides our traditional values of patriotism and service to our country, Texans like to kick ass." Since the woman never replied to either my sister-in-law's remarks or mine, I concluded the conversation was ended. Sitting next to Sis, was a retired Marine who was now a Chicago fireman; he was trying hard not to laugh, but not doing too well.
Anyhow, we took EC to a great Japanese restaurant where for $14 a head we got about twice as much absolutely delicious food as two people could eat. EC ate hers, ate the tempura shrimp from Wife's and Sis's plates, then consumed 6 California rolls. After the meal our waiter carried out a huge piece of chocolate cake with whipped cream on the side, and said, "We don't give military discounts, but this cake is complementary." And EC ate it all, only pausing from time to time to say, "This is SO good!"
Anyway, back at the hotel EC took a long, hot shower. 5 minute showers in basic, which were sometimes missed due to extra duties she was given. I'll get back to that.
As we were sitting around chatting about basic training, she remarked that while the Navy doesn't have particularly demanding physical training standards, her division commanders were over achievers. Her senior division commander was a marathoner who expected her recruits to be able to run a mile and a half in under 8 minutes, even though the PT standard was a mile and a half in 14 minutes. EC hated running with her. Her other division commanders had their own ideas about PT as well. In her eight weeks of basic, EC lost 2 inches in her waist, and gained 5 pounds of hard muscle.
Anyway, her senior division commander put her in charge of the other graduates going to Pensacola, she was responsible for keeping them together, getting them boarded with their gear checked, etc. She was told bluntly that her commanders saw leadership potential in her, and so she was going to be pushed hard. The last time I spoke to her, she had been up over 48 hours, needed to take a trip to Medical to be treated for bronchitis, and was loving every minute of it.
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Originally Posted by JaxSon
